No friend as close as your sister

The sound of Clove's airy giggles brought a triumphant smile to Ember's face. She loved making her sister laugh. Ember was a huge family-oriented wolf and she loved all of their giant family dearly, but the relationship she had with Clove was special. They were sisters; the only two girls of their litter. They had a special bond that nothing could break! Em was sure Clove would be her closest friend and sibling for all their lives. She giggled when Clove puffed out her chest and rightfully boasted about getting all the brains and the beauty. That was for sure, even if her charade was hilarious in its own right!

The mood shifted slightly as Clove made a comment about their parents giving them so much leeway to pursue their passions and their own paths that sometimes it felt overwhelming and lonely. Ember's ears flicked back, her expression deflating somewhat. Yeah, she could relate to that... "I know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if I'm on the right path, or if there even is a 'right path' for us that Mom and Dad are, like, secretly hoping we take, you know?" There was a beat of silence before Ember added on, "Sometimes I wonder if that's why Taly left our family..." Family was so important to them all, Ember and Clove especially, so Talyssa's departure had really struck a nerve in the younger girl's heart.

Thankfully, Clove was quick to pivot the mood back to pulling a prank on their brother, and Ember was all smiles once again. Her blue eyes flashed with mischief considering all the possibilities at their disposal. "Yeah! Like... maybe we could move some stuff around his room when he's not there or put it in different places and make him think his room is haunted!" The thought of Thorn going back to his room at the end of the day and seeing things randomly moved about brought a giggle to the Carpathian girl. Gods, she'd love to see the look on his face! Ember hadn't hesitated to respond to Clove with Erik's name, but as soon as Clove began her teasing banter, suddenly she wished she hadn't been so quick on the reply. Em's cheeks burned hot as her sister drew out his name in exaggeration, the adolescent fae puffing up her cheeks as she glared at her littler sister.

But if that had been bad, Ember was wholly unprepared for the shock on Clove's face when she revealed where she had taken Erik. Clove was on her in a blink, her dainty paws around her shoulders and her wide-eyed face right up in hers. Ember blinked, eyes wide with surprise. Clove was much more of the romantic girly type than she expected—certainly more than she was herself! "Whoa, hey hey! It wasn't like that! He-" Ember was cut off as Clove gasped and asked if he made a move on her. Again Em's face went hot, leaving the girl sputtering while she tried to catch up to her enthusiastic sister. "NO! No, he didn't do anything like that! He was just... having a hard time in Tojo-kai and he snuck over to see me. I would've gone down to see him, but it was raining and the wet weather messes with his throat, so I... kinda... sorta... maybe snuck him past the Knights and up to my room to dry off and hang out." Ember raised her paws in mock testimony, swearing to the truth and nothing but the truth. "He sat on my rug in front of the fire and dried off while I groomed my tail, he looked around my room, and then he laid on my bed with me, but he didn't try to put any moves on me or anything! He stayed until the rain passed, then just went home." There was a touch of disappointment in her voice when she emphasized how he had put no moves on her that night. Ember hesitated with adding on that was the last time she had seen Erik. He'd been gone for a while, probably just overly busy in Tojo-kai. At least that's what she told herself...

But for all the surprise she hit her sister with when it came to Erik, Clove returned the favor sevenfold when she began to list off all the boys she had been interacting with! Now it was Ember's turn to look wide-eyed at her sweet innocent sister with shock. Three boys! And she'd had no idea! Did their father know about them cavorting around with the young brutes of Auster she wondered? "Well well well, sounds like my sister is quite the popular lady! Better warn those boys you've got a lot of bigger brothers and a protective sister looking after you, so they'd better play nice," teased Ember with a grin and a wink. "So this boy you reeeeally like—the Tojo-kai one—he sounds really romantic! You want him to come visit the castle, huh?" It sounded fair; he had snuck Clove into their secret bamboo forest, and Ember had snuck Erik into the castle, so Clove could do the same, right? Maybe the two sisters could help each other out. "Maybe he hasn't come over yet because he's nervous? We could invite Erik over too, so that way he doesn't feel like he's coming here alone." Plus then maybe it would get Erik back over so she could hang out with him some more too while Clove and her prospective boyfriend enjoyed some time to themselves.

"Sisters" | "Carpathian"