This I swear by the stars

Stars in your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness with order and light. You are the sentinels, silent and sure, keeping watch in the night. You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim. And each in your season, returns and returns, and is always the same. And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flame

If she had thought that coming back would have been this scary, she would have at least waiting until morning. At least then she would be groggy and less with it, but with the clear summer skies above her head she was as awake as possible. The purple marked woman glanced up at the sky above her, praying to the celestial bodies that she would be able to do this. It had been time for her to made a change, to really go out there and find herself. After what happened with Voltage and Ray... her purple marked ears pressed against her black head. She had been in the wrong, oh so wrong. She had left shortly after that, without a word as well. With Voltage and Glacier having had said goodbye to so many siblings, would they have let her leave if she had asked? Not wanting to take a chance, she just left. On the way back she did another sweep for Illume, but she knew that the search was futile. It was time to let it go and place it in the stars hands, only they could guide her home now. Caeli just wished that she had been able to discover this sooner. Letting out a sigh, she knew that she could not change the past, but only make best of what today had to offer her. Orange eyes cut into the horizon, and after several heartbeats she tipped back her head and let out a call for her older brothers. They deserved to know what had transpired.

"Speech!"

Caeli Elemantas

Voltage was getting tired. It was a strange feeling, he didn't often feel tired. He had this natural, innate ability to continue on with ample energy no matter what he faced in the day, or how much sleep he had gotten. It fueled his blood, and allowed him to watch the stars at night, to watch the sunrise in the morning, herb hunt in the morning, fish in the warm afternoon, get a race in in the evening and still be awake enough to watch the moon rise before he settled in for a few hours of restless sleep. He lived his life for his siblings, and his days were constantly wrapped in activities they would enjoy. And yet, he was growing tired, sitting on the cliffs and staring up at the burning stars above them. He loved his youngest sister so dearly, it almost hurt. He had seen her potential and had tried to help her out of her personal darkness, and had made it a point to spend a few hours each night at her side to watch the stars. He was always there for the first star, whether she was there or not, to spend his wish. It didn't change often, his wish. Sometimes the words changed, sometimes the emotion, but it was always essentially the same. The stars were hers, so the wish would be hers too. Each and every night, he would spy the first dim star on the horizon, close stormy eyes, hold his breath and wish, hope that one day she will be as happy as he wanted her to be. To know she had her place in this family, and she wasn't as far away from them as she felt. But he was growing tired. She had hurt him, deeply, that evening on the beach. Her words cut deep into his heart in a way nothing else had ever done. But he didn't blame her, really. She was lost, still, even if she believed she had found herself. He knew that, but sometimes those lost refused to be lead back. So he wished, to the second, third, fourth star on the sky. He was in debt to the stars, he knew. He had spent more wishes than he was alloted. But he hoped, prayed, that one of them would come true. But they never seemed too. She had disappeared, again. And it hurt. He had never felt more like a failure than he did when it came to her. He was swaying on his paws, his stormy eyes heavy and his heart aburdened with emotion. His wife was waiting, and his children, and yet he spent precious time sitting up here, beneath the stars, hoping she might hear his silent wishes. He was just raising to his paws, ready to return to his little cloud's side, when the stars called his name. Yellow grey eyes snapped open, wide, as he lifted his gaze to the stars until his tired mind realized it wasn't the stars. But it wasn't far off. "Caeli.." He whispered, almost choked, as he looked in the direction of her call. And instantly he was moving, feeling the energy course through his body again. He wasn't tired anymore. It didn't take long before he reached her, almost forgetting to stop until almost the last minute. His paws would skid in the sand, stormy eyes wide as he stared at her. He had rushed to her, and yet...he was hesitant. This was, what, the third time he had met her on the borders? Had anything changed. For a second, or maybe it was a minute, he stared at her silently, stormy eyes searching for the change, searching for his fulfilled wish, before he slowly smiled. "Welcome home." He whispered, his voice tender as he stood there, waiting for the reason she had called for them, and hoping the stars had finally heard his voice. "Burn Baby Burn"

