A New Leaf

This I swear by the stars

Stars in your multitudes, scarce to be counted, filling the darkness with order and light. You are the sentinels, silent and sure, keeping watch in the night. You know your place in the sky, you hold your course and your aim. And each in your season, returns and returns, and is always the same. And if you fall as Lucifer fell, you fall in flame

As she waited, she shuffled her weight across all four of her paws, trying desperately to gather all her thoughts. There was so much that she needed to say, and she wasn't quite sure how to get it all out. It was when she saw the flash of yellow that she focused on her electric brother, a tiny smile spreading her black lips. But he slowed when he neared, actually he almost collided with her, leaving her pulling her head back and blinking in surprise. He was silent for a moment, and she righted herself, orange eyes observing him as well. Before she could get any words out, he welcomed her home. Slowly, sadly, the woman shook her head back and forth. She saw Glacier approach them out of the corner of her eye, but her gaze was focused on Voltage for a moment. "Not yet, brother. Not until you think that I have earned my place back among the ranks of Dono," she said, hoping that Glacier caught her words as well. As both males settled before her, she sighed and pulled herself into a seated position. Purple and black tail curled about her, carefully taking in Glace's caution in his gaze. Oh boy, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

Ears were still pinned against her head as she glanced between the two boys, and then briefly up at the stars for comfort. "I know I have wronged you, and our family. I see that now, how foolish I was being. I had thought that I had discovered myself, but I was letting too many inner thoughts get to my head. My ego was bigger than the night sky, and under that canopy I made some very unwise decision," she started softly. There was a touch more wisdom in her vocals, and her posture was relaxed and even. She blinked her orange eyes rapidly, trying to keep back the sudden flood of tears that threatened to fall. Choking up, she took another moment to collect herself. A few deep breaths followed, and then she focused on Voltage. That is when she nearly lost it, taking in his features. "What I said to you before... I am so sorry. I had no right at all to say such horrible things. I feel like there was a dark cloud covering my mind all that time, but now I have managed to push it away. You were right all along, my energetic kin. I don't know why I doubted you all this time," she let out another sigh, her head hanging slightly as the first tear fell. "I was so very lost in the darkness. You made the first pinpricks of light, but it took my conversation with Ray to really wake me up. I walked away from that and realized just what I had become. Darkness. That is not who I am, not who I am supposed to be. So I left without a word, fearing that you would hold me back from my quest. I wanted to go out and prove to you two that this time, I would come back with no more clouds. I wanted to clear my skies before coming home, to make sure that none of this would happen again," Her voice faltered then, a large nodule lodging in her throat.

When Caeli was able to look up again, her gaze wandered all the way up to her stoic brothers face. "If you would allow me too, I would like to talk to Ray again. You can be there as well if you prefer, if it makes you feel better. I need to right my wrong, brother," she said with a soft whine, eyes closing shut firmly at the thought of the girls confused face. "When I think back to those times its like I am looking through someone's eyes, and not my own. I... I don't know what set me off my path. But now, now I feel like I truly know who I am. And I know I said that last time, but this time... it feels right." Her eyes snapped open, a confidence and strength lingering in their depths. "I have gotten more in touch with my true, higher self. I remember the stories that I wanted to tell the pups, and I want to teach them about the stars. I don't want to go out like our parents did, with hardly any fond memories as their legacy. No, when I return home to the stars I want to be able to pass on our family's tales from the stories I have told. That one day our children's children's children will talk of the First Elementas, and how we ruled the world," Caeli stopped, blinking slowly as she tried to place if she had said all that she wanted to say. It felt like a whirlwind of emotions, all of this. "I guess it took me so long because I longed to be with the stars in the sky. I didn't realize that I had my own shining stars here on earth." She said fondly, once more looking from brother to brother.

"Speech!"

Caeli Elemantas