It would be about a year now since she'd left them. There wasn't even a grave for the children to sit beside, no. That was down in Auster. Dread was dreading going back down there, to the scene of the incident. He thought bitterly of the offer from Artorias, that he train in the Hallows when he was older. Now the thought of setting foot in the castle again turned his stomach. How could he? How could he walk the halls of it, the same way he had a year earlier when Zee was still with them? Hell, the yearling was just now growing comfortable traveling away from the Armada's heart. It had taken nearly the entire year for the overwhelming dread to stay well enough away. Thoughts of his mother, his father, his older siblings weighed heavily on his mind. Dread put himself to work tidying one of the sheds on the Cove, the late afternoon sun hanging low in the sky. Dragging everything out, carefully making piles of what was still good, what needed repairing, and what was garbage. There was an unspoken bitterness toward his older siblings, one that rested heavily in his mouth as he worked. Why did they get to grow up with her? Why didn't he? How much longer would he have with dad? To be so aware of mortality at such a tender age... maybe it weighed too heavily on his mind. With the contents of the shed now emptied onto the beach, the yearling retreated within it and began to carefully sweep. It seemed the more he swept, the more sand he found. "Who the hell decided to put the shed on the sand!" Dread was yelling at the floor. Of all the things going on in his head, he needed to shout at something. If the boy was going to pick his battles, it seemed like the most constructive one was the battle against the mess.

Kite didn’t generally venture towards the beach before the sun set, but Lioness insisted. Apparently someone had caught a nice haul of fish, and the scent was driving her companion crazy. Lioness did so much for her, it was hard for her to deny a small little heist that would cheer up her friend.

Walking carefully over the shifting sand, she made her way past some of the fishing huts in search of their chosen prize - only for a sudden voice to scare ten years off Kite’s life. She felt her fur stand on end, and her paws lift off from the earth for a second. Her heart hammered in her chest. It was true, the beach when she was blind put her on edge. She stomped angrily towards the hut where Dread’s voice had called out. Almost banging her head on the door as she sought for its opening. “Maybe your just awful at cleaning it!” She yelled back.


"Speech"

His mood was sour, expression sullen. Banishing the sand was the only thing on his mind, along with getting to whatever half broken tangle of bullshit he'd pulled from the very back of the shed. Really, would it kill them to not put shit away broken? It was all fixable, but needed repairs, and if it needed repairs then why had it been put back? Dread's expression was pure annoyance as he worked.

Kite's voice not far behind him was enough to startle him from his thoughts. She had nearly smacked her face on the door frame in the process, and she was shouting right back at him. "Watch your face." His voice is raised, but Dread's tone is far sharper than he means it to be. He takes a deep breath, righting himself after a moment. "And I'm not awful at it, there's just so much sand!" Dread shoots back, scowling in his sister's direction.

"The hell are you doing on the beach before dark?" His voice is softer now, worry replacing some of the more annoyed expressions in his features. It wasn't like her to be out at this time, and he has to be concerned. Like it's his job.

"Dread Fatalis"

“It’s a beach! What did you expect!” She shouted back, despite the fact that he was just there. She moved a paw around to find what he meant when he said to watch her head. She found the edge of the door, and used it to find the floor. Pulling herself into the little hut.

“I’m not an invalid” She grumped back at him. If there was one thing Kite hated, it was being treated as if she was less of anything. She settled on the floor of the hut. She wasn’t as familiar with them, so she wasn’t too sure of the layout. She didn’t want to go bumping about with Dread watching her - so it was safer to sit there, and listen to him work. “What are you doing, anyway?”


"Speech"

She was sassy. He was sassy. They could just stand here and sass each other back and forth for probably eternity, actually. Siblings, right? "I expected someone to have the foresight to not put the shed on the damn beach, but here we are!" He's not shouting, but he's frustrated. At least he can channel his negative feelings into something, at least he can be frustrated at something.

I'm not an invalid-- Dread softens, his ears drooping a bit. "I know I just... I worry about you." The words were quieter, now. He'd dropped the irritation from his tone. They were so young when mom died, he couldn't stand the thought of losing one of his siblings too. He's a worrier. The boy goes back to organizing, putting things away, stepping carefully around Kite as he does. "Organizing the shed. I tried to get some stuff out for training earlier and found it absolutely trashed," he explained, hanging some practice weapons up on pegs.

"What're you doing?" Well, there had to be a reason she was out... right?

"Dread Fatalis"

“You and everyone else in my life” she crabbed back, but her own voice softened. She could hear it echoing about the small space when she shouted, so she knew there really wasn’t any need to raise her voice. Even if it did feel good to do so. “Where else would you stick a fishing hut?” Snark still there in her voice, but a hint of curiosity too.

She heard Dread moving about the hut, and with a stubborn streak a mile wide she got back to her paws and bumped around until she found his shoulder. Raising a paw she found where his mouth was and grabbed it so she could ‘help’ tidy up. By the sounds of things he was sticking this heavy object onto the wall somewhere. Easy peasy, right? She groped about on the wall, and when she released whatever she was carrying she heard the dull thump of it hitting the floor below. Oh well. She groped around for it again, trying to look subtle about it. “Lioness wanted fish, so she led me out here.” Kite explained. In fact, where was her cat? Had she already found the source of the fish-smell and gone for it?

"Speech"

He was content to organize around her, to move around her where she settled. Dread could hear it in her voice-- she was done yelling, too. "This is the shed with the fighting stuff, the one with the fishing stuff is farther down." He explained gently, working at making sure everything was put away in at least some sort of correct place. There was so much disorder, he couldn't take it. Dread has a hard time with mess, with chaos... small acts of control. Small acts of control keep him grounded. This was another one of those acts.

A thump to his shoulder, and then the side of his mouth. There was no stopping the chuckle that came as he teasingly nipped at his sister's wrist. It wasn't hard, and he could mess around with her at least a little bit. She'd managed to find the training weapon he was trying to put up, and promptly drop it. Subtly, Dread moved to slide it under her paw. He only hoped that Kite hadn't quite noticed. "More power to her, actually." It was actually a bit funny to him, his sister's eyes having a mind of their own.

"I feel like I never see you, anymore. You doing okay?" They'd all started to live their own lives, to forge their own paths. Dread still worried for his siblings, still wanted to take care of them, but the way to do that was becoming less and less clear. A bit of conflict in his chest over the whole thing, as well as where Deluge played into it all. It was a lot, and they were so young... but they'd been through a lot, too.

"Dread Fatalis"

Oh, it wasn’t even a fishing shed? Maybe her nose could have told her that, but she had been distracted by her therapeutic yelling match with Dread. No wonder Lioness had wandered off, clearly there was no fish to be had here. A grin tugged at her lips as her paw found the thingy-whatsit and she subtly pulled it closer to her chest. Dread hadn’t said anything, so maybe he hadn’t noticed her drop it.

She wedged it up with a paw and grabbed the edge with her mouth. This time, she was more careful about figuring out how Dread had gotten it to hang on the wall - there were hooks. She fiddled around with the thing-whatsit until she was able to see where the hook would go through. She eased it onto the hook. Dread asked how she was doing, and she gave the question more consideration then might seem reasonable. “I made a friend, actually” A kissing companion, but Dread didn’t need to know that. “Outside of the Armada'' She wished she could see his expression. She held still, so she could hear any reaction he made to that.


"Speech"