Become The Same

Arc was content to lay quietly with Vanille for as long as she wanted, just happy and comfortable with her no matter what they were doing. Then he noticed her shifting and felt the top of her head against his and he smiled softly, tipping his head so that his cheek rested against the top of her head. They still looked up at the stars, but he wasn’t really paying attention to them. They were like the visual equivalent of background noise while his attention was really on Vanille even if he wasn’t looking at her.

He didn’t know why he was surprised to hear that this was the furthest she had traveled and seemed to only do it because he moved up here. " Really?” he questioned curiously. His mother had always been so set on them exploring the world and seeing as much of it as they could so they had been all over the place since they left Armada and struck out on their own. They did usually keep some kind of home base, but she had always encouraged them to go out on their own as long as they were safe about it. It didn’t really occur to him that others didn’t grow up in the same mindset.

She went on to say how her mother had taught her how to get back home, his sapphire gaze following her paw as it traced out a shape in the stars. Even if she had never needed to use it that was still a handy skill to know. He realized she had never really mentioned her mother or family before now and he was about to ask about her when Vanille brought up the Long Night. He gave a little frown at the thought, thinking about how strange everything had been during that time. It had happened right after his father’s death so it was all pretty fuzzy for him as well, but probably for different reasons.

"Did you get sick?” he asked gently, remembering that many of the wolves in Armada while they were still living there had caught a strange, mysterious illness during the Long Night.

"Arcturus Indarra"