Glacier was... annoyed at caeli, to be honest. She had upset his daughter and then without a word to him, or to his brother
She had left, without making any effort to make it right. He had been lucky that voltage had gotten to his ray soon after... his oldest had repeated a little of what both wolves had told her, and he had been immensely proud of voltages story, of his comfort to a confused child. He hadn't gotten the full story, rays memory was too flighty for a perfect recall, but he had heard enough that the memory of it made him smile. Caeli, on the other hand, had been the reason for her confusion.

With this in mind, the call of his little sister would be unexpected. He hesitated a moment, before carefully untangling himself from the bundle that made up his family. He kissed anais and aurora gently as he picked his way out of the cave, and shot ray a warning glance - she was far too light a sleeper and he didn't want her following and getting into mischief.

When he made it to the border, voltage would already be there beside her and he slowed his trot to a walk to stop beside his golden sibling, and look at his sister. So she had come back to them, again. Did she even know she had upset ray? Had upset voltage? Before she had vanished on them. He eyed her carefully, trying to judge her state of mind. Of course he loved her dearly, she was family, but for the very fact that she was family he was allowed this little pocket of annoyance he felt towards her.

This I swear by the stars

Stars in your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness with order and light. You are the sentinels, silent and sure, keeping watch in the night. You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim. And each in your season, returns and returns, and is always the same. And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flame

As she waited, she shuffled her weight across all four of her paws, trying desperately to gather all her thoughts. There was so much that she needed to say, and she wasn't quite sure how to get it all out. It was when she saw the flash of yellow that she focused on her electric brother, a tiny smile spreading her black lips. But he slowed when he neared, actually he almost collided with her, leaving her pulling her head back and blinking in surprise. He was silent for a moment, and she righted herself, orange eyes observing him as well. Before she could get any words out, he welcomed her home. Slowly, sadly, the woman shook her head back and forth. She saw Glacier approach them out of the corner of her eye, but her gaze was focused on Voltage for a moment. "Not yet, brother. Not until you think that I have earned my place back among the ranks of Dono," she said, hoping that Glacier caught her words as well. As both males settled before her, she sighed and pulled herself into a seated position. Purple and black tail curled about her, carefully taking in Glace's caution in his gaze. Oh boy, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Ears were still pinned against her head as she glanced between the two boys, and then briefly up at the stars for comfort. "I know I have wronged you, and our family. I see that now, how foolish I was being. I had thought that I had discovered myself, but I was letting too many inner thoughts get to my head. My ego was bigger than the night sky, and under that canopy I made some very unwise decision," she started softly. There was a touch more wisdom in her vocals, and her posture was relaxed and even. She blinked her orange eyes rapidly, trying to keep back the sudden flood of tears that threatened to fall. Choking up, she took another moment to collect herself. A few deep breaths followed, and then she focused on Voltage. That is when she nearly lost it, taking in his features. "What I said to you before... I am so sorry. I had no right at all to say such horrible things. I feel like there was a dark cloud covering my mind all that time, but now I have managed to push it away. You were right all along, my energetic kin. I don't know why I doubted you all this time," she let out another sigh, her head hanging slightly as the first tear fell. "I was so very lost in the darkness. You made the first pinpricks of light, but it took my conversation with Ray to really wake me up. I walked away from that and realized just what I had become. Darkness. That is not who I am, not who I am supposed to be. So I left without a word, fearing that you would hold me back from my quest. I wanted to go out and prove to you two that this time, I would come back with no more clouds. I wanted to clear my skies before coming home, to make sure that none of this would happen again," Her voice faltered then, a large nodule lodging in her throat.

