[ToxicShadow]

As they reached the top of the stairs, they were immediately greeted by Aggoth, whom was relieved to see the leader's return. "Our Queen. You made it back." The words came first, before his muted orange gaze shifted, specifically, toward the child being carried by Nero.

The female exhaled heavily through her nose, her version of huffing or sighing while her mouth was full, brushing past the male and stepping just inside the cavern. There, she finally set the young child down.

[ToxicShadow]

Though finally freed from the others' grasp once more, Fallyn wasn't sure what to do from there, and turned to really get a good look at her savior. She stared at Nero for a considerably long moment, before the older one seemed to smile down at her.

"What is it, Little One?" Nero questioned.

"I... I don't know what to do," Fallyn admitted, and she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes once more, as she was reminded again of the gravity of her situation.

[ToxicShadow]

There was nothing left. Her mother and everyone else were gone. Even the remains of their homes were in shambles, and it would be no surprise if things had been ransacked before being burned or torn down. There was nothing and no one to return to, even if she had the strength and ambition to do so.

Seeing the child's eyes turn glassy, Nero reached forward with her paw, uncertain at first, and pulled the child in close, unsure of how else to comfort her. Hopefully, this would do.

[ToxicShadow]

Fallyn did not resist the gesture from the older female, instead burying her face in her mostly red fur, finding the warmth and the very faint scent of her mother that still lingered on the other one, if nothing else, at least a bit comforting. She really needed that hug right now.

Aggoth had followed after the leader of the sect with only a moment's delay, and once he came to stand to the side of her, Nero eyed him, though she still held the little one close.

[ToxicShadow]

"Aggoth, I told you not to call me that," she said to him when he stepped up beside her, obviously referring to the way that he had greeted her when she returned. "Do not bother with Queen or King, just call me Nero."

How many times had she told him already? Although it was not a big deal, it was getting annoying and she didn't miss the opportunity to remind him, in spite of the situation at hand.

[ToxicShadow]

The older male did not verbally acknowledge her words, but remained in silence for a moment. She told him time and time again but, always, once more. But he'd said those words before, and she only complained more, so he didn't say them out loud this time around.

Besides, it was not a pressing matter. Instead, he was wondering about this small child that the leader had brought up with her, and was carefully examining what he could of her as she was pressed up against Nero.

[ToxicShadow]

"This is the only survivor of the clan that had been attacked," Nero then explained, seeming aware of what was on the male's mind without him even needing to say it out loud. "Her mother gave up her life in order to buy her time, to protect her, and sent me to find her with her last breaths." It was an honorable for Fallyn's mother to take. Surely, her quick thinking in hiding her child away while diverting the enemy was what had ultimately saved the child's life.

[ToxicShadow]

Aggoth nodded his head, expressing that he took in her words. "I see."

"Since she's the last of her clan, it has already been decided. She is one of us now," Nero told him, without any hesitation at all. No one would doubt her choice, and Nero certainly did not doubt her own.

The older male had honestly been expecting as much. They were not a family unit here, but individuals from different walks of life that came together for their friendship and survival.

[ToxicShadow]

Nero was the Demon King, the leader of another group that she left behind after being unable to save them and change their horrible ways, while Aggoth and Vayde both came from different paths, too.

Aggoth had survived many, many years all alone, while Vayde was an abused outcast from his own former clan. It was Nero that brought them and the others together. So, of course, taking in the orphaned child of the destroyed clan seemed like the natural thing for them to do.

[ToxicShadow]

"I have taken her in, myself," Nero clarified then. Instead of leaving it up to the entire group to take responsibility for raising Fallyn collectively, she would take on the role of her being her parent.

That didn't stop others from helping to raise her in some ways, of course, but Nero thought it important for the young one to have someone to specifically see as her own family member.

The leader was inexperienced with such, but decided to do her best.

[ToxicShadow]

Aggoth was not entirely able to hide his shock when he heard Nero say that she, herself, would take in the orphaned child. It coming down to that, Nero specifically taking the child in as her own daughter, was actually not something that he had managed to see coming. And, thus, he was not all that sure on how to respond.

"Is that... okay with you, little one?" Nero leaned her head down to speak softly to the young one that had stayed against her fur, crying silently into her.

[ToxicShadow]

"I know that I can never replace your own mother, and you certainly do not have to call me anything other than Nero, but since it was your mother's last request that I save you, I..." Nero tried her best to explain her thoughts to the child, but even she was not entirely sure what was best to say in this situation.

Fallyn began to sniffle, as she attempted to stop herself from crying, as she was listening to the older female's words.

[ToxicShadow]

She needed to give some sort of response; she knew that. But it was hard.

There were so many things going through her mind right now, that it was difficult to make sense of things. Especially this new development, that this stranger that had saved her and brought her to what was, presumably, safety, was asking if it would be okay for her to take on the task of raising her. Not replacing her mother, but... essentially becoming her mother, anyway.

[ToxicShadow]

Did she even really have a choice in the matter?

Fallyn was unsure about that, if she were being honest, but... She truly felt that this older female was... a good person. While she had not known Nero for long, it was just her instinct that told her that she could trust her.

The young one managed to finally get her tears under control and pulled back from Nero, in order to look up at her and meet her gaze, and she nodded her head.

[ToxicShadow]

"My mother... did everything that she could for me. I know that," Fallyn began, trying to keep her heart steady. "Since... she entrusted me to you, I..." She could not bring herself to disagree, nor did she actually want to disagree.

In the end, the child could not finish her sentence, either, and nodded her head again.

It took her another moment of carefully sorting through her thoughts and trying to find a way to articulate herself, before thoughtfully saying, "Please... allow me to stay here. With you."