There were eyes everywhere in the Peak, and Bane supposed she should have expected it. Being on your own for so long… it’s hard to make the adjustment. Part of coming back to the Islands would be that she was coming back to a family of sorts. The amazons that lived here… they cared for each other. Bane would have to get used to caring, and being cared for once again. It had been stupid of her to think she could just slot back in, mostly unnoticed.

A young woman was clamoring up the mountain, not far behind her. Bane can hear her hooves as they scrape to find purchase on the peak itself, and she understands. It can be difficult. If the woman wanted to join her, she’d find a way. It was the only way to learn. It was how she herself had learned as a child. She’d spent many afternoons racing up and down this mountain, so much time… well, now Bane knew it wasn’t a waste.

As the stranger draws near, Bane realizes that she’d be near the same age as her own daughter, maybe even younger. Damn, how much time had passed since she’d sent Eden out on her own? Probably too much. The stranger was polite, and for that, she was grateful. The mares of the Peak were always grateful to add to their numbers, at least in Bane’s experience.

She nods, by way of greeting, not wanting to cut the stranger off. It had been a long while since she’d used her voice, so much so that she questioned what it would sound like to speak again. Well, here goes nothing. “I’m Bane.” She takes a moment to think over the woman’s name, something that sounds distinctly foreign to her ear, to her brain. Roisin is observant as well, and Bane nods. “I was raised here, though that seems like ancient history now.” Her words come with a wry smile, a shadow of one at least. Bane shifts to offer space on her ledge to the woman, should she want. There’s more than enough space, her spot secure and comfortable.

It takes some measure of self control that she doesn’t ask about Impa. Maybe it’s better not to know. It is entirely better that she not know… Bane doesn’t know what she’ll do with the heartbreak. She’d been one of her mother’s closest friends and confidants, and knowing she was gone… it was one more ghost for her to see. She chooses her question carefully instead, studying the painted girl quietly. “How are things, these days?” The question is broad, intentionally so. It’s hard to know what news to ask for, after so long away.

Anath x Thane