With Myriad well in-the-running and her position as the secondary alpha comfortably settled into, her life seemed complete. A man she loved and led beside, a pack to call home, a family - well, that part wasn't so complete. Some days the empty spaces where her sister and mother would have been go unnoticed, though on other days they don't. It was almost as if an aura of coldness drifted over her, reminding her of the two wolves she had betrayed. In fact, her heart still felt broken, missing a couple pieces. One for her mother and the other for her sister.

Until this day she had managed to push the thoughts away. They were gone for good. They weren't coming back. Why would they? Only to be reunited with her then abandoned by her foolish choices? Today she couldn't hold it back anymore. Following a quick scout of the pack's borders, she skirted to the next territory, entering the rogue lands. She had to search. She just had to. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night without knowing she had searched every crack and crevice of the continent. Today she began that search.

It was hardShe felt so uncertain of her future... What lay ahead. She missed her siblings, yes, but could she face them? In a sense she had betrayed them all, seeking their mother out when Ren and Nixie needed her by their side. Zephyra had gone with Riv, with their mother’s blessing and then... Everything fell apart. She didn’t understand. She wasn’t sure she wanted to anymore.

She lingered in the south, perhaps in hopes that she might catch a glimpse of one of her siblings. Kait longed to see them again, even if she didn’t voice that desire aloud. She drifted, still not entirely well herself. Her sickness, more of the mind and heart than the body, was one that wouldn’t be cured by staying alone. Somewhere deep within Kait knew that... But there was part of her that didn’t know if she was ready to go back to the way things were just yet.

The girl lifted her head, a scent on the breeze giving her pause. At first Kait wanted to dismiss it as simple longing and nothing more. But then it grew stronger, coming her way. Kaitlyn rose from the grasses, her green gaze searching the landscape for the form of her sister. Then she saw her. Zephyra -- there was no mistaking that figure. She frowned with uncertainty, a whine given at the sight of her larger sister. Part of her wanted to run to Zeph and bury her head in her shoulder... And the other just wanted to lie down... To pretend that she hadn’t seen her at all.

Kait was torn, watching the figure of her larger sister. It was only a matter of time before she spotted her.

It was ironically amusing, almost in a cold, cruel way. She had always thought she was the one to blame for throwing her family into this turmoil. Acting like such a jerk to begin with, abandoning her pack and family...no wonder they had run off with not a trace in sight. She could have stayed and nursed her mother back to full health - as impossible as that would have been. She could have been for them, but had she? No, and now she suffered the consequences for such careless actions. Everyone seemed to blame themselves for the events that had unfolded. Her brother...sister - who was the culprit? Was there even someone to blame?

To be honest, sometimes she came across her sister's or mother's scent during her wanders. It wasn't until she investigated them further that she discovered the scent to be coming from a patch of herbs; a trick her mind played on her. When her nose picked up her sister's scent again, she paid it no mind. She disregarded it ever so effortlessly; no thought whatsoever. Just another clump of flowers, she thought bitterly to herself. As she continued to trek, a small, brown form registered in the corner of her vision. She almost missed the figure, for it blended in well with the monochromatic shades of green. Green paws halted, eyes narrowed as she examined the canine from afar. Great, first her ears and now her eyes. "Kait...? Is that you?" Her voice was only a bare whisper, and it was unlikely the chestnut girl would pick up her soft words. But maybe, just maybe.

Kaitlyn had frozen the moment she saw her sister’s lips move. She did not hear her soft whisper but she somehow knew that her sister had spoken her name. She shivered in place, her green eyes holding a guilty look within them. She would move, almost automatically, towards her sister. Kait frowned deeply, a soft whine leaving her throat. It had been long... So long since she’d interacted with anyone. The loneliness, the emptiness was getting the better of her. She didn’t want to be alone anymore. “Z-Zeph..” Kait pretty pretty much choked on the word, her voice cracking with emotion at tears began to form in her eyes. She closed the distance between them but then stopped short, lowering her ears and her head submissively. “I’m sorry Zeph...” The smaller girl closed her eyes. “I couldn’t find her... I tried...” Her emotions were going out of whack and fast. She shuddered, appearing to be broken just like their mother was. ""

The girl seemed to understand her soft, inaudible words, as if she just knew what her name looked like. Just like how her sister appeared to approach her, almost tentatively, slowly, like a shadow, she too took a few reluctant steps forward, somehow drawn to this girl, like a moth drawn to a flame. Until, she was only a few steps away from her. She didn't want to get too close; it seemed too dangerous, too overwhelming. And then her sister spoke her name. It sounded so fragile yet so sweet. There was no anger in her words, not that she suspected such an emotion to come so easily to Kait. Only remorse. That seemed to be the main topic of all her reunions. Just blame and guilt, in themselves. "No...I'm sorry," she began in a hoarse whisper. "She left because of me. When I came back for her...you weren't there."

