Namesake

The elder fae before her both seemed surprised and yet not at the same time as Ember introduced herself. The woman said nothing, but motioned with her head for the girl to follow her. Still trusting in her instincts and her parents' advice, Ember stepped out of the water with a little shake of her body before falling in step alongside the stranger. The midnight pup kept her eyes up on the ashen gray fae while they walked and she explained that while this was her home, it was Ember's as well in a way. Ember's nose scrunched up as she tried to figure out what the heck that meant. She had never been here before in her entire life. And yet... she couldn't shake that uncanny familiarity that she had known about this place before now, but how, she could not explain.

Her question about the Hallows brought about a chuckle from the stranger. Sharp serrated teeth were shown in the fae's smile. Ember stared for a moment in awe. She had seen teeth like those before in the wolf skull Aunt Gwyn kept in her infirmary, but no one in the Hallows had teeth like those. She had assumed they were some sort of rare mutation. Whoever this lady was, she was certainly an imposing force, but Ember felt no danger being near her. The ash gray fae gave off an aura of protection and motherliness, and somehow it made Ember feel safe. The stranger reassured her that she would be back in the Hallows soon, which made even less sense to the wee pup. "That's good. Mom and Dad would be very upset with me if I was just gone," she explained with an easy smile. She didn't know how this lady knew she'd be back home soon, but she had no explanation for how she got here to begin with, so maybe anything was possible.

Wandering around the lake, Ember drank in the scenery around her. The crystal clear waters, the autumn forest, the towering mountain range of gray stone. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring! The pair began to trek up a winding path into the mountainside, Ember peering out over the forest as they slowly rose up and up, higher and higher above the world that seemed to stretch on forever, bathed in glorious sunlight. Her elder companion asked if her father had ever spoken of her grandmother. Ember gave the stranger a confused look, complete with furrowed brows and cocked head. Why did she want to know about her sire and grandmother? "Yeah, he talks about Granny Tam, but he usually lets her tell us her stories. We see her a lot too, since she still lives around the Hallows," she answered. Did this woman know her father and her Granny Tam somehow?

There was a long pause as Ember thought about the other stories her sire had told her and her kin—the stories that usually left him taciturn and somber by the end of them. "He talks about our other grandma sometimes too. He told us that she made the Hallows and our family. He says she was the strongest wolf he ever knew and that she was the reason we have our home. He also told us how she died protecting our home and that she was a true hero." There was another pause as Ember looked forward and down at her paws, her chest feeling tight as she added on, "I think he gets really sad when he talks about her though. Sometimes when he's done telling us about her, I see him go sit out in the gardens alone and talk to himself in Carpathian. I can't understand what he's saying, but I think he might be talking to her. He really misses her a lot and he always says he wishes she could have met us." Talking about seeing her father sad and vulnerable felt weird to the girl. Her father was always such a paragon of strength and courage; seeing how some things still struck under his armor felt a lot like finding out your superheroes were mortal too.

"Ember"