Arcturus was curled up into the furs in the den he shared with his mother and sister, Pan curled up beside him—a ball of golden fur and a ball of scales side by side. Ever since he made it back to the pack and the fallout from his father's death had begun to settle this is where he had stayed. He didn't want to go outside, he didn't want to explore. Hunting and fighting didn't have the same luster they once had and making himself even get out of bed felt like it was impossible. He'd occasionally get up and eat just to keep his mom from worrying and whenever she was around he'd put on a brave face so she wouldn't be sad, but whenever she wasn't here this was where he stayed. Curled up with Pan with Bream keeping watch outside to alert him before his mom came back.

For a while he had cried whenever he thought about his dad or about what happened, but now he just felt... hollow. It was the only word he could think of to describe how it felt. It was like he was too sad to be sad any more or maybe he had just cried every tear he had left in him. He kept thinking about his dad fighting the bear, how helpless and useless he had been to help him, and even as he silently beat himself up about it he just kept staring at the wall of the den with his ears pulled back. His mind refused to listen to the logic of the fact that he was just a little pup. He should have been able to help his dad so that he would still be here, but he couldn't and now he was gone. He sighed and tucked his head down into the fur beside pan and just tried to make himself go back to sleep so he could stop thinking about it for a while.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Things had not been good since Naiche's passing. Though he hadn't been her biological father, the golden wolf had always tried his best to act fatherly toward the little fawn-colored pup. He'd trained her with Arcturus and spent time one on one with her as if she were his own flesh and blood, never outwardly showing any signs that he didn't care for her. Satira might never have been able to call him Dad, but in his own way, he had been a parent to her too. His death had broken her heart—which meant she couldn't imagine the emotional turmoil her big brother was going through.

Naiche had been his father. Arc had lost one of his parents, while Satira was still fortunate enough to have both of hers. She saw the pain he was in, heard the tears he cried, saw the vacant look in his glassy eyes. She desperately wished she could do something to help him, but what could one do when someone they loved was facing such a grievous loss? She'd brought Arc food, cuddled with him constantly and groomed his fur for him, doing anything she could think of to try and keep him with her. She just wanted her brother to not cry anymore. She missed his smile, his laugh, his light. This wasn't something anyone should face, not as young as Arc was.

Poor Satira was running dry on ideas to try and comfort Arcturus. The answer came to her one night when she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a strange blue glow coming from outside the den. Slipping away from the slumbering Arc, the groggy pup stumbled her way to the mouth of the den, peering outside to see where the weird light was coming from. A soft gasp escaped her lips when she saw the giant blue full moon, easily ten times its usual size in the sky, lighting up the entire world. From the sea of grasses, millions of glowing blue fireflies had appeared, dancing over the thin layer of snow that coated the wintry Boreas. It was strange and beautiful and fantastical! She had to share this with Arc; maybe this would be the thing that cheered him up!

Scampering back to the bed they shared, Tira nudged and nosed the tightly coiled ball of golden fluff that was her brother. "Arc! Arc, wake up! You've gotta come see this!" she whispered sharply, using her tiny paws to push and nudge her brother back into consciousness.

"Satira"

Arc was fast asleep when he suddenly felt Tira nudging him awake, making him grumble irritably as he was pulled from sleep. The last thing he wanted was to be awake and he could imagine a single thing that was so exciting that he had to be woken up right this very second, but he stopped himself from snapping at his sister. She had been with him through this whole thing, comforting him and making sure he was at least cared for when he didn't really feel like taking care of himself. He didn't want to take any of it out on her. He sighed and uncurled himself, making himself get to his paws at her insistence. "Alright, alright, I'm up," he muttered, rubbing his eyes with his paws as he sat up onto his haunches groggily.

"What's so exciting?" he questioned with a sigh, but when he put his paws down he saw the strangely bright, strangely blue glow coming from outside the den. He blinked at it for a second before he got up to follow Satira over to the entrance of the den, his sapphire eyes widening with surprise at the whole glowing scene in front of him. It looked like there could be hundreds of fireflies or at least what looked like fireflies all over the place and his mouth feel open as he watched them for a while. The moon was huge too! It wasn't always this big, right? "What's going on?" he questioned, absolutely in awe at it all. "We gotta go investigate, right?" he asked as he looked toward his sister, suddenly very happy that she had woken him up after all.

