Wander Through The Stars [Jupiter]

If the Spirit could have read minds, she might have found herself flustered by what Jupiter’s was thinking. There was the frankness of knowledge of what evolution drove one to do during her season, and then there was the emotional reality. In all likelihood, their ancestors of long, long ago, had probably never considered such a thing. It was mated pairs and all their offspring, most likely, rather than the empires and kingdoms that Packs had become in Boreas and Auster, and from what she knew and heard, the world at large.

Wolves of primitive times had probably chosen mates based on genetic strength and health, rather than personality and appearance.

Of course, at current, her mind was nowhere near the subject of mates and long dead histories of who mated whom and why. She was, in fact, thrilling that he had at least found some joy in finding his family, though she felt a stab of sympathetic pain in her breast as he admitted that he had never found his mother. But at least he had found his siblings, and a father, and further family to boot. At least he had that much.

An almost wistful smile tugged at her lips as he remarked upon her own successes in life, and she chuckled softly. “I suppose I have. I was crowned much sooner than originally planned—only a yearling. It was for a good reason. You remember I told you of my mother and brother missing?”

She trailed off, brows furrowing slightly as she paused, then went on, “The Nomads found them. They’d been taken by slavers when my mother took Aramis only just beyond our walls to have a healing lesson. It took only that moment of time for them to be stolen. My father stayed as long as he could until I was ready enough to take over, then left to rescue them. I … envy his battle. They were wiped out, the slavers.”

A short, sharp sigh huffed from her lungs, her good humor all but gone, now. “Mother and my brother were returned, right upon my first pack meeting. But… They were shrouded in the memories of the fear and pain. And mother has never recovered. And now she’s gravely ill. And she won’t recover. Aramis has, but he’s desperate to find a cure that doesn’t exist for this kind of sickness. I’ve asked the Nomads. If any would know, they would.”

Ayodele broke the tension that had settled over the shimmering woman, bounding in with a glass bottle in one nimble hand.

Aurielle coughed softly, giving Jupiter an abashed look as she added, “But, I shouldn’t be dropping such negativity upon your head. Not in such a happy festival. I truly am happy that you at least found your siblings and family. Jupiter, this is Ayodele, and that, over there, is Aelloshir—you’ve met him.”

She smiled, mask in place to cover the turmoil she’d come close to revealing, nodding toward the mountain lion, who was still giving Jupiter the look that was highly reminiscent of a big brother or a father of the daughter a hopeful peasant-boy might like to court. The last five inches of his tail were twitching, curling and uncurling methodically.

Ayodele gave Jupiter a jovial, almost sassy wave before she uncorked the bottle, dousing the Spirit in a powerful waft of peppermint and vanilla, soaking the fur around her tail and scent glands in the perfumed oil before recorking the bottle as Aurielle stood, shaking out her coat and huffing out a sigh, gazing innocently off in another direction as Ayodele noticed the circlet on the ground and grumped. Aelloshir ended up glowering even more as the lemur dropped the headdress on him instead.

The Spirit gave Ayodele a grin, remarking in The Old Tongue, syllables and consonants dancing off her tongue, ”I’m at my limit for wearing that thing, Dele. You might as well take it to the hut.”

Switching fluidly back to Common, she turned back to Jupiter, asking, “And how is your companion? He seems to have enjoyed the feast quite a lot.”

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think