Settling into Hellborn had been a challenge for Stolas in some ways, and easier in others. He felt out of place amongst the other wolves, who clearly already knew one another. Many had come from Insomnia where Widow had apparently wound up after they'd been separated, and it left the reserved brute on the outside of the group. Even Widow had taken new husbands to occupy her time with, and while this hadn't been unexpected given the frankly earnest conversation she'd had with him beforehand, it did leave the fallen prince on his own more often than not. That was fine for the most part; after being spurned by love twice now and losing his entire family, he no longer felt compelled to seek companionship. All he needed was his books and the stars. This allowed Stolas the time and space to focus on his studies uninterrupted.

Stolas had forsaken the traditional dens and opted instead to have a treehouse of sorts built in the canopies of the woods by some of Auster's massive primates. It was little more than a series of crude wooden platforms high in the tree branches, some covered and some left open to see the heavens above, but it suited his needs. A ramp led up to the platforms, and voila; Stolas had a functional observatory. Not quite the same as the one he had back in Ashen, but it would suffice. Taking advantage of the late summer weather, Stolas had set up for another evening of stargazing and astronomy, a couple furs spread out on his observation deck so he could be cozy while he studied the stars. His grimoire was out and a small pot of chamomile and honey tea sat beside him.

Thumbing through the pages until he arrived at the date for this evening's sky, Stolas breathed a soft sigh and poured himself a cup of tea. Twilight had just faded and night was taking hold over the southern continent. Stars were just starting to become readily visible to the naked eye. Soon he could begin. Gods, what he wouldn't give to get his telescope and charts back from the old Ashen palace...

"Stolas"

Cryptis couldn’t sleep. She lay awake against Crux’s side for a long time, before she gave up on it. Her future sat so close, that all she could do was think about it. There was so much she wanted to ask Crux, so much she wanted to commit to. She was a little afraid of moving too fat, and scaring the boy away. She couldn’t lose him, not now.

She wiggled carefully out of his side, and trotted into the night. Letting her paws take her where they would. There was a crispness to the air that felt good on her vulnerable lungs, and she almost didn’t notice the scent of wolf drifting among the scent of trees until she was almost upon him. “Oh! Hello again” she said, smiling at her mothers old friend. “Can’t sleep either?” she wondered.






"Speech"

Just as he was getting comfortable in the pile of cushions and had taken a sip of his sweet, floral tea, a voice from down below called up to him, almost startling Stolas off of his lofty perch. Recovering quickly, the giant wolf peered down over the edge of the suspended platform and spotted the minuscule form of Cryptis down below, smiling up at him. He certainly hadn't been expecting any company at this hour, but hell, he wouldn't turn away an inquisitive young mind if she sought to study the stars too! "Oh! Good evening, Lady Triss!" he called back down to her with a little friendly wave of a paw. "Oh no no, I'm nocturnal by nature. This is my afternoon."

The fallen prince gave a light laugh and tipped his head as he considered her words. She was having difficulty sleeping. Well, perhaps some of his tea and some relaxing stargazing would soothe her hyperactive mind. "You know what I find helps when my mind is abuzz and won't let me sleep? A nice cup of tea." As if to prove his point, Stolas lifted his cup in the air, then gestured towards the ramps that led up to his treetop home. "Would you like to come join me for a bit? I'm just about to begin my studies." He didn't know how much Triss would care about astrology, but it felt wrong not to offer the option to the princess of Hellborn. She was of royal blood, after all.

"Stolas"

“This is very cool” She commented as she made her way around to the start of the ramp. It was a little bit of a hike for the short wolf but she eventually made it to the top. She settled down beside Stolas. His status as her mum's childhood friend almost made him uncle-like in her head, and she was comfortable enough to snag a cup of tea and spread out where she could see the stars.


“I wonder if I can bully Crux into helping me build something like this” She said, voice clearly teasing. “So, nocturnal. How do you sleep with sunlight in your eyes?” She asked, not pausing to wonder if she was prying.

Stolas couldn't help the proud little puff up of fur when Cryptis commented on how cool his observatory platforms were. He was dead chuffed at how effective they were, so the tiny wolf's praise was quite the pat on the back for him. While she made her way up to him, Stolas poured her a cup of tea and by the time they were both settled in, the dark had all but swallowed up the fading twilight and the sea of stars overhead was becoming more and more visible by the second. Her remark about bullying her boyfriend into building her a high-hide brought a laugh from the older wolf. "My dear, you could bully anyone into anything if you assert yourself the right way." She was royalty now; a daughter of a queen and the princess of Hellborn. He remembered when he had been royalty of Ashen, and the lessons his parents had imparted on him about humility.

Cryptis asked how he slept during the daylight and Stolas smiled, finding the questions the young woman asked him endearing rather than prying. He gestured to another platform across in a denser part of the forest canopy. This platform had walls and a roof over it, built into a small hut of sorts. "That is my den. It keeps the light mostly out. I also sleep with an eye mask on for total blackout darkness," he explained to her. "I like the sounds of the forest, so I didn't want to be completely isolated in an underground den. In my old home, we lived in a stunning palace. My chambers were cool and dark, but had openings like windows that let me see out across the Briar. I had curtains I could draw or open as I pleased, so I could listen to the songbirds and wildlife without burning my retinas in the sun." Oh, how he missed his room in the palace and his observatory there... back when life seemed simpler and easier.

