Sera settled quietly into the new band. She knew numbers offered her some security, but she still felt like something was missing in her life. She liked Manea and Alastor and their kids, but it was hard to interact with kids when you detested being touched.

She made her own little temporary den in the lands the band had picked for now. It was cozy, with a few coats scattered about the place. It could almost be called home, if restlessness didn’t still itch at her paws.

She rose early the next day, stretching and slipping from her den and wondering down to Firefly lake. It wasn’t her first time here, but she had always found something rather tranquil about the territory. She sat by the lake, and watched as fireflies flittered in the sky above her. Wondering what she was missing.


"Speech"

Shae had a lot to think about as her dark paws carried her to the other side of Abaven’s border. As a yearling now she was allowed to go to and from, but leaving on her own was still nerve wracking. Especially when her mind was so preoccupied. Seeing her grandmother’s spirit, saying goodbye to her grandfather… Her own father returning… It just felt like a lot. She had to get out and clear her head, so she paced towards the firefly lake.

The scenery always made her think of nights when Sparhawk would bring her out here to tell her stories and sing songs with her. It was a place of sadness in his absence, but now that he was back… Shae wasn’t sure how to feel. Quietly she waded through the cattails, trying to stay alert but continuing to get caught up in her own thoughts.

So distracted she didn’t realize that she wasn’t alone. Across the lake sat an older girl looking like she came here just as Shae did to contemplate life’s events. The young Destruction girl finally lifted her blue and lavender eyes to catch sight of the woman. A blush on her cheeks and too shy to say anything to the stranger Shae froze as her mind could decide between an apology or fleeing.

Sera huffed a soft sigh as she looked at the fireflies. Dancing so freely across the lake, fearless and exuberant. What would it take to become like them? To let go of her fears and doubts and constraints? She shook her head, knowing herself to be silly. Self improvement would be slow, and tortuous. She would never be as free as the silly little creatures before her.

She lowered her gaze… and realised she was being observed. She startled a little, before realising the taller wolf was a female, and her reserved, almost bashful expression held no hostility. Still, Sera hesitated, uncertain herself. Caught in indecision, the two wolves stood there in silence for a moment, until Sera realised the stranger must be as shy as her, if not more so. The young Elysium wolf smiled. Slow at first, but genuine, an expression that softened her blue eyes. “Hello, I’m Sera”


"Speech"

Shae wished she could have made a faster decision and turned around and run home, she felt far too fragile to be out and social. She’d come here to be alone with her thoughts and it should have been easy to find somewhere else, but then the blue marked girl saw her and Shae felt stuck. Too polite to do anything but shyly smile as she was found out and greeted nicely. Sometimes it felt like smiling was harder than it should be, especially with the darkness of endless night.

”Oh, uh. Hi, I’m Shae.” She offered in return softly as sweetly. Part of her still wondering if she should run away and leave the woman to herself. ”Sorry, I came out for some quiet.. I don’t mean to disturb you,” Her voice was like a wisp despite her stature as she lifted a paw to turn back.

The shy, small smile of the younger wolf pulled at Sera’s heartstrings. She was pretty good at not getting attached, but something about the young, small wolf before her made her consider her own past. The frightened uncertain wolf that had ventured into these lands on the run. Since then, she had learned a little about fighting and hunting. Just what she could pick up on her own, but it was a start. Did this wolf have someone who could help and teach her?

Not that she should let herself catch feelings. She didn’t need to get herself involved in anybody else's life. Her own was stressful enough. Taking on the baggage of a stranger was a bad, bad idea. But her little wispy voice, and the lift of the paw to leave… Sera sighed, wondering what was wrong with herself. “Wait… Shae, you didn’t disturb me.” She said, getting to her own paws, and stepping cautiously around the lake, a little closer to the other wolf. A part of her had to ask - what if it was a ploy. This wolf was certainly big enough, and a sweet face could get her far if she used it right. What if it was a trap? She shuddered quietly at the thought. She could suspect her father of doing that very thing. Stealing away another vulnerable young wolf, and trying again. Certainly Shae looked about the right age to have fallen into her fathers scheme.


"Speech"

Shae was a young and sheltered young wolf, when her father and siblings disappeared Poem had hardly allowed her out of her sight. She was lucky to be out now, but there was a lot to distract the elder of Abaven right now. Part of the girl felt guilty for being out in the world when it felt like her family was suffering a crisis, but she had to get away from it. Away from the conflicting emotions and opinions.

The woman stepped closer, assuring Shae that she hadn’t been disturbed. The young girl still wasn’t sure of herself and her own emotions. She thought she had wanted to be alone, she thought that was what would help her. Sera had a sweet and honest face, one that seemed open and easy to talk to, and She began to wonder if keeping her thoughts bottled inside to herself was the best option.

”Oh, I’m glad.” She added, finally pausing as she let herself look the stranger over, she didn’t have the scent of any pack Shae knew, not that she knew much. Then the girl went silent again, her eyes falling to her paws as her thoughts caught up to her.

