When her mother died Vela had made the starry woman a promise... A promise of love and devotion... One of Loyalty and Strength... A promise that she would now and forever look after the gift that she had given her eldest daughter... A gift Vela had no idea was coming... A gift that would transcend any bond... The gift of her sister.

So when time passed her her little sister grew into a yearling the silver wolf knew they had to leave the home they ever knew and explore the world... Just as Astrea said to do. So she and her sister had left the small island and came upon the shores of the mainland and this... Well this was their first stop...

And what a stop...  Vela looked up at the night sky, her duel toned eyes eyes tracing the path of the stars... But the longer she stood there the more uneasy she grew, even surrounded by the twinkling lights that reminded her of the very things she looked to now. She had moved away from the camp she had set up for the night and found a quite place where she could think... could find council with the wisest being she ever knew. "What is it you wanted us to find mother?" She asked the stars softly, not wanting to break the calm of the night. She didn't understand what the mystic had wanted... Couldn't fathom what the starry wolf saw to set a near panicked tone in her voice, even now Vela can hear her voice...

'Lala, you and your sister cannot live here the rest of your life...' Her voice had been weak as if she didn't even have the strength to draw breath... 'You must take your sister when she is older and you must find your path... As I have....' Not knowing what else to do Vela agreed with her mother, would promise her anything if only she would rest... But it had been a futile effort, after Vela agreed to what she asked Astrea took one last shuttering breath and grew still...

And even now that last moment with the wolf who had been her world filled her with sorrow... Vela lifted her head then, giving out a mournful song, living up to the name her mother called her in nothing but affection. She had once told Vela ' You know Lala when I named you I was looking into the night sky, trying to find the perfect name for you... When you started to give a soft howl.' Vela had tilted her head at her mother who gave a soft chuckle. 'And when I looked up at the sky... Well I just knew.' She pointed a paw to a constellation of stars. 'Those are your stars Vela, they bare your name; but to me you will forever be Lala, my singing pup.'

And so on this anniversary of her mothers death Vela would give the Star Maiden a song. "I miss you mama..."

The island home that had been all of the world the young wolf knew, had been a hard place to leave. She knew every rock and nock and how to chase the waves. She knew how the wind had once called to an Auntie they had never met, and the water had once lapped at the blue paws of a wolf who called to it. There had been so many stories of their family. Some had been told by their mother, in the short time she had known her. Those stories where faint, and riddled with the imagination of a young pup until she could no longer straight out what she had truly been told or made up. The rest of the stories in her head where from Vela, her beloved sister, who spoke softly of the stars, and left the taste of wonder in her young sisters mouth. That was how she had persuaded Lyrae that leaving was the best option. She had told Lyrae stories, entranced her from her home with promise of adventure in a larger land. How could she ever resist her sister? Who made everything sound wonderous and new. She walked quietly at her sisters side, trying to fight the urge to wander and explore. When her older sister took her to the side of a lake, and she looked up in wonder at the stars as they moved and danced across the sky in a way they never had before. They looked almost amber, instead of the pale silvers that matched her sisters coat. Her mouth parted slightly as she took in this strange and wonderful sight before her. “How-” but as she looked at Vela she would notice the dreamy quality to her sisters face, to the barely-whispered words that fell from her lips, to faint for the younger wolf to catch. When she threw back her head and howled their mothers name, Lyrae felt a strange mixture of emotions in her blood, sorrow and triumph, though she couldn’t name their cause. All she knew was the call that prompted her to raise her head, and cry out to the starry sky, adding her voice to the silky, powerful cry of her sisters. Speech

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So absorbed in her own grief that she had missed the soft wonder from the younger figure behind her. But she did not miss when her sister added her voice to the mournful song. When the song ended she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, when she felt calm once more she opened her eyes and looked to her sister. "I thought you where asleep little sis." She looked around them seeing the fireflies floating over the water. "Though I don't blame you your sleeplessness." She got to her paws then, walking softly to her sister, she would press her nose to her sisters skull before she looked back up at the stars. She thought of the many nights she had with her mother that looked much like this one... Thought of the so few Ly had... She wondered if she remembered their mom... She had been so young when the starry woman had died... "Have I ever told you of how mama named you?" Vela remembered it like it was yesterday... It was soon after her sister had been born on a night much like this one... The three of them under the stars... Though Lyrea wouldn't remember, she had only been a few days old... It was one of the few moments where they where all three together.