"Stolas"

She accepted the cup of tea and found a place to curl her small form so she could look at both the stars, and see Stolas. He was a bit of a star wolf himself, with a red galaxy across his back. She stifled an amused snort at his words. Bu of course, Stolas didn’t know her terrible weakness. He didn’t know that the moment she worked herself up - or even breathed too deeply - her own throat would attack her and she’d be gasping on the ground begging for air. That didn’t make bullying anyone plausible.

She looked to his den when he pointed it out. It, too, rested in the trees. She looked at it with a sigh of jealousy. She wanted a house like that. “You sound… like you love it. It sounds lovely.” she told him, trying to imagine what he described.



"Speech"

Stolas quietly sipped at his tea, ruminating on the paths life had taken him down to land him in this place. His life had been a sordid story of heartbreak, betrayal, and loss, all to leave him this physically and emotionally scarred shell of who the prince had once been when he had been a Klein. Now, he was a shadow of the past; regal as he was, Stolas Klein was no more. Only Stolas Goetia remained, and he had been rendered bitter and melancholy by the cruel hand of fate. But toward Triss, he would show no bitterness, no contempt, no jaded apathy to the world he'd been stricken low by. She still showed that spark of youthful hope and life, and he would nurture it if he could.

"Yes, it was..." Stolas remarked with a wistful sigh when Triss noted how lovely it sounded. Sounded. It was all long gone now. "But that was from a time far gone now. Never to return." Never again would he walk the halls of his family's ancestral home. Never again would he spend countless nights gazing out his windows and through his telescope at the celestial bodies above. Never again would he tirelessly reorganize his library's bookshelves. Stolas' gray eyes fell to his cup, swishing the tea inside back and forth with idle paws, watching how his reflection distorted in the surface. An apropos depiction of himself.

In an attempt to pull himself out of his rueful dwelling, Stolas took a deep breath and looked to Triss again. "When were you born, Cryptis?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "What season, and were you an early, mid, or late season pup?"

"Stolas"

That was life, wasn’t it? She had already been struck with how easily things changed. From being kidnapped from her mothers arms, and that time away. To this change down in Auster, so far from where she had been born. Suddenly having access to Crux whenever she wanted, when before he had been a distant thing she would see once in a while. Things changed.

But she could see that the time and change had affected Stolas in a different way than it had to her. She caught something that might be melancholy across his expressions before he spoke again. She tilted her head at him, finding the question oddly… precise. But she saw no reason not to answer. “Two years ago, uhhmm…. Late summer, I guess.”


"Speech"

Despite his odd and slightly invasive question, Cryptis answered him without hesitation or questioning. She was a late Boreal summer baby. Ah, that worked out perfectly then! Stolas' expression seemed to brighten up tenfold as a realization dawned on him. It was late summer right now in Auster. Perfect! Graphite gray eyes lit up with a vast and impassioned knowledge as he began to thumb through the pages of his grimoire, looking for a particular section. When he reached the chapter on astrological zodiacs he slowed down his rapid page turning, scanning each yellowed page more thoroughly before arriving at his destination.

"Ah, here we are! The late summer zodiac is Leo, the sign of the lion!" Stolas declared with delight, smiling down at little Cryptis. "And what fortune, we just so happen to be in late summer now! Soooo... if my calculations and charts are correct..." Humming and mumbling to himself for a spell, Stolas' gaze jumped back and forth between the pages of his book to the many stars of the night sky, then back again. "Riiiight... there!" Stolas pointed up into the northeast sky, right at a specific constellation. "That bundle of stars there is your birth sign, Cryptis. It marks you as a passionate, generous, and humorous individual, with a love for being treated like royalty and spending time sharing adventures with your friends."

Stolas beamed down at Triss, letting her take in her star reading. He highly doubted anyone had ever given her anything quite this fantastical before, but it was his passion and his entire life. He loved reading the star charts and prophecies of other wolves. "Would you like me to give you a full reading of your prophecy, Cryptis?" With his grimoire, he could tell Triss so many things about what the stars said about who she was.

"Stolas"

Triss eyed him curiously, her interest sparked by his strange question and following behaviour. What did her birth year have to do with his book? She was going to open her maw to ask if it mattered that she had been born in Boreas, when she decided not to spoil the moment.

The lion! What luck, she loved lions, actually. They had the right of it. Bossing people around, and spending their days sleeping up high. She really ought to get herself one of these treehouses. She found herself really warming to the idea.

She looked up at the bundle of stars, and giggled softly. Well, he had some of it right. Dry could still be a humor, but she wasn’t sure about being generous. Passionate… she could be passionate, with Crux. She was also royalty, and spent time with her friend (singular) Crux.

“Sure” She said at his offer. “I’d love to hear it.” She didn’t know if she’d believe it, but she enjoying lying there, watching the stars. Listening to what he had to say. "Could I... call you Uncle, Stolas? I don't really know my mums siblings" but he had been a part of those early years of her mothers life.

"Speech"