Mmur didn't remember much about their journey back to the lair. He didn't know if he had managed to walk a bit of the way on his own, or if he had eventually just fallen to his knees right there in the thick of things, unable to move or feel anything but an intensely blinding joy.

They were back. All of the lost had come home.

His sister, little Sussara, had been the first of his family to emerge from the fog, growing out of that dark tree like a virus, and still as beautiful as always. She had smiled when she saw him, running through the snow into his outstretched arms like she had been here all along. He'd thought he might squeeze her to dissipation despite her strength, and whatever words of love and gratitude and regret he had managed to whisper into her hair were lost to him now, a blur of giddy happiness that he couldn't have articulated if he had tried.

And then there was Hadan. Afraid to even think that his lifelong friend would not be among those making their return, Mmur kept his attention focused on Suss as he prattled on about the exciting things she had missed and all of the adventures they could share now that she had returned. They stayed back to back through most of their one-sided exchange, Mmur's right hand clasped around Sussara's left, both aiming vicious blows at those who would dare to taint their happy reunion.

Once he had laid eyes on the other soldier, however, it was Mmur's turn to run. His grip on his sister's hand went slack and she let his fingers go with a grin, whipping her weapon at an overzealous human as Mmur threw himself forward, moving more quickly than he ever had in the entirety of his existence. And that was where his memory went blank.

From that moment until he had woken up gasping in the Famine tent a handful of minutes ago, the horseman couldn't recall a thing. Mmur yawned, stretched, and tried not to wonder whether all that he had seen had been real or a trance or a particularly cruel dream. He rose to his feet, choosing a bit of black cloth with orange trim from the bag next to his pallet and securing it around his waist before he stepped outside. The grounds were thick with his kind, their numbers far greater than they had been since they had fled their home, and an excited flutter bloomed in Mmur's stomach at the sight. It had to be true.

He scanned the crowd, looking for any familiar figures in the crush of bodies. Perhaps he should have hoped for more. While plenty of the horsemen he saw were familiar to him, none of them were the soldier he'd hoped he would find. Mmur spun quickly, intending to head back to the tent before he came across any mindless scavengers or Conquest busybodies, but instead he froze in place and forgot to breathe when he saw who had crept up behind him.

"I thought you were a dream," Mmur said, recovering quickly, teeth flashing in a pale crescent across his dark face. Despite his cheerful demeanor and frequent cluelessness, even he was not immune to the truly idiotic, even if it came out of his own mouth. Hadan shook his head and uttered a low chuckle of his own, a sound that sent a ghost of a shiver up Mmur's spine. He felt the need to add, "No, really. I did."

By now, Hadan had ventured close enough to touch, but before Mmur could do so, the larger horseman took his hand and placed it on his scarred forearm. "Flesh and bone," he said, his low, dark voice sweeping over Mmur like a sandstorm. "I had to be to carry you home. You may look like little more than a twig, but you weigh as much as your mount."

Mmur ignored the jibe quite unintentionally, more intent on running his clawed fingers up the other horseman's arm now that he had been invited to, his faint smile broadcasting his contentment. "I knew you would come back to me," he murmured, moving closer until their bodies touched.

"Which was it? Was I a dream or did you know I would return?" Hadan quipped. He didn't verbally object to Mmur's intrusion, but he did look around covertly to see if anyone was watching them.

"Nobody cares what you do. Hm, except me." Mmur quickly rose up onto his toes and pressed his lips to Hadan's, wrapping his arms tightly around his best friend's shoulders when the other soldier deepened their kiss. They remained locked together for several minutes, long enough for a young, twittering priestess to notice, and when they finally pulled apart, Hadan gave her a seething glare and tugged Mmur into the tent behind them.

He had never been so happy to follow orders in his life.