closed the blinds and made goddamn sure we could never see the sun

Sadness had become Ikigai's norm. Confusion was a close second. After the neverending night that had almost killed some of them, she imagined that her family would have drawn together and become stronger, but it was quite the opposite. Her father had left and had taken pack wolves with him. He hadn't even said goodbye. Now her mother was upset and all of the rules and morals that she'd grown to embrace had been trampled underpaw in the mud. Ikigai didn't know what to think anymore.

The pale princess had been spending a lot of time in the old shrine simply because no one bothered to go there anymore. She'd placed a pile of furs beside the missing wall, but back far enough that they wouldn't get wet. This was where she spent most of her days. She hadn't touched an instrument since her father's departure, nor had she gone to the building that he'd constructed for her. She didn't want to remember him. The gifts meant nothing because his word and bond meant nothing. She'd almost broken her instruments, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

Nearing the old shrine, Ikigai was surprised to see someone emptying the space and stacking things in various piles. Brows furrowed, the young lady came up to the entrance of the shrine and looked within. She was surprised to see Pontifex there. He had been allowed back? When their gaze met, she lowered her mercuric pools to the floor beneath their paws, not wanting him to see the sadness within. "Pontifex, it's you," Perhaps not the best greeting, but it was all that she could manage to say.

"V"