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Because she was watching her sister, she saw as she closed her eyes, and found herself wondering what went through the older wolf’s thoughts. No doubt it was their mother at the forefront, the howl at the stances indicated that. She too thought of their mother, the starry woman who was shimmering and ghostly in her memories, not real and substantial as she wished she was. She wasn’t sure if she remembered her voice, or if it was Vela’s voice that overlapped her memories. Her sister was far more real to her then their mother had ever been. It didn’t diminish the love she held for their mother. She decided, as she looked at her sisters mournful expression, that it did soften the blow of her absence. As Vela opened her eyes and looked at her, Lyrae let her waggle a little behind her, a hopeful gesture. “I wanted to see what you where doing” she was ever curious of her older sister, who clearly understood both the world and the stars with a clarity Lyrae hadn’t learnt yet. She followed Vela’s gaze across the lake, and the strangely-lit and floating stars that danced and frolicked in the air above it. She looked up at her older sister as she closed the distance between them, pressing her cold nose to her forehead. Lyrae squealed playfully and ducked away from the cold touch, though she didn’t put any distance between them. “No, Lala, I want to know!” she craved every story she could hear about their mother or the stars. She fell into the nickname she had heard vaguely in her memories for her sister and loved. She fell back on that nickname a lot, and spoke it with pride for the sister she loved. Speech

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Speech

A new land, is what he was graced with. Soils that have never been tainted by his massive paws, shifted beneath his weight. A new world, evidently meant a new start. No one here knew him, no one knew where he had come from. This was a new beginning, a new chapter to written by him, and only him. No expectations to amount to, no name to live up to. He could forge his own future, and that was what he had intended to do.

The sun had vanished, giving way to the starry night. Dimly glowing lanterns surrounded the lazy moon, freeing it from loneliness. Far from what Dhenuka felt. Eyes of orange cast the heavens.. Almost enviness of the black canvas, every night it was never alone, it always had the moon or stars to fill the abyss.. A snort left his brown nostrils in disapproval. But instantly, chocolate dipped  ears shifted forward, catching the sweet, soft, saddened lullaby. And mid song, another chimed in. A beauitful melody, that only drew the man closer.

Paws of gold carried him closer to the waters, fireflies danced in unspoken rythm. Flickering like pixies, told in a old wives tale. It did not take long, before his own optics landed upon, who he assumed, the culprits of the beautiful song. Both, drastictly different in color.. yet seemingly the same. Perhaps related in some way shape or form? Slowly he would lower to his haunches. Eyes rolling over the lighter one first, then the darker. Taking in their unique, and distinguishing markings.  No smile apparent on his face, nor any other form of any sort of emotion..

Such a beautiful night, isn't it ladies? Although, why the sad song?

His tone deep, and the words rolled so smoothly from his tarnished tongue. It was obvious he was merely jumping to assumptions that they had been the source.

Vela smiled softly as her sister jumped at the chance to listen to her story. A soft chuckle lifted as she settled on her haunches preparing to tell her, "Well it was a few days after your birth when, you, mother, and I where sitting on the cliff outside our home. She had been watching the stars as she did often when..." But her story was interrupted by the voice of another. She jumped slightly, her head whipping toward where the voice originated. She quickly got to her paws and moved in front of her sister, protecting the younger woman with her body... They had never encountered anyone before on their secluded island... This was the first stranger she and her sister had ever seen before and she did not like the fact that he came out of nowhere and had gotten so close without her even sensing him... She would not be making that mistake again, not when it could mean her sisters safety.

She lowered her head slightly and moved her paws so she was well balanced. "Yes, it is." She looked to the stars, her eyes tracing them then quickly returning to the male. "The night is clear and the stars bright." And when he asked a very personal question she was tempted to not respond... But no matter how weary she was about him she could not bring herself to be rude. "It was a song for the Star Maiden, she once walked this earth... But now she is gone... And I sing my sorrow to her." She once again looked up and found the star that only seemed to start shinning as bright after her mothers death. "She is up in the stars." But once again her eyes did not linger on the stars for long as she once more looked to the male her duel colored eyes once again watching for any move of aggression. "Now that you know why I sing, I must ask, what brings you out here?"

Lyrae wiggled for a moment in excitement, before falling still and silent. Storytelling was he best way to calm and silence the girl, because she always gave the storyteller all of her attention. Her head tilted just slightly as she watched her sister, eyes wide and curious with her endless and young need to know. The story was just getting started when suddenly Vela stopped, and Lyrae lowered her ears in disappointment. It wasn’t like her sister to suddenly stop, so she turned her head around, searching for the distraction. She hadn’t heard the man speak, so caught up in her sisters story, and she looked at him now. He was golden and interesting, so different from the stary colors of herself and her sister. She growled at him. Rude as that was, he had messed up story time! Her sister began to speak to the stranger, and Lyrae let her short lived growl fall silent, moving into her sisters side as she looked at the stranger. Her sister stood a few inches taller than her, and Lyrae was able to stand completely in her shadow. She was safe and secure there as she looked out at the man with growing curiosity Speech

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