It didn’t take long for Shae to stop, convinced to remain. Sera could help herself from casting a weary glance around. She didn’t get any closer to the stranger. From here she could catch her scent, and she caught no traces of her father on the woman's coat. Just of the pack that lay near here. If she was pack, then surely she was safe, and not a prawn, right?

When she brought her attention back to Shae, half convinced that this wasn’t a trap, she caught the way the other girl looked down. Demure, uncertain. Her heart hurt again, knowing she had looked just like that once. Submissive, shy, afraid. “Shae…” she asked, and swallowed. Shae was a stranger, and it was so much better to leave it that way. don’t get involved, don’t get involved “...is someone hurting you?”


"Speech"

Manners had been hammered into her young life for as long as she could remember. Even if she was uncertain it was rude to just walk off when someone was talking to you. Shae wasn’t nervous about the danger this woman could bring, she felt confident in her ability to defend herself, it was just that social interactions weren’t her strongest suit. Her social cues were so bad that she was surprised to hear the concern in Sera’s voice. Blue and lavender eyes lifted, they were wide and surprised at the question. No one had ever asked her something like that. Nothing like that ever happened in Abaven.

Ears fell to her skull as she quickly averted her gaze again, knowing she was giving off the wrong impression. ”No.. no!” She shook her head and looked back up to Sera. ”I’m just… Emotions are hard.” She finally confessed herself. There was loss there was relief there was worry all at once and it was hard to keep it all bottled up inside as she tried to process it all. ”I came out here to try and think about everything.”

Shae’s wide eyes showed her surprise at the question. Sera watched her carefully, quietly. Letting the woman take a moment, her ears falling to her skull again. What was this rising up in Seras gut? Indignation? Indigestion? She felt suddenly angry that anyone would hurt someone young and sweet like this stranger. Perhaps she was projecting…

But when the woman spoke, she was vehement. Her reasoning confused Sera, who was equally bad at social interactions. She’d had little practice in her life. “Ahh…” Sera said. “Perhaps I'm the one intruding. Well. I’m glad… I’m glad no ones hurt you, Shae” She said, a touch awkwardly. Should she have asked Shae what troubled her? She wasn’t sure.

"Speech"

Shae had been through a lot on her short life, she’s seen and experienced more than her fair share of hardship. Maybe more luck than she deserved as well. No one had ever tried to physically hurt her that she knew of. Her father said he went out and hunted down wolves that were trying to hurt her and the family, but she had never even seen them. Her father took her scars for her. No, Shae had no reason to say someone was intentionally hurting her. She was just living life, which was hard sometimes.

”No..” She trailed off softly, Sera wasn’t intruding, Shae didn’t own this lake. The daintily marked woman went on though, assuring Shae she was glad to hear she hadn’t been hurt. ”Um, thank you.” Shae lowered her head appreciatively, it kind of felt nice to have the stranger’s approval.

Sera offered Shae a tentative smile as the dainty girl told her she wasn’t intruding. It left them both there, staring at the lake, and catching an occasional smile from the other wolf. It was easy to fall to silence. Meeting Shae told Sera she still had many misgivings about her past. That she would always think the man was gunning for her.

She let the silence go on for a little while longer, lost in her own thoughts, and wondering if she would ever grow past this. After a while, she sighed and turned back to the other girl with a wry smile. “If you wanted to talk about anything… I’m not the best listener, but I can try”

Shae’s shyness was showing through with an obvious clarity. The young girl was timid despite her confident mother and brave father. She didn’t like the spotlight, didn’t enjoy having attention on her, and her cheeks flushed lightly with even Sera’s careful attention. Shae didn’t disrupt the silence that settled between them, from the beginning she had come here to be in the quiet. To be somewhere she didn’t have another pack problem staring her in the face.

Sera spoke up again, a smile on her features as she looked back up to Shae, offering her less than stellar services if she wanted to talk about anything. Shae could talk to anyone in the pack for help processing what was going on, but it was almost tempting to talk to someone so far removed from the situation. ”I don’t know. It’s just this roller coaster of emotion. Highs and lows and… I don’t know how to feel sometimes.”

Sera smiled, bur it was an understanding expression free of malice. She settled her rump in the grass, ans wiggled her paws before her. Relaxing a little. As much as the paranoid girl could, anyway. "You struggle to pick a feeling, and I feel too much. Where's the middle ground?" She asked with a self-mocking chuckle. She shook her head, knowing how quickly she felt mistrust and suspicion, even anger rose to the surface quickly. She wondered what it would be like to be under pressure, struggling to decide on any one feeling.

"What is it you feel, and what is it you feel you just feel?" She asked, finding herself intrigued. Wondering if Shae would understand her twisty question. As she waited for the other girl to answer, she let her eyes drift to the fireflies still dancing in specs of light above the lake. A glimmer of light in a dark work. Her eyes returned to Shae, feeling curiosity in her breast.