Long strides, each finely chiselled limb casting grey shadows to the earth beside her; a quivering and rippling mirror of the shivering heart within the banshee?s burnt vanilla ribcage. Defensive, uncomfortable, doubting. Why was she here? Her body defied the quaking anger within her youthful mind, shoulder blades rising and falling with precision beneath tender flesh. Did Cairo still sanctify these sickeningly-warm lands with his officious presence, or was he also as selfish as the woman he had loved? Would the inattentive princess find no more than his desiccated bones and ominous spirit, or would her father still tower her own childish frame with gloriously matted hair and shades of swirling caramel.

The tell-tale stench of Valhallan wolves invaded defensive nostrils, silver-green eyes flicking anxiously from left to right. Leave now, sanity tapped at the tapers of her feminine skull, You have no reason to be here. But Eos didn?t want to disappear, the vixen felt the stabbing desire to be involved; one way or another. She would not admit Valhalla as her home, ever, and yet she exposed her body to the possibilities of forceful assert. No wolf truly knew the reasons of distance and odium that clouded the youths clock-work, and she wouldn?t expect them to. Stilts ceased, muscles coiling; she wasn?t alone.

Her sister. The scent of Eos was all-too-familiar, overwhelming as it reached the yearling's flared nostrils. Ears would perk and swivel atop the young girl's skull, mind reeling at the possibilities. Luckily, her sister was alive, but why had she waited so long to appear? Perhaps she had been harmed in some way? Azure eyes would fixate on the distant horizon, searching somewhat frantically for her sibling. It was some time before she caught sight of her other sister. While she had always been close to Chrysanthe, there had always been an infinite distance that separate her from Eos, even in their childhood. But that didn't stop her paws from carrying her forward, searching unwaveringly for her lost sister, her eyes welling with determination. Before long the female came into view. Tail curled defensively twixt her hindquarters, head tilting to the side to better examine Eos. A sharp bark escaped her parted jaws, a firm but loving greeting. In a simple tone, she communicated both her confusion at her sister's disappearance, and her gratitude for her return home.

The lord had stepped from his reign, began allowing age to consume him, living with the four children remaining in his life left a certain peace to everything. Epiphron, his beautiful princess. Chrysanthe, his extraordinary warrior. Syrinx, whatever the hell he was supposed to be. His heir? It was unclear. Preston, his prodigal healer. A one day savior to Valhalla when they needed him. Neo had abandoned the lands of Valhalla, fled for more evil ordinance. Though, he still held a place ni his heart. And Eos...she was so far gone...so lost...she had disappeared and it ailed him so. His wildflower, his elegant slayer. His thought recoiled off of her, rebounding and reprocessing timelessly. She had become so vivid in his mind he could almost smell her. It took a longer moment, though, as it came, he became quite aware of the fact he was smelling her.


Dulled sapphire eyes rose to move and find her, his large, graying, figure moving at as heavy a gait as he could pull into motion. Was she safe? Was she well? Or had some mongrel dropped her off on their borders. Lifeless. Decaying. He'd find them. He'd find them and he'd make them choke on their own soul.

His gaze swept over the form of his daughters, Epiphron had come forth and allowed a bewildered look to sweep her gaze. Steal from the entire essence of Eos a gaze. She was as lost as the ex-king was. His bulky frame, however, did not stop, he came before his daughter. His age evident, and his love written cleanly in his warm eyes. Was she home? Would she be staying? Ah...but she was not coming home to the same thing. Valhalla had changed. They were a pack of warriors and dedicated to it. Collision himself was dancing on the front line of causing war. The brunette king knew not what to think of it, only that it would not deter his offspring from what should be theirs to rule.

"Eos" the simple drawl of her name fled his lips, his gaze locking on her and his body daring to step forward and touch his nose to her nape. How he had missed her. How he prayed that she was the one that could be some kind of help to his old heart. He didn't need another child tearing it from his chest.

Erani curled on the top natural stair, gazing out into the enclosed Ravine. The loss of Neo still hurt. She hadn?t yet told Cairo of her meeting with him, or with Kaien. How did one tell him that the boy he had loved just as much as his own blood had turned into what Neo was now? And that he seemed to hate their living intestines with a fire that was entirely sickening? However, her mind was jerked away from the painful thoughts by a feeling.

