It is time to return.

Collecting one another had been difficult at best. So overjoyed were they to be free from the soil, to return to the lands above that they actually knew, they were like a flock of birds bursting into the sky. Overall, crazy, eager, and widespread. But celebration was to be continued in other places, in the boundaries where they would always return. Some had left, and may not return. Kaj did not condemn them for this. He knew hearts called stronger, sometimes. Aaron had taught him that. He'd had to learn that Helovia was not his homeland, and beneath the shallows of the earth, that lesson had been imprinted well. The loss of Aaron's siblings was just as hard on the Storm Bringer as the painted son. Reminding him that family was stronger than any bond he could imagine, and reinforcing the feelings of pain at the death of his sister. But it was a time for joy, for celebration.

It was time to go back home to the Edge.

As he moved he collected them, nudging them with soft golden lips, brushing the length of his wings across their flanks. He was their shepherd, guiding them from the darkness of the hole they had emerged from, lighting their way back to the mists of the home they belonged to. Soft murmurs followed him, urging them on. He would not forget the friends he made in the depths of the Sanctuary, and he doubted they would either. Perhaps this was the way to heal, to smooth the rifts between the herds. Friendships had been struck in those darkened caves, and herds had been meaningless in the face of kinship and brotherhood. He prayed to the Goddess above that this would mean a change for good.

The wall was collapsed in many portions, he noted as he began to walk into the forested sections of the borders. They were glowing faint blue in the afternoon sunlight, a reminder of what it used to be. A reminder to Kaj of the explosive day between Lace, himself, and Torleik. But times had changed. They had to change. He only hoped he was strong enough to keep the motion going. If the Moon Goddess found him worthy, then he would do his best. It was all he could promise to himself, and to his people. Hopefully that would be enough.

It was wrong to him, to take the mantle where Mirage always stood for meetings. This was a new version of the World's Edge. They could not continue to live in the past. The Queen of Night had spoken, had told them that they could not live in Mirage's shadow, and Kaj would not make the mistake of ignoring that advice. So today, he bypassed that familiar gathering point, and stood before one of the old rocky springs. It bubbled cheerily, familiar and beautiful. The green pastures stretch out around him, the natural spring flowing down the hill to where everyone would stand, and he gave a wistful smile. Home at last, he wanted to scream to the skies, but he knew today was for other things. It was time to welcome everyone back to the World's Edge.

Raising his wings high, he stretched them skyward, relishing that he could finally do so, could feel the wind moving between each individual feather. Clearing his throat he called out, feeling stronger, more alive, than he had ever been before. They were picking up the pieces. Soon, life would be moving forward once more. "Children of the Edge, it is time to return home! We have much to discuss, my brethren!" And he smiled, and he breathed in the salty air, deep into his lungs. Kahlua would be beside him, and together, they would welcome back the children of the World's Edge with open hearts and wiser minds.