What You Need Isn't Always What You Want

Avacyn could feel the anger and the fury rolling off of her brother in waves, even as his paw settled over hers in his seemingly instinctual attempt at comforting her as she sat uneasily under the gaze of their mother. She had already known that he wouldn't like this arrangement and had expected some kind of backlash, but when he pulled away from her and lashed out at their mother, scorning her for making these decisions and denying the offer that had been arranged for him, Avacyn looked back to him wide eyed with shock and hurt of her own. She always expected Saracyn to be at her side through thick and thin, through the best and worst of their lives, but this time he couldn't seem to keep to that when confronted with the idea of these marriage proposals that they had been presented. She didn't like this situation that they had found themselves in, but she understood. It never once crossed her mind that their mother was doing this for her own benefit, but that seemed to be the only thing that Saracyn could see this as and as he stormed off with one final wish that he had died in his fall down the mountain Avacyn could only watch him go with a deep, painful knot in her chest.

"Saracyn!" Manea called after him, the Matriarch standing and watching him with disbelief and shock of her own written on her features. Avacyn could tell she wanted to chase after him, but she knew that Saracyn wouldn't listen to her. Any attempt at talking to her brother was going to fall on her shoulders now even though she was still processing her own arrangement that she had agreed to. Her mind was still reeling, but she had no choice but to try and get through to him where their mother never could. She glanced at Manea, stopping her as she stepped forward to try and go after him, and gave a small shake of her head. "I'll go," she said softly, feeling far older than she really was as she got up and chased Saracyn down the mountain path, catching up to him at the edge of the tree line in the shade of the pines that dotted the island.

"Saracyn! Sara, wait!" she called, darting around him and skidding to a stop in his path and forcing his cobalt gaze to meet the deep obsidian of hers. Her ears were pinned back as she panted lightly, looking up at him with pleading desperation. "Can't you see that she's doing this for us?" she questioned with hushed tones. It was still early and there didn't seem to be anyone around, but she still wanted to keep this between them. "If she really wanted to stop us or condemn us then she would have sent you away! But she's not! She's helping us stay together and finding us a way to work around the laws! She's putting her neck on the line for us!" Overwhelmed, frustrated tears started to gather in the corners of her dark eyes as she leaned back on her haunches, reaching her white tipped feline paws up to try and rest them on either side of his face, holding his head gently between her paws as she pleaded with him. "I love you, Saracyn. That's why I agreed to this. Because I am willing to do anything to be with you... But this is bigger than just us. I have this pack and family on my shoulders and every eye on me and I have to be the Matriarch they need whether I like it or not." Her voice broke a bit and she swallowed hard, her paws sliding down form his cheeks to his chest. "Please, Saracyn... I don't want to do this without you."

"Avacyn Medacium"