Gloom plodded unhappily after Void, following wherever it was her brother was leading her. She had been prepared to spend all day hiding in the den again when her brother had gently begun nudging her towards the opening. She'd protested lightly at first, whimpering and making contradictory noises, squirming a bit but eventually the girl had resigned herself to doing whatever it was her brother was trying to make her do. Speaking of! Gloom lifted her gaze from her paws, watching Void as he moved, her already much bigger brother easily outstriding her so she occasionally had to trot to be able to keep up. "Void where are we going?" She asked, her voice pitching into a whine. She tried to keep as close to her brother as she could, skirting around anyone else they passed, dropping her gaze constantly. She was uncomfortable around others outside of her family at the best of times and downright skittish since the frantic evacuation of the packlands. "speech" think  You

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The young Destruction had managed to convince his sister up and out of the den. His ivory tail wagged slightly at his hips in his victory, but it didn’t speed him up much. Void was follower rather than a leader and his slow gait made evidence of that. Even with his walk Gloom had her troubles keeping up. The young boy looked back at his sister as she trotted heavily to make her way up next to him again. He was obviously going to tower over her when they were older, but the difference wasn’t too intense yet.

Her voice was worried and full of uncertainty, Void’s dark ears fell to his skull but tried to ignore his sister’s discomfort. In the scheme of the universe emotions meant little. However, it was his goal to get her smiling and he knew he couldn’t do that unless they were alone. It was hard to find a private place on the island, all of Abaven was here! Of course the amount of wolves here now paled in comparison to the festival.

”Somewhere.” He told her cryptically as he ducked under one of the rocky overhangs in the middle of the island. If you sat here you could see the blue of the sky in the distance, and he liked to imagine summer was on the way. To banish the cold and bring back his beloved stars. Spirit hadn’t told him not to take their other siblings to the starry cave, and if Gloom wasn’t impressed by his blue sky he’d move onto his own favorite place on the island. ”See the blue?” He asked, wanting to give her the same hope he had.

Gloom watched her brother carefully, searching in his gaze when he turned to look at her and she tried her best to let herself be buoyed by his presence and clear attempt to cheer her up but it was feeble. She frowned slightly as Void only gave her a cryptic answer. She trusted him as she did few others, knowing her family would never intentionally hurt her but she couldn't help feeling some doubt creep in, still what else was she going to do now? Return to the den, all by herself? No. So instead she followed after him, ducking under the overhang. Void stopped and Gloom looked around, not really seeing anything special about- Void spoke and the girl looked at him, slowly following his gaze to look skyward, there nearly swallowed up by the dark grey that she'd already gotten used to was a patch of blue sky. Gloom felt like her legs were going to give out from under her and she leaned into her brother. "I forgot..." She muttered softly, and while she hadn't forgotten that the sky could be blue, in all her imaginations about it lately she color had been wrong, blue but not that of the sky before them. "speech" think  You

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Gloom hadn’t noticed the blue of the sky until he pushed her gaze towards it. He felt his lips curl back into a smile, a rare occurrence in the boy who struggled to feel any emotion. Void knew disappointment in the disappearance of the sky but in moments like these he could clearly grasp at joy and hope. The Destruction puppy leaned into his sister as she leaned into him and wagged his ivory tail softly. He let his own blue and lavender gaze search out the horizon, eager for the day the sun returned to them.

”It’s easy to.” He assured her with a nuzzle against her cheek before he looked back out over the horizon. He had to keep his hope that spring would return and the warmth would come back. Void sighed heavily, ”I hope the smoke is gone soon.” He mused heavily, incredibly unsure of the future.

There was a comfort, small as it may be, in sharing this moment with her brother. The anxiety melting away for a moment as she felt his familiar presence and felt protected by it. Her siblings seemed so much bigger than her, not necessarily physically though obviously that was true as well. But rather stronger, braver, even Spirit who was more close to herself in regards to anxiety. But Void was there to reassure her and quietly nuzzled her cheek. She leaned into that, angling her head to push it into her brother's shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment and giving herself the luxury of a moment of peace. "Me too." Gloom whispered, unsure if she could really buy into the hope or simply wishing for it to be true. "speech" think  You

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Void didn’t hold fear, he couldn’t really when he felt so small. So insignificant. The sky was so big, bigger than he could even comprehend. His short life wouldn’t mean much to the infinite space above them. Moments like this were nice though, he felt good to help his sister feel a little bit stronger. She let herself lean into his supportive affection, and seemed to try and grasp hold of the hope he offered her.

If he experienced fear, it was the fear that he wouldn’t see the stars ever again. He couldn’t believe it was true. Someday the stars would come back and he would feel whole once more. ”Remember Abaven?” He asked quietly. They had barely been given any time to know what the world was like before the disaster. The young puppy looked forward to being able to experience that home again. ”I want to see the green again.” He mused, speaking more to Gloom now than he did to many others.

If it wasn't for her siblings Gloom would have likely curled up and never been seen again, they were so much stronger than she was and they encouraged her to be stronger too. Not that she was particularly good at it but as she leaned against her brother she felt for the first time that it might be possible to overcome her own paranoia, but only if they were going to help her. Void gave her comfort like little else did. Their mother was a comforting presence for the girl but her nervousness was easily transferred to the small girl. Void didn't exude that energy and his calmness helped her. She was like a sponge for the thoughts of those around her. Void spoke and Gloom thought on his words for a moment. Her voice a little stronger this time as she spoke though it was still painfully soft. "I do..." Though she wasn't sure how much of her memories would line up with that of her brother. She'd hardly left the den even then. "I hope so too..." Mostly she hoped that for her brother. Gloom hardly felt too much attachment to a land she'd hardly seen. "Void? What do you wanna do when you're older?" She was almost surprised by her own question, she hardly gave thought to her future but here with her brother supporting her she couldn't help but wish she could overcome her fear, she wanted to be strong like Void. Wanted to live her life outside the cage of her own fear. "speech" think  You

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