I see you in all that is blue

Life wasn't the same without their mother around. Vanta could feel her absence in every family member's sad smile, every puppy's quiet confusion and most of all in the forlorn expression of her stoic father. The pups had been told that they would remain for a time in the Hallows' massive castle, surrounded by friends and family and all the support any grieving individual might need.

Vanta had been grateful when she was given permission to return home for a brief time, accompanied by Gossamer's protection as she rifled through the family den to retrieve some possessions very dear to her. The bracers her mother had gifted her and the odd piece of fabric, too. If she was to live in the Hallows for any length of time, she would keep her inheritance safe while staying there.

Clipping the unblemished leather to her limbs with a vow to never again remove them. Between the leather and her fur she squished the last piece of her inheritance, folding the fabric gently and working it in with a toe to ensure it would be well protected behind her bracer. Mom had said it was important and while Vanta still did not understand why, she was not about to ignore her mother's request to keep it treasured and safe.

Vanta had hoped that keeping the accessory and band-aid close would make her feel closer to her mother too, but the cold empty void in her chest remained even when the leather had grown warm against her skin. The pup desperately wished for her back for even just a minute, for just one short hug. It was with this wish in mind that she snuck from the castle late in the evening and made her way back to the faintly glowing shore to its south west. The territory had drawn her eye because it glowed the same color as hers and her mother's crystalline fur - perhaps being close to that would help to make her feel whole once more.

Beneath the moon the pup set off toward the shore, a toucan on her right and a viper wrapped loosely around her neck. All three of them had loved and lost, but held hope. Samhain was said to be a festival for both the living and the dead, and as the bonfire's green light spread across the sky there had been a declaration of the veil between worlds dropping. Did that mean her mother was back? The absence of the horned woman in the Hallowed castle walls seemed to be evidence that she was not - after all, if Zee had been given the opportunity to walk this world once more and see her children one last time, why wasn't she here? The familiars had addressed this worry only briefly, mentioning that a spirit might need an invitation to cross. This, Vanta insisted to herself, she could accomplish.

Armed with enough childish hope to bring back all of Somnium, Vanta approached the fainty glowing water of the shore. Nobody had told her or tried to teach her how one would go about bringing someone back from the dead, but Vanta would not let the lack of knowledge stop her. She put her forepaws in the water, letting the cold chill reach up just to the top of her crystalline leg fur. Connecting herself and the water's bioluminescent glow, and willing that mystical glow to use the physical bond between herself and her like-mutated mother to call to her soul. Her eyes slid shut - it just felt right, okay? - and she began to speak, imagining her words going down into the bioluminescent algae to be carried across the widespread ocean until it reached wherever her mother might be.

"Mom? I miss you." Vanta began, her voice shaking. "We all miss you." Swallowing hard, the puppy continued. "I don't know how this all works, Mom. Really, I don't think anyone does. Everyone seems so confused. But if you could just come back for even a few minutes and help me to understand, maybe I can make everyone else understand too. I'd do anything to keep you with us, even just for a little while."

Opening her eyes she waited, and waited. No response came. Vanta stared harder down at the bioluminescence, focusing all her energy into it and imagining her mother's glowing form stepping from the ocean. Nothing. The wind picked up and the land grew cold, the toucan eventually pulling the pup's forelegs from the ocean by her tail and depositing her further up on the beach. With his talons he worked to crack stone against flint to produce a small driftwood fire, encouraging the pup forward to absorb it's warmth.

"Hell -- Ar -- Ere? "

The voice was crackled, distorted.

"V -- ta?"

With a loud crackle and pop, the fire finally caught. Vanta turned her head away from the flames and shut her eyes instinctively to defend against the pain, ears slicked back in disappointment.

"Vanta?"

"Vanta"