Her head lifted and she turned her head side to side, as though that feeling could become a sound that would tell her what it meant. It was a feeling that was a mix of elation, and foreboding. She rose to her paws with a huff and made her way down the steps and out of the Ravine. The storms had returned after that one lovely day she had used to take Preston out on a gathering foray. Rain fell in sheets, Lightning flashed, and thunder charged across the sky like a giant herd of bison. However, she kept on, following that sixth sense that something was happening that was both wonderful, but would be terrible in some way.

She caught the scent and stopped, stock still. Or she would have been stock still, had one of her unborn litter not chosen to give a particularly strong nudge, which sent the entire litter into wiggling. Erani?s ears tilted backward as though listening to them, then pricked them forward. Eos. Erani hadn?t seen the young female since the night they had reached the Redwood Forest in the unclaimed lands. It was as though the young female had slipped away. Many had feared her death.

But she was here. On the border. Erani started forward, eyes cautious. If the young Princess was back, why did she feel so uneasy? She came into the scene and studied the young female that had returned. There was something off. The way Eos stood, as though she didn?t want to be there, yet had to be there. Erani had been taught to watch the body. To read what it said. Words could often mean one thing, when the body told the truth. She stood, and gave Eos the distance that she sensed she wanted.

She didn?t speak, only watched Epiphron and Cairo greet her. This should have been making her day brighter. She had missed Eos. Had worried for her. And now she was here, safe, unharmed, and strong. But that feeling that she was about to lose again wouldn?t leave her alone.

The snowy wench twirled within the glassy reflections of the russet?s eyes, a pallid kiss of beauty against the twisting earthliness that engulfed her glowing figure. Sapphire eyes, as vivacious and incandescent as their fathers; blinking with an awkward uncertainty, failing to drown the course emotion that so clearly overwhelmed her pretty little mind. Eos had never been? close, with her siblings, especially her sisters. There was nothing the peculiarly marked princess could have done to warrant her sibling with any kind of distaste, but Eos felt no love for the elegant lady that stood so regally before her. Yet the pallid lady seemed painfully forgiving, a sharp greeting bouncing effortlessly across the earth of which the siblings stood.

She said nothing, a hollow silence drowning the pair in a world of unknowing. There was no aim, no goal. The vixen still wasn?t sure why she had returned, and as she stood in the company of her litter-mate, she quietly considered turning and leaving; her heart so lost, so confused, so destitute . But weakness was something she did not advertise, so the banshee encouraged forth no more than the proud raise of her head, a single, forced name climbing powerlessly through the cracks of her jaws, ?Epiphron.?

An exposing story clawed at the vixens quivering naires, the scent of her father coming barely moments before his astounding, eminent body found its way into her darting vision. Weathered, scarred, damaged and yet still standing. Emotion began to tear at her chest, the rampant desire to snap and snarl and discharge the vicious hate that had grown as a being within her skin for so long. She was so angry at him. And yet she wasn?t even entirely sure why. But he took no more than two steps towards her and she was barely a rodent at the base of his colossal paws; no more than a tiny ant scrounging for sanction at the toes of a mighty bull elephant. He made her feel like nothing, and yet the love he so radiated for her made her feel like she was all that mattered in that moment.

She hated it.

His breath prickled the skin on her nape, and as her father brought their bodies together; the young princess gazed in awe at the reflection of swirling russets and auburns as their coats simultaneously intertwined. She had been so proud of their similarities, with all bar one of her siblings, Syrinx, being birthed with pelts of pallid and white. She hated that he had such a power over her. Nobody but him could effect the clock-work of her youthful mind. She shuddered, every muscle in her body quaking as her mind clouded with confusion. She did not return her fathers embrace, but the uneasy emotion that rattled her body should have been enough to show the reluctant acceptance of his presence.

