It didn't seem to make a difference. Not in the slightest. Minutes would turn to hours, hours to days, days to weeks, weeks to months, and yet still time didn't feel like it was moving. She felt like she was going nowhere, even though the woman with long dark crimson hair knew that it was nothing more than a feeling. While it still felt like only yesterday that she stepped off that airplane and onto the foreign soil of this world she was learning to live in and accept as her home, in all reality, it had been nearly three months when all that she once knew and loved had to be left behind. There weren't words enough that she could find to describe the melancholy that filled her heart and soul to their very core. She missed her true home, missed her parents in a way that she never thought she would have to. Leaving Ireland had never been part of her plans, even in spite of how troubling things became for The Carrick Family. And for what? As hard as she would try to look back through the years, she still could not quite understand why it was that they'd been hunted to such lengths that it has driven them to a point where they were left wondering who could be trusted and who couldn't. Living in that constant uncertainty, never knowing when the next tragedy would strike and force them into fleeing yet again... it was hard to say the least. The Hands Of Balor only seemed to grow stronger as they converted those that they could into following what Maera and so many others only ever described as their cult. Every witch and warlock knew about them, that they sought complete control over a magic to reign down over Ireland. Anyone that refused to convert, to pledge unwavering alliegence to what they believed to be theirs for the taking, were made into targets. So many innocent lives had been lost... So many family had been broken... Her family was no exception to the atrocities that plagued their kind, her aunt and uncle having been among the first of those gruesome murders meant to mark "the beginning of a new era", or so The Hands Of Balor had proclaimed.

Very few had survived that night, the little rural town reduced to ash and rubble. It had been a miracle in and of itself that Killian had been able to escape and find shelter on the small farm Maera and her parents lived on and tended to. It was buried in the hills and miles away from a small town still untouched by the wickedness that had risen, and so while news of all the bloodshed and devastation did not go unheard, fear had yet to grasp at the minds of those that lived a calm existence there. Learning of the deaths that befell her aunt and uncle, seeing the mourning and loss in Killian's eyes, it had hurt Maera's heart more than she could ever put into words. He had always been more like a brother to her than a cousin, the two always excited when the opportunity would come that one would visit the other. All those imaginary adventures they'd gone on as children growing up together, all those stormy days spent cooped up indoors and still somehow finding games to play until they were so tired from all the laughing that they would pass out wherever they happened to be... Those were some of the best memories that she carried with her always, ever since he left for a new life and even more so now that she was an ocean and a world away from her parents. Now, she held tightly onto the memories of her childhood. What she wouldn't give to wake up one morning and find herself still in that familiar bedroom back on her mother and father's farm only to look out her window and see the rolling hills of Ireland, Nóra - the family's beloved Clydesdale mare - contentedly grazing beneath one of the many trees as the sun would rise in the east, painting the sky in shades of fading violet as brilliant gold colored the horizon, and a new day began. This was not just a bad dream, though. She knew that. The tears in her parents' eyes had been real, the fear for their only child practically tangible as they wrapped her in one last hug before ushering her through the airport gate."We'll join you there soon, Mare-Bear. We promise". Those were the last words her mother had said, and yet Maera knew better than to let herself become certain that they would be able to fulfill that promise.