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Tira was undeterred by her brother's annoyed, sleepy grumbles while she tried to wake him. She had given him hell every time he tried to get her up without her consent, so she wasn't about to give up now! The world was too pretty to sleep right now! Eventually, Arc relented and got up, though the look on his face showed it was under extreme duress. Satira didn't care; her brother needed to see this! She didn't want to have an adventure without him! "You'll seeeee!" sang Satira when Arc asked what was so exciting. She led her golden-furred brother out of the den, eagerly grinning and watching his reaction when he saw the glowing world around them.

The look of surprise and awe on Arcturus' face made all the trouble waking him up worth it. "See? Isn't it cool?" She gazed out over the faintly glowing world and the sea of blue fireflies once more, a huge smile on her face. She was glad to see her brother no longer sad, even if only for a moment. "I dunno, I just woke up and everything was like this," she explained, then gave her brother an expression of "duh". "Well of course we're gonna investigate! Why do you think I got your sleepy butt up?"

Giving him a playful nudge, Satira ran out into the night with a giggle. Pale blue eyes seemed to glow like the world in the ethereal moonlight, drinking in all of the strange goings-on around her. Up above in the inky black heavens, the stars seemed to streak across the sky, almost as if they were moving like the fireflies around her. She lifted a paw to one of the bugs when it floated leisurely by, almost touching it before it faded out of existence. Despite how odd everything was, Tira didn't feel scared. She had Arc with her, and together nothing could scare them!

"Satira"

A little grin pulled across his lips for the first time in a while when Tira confirmed that she had gotten him up purely so they could go investigate, his tail wagging gently behind him. He needed to think of some way to thank Tira for doing so much for him and being so nice, but for now all his attention went to the strange glowing fireflies that seemed to be absolutely everywhere outside. He followed her out into the night with her playful nudge, his eyes wide as he took it all in. He looked up at the giant moon and blinked with confusion when he saw how the stars looked like they had all turned into shooting stars, making lines across the sky instead of little speckles of light. He didn't know what was happening and he couldn't really comprehend how something like a permanently full moon could be a problem. It was all just so strange and beautiful and he got to experience it and explore with Tira. He grinned and went over to stand beside Tira while she poked at one of the weird bugs, leaning into her side a bit while he watched them. One of the fireflies drifted down to almost touch his nose before seemingly vanishing, making his eyes cross a bit while he tried to follow it's path. He laughed lightly and gave a little shake of his head before looking down at Tira with a few wags of his tail. "Thanks for getting me up, Tira. This is really cool."

"Arcturus Fatalis"

Finally, there it was! Arcturus smiled! Seeing her brother wear any emotion other than pain and sorrow on his face lightened Satira's little heart and made the girl feel like all the effort she'd done to care for him had been worth it. Deep down, she knew this was only a bandaid over the grievous wound losing his father had inflicted on him, but it was the first real sign that she was doing something to help Arc, even if it was just a little something. She watched when a firefly came down to land on the end of his nose, then disappeared as well, leaving her brother looking crosseyed and dopier than usual. Tira giggled along with her brother's laugh, eagerly leaning back into his side while they cuddled in the moonlight and watched the fireflies and stars overhead. Satira loved the stars and moon, and seeing them all strange and different felt like a new and exciting experience!

Satira met her brother's gaze and smile with one of her own, her tiny tail wagging almost in perfect sync with his. "Of course, Arc. I wasn't gonna have fun without you," she replied while she nuzzled into his shoulder, noting how he was already starting to get noticeably bigger than she was. "I just wanted to make you happy again, because you're my brother and I love you." Turning her pale blue eyes back up to the streaks of stars, Satira settled herself in, ignoring the cold air of winter around them. So long as she had Arc at her side, she'd be warm. They could stay out here as long as he wanted, forgetting the problems of the world in this special wonderland, even if only for a moment. Whenever he was ready they could go back in to bed, but until then it was just the two of them and nothing could bother them.

"Satira"

Arcturus

You notice a nearby plant reflecting the blue glow of the moon. You also find 4 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Satira

A nearby hedgehog is spooked and curls into a tight ball. The tips of it’s spines seem as if they’ve been dipped in a faintly glowing substance. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…