Day after day, the breeze grew colder and more foreign. It brought back memories of distant times spent cowering alone while terrors of the night shifted half-heartedly around me. I wasn’t sure about the things I’d witnessed in my absence but I was certain that part of my worries rested deep within my own mind. I’d rotted for days in pure and shameless agony until I’d found something deep inside that made life seem more appealing than the horrors of giving up. I questioned so many things, came to peace with others, and chose to walk away from most. I could not appease Tamira’s death and I could not blame my daughter for choosing to wash my memory away along with her tears. After all, her mother and father had abandoned her. I had failed as a man, a leader, a father, a friend- but this was my redemption. I had returned with a vigor for life and for success. I would redeem my name and rise above the ashes that scattered about my tarnished reputation. All things would fall back into place if I could push through the waxen feeling of guilt and humiliation that sloughed away from my heart with each friendly face I encountered.

The Edge had become something of a sanctuary to me over the past few weeks. I avoided venturing out for a multitude of different reasons that ranged from nostalgia to simply trying to evade the awful cold I knew waited just beyond the shattered glass wall. However, I’d taken to pacing the perimeter in the meantime because I’d had little to do since returning. I felt like a child searching for something to destroy out of mere boredom, but of course my mind was matured- hence the pacing. Daybreak was upon me yet again and yet again I was pacing about the border. However as I came to the main passageway into the Edge, I caught a vaguely familiar scent that sent my mind reeling. I paused briefly to consider where I’d encountered such a fragrance, but my memories seemed to run together until they all melded into one indistinct blur.

Finally, as if I’d been waiting for it, a voice trailed up and over the crumbling wall. It was strong and songlike and instantly I knew. I knew that soft melody even now-Romani. In an excited flurry of tangled limbs and queer guffaws, I finally breeched the passageway where I could see the pale figure of our former warrior. I couldn’t keep the soft smile that had been building from taking over my old, aging mug. I’m sure I was quite a sight for her tired eyes as I was practically whimpering like a wolf pup at the entryway. “Romani! I am so pleased to see you! Where have you been hiding all this time? How are you?” As I scoured her with a disapproving look that was meant to scrutinize her general well-being I locked eyes on her small tigress. Poor thing looked just as worn as her companion, if not more. Slowly, I lowered my face to her in welcoming. “Come little one, you look exhausted.” I knew I could not speak for the rest of the Edge, but I was glad to see Romani back… no matter where she had come from. Though from the looks of it, herd life was not something she was familiar with anymore.

I wanted that to change, soon.