When Caeli was able to look up again, her gaze wandered all the way up to her stoic brothers face. "If you would allow me too, I would like to talk to Ray again. You can be there as well if you prefer, if it makes you feel better. I need to right my wrong, brother," she said with a soft whine, eyes closing shut firmly at the thought of the girls confused face. "When I think back to those times its like I am looking through someone's eyes, and not my own. I... I don't know what set me off my path. But now, now I feel like I truly know who I am. And I know I said that last time, but this time... it feels right." Her eyes snapped open, a confidence and strength lingering in their depths. "I have gotten more in touch with my true, higher self. I remember the stories that I wanted to tell the pups, and I want to teach them about the stars. I don't want to go out like our parents did, with hardly any fond memories as their legacy. No, when I return home to the stars I want to be able to pass on our family's tales from the stories I have told. That one day our children's children's children will talk of the First Elementas, and how we ruled the world," Caeli stopped, blinking slowly as she tried to place if she had said all that she wanted to say. It felt like a whirlwind of emotions, all of this. "I guess it took me so long because I longed to be with the stars in the sky. I didn't realize that I had my own shining stars here on earth." She said fondly, once more looking from brother to brother.

"Speech!"

Caeli Elemantas

He watched her, barely letting his gaze move from her even as Glacier took his eternal spot at Voltage's side. He didn't have to look to know his brother was there, didn't have to see him in his perphial vision to know when Glacier had joined them. They were two sides of the same coin. He'd just watch as the emotion played across Caeli's face, his brows furrowed as he fought with the strong and powerful desire to wrap her in his arms and push away all the pain, just as he always tried to do with all his siblings. But she needed to feel this, she needed to grow, and he needed to let her. When she shook her head no, he could practically feel his heart break, but it was quickly followed with an explanation. She would only return if she was worthy of returning. Well, that's easy.. She spoke..a lot. More than he was used to her speaking, but it all brought a smile to his lips that he refused to hide. She had faced her challenge, and it seemed so far that she had won. He could see a new light shining from within her core, and he wanted to celebrate, but he waited, letting her speak. The idea of her talking to Ray again had him nodding his head before he paused and looked up at Glacier. It was his call to make. She had others she had to meet now, too. "Caeli.." He began, first. The emotional brother had a lot and yet so little to say, he hoped Glacier would allow him to speak first. "Sister, you've grown." He whispered softly, a happy smile on his face as he praised her. He loved her, so dearly, and she was forgiven of every fault instantly, especially since she knew she had faulted to begin with. "It is okay. I've already forgiven you. You will always have a home here, no matter what." He'd pause a moment and sigh, looking up towards the sky, before he shifted to settle down on his haunches. "I am reminded, though, that you were born in the same litter as Selini and Arcus. You all seem to have this desire to go out and find yourselves, or...find something that you don't think you'll find here. I'm glad the stars have lead you back to us. Please, sister, don't leave again." "And as your Alpha...and your big brother," He said with a smirk, eyeing her. It was almost a test, he wondered how she'd react. The last time he had said those words, it hadn't been too pretty. "I expect that you will fulfill the duties of your rank, now that you are home and in congunction with your brother and sister, to teach my sons and daughter everything that there is to know about the Elementas." He said with a smile, waiting for the news to click. Gaia hadn't been expecting when she disappeared. He hoped Glacier wouldn't be upset, but these "punishments" were tailored to suite his needs of her, and to help his own caution and lingering hurt. His brother could add to it if he wished. "And you're on babysitting duty with your sister, as punishment for leaving me again." Not that his children were hard to babysit...yet. He hoped Cirry wouldn't inherit the same genes that Illie and Ray seemed to have. "Caeli, I'm so glad you're home." "Burn Baby Burn"

She did know. She understood what her words had done to them, and she was sorry for it. Actually, that was all that glacier wanted from her. Already his stern expression was melting away, even before she had gotten around to addressing voltage and apologizing to him. The sheer fact that she knew and was sorry was enough for glacier. He had every intention of asking her to talk to ray, to explain to her properly her place in this family.

