"Aslatiel" After hearing from Tamsyn and seeing the wounds on Briar's neck, Aslatiel needed to have a talk with her father. She was more than a little upset with him. He was supposed to be the adult. He was supposed to be taking care of them. Not the other way around. Freshly two years old and she would be leading the Armada. Not that she wasn't capable, but it shouldn't have been her responsibility. Not yet. The command hadn't been given, but Sirius wasn't in the right state of mind to take care of himself, let alone and entire group of wolves. They needed a figurehead so she would step up. The bodies had been presented, but Asla didn't believe it. It just felt off. She wouldn't voice her opinion, but she wouldn't feel grief or sorrow. Not fully or wholly. Not until... until when? What sign could one ask for to know if their brother and mother were dead? It was laughable, her hope. Downright laughable. Perhaps some day that hope would crumble and the reality of the situation would come crashing down, but that time was not now. Passing her father, the Reaper had told her father to meet her at the edge of the training field. They needed to talk about so many things. Would they talk about everything that needed to be spoken about? Definitely not. They could at least sort out a few things though. She needed to know where he stood. She needed to gauge his mental state for herself. So she sat at the edge of the stone slab, staring out at the retreating brackish water. She waited.

He would need to get Tamsyn back to the Hallows soon. He had already spoken to Naiche, and knew his general was on the case in ensuring the welfare of the kids. It was good that Asla had sought him out, he needed to speak to her as well. She was, undoubtedly, The maturest, oldest of his children in the pack. With Mortis and Indigo in the Hallows, and Azure…
Well, there was Asla. she had been learning leadership in her role as Reaper, and already had a firm grasp on the patrols, supplies, and members of the pack.

He had asked her only a week ago to keep an eye on things in Armada while he headed down to the Hallows to help out the pack with Resin. With… what had happened, Armada needed home more. He would still be tracking down to the Hollows on the regular, but his home base was the Armada once more.

With that in mind, he headed down to the Plains and found his daughter on a cool stone stab, and sat down beside her. Small warrior, and giant Warlord. He looked out over the ocean, where her eyes lingered.


"Earth" & "Stars"

"Aslatiel" In time, her father came and sat beside her. Both remained silent for a time, staring out at the receding ocean. With a sigh, Asla shifted, leaning against his shoulder, her cheek pressed into him. It was difficult to be patient and understanding. He wasn't the only one to lose someone. If the charred corpses were to be believed, she had lost a mother and a brother. Her first thought hadn't been to take her life. She tried to put herself in his paws though. If Indigo died... what would she do? It wouldn't be pretty, that was for sure. After a few minutes of silence, Asla pulled away, sitting tall once more. "I spoke with Tamsyn," she said softly. "And Briar came to find me after you attacked her." She wouldn't sugar coat the words. He knew what he'd done. "I know that you're hurting. We all are." Her voice was still soft. She wasn't accusing or condemning him with her tones. "I need you to be okay. We all need you to be okay." The young woman took a deep breath. "But until you are, I'll watch after the Armada. Go and do what you need to do to put yourself together." The fae cracked a grin, the fresh scars upon her face crinkling slightly as she joked. "Try killing something. It always helps me."

He was sore and tender in too many places in his heart. It felt good to have his daughter lean against him. Close by to him. He knew she was a fierce warrior who could protect herself, but some part of him was almost scared to let her leave his sight. Mine his mind whispered as he leaned lightly against her too.

His breath hissed out as Asla spoke of Tamsyn and Briar. Ahh So that was why she had sought him out. It was good that Asla knew. If he lost himself, for any reason, Asla would be the one and only wolf in the Armada who would stand a chance at defending his family from himself.

He closed his eyes at her words, and leaned his forehead against her. His Asla, his star child. He thought of what it would do to him if he lashed out at her in blinded rage. If he took on, even one more loss. “You are the one I trust the most to do it.” He agreed softly. “Maybe I will at that” but he could not kill a fire, and nothing less would satisfy his rage.
"Earth" & "Stars"

"Aslatiel" Sirius exhaled audibly and his body seemed to sag. She knew what he'd done and now he knew that she knew. It wasn't a secret anymore, his state of mind. His inability to control himself. To an extent, she couldn't blame him. The world went on, however. He needed to go on with it. Just because the lives of other had ceased didn't mean that his own did. The sooner he worked through his demons and came to that realization, the sooner they could all get back to their lives. As her father leaned his forehead against her, Asla softened. She knew that he hurt. She hurt too, but she couldn't let those emotions rule her. Someone needed to stay strong and if he couldn't do it, she would have to. "Papa..." she used the name that she'd called him for her entire childhood. "I want you to be okay. I need you to be okay." Nudging her father, the striped fae gave a little laugh. "Could you imagine me raising my little brother and sisters?" She made a horrific face and hissed in through her teeth. "What a nightmare." Leaning up, Asla kissed her father's cheek. "I'll keep the pack together. I'll play my part. You don't need to worry about anything other than yourself, okay?" She would keep things going. Keep everyone as safe as she could manage. But she couldn't do it forever. The Armada was her father's dream. Not hers. If he wanted it, he would have to fight for it.

Papa… the whisper seemed to reach into his very soul. He had always been close to Asla. always fought to relate to her, to be there with her, to raise her up. She, in turn, had matured into a clever leader and an accomplished fighter. It was not right for the father to lean on the child, but his broken heart couldn’t seem to put itself back together again.

