word count: 186

Damira was a good girl and usually went to bed early enough that she was rested for the next day, but as she laid curled up in the safety of her den she couldn't help but feel...not quite unsettled as that would imply something was wrong. But restless maybe? Like she felt as though she had somewhere else to be, something she ought to be doing. In a rare show of rebellion, she found herself slipping out of her den, moving quietly on dainty paws as she headed for higher ground. As high as she could go before her legs started to feel the strain of the incline at least. Settling atop a sloping ridge, her mismatched gaze flitting skywards, brilliant bands of colours stretched out above, slowly extending out as if someone was pulling at a loose thread of a tapestry and watching it unravel. She'd never seen anything quite like it before, her eyes widening in a rare show of childlike awe, even the pitch black of her melanistic eye glinting with colour.

It was so pretty, she thought. But what could it mean?

Deimos had never been a very heavy sleeper and that had only become more true since becoming a father. Every little sound or movement seemed to rouse him these days, but he had gotten pretty good at keeping his eyes closed and waiting to see if he could hear them continue to move or if they were just shifting in their sleep before he let himself fully wake up. He felt the bedding shift a bit as he did his usual quiet waiting, but the movement didn't stop at just a roll so he cracked open his aqua gaze, spotting little Damira tip toeing up to and then out of the entrance. Out of all of their children she was by far the most well behaved and was the last one he would expect to be sneaking out without telling them where she was heading so it certainly got his attention. He waited till she rounded the corner before he quietly got to his paws as well to follow after her, keeping a bit of distance to let her go where she wanted without his presence interrupting her while still staying close enough that he could keep an eye on her.

He followed at a distance as she climbed up a near by incline, getting a higher and clearer vantage point of the unusual auroras that had been popping up across the skies of Boreas. A little, affectionate smile touched his muzzle as he watched his little daughter take in the natural phenomenon with a wide eyed wonder that he could only envy. The kind of innocence and curiosity that his children had was truly something he marveled and wanted them to hold onto for as long as possible. After a few minutes of letting her take in the shifting bands of rippling color on her own, he walked up behind her and quietly scooped her up in one massive paw, settling onto his haunches before depositing her on his shoulders, giving her a bit more height from the vantage point of his back. "What do you think of the auroras, Mira?" he rumbled, glancing up at the sky himself.

WC: 360
Total: 546 / 1500

"Deimos Medacium"

word count: 291
total: 837

Damira's ears twitched as she heard someone approach, she didn't think she'd done anything wrong but briefly did wonder if she was about to be told off. Only for her Daddy to scoop her as though she was light as a feather. Once settled atop her mighty stoop, she bent down a little to give him an affectionate kiss between his ears, her little tongue smoothing down the purple fur there. Her long furred tail draped down his back like a fancy scarf, the black bleeding into a dark purple. She made a thoughtful noise in her throat at Deimos' question, he'd already confirmed one thing she'd wanted to know, they were called auroras. And the name suited them, felt heavenly in a way, like something wolves could see but never reach.

"Mm, pretty." Was her first, albeit obvious conclusion. She was a thinker through and through, couldn't leave it just on that note. Needed to know more and what better person to ask? "What does it mean?" Because in her mind everything happened for a reason, it didn't really occur to her that things were just because.

It certainly looked like a big deal, something important, or else the night would always be streaked with these colours. Moving so slowly, shimmering adjustments as they stretched across the horizon. But when she breathed deep she couldn't smell anything, but sunlight didn't have a scent either now she thought about it. Nor did the moon, which she'd noticed it took different shapes differing one night from another. But the auroras felt different from all she knew, even flashes of lightening were fleeting and ever so easy to miss. But every time she blinked there they remained, molasses slow snaking across the sky.

Deimos chuckled softly at his little girl's astute observation that the auroras were indeed pretty. He couldn't deny that fact. Even someone like himself that never really took the time to enjoy the "beauty" of nature or anything of that sort could admit that the shifting colors and slow moving bands of light that lit up the dark sky were very pretty indeed. He knew that wouldn't be all Damira had to say about it though. All of his children were exceedingly bright–something they inherited from their mother, no doubt–but Damira most of all asked the most questions out of all of them. He loved her inquisitive nature though, despite the fact that he sometimes felt out of his depth when it came to answering her questions. If she was asking about how to fight or hunt perhaps he would have an easier time, but when she was asking about things that required a higher level of thinking–like now, for example–it made him want to go retrieve Ikigai so she could give a better answer than he could.

Unfortunately, Ikigai wasn't here and he wasn't about to interrupt her sleep just to answer their daughter's question about the aurora's meaning. The easy answer would have been that it was just a phenomena of nature that happened sometimes, but what kind of parent would he be if he didn't encourage at least a bit of creativity? He hummed for a moment with thought, watching the auroras curiously. "I think they're some kind of good omen," he decided, turning his head to peek back at her with one turquoise eye. "I bet it's because you and your siblings are here now. Maybe that's the Ancients celebrating you being here and all of the amazing things you're going to do one day." He smiled and tipped his head back to give her nose a teasing lick before he turned back toward the auroras once more. "What do you think? Can you think of anything else they might mean?"

WC: 335
Total: 1172 / 1500

"Deimos Medacium"

word count: 243
total:1415

A good omen? Damira couldn't see why that wouldn't be the case, but what good things were in store? Just for herself or Elysium as a whole? She pursed her lips in thought, nose wrinkling slightly. All things considered, her life thus far had been comfortable, she had all she wanted and the wolves that mattered most were always nearby. What else could she even want? Till then she hadn't really considered what she wanted, except the necessities that were always provided. But there was more to life than that, even little Damira had realised that. She adjusted her seating somewhat, allowing her tail to flick to the side, the length of her fur falling off the side of his shoulder.

"Hmm. It's starting to get colder, when I breathe out I see smoke." To her it looked like smoke at least, but less grey and it didn't carry the same smell. "The daytime isn't as long either, the sun set earlier than it did yesterday and the day before that too." She noticed such things with ease, stowed little bits and pieces of information away for later. "I think it's got something to do with that. Like the world is changing."

And that looped back to his comment earlier, were these changes going to be for the better? Well, as far as she'd observed, no one seemed overly concerned, and so she felt as though she should follow suit, more or less.