Erani. The memories of her mother?s passing were illuminated by the brilliant whites of the healers presence, a cold, emotionless stare grasping almost threatening at the ladies own, cerulean gaze. The banshee had always been there, when their mother wasn?t; Erani was always there. She always cared, always loved them. And yet she aroused some kind of nauseating pain within the young ladies gut, a feeling that for some reason Erani had something to do with why Guinevere was no longer here. Still, she had always known how to keep them happy; and as she halted a good distance from the trio, the slightest fizzle of appreciation sparked within her troubled mind. ?I hate her, father?? voice came forth with no previous warning, and as she allowed the words to sink in; silver-green eyes still pinned to the snowy healer, Eos didn?t doubt that they would mistake her person of referral. ?She is gone, she left us and she didn?t care? I don?t belong here anymore.?
What was the reason within the young ladies hatred and displacement? No wolf could truly answer, and its likely Eos herself was no exception.

Chrysanthe couldn't believe it herself, it was what had led her here. Mixed with the scents of family that lived within the pack was the scent of one other that belonged but didn't have the sharp distinction that was Valhalla. Female, around her age, pointing out things that she recognized was really a silly thing to do - a habit that she had since taking to patrolling the borders when she was at home. Yet she knew who this was before she even arrived on the scene where the other Adravendis had gathered. "Eos! You're alive!" She spoke the girl's name with enthusiasm - she had thought the other was dead. The beta unknowingly broke a bit of the silence the others seemed to have taken, and she stopped next to Epiphron, staring at their no-longer-lost sister with a small smile on her face.


Eos was alive, and she looked well enough - although she seemed a bit reserved, that could just be her seeing her family for the first time in god knows how many seasons. Too long - it had been too long. Chrysanthe looked over to Erani as she appeared, offering the woman who had practically raised her a wider smile. She looked a bit baffled from what the red faced girl could tell, and she couldn't help the twinge of worry that plagued her as she tried to pin her expression. There was a tremendous amount of pressure present at this reunion - and something seemed unbelievably off about it all... what was wrong? Why wasn't everyone smiling? Where was the happiness? The joy? Yet the train of thought would be broken by Eos's voice, and the yearling's ears perked atop her head in shock. Did she really... really say that she hated Erani? The woman that raised them? That was there when their mother wasn't able to be herself? She held back a growl, waiting for the other to explain herself - only holding her tongue because they had been words not for everyone gathered, but for their father.


And when she did, Chrysanthe held back a sigh, disappointment flashing over her previously angered visage before it was replaced with nothing at all. What was it about their home, their family, that chased some of their siblings off? She blamed her teasing, partially, for Neo's depature - but Eos? She had done nothing, seen nothing of the girl and she was finally here and she hadn't even properly said hello and she was hating Erani or their mother or both and ready to bail on the wolves that loved her most in this world. Optics's gaze fell to the ground, and she let herself lean slightly on Epiphron for a moment. Her sister, her only sister that seemed to be a constant no matter how much time passed or different they became or ranks they were given. It was them against the boys, and their family that had never before seemed so small - against the world.


If Eos didn't want to be here, she could leave. She could leave and take Neo with her because never before had fighting for him to stay seemed like such a lost cause. Nnoitra's words rang in her ears and never before had she wanted to tear into a wolf for no bloody good reason like she did at that moment. The yearling shut her eyes, letting a sigh leave her lips. "Why do things turn out this way, Pip?" She whispered, before looking up at Eos and Cairo, wondering what would happen between the two. What had happened to their sister while she was gone?

