Balthier had enjoyed his time outside Abaven. He usually did. He may have been surrounded by family here in Abaven, but he sure didn't feel like it. Had it been his own fault? Was he not trying to get out enough? Maybe he would never find out. But even with how estranged he felt to most of the Destructions, he did have more family than most others did. He had his father and siblings, he had Poem and her family. But somehow, he never felt like he was enough. What could he amount to? He really didn't know his place in the world yet, and he didn't see himself as high and mighty. It wasn't in his nature.

After the Ashen tournament, he had returned to Abaven, tired from the travel but also tired from the events. He had never battled before, but he thought it was a good step for his vision of protecting his family. And he wasn't wrong, he learned a lot. He couldn't deny the pain of the fights, but it was a small price to pay.

When the den came to view, he was surprised to see his sister laying outside. He hadn't remembered a time that he had seen her outside of the den. He felt a small worry seeing her there, but of course he couldn't help the small smile that came across his face. When he approached her, he went to put his forehead to hers, his eyes closing a brief moment before pulling away, "You seem to be feeling better." He tried to hide the bit of worry behind him. What if her coming outside her safe room in the den actually made her worse? But he didn't want to spoil her moment.

"Balthier"

The den had been very quiet today with Balthier being gone to the tournament, though the den was pretty much always quiet. Sometimes her father or Balthier would stop by and check on her, but as she had more good days than bad she slowly became more and more aware of that silence until it just started to drive her crazy. She hadn't even seen their father since early this morning and really she hadn't seen a whole lot of him ever since he came back from trying to bring their mother home. She tried to ignore it for the most part, but between the silence and her father seeming to avoid her all of the sudden... It made her worry that she had done something wrong or perhaps her father was finally giving up on her and her never ending illness.

Her worry and her loneness finally pushed her to her paws and she carefully made her way out of the den on slightly unsteady paws. She felt good today, but even still her legs were weak from a lack of use and her body was still thin and frail from the many, many months of sickness. She got as far as a thick patch of grass outside of the den's entrance before she settled back down onto her stomach with a sigh. She lifted her bright blue eyes up toward the equally blue sky as the breeze ruffled her fur and she blinked, realizing that this was the first time that she had been out of the den fully on her own volition. Her father would help her come out occasionally, but this was really the first time that she had walked out of the den just on her own from her own decision to do so - and actually being able to do it.

A smile pulled across her features as she took in the warm sun for a moment before she heard paws coming toward her and she lowered her eyes from the sky till they landed on her brother's approaching black and gold form. Her smile widened and her tail brushed through the grass behind her as he approached her and pressed his forehead gently to hers, making her chest swell with content happiness. He always had a way of chasing away any worries that lingered on her mind like sun poking through the clouds. She nodded in agreement to his statement about her feeling better. She wanted to feel better for him. She didn't like worrying him all the time. "How was the tournament? Was it fun?"

"Azzurra"

Balthier laid down in front of Azzurra, his eyes quickly wandered around them which may have been silly since they were in the pack and no one would harm her here. Though he had to be honest and think about how much he didn't truly know or trust the rest of the wolves in the pack other than Poem and her family. He placed his paws over her legs, smiling as as she asked him of the tournament, "I didn't do too well, but I'm okay with that. It was my first time anyway." His first time fighting something besides the saber cat not all that long ago.

He looked behind her at the river that followed the land behind their den, not wanting Azzurra to feel like she should be cooped up inside the den for the rest of her life. He still had that fear that being out here would hurt her more, but maybe it was time for her to get out. They were coming up to a year old after all. "Did you want to go to the stream? I can help you over there." The weather wasn't necessarily right for her to get in the water, but he supposed she would be okay dipping her paws in.

"Balthier"

Azzurra smiled as he spoke of the tournament he had fought in, blinking with genuine surprise when he said he hadn’t done well. In her eyes no one could be as strong as her brother, not even their father. They were the only wolves in her life that really mattered though. They were her whole world while she was closed up in the den and that wasn’t something that would change even as she got stronger and started venturing out more. She dipped her head to give his paws that rested across her legs a sweet, encouraging kiss. "You’ll be even better next time!” she told him with a grin, her tail wagging behind her.

Her ears perked with surprise when he offered to take her to the stream and immediately she nodded eagerly, pulling herself to her wobbly legs. ”Yes please!” She’d make herself go across the whole world if it meant spending more time with her brother. She leaned against him as they made their way over to the water’s edge, walking much more easily than she would have even just a month or two ago, but still not as stable on her feet as any of her other siblings. She was still very frail, but she felt so much better than she ever had before. She sat back onto her haunches with a little sigh once they were by the stream, tipping her head up to give his cheek a grateful kiss.