Another restless night spent wondering if they were alright, if they were even still alive was what drove young woman from her three bedroom house earlier than it typically did. With slender hands tucked loosely into the pockets of her black windbreaker jacket and the navy blue lightweight acoustic guitar case containing what had quickly become a comfort in the form of a deep blue stagg dreadnought slung across her petite frame, she took to the now familiar yet still strange paved streets of the city. There was only one destination in mind for Maera; Hyde Park. It was the closest thing she could find that was far enough away from the loud and harsh noises of Sacrosanct, and it was where she could find some degree of peace while outdoors to practice her growing talents. The sound of talons against nylon have her craning her neck to turn and look over her to her right shoulder, an affectionate smile curling her lips as blue-green eyes like the ocean water surrounding her homeland rest upon the blue slate pigeon proudly perched there."Beautiful morning, isn't it Eurostar?", she says to the bird, her soft voice heavy with that tell-tale Irish accent that only came natural to her. As if he understood her, the pigeon bellowed a deep coo, smokey blue-grey feathers ruffled in a gentle morning breeze likely as a result of the slight spring chill. There is a light that finds the depth of her gaze and a warmth that washes over her as she laughs quietly at her only friend's wordless reply, watching him lovingly for a moment before turning back to read the street signs while she walked on, doing her best to ignore the curious glances of those that walked past her. Pigeons weren't really common pets here in the city, if anything only ever earning a poor name for themselves like "flying rats", but then again they weren't necessarily common companions back in her hometown either. So, in the end, she couldn't fault the silent and mostly unfriendly strangers that would cast unsure looks her way. If there was one thing she had come to learn in her time living here in the city, it was that many of the people in it weren't particularly warm or friendly. It had been a bit of a culture shock for Maera at first, but now, it was just another part of this lost day to day life that she meandered aimlessly through.

The sun had nearly risen above the steel buildings by the time that she and her feathered friend reached the entrance of their little sanctuary. Here, the air was cleaner. No, it wasn't crisp and clean like the air in Ireland, but it was better than the stagnate winds that twisted through the concrete jungle. Her spirits lift as she begins her journey down the dirt path, hardly worried when Eurostar leaps from her shoulder with white flights outstretched and takes to the sky, happily circling above the trees nearby. It couldn't be clearer to Maera that he was enjoying his morning flight, taking up with a group of wild fantails that burst from the sheltering boughs of an old oak and fly into the rising sun. She walks leisurely towards where she knew there was a little pond and a bench, having been there many times before and often for hours on end contentedly strumming at the strings of her guitar with no one around other than Eurostar. However, when she makes her way around a bend in the trail, she stops in her tracks as ocean eyes rest upon a man sitting there, a surprise woven into her features as she pulls her right hand from her jacket pocket to tuck a strand of dark crimson hair behind her ear. Of all the times that Maera had come here, she'd never seen anyone here before, especially considering how far off the main path this quiet place was. On any other day, she would have simply turned and walked away to find another place to sit and play her guitar. And yet, there was something about this stranger sitting there alone and seemingly lost in thought or perhaps just enjoying the sunrise with his gaze fixated upon the horizon that kept her there, gentle curiosity chasing away her initial shock as she watched him.

It was hard for her to describe what it was about this stranger she'd never seen before that had her studying him, why it was that he seemed different from the ever-changing sea of nameless faces that filled the city's streets, but whatever it was... it caused her to take one slow step after another towards him before she was entirely aware of the subconcious decision she'd made. Would he just turn out to be cold and uncaring like every other stranger she's come across since moving here? Would he tell her to go away? Or... would he invite her to sit with him? And if he did invite her to sit with him, what would he want to talk about? So many questions flickered through her mind, and yet she pushes them away as the distance between them grows ever smaller."Good morning. I see I'm not the only early bird to be exploring the park today", she says warmly as she calls out to him, hopeful that she wouldn't startle him. He looked like he was deep in thought, and not many appreciated interruptions from unknown faces - or so it seemed here, anyway. She stops a small distance away, offering the man a soft smile as she stands there, not quite sure what else to say. Suddenly, movement from the corner of her eye catches her attention, nothing but a blur of smokey silver-blue and white that only takes her mind a second to register as Eurostar. No sooner than the pigeon, brazen and fearless, flares out two-toned wings to slow his sudden descent and makes his landing on the man's knee does Maera move to grasp the bird in her hands and remove him, uncertain on how the man would react."I'm so sorry about that! He's not normally so... forward", she apologizes quickly, a light yet slightly nervous note of laughter tumbling over her lips as she pulls the feathered creature towards her chest and allows for Eurostar to wiggle free and perch upon her shoulder. Well, that's one way to make an introduction.