Weariness filled Astrea as she moved back home. She had not been home in a few weeks and frankly she was ready for a bit of sleep.She yawned moving up the cliff path. She was not done looking for little Illume not in the least but frankly she was no good to her niece dead on her feet. She needed a night of rest and then she would go back out and start looking again. She had been hoping to see Volt back on his feet and again taking up the rule that he needed to be in just as much as the family needed him in. She sighed, she knew she was harsh on her brother but he was wasting away, a part of his soul drowning and it seemed that a soft hand would not pull him out of his rut... But when she left her brother after her speech he had not moved, only gave her a blank sad look. Pain had falaried in her, knowing that she could do nothing more for the brother that she loved with all her heart, she had done everything that she could now it was up to him to move forward. She had left that night, and had not returned, knowing that she would not be able to help her family with the pack, and the only one that needed her help was little Illume, Astrea could feel her light in the air, knew in her hearts of hearts that the pup was still out there! But Volt had in essence given up on her, had started to fade with that thought of his lost child. He had started to let his family down... Had started to let his other child down. Little current had needed her father so Astrea had taken the hit for her and the family. She knew that she said harsh things, knew that her brother would not react well to being compared to their parents, so Astrea had taken that chance and that hit for her family, for the remaining niece... Even if Voltage now hated her she knew she made the right call, the family needed him more than she needed him, Current needed him more than Astrea needed his love and acceptance... But even thought she all but knew he more than likely hated her she wanted to see him, she wanted to know that her sacrifice had indeed payed off, that she had not given up the only brother who had seen her light even when it was shrouded in shadows... Voltage was everything to Astrea and if he was to die her soul would die with him, she would slowly waste away like he had started to, drown by the tides of loss. ""

Voltage was moving. He was eating, he was running, he was laughing. He was preparing the world for the birth of his brother's children, and yet he hadn't returned. His eyes were always distant, moving towards the ocean whenever he could, never really leaving the ocean side, as if little illie would rise from the waves the second he looked away. Current hadn't been home in weeks now, and he felt a worry gnawing at his chest, at his stomach, at everything that was left of him. Yet he kept moving. He could no longer lay still, his energy had gathered and he could barely sit still without moving anymore. But it wasn't with the same happy frantic pace he had always moved in, this was running...running from his thoughts, from his fate. He was fleeing as much as he could. He hadn't seen Astrea in so long, and to be entirely honest he had barely thought about it. He barely thought about anything anymore, just one more rock to add to his collection, one more feather for his plan, one more pelt for his little nieces and nephews. One more one more one more, it kept him going. He was a mess, but a different mess. He wasn't melting, he wasn't downing, but he was frantic. His lungs burned as he moved through the lands, searching endlessly for something he couldn't name. It was like every single thing he found would bring him one more step towards finding not one but both of his daughters. But they were never good enough. They never had the right color, the right shape, the right feel. If he could just find the right ones, maybe his life would return to normal. Maybe he'd wake up one day and those perfect stones had transformed into his daughters and the universe had forgiven him. Instead, he woke up cold, and frantic. He moved with a smile on his face, a cover he had perfected in the past few weeks. He had found a smile that seemed natural, that seemed perfect, and he wore it upon his masked face. At the beginning he had wallowed in the thought, the idea that no one cared anymore, but now he hid from anyone who might. Glacier's children were coming, after all. It was time to be happy....right? And he was, he really really was happy for the little mouse and his Big Brother, but he didn't want to see them face the same fate he had. So he had to...had to find the right stones, to keep it all together, right? He panted as he paused, staring at the cliff when some movement caught his eye. Stormy eyes narrowed, slightly, slowly, before they widened. That could only be...It wasn't like Astrea and Solaris looked a whole lot alike. He paused, eyes flicking this way and that as he breathed in the cool ocean breeze. There was a small part of him that wanted to go see her, to show her how well he could pretend to smile, but another part of him was still hurt that his baby sister had chosen to hurt him. Serefina had been right, but he had been right also. It was a good thing Astrea didn't know how he felt, after all. He had done his job correctly. Heaving a sigh, he moved towards the entrance he and Glacier had found the day they searched for something to give to the celestial triplets, to make them feel at home. They had tried to make this home perfect for everyone...he paused then, looking into the darkness before he forced his smile upon his lips. He had to see her, after all. He moved towards the end of the tunnel, pulling himself out and looking at his sister. A wash of pain spread over him but he just shook it away like he would dust in his fur. Stormy eyes shone in the darkness and his gentle smile touched his lips. "I was wondering when you might come home." He said in a soft and tender way, just gazing at his star loving sister from where he stood. "Burn Baby Burn"

She was at the crest when she felt him. Her ears flicked, knowing that if he was up and about that was good, it was the right step in the right direction. But she did not want to talk to him, she was scared that he would rip her now scared heart from her chest. She was afraid that for his pain he would request double back, and he would get that, she would let him rip her to shreds if that was what he needed... So instead of fallowing her first impulse to turn tail and run she turned slowly, plastering her ears to her skull. She was so tired, she had no more fight in her really, she was easy pray if he was going to rip her soul to shreds. Astrea knew how she must look to him, she had not eaten much in the past weeks, and had barely even slept, her fur must have dust rubbed so hard into it that she may never get it out, her stars had dulled and most likely couldn't be told apart from the black of her pelt. The feathers hung limply like the wind knew that she was already wasting away, but even thought she felt terrible, even though she was pushing her body to the limit she would not stop looking, she would look till the day she died if she had to, but she would not give up. She looked at him, her eyes drawn and saw into his soul. He felt as dead as she looked. He may be up and about now, he may be moving but this was not living. Existing was not life... She had failed him again. She had put her soul on the line and had gotten nothing for it... Her soul cried out, the pain she felt for calling him out on his behavior was for nothing... The smile he plastered on his face was a fake, she could see it, knew that he did not feel the life that he was pretending to lead... Astrea said nothing, it seemed that he was ripping her soul apart but not with his anger... Instead he was ripping her heart out with the shadow he had become... She may not understand the loss of a parent for a child, or fully know what happened at that island of their birth but she knew what it felt like to be a shadow in life, knew what it was like to just exist and not to live... And her empathy was like no other, she felt his soul calling out in the dark as hers was, felt his pain even behind the smile, she saw the darkness in his eyes... Her life was spiraling slowly out of control like none of the others seemed to understand... They had not seen the darkness that she carried with her after her journey, they had not seen the change that she hid behind her mask of calm. Astrea had hoped that her family would pull her back, would balance her again but instead she felt even more lost then she ever did before, not one of them seemed to see just how lost she was, as much as Volt was, and most definitely as lost as little Illume was... "Yeah... I was not sure either... But I needed a safe place to rest before going further away," She finely answered him, her eyes not turned away from him as she continued down the path and she sat in her normal spot, but instead of looking at him or to the sky she just looked down at her paws. Her body was slumped and her ears back... She was so tired... She was losing that battle against the darkness, and not one of her sibling seemed to see it.