There was little time for her to react further. It seemed as her sister's return had been noticed by others, her scent ringing like a siren across the land. Her name fell the russet girl's lips with visible effort. If Epiphron had expected joy in their reunion, she would've been sorely disappointed in the blank gaze she received instead. But she had expected nothing at all, and her sister's inexpressive fa?ade spoke worlds more than she could've vocalized. Eos had never been a creature of many words, as far as the girl remembered, and why would she expect anything of her now? Epiphron and Chrysanthe had embraced as the dearest of friends, but Epiphron stood tall and faced her sister in utter silence. Cairo's arrival broke the lull that had settled between them. Still the princess would look on, her piercing sapphire gaze searching Eos for answers she assumed she would never find. The girl's strength seemed to shatter instantly as Cairo took her in a loving embrace, and she watched the scenario with a wary mind. The uncomfortable posture she had assumed without realizing faded, as Chrysanthe joined the group and took a seat near her. As the days went on, Epiphron grew less envious of the red-faced girl. Perhaps her mind was simply too distracted with other things -- such as Maverick -- that she didn't have time to dwell on her sister's superior position. And as the days went on, she found herself growing more appreciative of the constant support of the other female. Around her, she didn't need to pretend to be something she wasn't, didn't need to impress the female she had grown up with. It was easy and comfortable and reassuring to have one constant in her life. There was no hesitation as she returned the slight contact, leaning back slightly into Chrys and nudging her gently. Epiphron was as confused as Chrysanthe... what was Eos talking about? How could Erani be blamed for anything, let alone hated? The female was the epitome of perfection. "Things have to get worse before they get better," she spoke in soft tones, nudging her sister's neck gently.

Time was a wrathful bitch. Stealing from him time and time again, and he knew little how long he could possibly endure losing more and more. Here stood his daughter that had been vacant for so long, and while most family reunions would be excitable, interesting, events he was stuck with the truth that this evented was swathed in memories, and not all of them were anywhere near pleasant. How could he change things? How could he heal the heart of his daughter? She was not a cruel creature, she was wounded by death, like so many others. To be honest, it was not her that was failing him, however, he could not answer himself as to how he had failed her. Happiness, pleasantry, all were so preached on by the dulled, brunette king. Where had she been during the discussions?

Warmth radiated from her body like it radiated from his own, and while he could only have the forethought she did not enjoy the embrace hardly as much as he did he would look directly at her back, his skull draped across her shoulder, and he dreaded letting go of the girl. Would it be the last time? Could he...make her stay? Convince her? Work her through the things that writhed in her mind? He wanted more than anything to have the ideal, perfect, family, but he knew it would be a challenge and he would have to speak perfectly.

Words ripped from her mouth and it took him a minute to register what she met, however, upon her second line, eyes would widen just a bit and tears would beg to fester in his gaze. He thought that perhaps she meant Erani, but no, she meant Guinevere. His sweet, sweet Guin. Head would fall slightly and he would release eye contact for a moment, gathering his sporadic thoughts. Such an intelligent young girl stood before him, and that was the key word. Young. Inexperienced. All of his children were so youthful, so innocent. ?Your mother loved you so much, and I can honestly not love anyone else like I loved her, Eos,? A small smile would dance across his lips and he would look up at her, ?Death comes for us all...your mother...me...and one day you. Your parents are supposed to go before you, to path a way,?

He did not speak from anything more than a position of a loving father. He spoke from a position that just needed his daughter and needed her to understand. However, she was wrong, and the realization of what she said invoked quite the reaction from the massive king. His head would shake back and forth, his expression would morph into that of pain, and he would look at her with eyes that almost pleaded with her to stay home, ?Eos, you belong with me. You are my daughter. You are ridden with terrible, terrible things the world has shown you, and I?m sorry. I am sorry that as a father I failed to protect you. It is my fault, and to be clear...I can?t find this out of necessity. Syrinx is...so much like you,?

Erani

Erani heard the words Eos said, and for a moment, she wondered. Then Cairo spoke. Her heart sank anyway. She wouldn?t have blamed any of them; Cairo, his children.. Any of them if they had ever hated her. In a way, she was the reason Guinevere had not survived. Her care had come too late. Deep blues gazed sadly at the returned female as Cairo spoke on. The life in her womb danced and twitched, as though trying to lift her spirit. As he spoke, her mind turned to Neo, another thorn digging into her heart. If he ever came back to Valhalla? What would become of him, as deep in his hatred as he was? She knew in her heart that he would never come back, not by his own will. That the only thing he wanted, was to see Valhalla burn for some unknown crime against him. Her eyes lowered to the earth as another roll of thunder vibrated the air. Epiphron was right. Things had to get worse, before they got any better at all.