She looked back down at the water that was clear and blue, flexing her toes over the sandy bank. Was this the first time she had felt sand between her toes? She reached forward and tapped at the surface of the running water with her paw, grinning at the coolness of it. Dipping her paw in, her tail wagged at the feeling of the cold, running water rushing around her paws, spreading her toes so it could run between them. ”This feels nice,” she admitted with a giggle, leaning into Balthier’s side happily. This was easily one of the best days she had ever had.

"Azzurra"

Balthier extremely willingly helped Azzie towards the river, not leaning into her but being like a pillar as she used his frame for strength. He was surprised, he couldn't remember ever seeing her walk so far before, even with help. But watching her weak legs wobble under her worried him. For the sake and happiness of herself, he wouldn't prod her about her safety. He was here after all, and he was sure Allegro would be somewhere nearby had they needed him.

He didn't push into her gentle kiss, but he didn't pull away. Sitting beside her as she made herself comfortable from the short travel. His eyes looked forward at her as she tapped the water, admiring the happiness in her face and frame. He couldn't help the bright smile across his own face seeing her so happy, like she was seeing the world for the first time. Was this the first time? It didn't feel like that, but maybe they were all too young to remember a time Azzie wasn't sick. His eyes bashfully pulled away from her as he peered down into the water, her shoulder leaned into his. "Maybe when you're a little better, I can take you swimming?" It was a question, or maybe a request. He did want nothing more than to see his sister happy and healthy now that she seemed to grow out of the illness. "I know a place or two." They were still young, but Balthier had been going out in the territories close to Abaven. He was at least sure Azzie would enjoy what experiences were given to her. "We can spend some time out here every day though, help you gain some more strength until then."

"Balthier"

Azzurra's ears perked when Balthier made the offer to take her swimming when she was feeling better, telling her how he knew some places to take her and how he would come out here with her every day. She tipped her head back to look up at him with a bright grin. "Yeah! That would be great!" she agreed happily, her short tail wiggling excitedly. She didn't even know how to swim she supposed, but she'd be happy to learn just to spend time with her brother and experience all of these things that she had never gotten to see before. Any faint memories she had from her very early days before she got sick seemed faint and far away, barely remembering any of the times she had gone out to play with her siblings. Any memories she might have had were chased away in her fevered state, lost to the time she spent closed away in the den. Now she could be better though and she knew that Balthier would help her get stronger and healthier. It felt like an up hill climb, but he made it a little easier.

She stretched up to his cheek, giving him a sweet, thankful kiss. "Thank you, Balthier. You're always so nice to me." She didn't want to feel like she was a burden on him, but he never complained and never seemed to mind helping her. "I promise, I'm going to work really hard on getting better and stronger! Then we can go on adventures and go swimming and all kinds of stuff!" She was so excited for all of these things and knowing that her body wasn't going to allow her to do any of it for a while was incredibly frustrating. She leaned her head into his shoulder as she watched the water flow past for a little while, her mind wandering to other things and other parts of their lives, though never really settling on any one thing.

After a while the tiredness she always seemed to be fighting off started to creep up on her and a yawn pulled at her jaws. She didn't want to go back to the den yet, but she didn't know if her still recovering body was going to allow her to do anything else. Her eyes started to get heavy and drift closed the longer she sat there, leaning more heavily into her brother as she started to get pulled into sleep without her realizing it.

"Azzurra"

He gave her a slight smile as she went on, excited to get better and stronger. He couldn't help the low chuckle that escaped him before he went to talk, "Don't get too far ahead of yourself." His voice toned on a joking side, but he was also quite serious. He wanted his sister who had been sick and den ridden for most of her life to get out and explore like he had. And he hadn't done too much with his life. But that part of him that was entirely serious, he couldn't imagine Azzie doing anything but lounging around in the den. Save for the memory they shared right now.

His paw gently placed along her shoulders as she leaned in to him, and they quietly savored a few moments together in the sun with the new flow of stream that came through the plains after the ice age. Balthier felt like he could nap here himself, especially after the journey from Ashen and his quick tournament trial.

Azzurra's yawn caught his attention, and he shifted to look at her and ready to help her back to the den, "Do you want to go back to the den?" He questioned gently, not wanting her to feel like he was forcing her or wanted her back inside, even if he did a little bit. "We don't have to go inside, we can stay just outside."

"Balthier"