Solveiga felt hollow. She walked slowly toward Celestial territory, alone. She and her traveling companion had parted ways soon after returning to the mainland, which was probably for the best. At the time, Solveiga thought she needed some time alone with her thoughts. But now, no thoughts came. She and Báine had traveled to her childhood home, Nephilim Island. She had wanted to check in on her beloved mother, now that her brother had proven impossible to find. Solveiga had believed that her mother was the only family she had left. But now... The pale woman came to an eventual stop in the middle of the moors. She knew that the boundary to Celestial was only a few minutes further, but she just couldn't. She couldn't walk any further. She couldn't walk into the territory that had become her new home. She couldn't let everyone see her like this. With how empty she felt, she could only imagine how she must look. Slowly, Solveiga sat, and lifted her head to the heavens. She swallowed hard, fighting against the lump in her throat and the tremor in her lip. But it seemed that the sky had become one with her, as it abandoned its cheerful blue light in favor of something more dismal and bleak. Solveiga sat there for minutes on end and watched the clouds roll in. By the time the distant thunder began to reach her ears, her normally clear blue eyes had flooded with tears. She didn't know what to do. Her mother was dead. Her brother was gone. She felt so hollow and alone and, in that moment, entirely meaningless. Did anyone care? Did she even have anyone at all? The tears became too heavy, and they began to fall, and before Solveiga lowered her head she let out a long, low cry, a song of mourning that slowly took on a name. She was calling for the first true friend she had found in this place. The man she had met in these very moors. "Talk" "You" Think

-::-

He had been hunting, a pair of rabbits dangling from his jaws; the fruits of his and Cinder’s labors, and now he and the cat were headed toward the den. Hopefully, these would stay down in his mother and Kieryn’s bellies. But that thought blew out of his mind when he heard the low, mournful call from the Moor. Solveiga? He dropped the rabbits, barking for Kavdaya to take them before he whirled on his haunches and took off, Cinder choosing to stay behind to guide the healer to the kills. He didn’t know what was up; only knew that his friend was hurting, if it was anything to go by in her voice, so he didn’t check his speed as he spirited across the plains, fur billowing, head and tail streamlined. He still took several minutes to reach the borders, and he tore through the heather, for once not bothering to try moving in his usual near silent pace. The weather was turning, the sky dimming as thunder echoed in the distance. But he finally found her, skidding to a halt and looking around her, hackles bristled and jowls half lifting to threaten a growl and whatever had hurt Solveiga. But it was just her there, and she looked as though someone had cracked her in two. He didn’t need to think to know what to do next, and he was wrapped around the little healer in an instant, offering what comfort he could, though he still didn’t know what was wrong. Something horrible, though… “Sol, what happened? What’s wrong?” His voice pleaded in a low tone for an answer as he sought her face with fathomless sapphires, brow points furrowed, ears fallen back against his head.

Minutes passed, enough time for Solveiga to start telling herself that he wasn't going to come. She sat in the moors alone and cried, her soft sobs drowned out by the thunder in the distance. No rain had begun to fall, but more than a few tears had found their way to the earth. She envisioned the uneven earth that had covered the body of her mother, the small bouquet of purple and white hyacinth that could only have been laid down by her brother. He and Solveiga were the only two who could have known that hyacinth were her favorite flowers. The kind of burial their mother deserved. And she had missed it by nearly a week, judging by how the flowers had wilted. The woman trembled as another sob took over her, and moments later he came to rescue her. Regulus came running as fast as he could, looking around to make sure no one was physically trying to hurt her. And then, before she could even look up at him, the crimson male had wrapped himself around her. She drew in a trembling breath and let one more sob fall past her lips as she leaned fully against him. She let him support her as she grieved, as her heart struggled to stay in one piece. Her baby blue eyes stayed closed until his low, gentle voice reached her ears and she slowly looked up. Her vision was a bit blurry, but she could still see his beautiful blue eyes looking into her own. He looked concerned. Was he really worried? About her? She swallowed hard and blinked more tears away. "My... my mother..." she managed to say, before yet another sob hit her and she buried her face in his chest, trying to seek solace in his warmth and his strength. But she still felt like she was falling, with nothing to hold on to. When again she found the ability to speak, it was in only a small, fragile whisper. "She's gone, she passed on and I had no idea until now... I have no family left, I..." With that she ran out of things to say. All she could do now was mourn, and hope that the sun would come out again at the end of this storm. "Talk" "You" Think