There was nothing the banshee despised more than the presence of weakness, and yet it was just that that had grasped at the youthful impressionability of her mind. Had tarnished her carefree childhood and replaced joy with confusion, displacement, loss. Had she of been stronger, the demise of their mother would never have had such a devastatingly jagged effect on the character of the feminine youth. Who was to fault for that? Hell, she had no idea. Had Guinevere chosen to die? Had she given up on her body and her children in the sour and careless, thoughtless, painless way Eos had always thought? Or was she dragged unwillingly and violently from the earth by the cruel and unforgiving forces of nature, and nature alone?

The questions had clawed at her mentality from the day of Guin?s death; tugged painfully at the folds of her childish brain, dragging arteries and nerves from one side of her skull to the other; displacing her clock-work, changing the blue-print of her intellect, savaging everything she could have been. Her sisters seemed virtually unaffected, and yet the russet banshee had been so disturbed and wounded by the loss that it would drag her from the life she had always known, drag her from the path of knowing and force her into the mystifying thorns of uncertainty. It was a shady place, and yet it was sickeningly beautiful. Every now and then she?d catch a glimpse of the path she had once walked, looming between the twisting arms and coiled fingers of her new-fangled world; and this was one of those times.

His voice ruptured the hazy thoughts of her mind, brought her back to the non-existent memories of her creation; the collision of the Kings DNA with her mothers. Eos was the product of him, and as much as she tried to deny it, tried to deny that she was the artifact of anyone or anything, she held the quietest whimper of pride within the tapered impound of her chest; a fickle and fragile tickle that would remind her of her family, of everything she should have been. ?No, I didn?t want protection,? her voice struggled to break free, clawing desperately at her jaws in irregular cracks. ?I don?t need you to protect me Father, I don?t fear the world or it?s sinister ways- I yearn them,? she paused, silver-green eyes straying as Chrysanthe coupled the reunion. ?She broke the ties that made us what we were and it shivers me. Shivers me in places I don?t understand. In losing her I lost a part of my spine, but I?m going to find it- whether it leads to the most ominous of nightmares or the sincerest of imaginings.?

Nape snaked almost robotically upwards, tawny strands clicking with static against the fibres of her father. ?The blood you have given me makes me strong, but I need more than ?this,? regretful gape crawled between the cerulean gazes of all four of her company, the emerald tone that swirled within her own windows a suggestion of their differences. Ah, Syrinx. The name tugged at her compassion in a way no other could, Eos had always been detached from her sisters. But she and Syrinx had faced the world together as pups; their similarities causing devastation in the most faultless of ways. Where was her brother? Would she now only see the painful differences between the two, or would she find a sense of comfort in the reticent armour of his psyche? She wanted to see him.



ooc: Some of you may decide not to reply after this, sorry I couldn't include you all. :c

T here was something that even the man could not explain about having his daughter look at him. There was a love in his heart that refused to quit swelling, and there was an adamant desire to make her happy in a place she needed to be. He felt so much like he had failed her, had not been able to give her everything that she wanted. Guinevere's passing, ah, he had not even known she was sick, and he should have known. Should have stopped it. The king lifted a paw and slammed it back into the earth, as though with his power he could split it and watch as more and more was lost. Yet, in his actions, his eyes would turn back up towards Eos and the furl on his lips would disappear, his gaze becoming something smoother. She had no doubt been given his own temper from when he was younger. He remembered Alice. Crusade. How angrily he had treated the situations with two wolves the he had loved so dearly. Her words, they sounded so much like something he feared she would say. He did not want to see his daughter fall into the arms of darkness, embedding the things it had to say as easily as one laid their head down at night. No, she was so much smarter, so much more lively than any of that, and perhaps, that was why it was so easy for her. So easy for her to slip out and use her tact and wit for other things. Other callings. She knew that Valhalla would be fine without her, and Cairo had a feeling that she could be fine without Valhalla. Without him. In the most daring of ways it broke his heart, broke his heart to see that what was happening was his baby girl was telling him that she was grown up, ready for the world, ready to accept anything that came at her. A deep growl would turn in his throat and his eyes would dance solemnly over her again. Her figure would dance forward and he could feel the warmth radiate from his body to hers; and her body to his. I do love you, Eos," she knew it was true. She had to. There was no questioning the things he felt for her, there was no making things up. She was his and he was hers. Father and daughter, eternally, regardless of how she felt about the situation, and about the life she had been brought into. "Valhalla is your home, your birth right, Eos. As long as Adravendi's are here, you will have the ability to return, to take, and to claim whatever it is you need," His blue eyes would sweep over her back and thought she claimed a 'piece of her spine was missing' he had to wonder which part, because, he had never witnessed a more ready display of readiness for the insecurities of the world.