His smile broadened at caeli addressed him, and requested the chance to talk to ray. It looked like she was already taking the words right out of his mouth! And just like that, he was so glad that she had made it home to them. "Aye" glacier second when voltage agreed that she always had a home here - so that she would know the agreement was mutual.

"I would like that very much. I think one on one with her would be best. Besides, my chatty little creature will tell me if you upset her again" he said this half in amusement, and half in warning. Winking, just to keep her guessing. Voltage would say his piece,and dolt out the punishment. With Selini, glacier had been the one to say it. Now, it was voltage. The titan smiled again, a slight tilt of his lips that looked at home on his dark face. "And - you are to babysit ray when she's awake at night" he added in his own part, and knowing rays pention for trouble it wouldn't be easy for caeli.

This I swear by the stars

Stars in your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness with order and light. You are the sentinels, silent and sure, keeping watch in the night. You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim. And each in your season, returns and returns, and is always the same. And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flame

After her long winded speech, one that left her a little breathless in fact, Voltage was the first to speak up. She turned her sun fire gaze to him, observing his features as he spoke to her. There were always many emotions that covered her electric brothers face, he was one to wear his heart on his sleeve. He told her that she had grown, and Caeli felt a warm flush rush to her cheeks. Bashfully she blinked slowly, having to swallow passed the sudden emotions that rose in her throat. The last time that she had spoken with Voltage, it had not been such a civil conversation such as this one. And to be praised instead of scolded, well it made her heart soar. She stayed silent as she allowed him to speak, wanting to first hear what both brothers had to say before she answered. Standing still, she resisted the urge to glance upwards for comfort, keeping her eyes trained on Volt. At his words, more tears ran down her features, head slowly nodding back and forth. She knew that she would always have a home here, but whether or not she deserved it was another thing. She felt like after everything she had done, they had more than enough ammunition to toss her out of her rump. Not that she thought her kin would ever do that, but it was still a thought that entered her mind. They had the right to do that if they so pleased, and she knew that she had worked her way to them being in the right to toss her out. That hurt her deeply, that she had allowed it to get that bad before she had left. Letting out a soft sigh, she longed to rush to Volt so that he could hold her, or to lean up against Glacier's solid chest. But she would allow both of them to say what they wished before she moved from her place.

Blinking back to attention when Volt mentioned her being like her other siblings, a single brow rose upwards. She had never really made that connection before, but hearing it out loud made it ring loud and clear. She was just like her other siblings, and the thought made her chuckle softly. She guessed she was just like them. "It took me wandering away to find out that I was always where I belonged," she whispered, breaking her vow to wait until both males had spoken. He asked her not to leave, and slowly she nodded her head up and down. No, she was done with leaving. Volt wasn't done there though, and she waiting for her punishment. She had a feeling there would be one, Caeli was just waiting for it. He first started by saying as her alpha, which made her ears flick backwards. Oh yes, Alpha Voltage. She remembered that well. Her orange eyes flickered away from his face, but she said nothing. She kept on listening, ears turned towards him, but her gaze was on the sand beside her. Until. Wait... sons and daughters? Eyes flew wide as her head snapped back up to attention, blinking rapidly at her electric brother. "S-sons and daughters? You had puppies!" she exclaimed, her purple and black tail wagging behind her. Oh she had no idea! That was very exciting, and she would take her duties with ease. "Of course, Alpha Voltage," she said softly, offering him a wink. "Have they been named yet? Did I miss that in my travels?" she asked in a soft whine. That had been one of her jobs. If they had been, she vowed that she would teach them about their family, and about their own elements.

Her gaze turned to Glacier as he spoke, and his words left her with mixed emotions. She fixed him with a stern, quiet look, before a smile split her black lips. Apparently her niece had taken on her love for the night, and she nodded her head as she accepted her task. "Of course, brothers."

"Speech!"

Caeli Elemantas