Kaitlyn was surprised when Zeph said that their mother left because of her. She gave another soft whine, ears remaining in a lowered position as she watched her sister. “Ren said mother’s mind was broken...” Her words were incredibly quiet, as if she didn’t want to speak aloud the truth. “Zeph I’m scared.” The small female whispered. She met her sister’s pink gaze with her green eyes, a whine passing her lips. Did she dare confide in her sister her secret fears? “I... I think I might be broken too.” Kaitlyn looked away from Zephyra then, claws digging into the earth. “I searched for mom... But I started... Feeling so many negative things...” Kait closed her eyes. “I want these bad thoughts to stop...” Her voice was barely a whisper now as she tried to closer the remaining distance between her and Zephyra, unsure if the other girl would pull away or allow her to place her head against her shoulder. ""

Not much her sister uttered was news to the alphess. She had heard those words so many times before, spoken by her brother. "I know..." she whispered, her throat starting to dry up. "That's why I came back. I thought I could make Mum unbroken; help her get better." The rest she didn't need to say; her sister could piece the story together. She should have visited earlier to stop her mother from leaving. She shouldn't have left at all.

Then the chestnut-furred girl confessed that she had been inflicted with this mental sickness too. Oh dear, this wasn't good. Hopefully it wasn't contagious...or perhaps she had been affected this entire time without knowing anything about it. No, surely not. She felt fine. She acted fine. She thought fine. She wasn't going to run away like her mother, nor was she going to let this sickness get to her sister. She was going to stay with her until she recovered, never leaving her side. "It's okay," she told her in a soothing, comforting voice, letting her sister rest against her shoulder. "Riv and I lead a pack. Ren's there, so is Nixie. Our healer, Armai will be able to help you." She finished with a soft whine. "Please come. We can be a family again." The words must have sounded so strange for her sister to hear coming out of her lips, but she meant everything she said.

Kaitlyn listened to her sister as shes spoke. So Zeph thought she could help... That was why she came back. Kaitlyn had wished, with all her heart, that Zephyra had never left. She knew that her sister had her own life to live, and though she didn’t blame Zeph for what had happened with their mother she had wished for her sister’s support during that time. Not that any of them were as close as siblings should have been... But still... Kait shivered. She kept her head against her sister’s body, drawing comfort from her taller sibling. So Riv and Zeph... Lead a pack? Ren was there, and Nixie too. A place she could call home... A place they culd be a family again. Kaitlyn gave a slow, although uncertain nod. She wasn’t sure if going to her sister’s pack was going to help make her better... But she was scared of being alone. Scared of facing the darkness that lurked around the corner. “I’ll come...” Kaitlyn drew back, focusing her attention on Zeph’s pink gaze. “I’m so tired of being alone Zeph... I want to feel safe like I did when Mom ruled Borealis...” Back when they were little and the future looked bright. Before everything changed. “Is... Is Armai nice?” She asked. Kait knew at some point she’d need to figure out what she could do to help the pack... But right now she just wanted to get better... And surely Zeph understood that. ""

When the girl uttered those two words, the two words she wanted to hear most, the alphess almost crushed her sister in a tight embrace. A sigh of relief exhaled through her nose as tears streamed down her face. The emotions that she had been bottling up inside, trying to contain, had all come undone. Though she didn't care. Showing her raw emotions wasn't something to be ashamed of, at least not now. Not when she was just reunited with her sister. "Thank you," she whispered, voice cracking. Then it was her turn to listen as the smaller girl asked her a question. She hadn't yet personally met the pack's healer, as guilty as that seemed, though she didn't want to create any doubt in her sister's decision. She was coming to Myriad to join the rest of their family, and that was that. "Yes, of course...everyone is."

Kaitlyn could feel the raw power in her sister’s hold, but she welcomed the near-crushing embrace. She finally felt safe again, her heart feeling lighter as she was held by her much larger sibling. Kait closed her eyes, nuzzling against Zeph as she listened to her. She could hear the raw emotion in her voice, as well as feel it radiating from her sister’s form. The fact that Armai was going to be nice... And everyone else in the pack... That made Katie feel a bit better too. She smiled, looking up at Zeph as her tail slowly began to wag back and forth. She was going to a new home... But she’d be with family again. She wasn’t going to be alone. “We’ll stick together from now on... All of us.” She gave a happy whine. “Lets go home Zeph.” She was eager to get out of this place... Get to somewhere she could feel more secure... And more importantly catch up with her black and green sister on what she’d been doing since she’d left home. {{Ooc:: Sorry for the icky post. ;;}} ""