[center][h1][u]Fenna & MacKensie[/u][/h1][/center]

With the while she'd spent away from the group, it was only a matter of time before being alone with her thoughts would finally get the best of MacKensie.  After getting down from the tree branches, she walked along the stream-side, her eyes welling up as her mind raced with imagery and memories of her mother, father and younger brother.

[color=Pink]"Oh Papa,"[/color] she croaked as she tried to hold back the tears.  [color=Pink]"Mama.  What am I to do in a world without you all?"[/color]

She sat down behind a boulder, hoping no one from the group would find her.  Although a fair distance away from the camp site, she still snivelled and sobbed as quietly as possible.

As everyone seemed to settle at their camp, Fenna decided to do a quick round around the camp to see if it was safe (the last thing she wanted was snakes slithering around and biting them) and what plants grew here. Some wild herbs could make their meal more appetizing, whereas others had medicinal uses. She kept the stream-side in sight as she examined the plants and crouched down to inspect a flower that looked a lot like one back home, but were the plants really the same here? Would it be safe to try and use them even if they looked the same? She sniffed it. Of course there were ways to test if a plant was poisonous, and maybe that could be applied here too. 

A soft sound that didn't fit in with the sounds of nature broke her train of thought and she tilted her head in the direction it came from. It sounded like... sobs? First she glanced back to the camp to see if everyone was still there and checked off those she could see. Carefully she went in the direction of the sound and rounded a boulder.

"MacKensie," she whispered when she saw the young woman. She approached her and sat on one knee next to her. "Do you want to talk about what troubles you?"

MacKensie's head snapped up in the direction of the voice.  Fenna.  Goodness gracious, the woman was as silent as a predator.  As much as she didn't want anyone to see her like this, if it had to be anyone, MacKensie was glad it was the older woman.

[color=Pink]"No,"[/color] she squeaked out, shaking her head, but her body leaned over towards to woman.  She desperately needed a hug right now.  [color=Pink]"They're gone Fenna."[/color]  The floodgates opened and she cried without restraint, holding the woman next to her.  [color=Pink]"I've lost them forever.  It's not fair, I never even got to say goodbye."[/color]

Fenna gently held the crying woman in her arms. "No, it's not fair," she said with a soft voice. "And it's okay to grieve. If you want to talk about it you can, or we can sit in silence if you prefer. We'll stay here for as long as you need, the others don't need us right now." Her mind went to her husband and children as she held Mackensie close; had she lost them forever? Had they all really died? It was a possibility she struggled to believe, but Mackensie and most of the others seemed to be certain they had. For now, the hope that whatever magic had brought them here could bring them back kept her going. Valheim would have the answers.

"Just keep in mind you're not alone," she assured the young woman. "We woke up in this realm together and I don't understand the bigger picture yet, but we're in this together." She paused. "Which, taking into account some members of our party may not be as reassuring as I meant it to be..."

MacKensie cried it out for a few more minutes in the motherly comfort of Fenna's arms, appreciating her offer to stay as long they needed.  She started to calm down, still crying but able to hear Fenna's remark about unnamed members of the party.  She choked a single note of laughter inbetween sobs.  She could guess one man in particular Fenna was talking about.  His face and that cocky grin lightened the mood for a brief second as it flashed in her mind.

After a while of silence, she realised her selfishness.  She wasn't the only one hurting.  She unburied her face from Fenna's embrace and looked up at her.  Such a strong and beautiful face, one she'd quietly admired from the moment she saw her.  Fenna seemed to have a noble, dignified presence about her that somewhat reminded MacKensie of her mother, and she didn't seem shaken at all.  But surely she was hurting.

[color=Pink]"Here you are, comforting me, but you must be grieving too,"[/color] she noted, wanting to ask just who she'd left behind when brought to this world.  A husband maybe?  Children?  It felt too personal to ask a stranger, but she hinted at the question out of curiosity.  [color=Pink]"Your family must be missing you greatly."[/color]

"I'm mostly worried," Fenna replied after a moment of silence. "I don't feel it as a loss yet because I have hopes, misplaced hopes perhaps." Her face wrinkled as it showed pain and sadness she hadn't shown before. "I have two children and I miss them" she admitted. "A lot. It hurts knowing how far away I am from them and knowing how they must have felt when I didn't come home. But I choose to hope, so it's too soon for me to be grieving."

MacKensie's heart broke for the woman as Fenna spoke of her family, but her demeanour changed when she said that it was too soon to grieve and there was still hope.  She nodded whole-heartedly in agreement.  There was hope.  This world was magical after all.  There had to be hope that someway, somehow they - or at least Fenna and the others who hadn't died to come here - could return.  [color=Pink]"If there is a way, we will find it, Fenna.  I know this."[/color]

Fenna showed a small smile when she realised Mackensie had stopped crying. "If you're ready, maybe we should go back, before the others get worried and try to find us."

They shared the smile and MacKensie agreed that they should get back.  [color=Pink]"Thank you so much, Fenna.  I really needed that."[/color]

After wiping her face of tears with her sleeves, they headed back together.