"How did we even get here... It feel so long ago..."
Looking at the small calendar on the wall, her slender fingers tracing the date. It was not a particularly special day, no important arrangements, no anniversaries or events, but the day still clung to her memory strongly. It was this day, seemingly a lifetime ago, that the young Xaela had walked away from her tribe, leaving behind any semblance of her namesake. A Kagon still, but exiled and alone.
The decision had not been as difficult as she'd thought at the time. There was no one left to protect the village omen, and it would only have been a matter of time before she was driven out or killed, despite the Khan as her own father. He would not meet her gaze, and the moments the man's attention did fall upon his daughter, it was cold and filled with contempt for her very birth. Coming into this world had taken her mother in return, and the Khan could not accept that loss.
He did not mourn Isanii's departure. Rather it had been a weight off the man's shoulders. For her, it changed little as the priestess had long since forgiven her father, even for all his hate and failures to be a parent to her. Instead those that had raised her, a family friend to her mother, had filled that place, and until their expected deaths, she had accepted a very simple and quiet life.
Now Isanii travelled alone, seeking out the last shard of family she'd known, her elder brother, who had not been found among the dead, and possibly survived out somewhere in the world. Where he was, the young woman had no idea, and despite being barely a teenager she ventured out anyways.
"I should visit him."
The thoughts stirring a reminder to pay her brother a visit. Years had passed, enduring the best and worst at the hands of other people, seeing true kindness and unbearable cruelty, but always continuing forward, forgiving and learning. That unshakable mindset had been the core strength that kept the poor girl going. In the end it had been worth it, and while her brother was not the boy she'd once known, broken and warped from his captive life, he was still her precious brother, and slowly the relationship had been mended. His recovery would have many hurdles still to cross, but Isanii was determined to be there to support him. They were family, regardless of blood.
A soft smile would grace her pale lips and quietly the Xaela turned from her calendar, taking a deep breath and giving a hearty nod. "Alright, lets make some treats and then we can go visit him." With renewed energy she reached for her apron and meandered into the kitchen, the moment of reflection passing as if on a gentle breeze, memories left in the past where they belonged, leaving room for new ones to come.
Just another pleasant day.