Her father?s body had once seemed strained, the aging muscles that flexed beneath his greying pelt twitching and aching with palpable reluctance. His mind held on so tightly, he seemed so desperate to block out the reality within the words that hazily left her lips; was he scared of losing his daughter, or was he afraid of what the world would bring to her? It was painfully clear that Cairo was slowly on his way out, but he would forever be the greatest longest-reigning king of Alacritis. Perhaps he did things a little differently to some, perhaps Eos wouldn?t lead in the way her father had; but there was no denying the red beasts success, magnificence. When Syrinx stepped up to fill in the outsized paw-prints of his father, perhaps Eos would find her way back to Valhalla, just to watch her brother rise beneath the golden fingers of the world; one day no longer an alpha, but a king.

She pondered his final words quietly, somewhat surprised to feel the tension relive itself from beneath his skin, his acceptance pleasantly humidifying her chest. ?Your blood draining from these lands would be all the more reason for me to return, Cairo,? she hadn?t really thought it through before she spoke, and as her mind bustled with activity she began to silently ponder her own words. If her family was forced from the region, would she care? Would she return in a blind attempt to regain her father?s empire, or would she watch as it deteriorated beneath stranger?s feet?

Silver-emerald eyes fluttered closed for a brief moment, a reluctant tongue carefully finding its way to her fathers ear; a perfectly hesitant goodbye as her body readied itself for her swift departure. She glanced upwards, eyes resting upon her snowed sisters; as per usual, tied together by some undetectable thread, their bodies as in sync as their intelligence. She had never grown close to her sisters, it seemed from day one Eos had been determined to rise above them; she had been born the smallest and weakest, but she was desperate for her life to not end in those standings. Neo and Preston? She had always been unwilling to call them true siblings, and thus the young lady didn?t spare them more than a second thought. Syrinx on the other hand always lurked somewhere in the backdrops of her mind, pacing with an ideal mysteriousness, promising herself that she would return for her russet-stained brother in the future.

She spared the duo-toned duet a few moments of eye contact, but felt no words were needed. It was likely the youth would be seeing them again, and in that time it was unlikely she would miss their combined presence. Erani. The pallid wiser stood with that same fragility she always seemed to possess, Eos had felt as if the appearance of her body had always betrayed the strength of her mind; though she failed to love the healer as she used to. Perhaps she had bequested her survival as a pup, but she had been unable to grant the same to their mother. Eos knew deep down that Erani was not to blame, but the blindness that lingered her heart prevented any further acknowledgement. Something was different though, a change of scent seemed to surround the pallid lady; nostrils quivering with interest as she held her gaze. Pups? Lip twitched with a shallow dissatisfaction, a carelessness evident as the youth swiftly turned her body; limbs beginning to carry her away from the four wolves.

She paused a few strides later, glancing back at her father. She hadn?t returned his words of love earlier, and she wouldn?t; but for a painfully brief moment she allowed her gratitude and admiration to flash the emeralds of her eyes, ?I won?t strive to make you proud, but I hope that you will someday come to appreciate my ability to see beyond Valhalla. Chrysanthe and Epiphron may carry your name and blood through the generations of this manor, but I promise you I will take it far beyond the reaches of your kingdom. May your veins birth a legion a warriors, kings and queens- not only within the lands and alliances you have betrothed, but throughout Alacritis and some day even its neighbours.? A final moment of silence would declare her conclusion, and the yearling would turn for the last time; muscles coiling as she moved off at a resolute trot.



ooc: I think only half of this actually made any sense, but hey. P: <3