Not even her softly spoken word could repair him, through it shot pain through his heart. “Love them or not, you would chase them into adulthood in one piece.” He said with conviction.

...Which was more than Sirius could say.

Days

Azure had been days from his second birthday. The thought stilled him, wrenching into his heart as he thought of their first birthday. They would never have a second, not with a grumpy Azure, juggling Hana and Venom between his paws.

He lost a few moments of time as that horror sliced into him. Sweat broke out on his skin, but he was here again. Here and with Asla, and catching most of her words. He leaned forward, and kissed her forehead again. Needed the contact, even if he could not voice it. Needed the closeness of pack to keep him steady. “I love you too, My Star.” he said softly, understanding that was what her words were saying. She would be steady for him, because she loved him, and she needed him to find his way back to them again.

"Earth" & "Stars"

"Aslatiel" Sirius kissed her head again and Asla could feel his need for physical contact. Rising on her hind paws, Asla wrapped her legs around as much of her father's neck as she could manage. The girl held him against her as much as she was able. His giant frame was impossible for her to wrap up in her arms completely, but she did her best. "We'll get through it together, papa." She promised softly, placing a kiss upon her fathers cheek. Asla would do whatever needed to be done so that her father could come back. She needed him. They all needed him. Sirius was the Armada. Without him, they were just a bunch of wolves. He made the pack what it was. "I'll keep the littler jerks in line," she joked, giving the dire man's neck a squeeze. "You know, Briar actually isn't half bad." That was a big admission right there. She was trying to get to know her siblings, but after hating them for so long, they had little reason to trust her. Who could blame them? She certainly didn't. They would need to work together though in their father's absence, so they'd best play nice.

Asla ran on instinct as much as he did. As through feeling his need, she opened up her arms and wrapped herself around him. The tiny, unshakable warrior and her broken giant of a father. He wrapped a paw gently around her, leaning back, and pulling her off the ground. He held her in his arms like that for a long moment. Closed his eyes, and remembered what he loved. Something great was taken from him, and it left a terrible hole. The ache inside of him might never leave him, but she had not been all that he loved. He had come a long, long way from the stoic guard.

As a wolf of the Old Empire, he had been forced to guard his heart, absolute and unyielding. Then he had been given freedom, Zee, and this pack that they had created. Children. Blood or otherwise, that where his Asla was his he closed his eyes, leaning his head into her neck, breathing in the scent of pack and family. It grounded him, as best as something could. “When I come back from the Hallows, you and I are going to have our work cut out for us. My night Terrors for one thing, can not stay.” of all the wolves in his life he trusted to hold their own, Asla was at the top. He would work with her to ensure he could be safe around others.


"Earth" & "Stars"

"Aslatiel" Wrapping his arms about her, Sirius pulled Asla off of her paws and the young woman released a soft, girlish laugh. He breathed in the scent of her and she hoped that her scent would remind him of what and who she was. She was his child. Children needed their parents, even when it seemed like they didn't. Aslatiel understood the emotions that he battled. Though they pained him, she wouldn't wish them away. He needed that pain. He needed to feel it. Not only were the dead deserving of heartache and tears, but he had to feel it so that he could come to terms with it. In the end, when he was able to breathe again, she would be waiting. Sirius spoke and Asla again turned to humor. It was how she dealt with a lot of things. "Look at the size of me, Papa. I always have my work cut out for me." He mentioned his night terrors and when her paws touched earth again, she looked up at him, her galactic gaze serious. She'd seen the wound in Briar's neck. That couldn't happen again. "We'll work together to set you right. However much time you need between The Hallows and the Armada, you take it. There are birds that can be sent if you need us and we, you. Worry about yourself and come back to us."

He settled Asla gently back on the ground again, and he gave a sigh-like laugh, almost despite himself. Laughing hurt, but there was something good in it as well.a promise. “You do indeed” he agreed. Not that Asla had ever let her height get the better of her.

She had been tiny beside the giants of her brothers, and woe-be those brothers who tried to defend her as if she could not herself. He remembered catching Asla and Azure in the barracks when he was caught up in a rage. He could no longer remember what had angered him so. What had stood out of the Warlord was the fierce determination from both of them to defend each other.

Gone, gone and lost to them.

“You will always be mine, little warrior” he said, low and fierce. His thoughts were a whirlwind, but he knew what she would mean. He would be all that more fierce over what was his. Once he was back, once he had dropped Tamsyn off and come back to them.


"Earth" & "Stars"

"Aslatiel" Hearing her father laugh was good. It soothed a bit of the discourse in her soul. It made her feel hope that he would be okay in the long run. She smiled up at him, the scars on her face crinkling with the action. What Asla lacked in size, she more than made up for in sheer tenacity and ferocity. She'd taken on sabertooth cats and super dires and had lived to tell the tale with only a few new beauty marks achieved in the process. The fierce proclamation that she was his brought another flash of smile from the cream and grey woman. "And you, Papa, are mine." Just as he was possessive and protective, she was as well. While he adopted and claimed all who came to him, Asla was very selective of the ones that she called her own. Sirius was definitely counted among that small number. Rising from her place, Asla motioned for her father to go with a point of her nose. "Take all the time you need. We'll be here when you return." Hopefully all in one piece. Then the next step would begin, but she had time to prepare for that.