Kali’s week long trip to Auster had been just what the doctor had ordered, leaving her to lounge about on warm, sandy beaches and lap up coconut water like the true princess she was. However, she knew that, sadly, she wouldn’t be able to stay there forever, lest her mother send out a search party for her...maybe. Really she’d have to be gone for much longer for the pale woman to become worried, but she liked to think she was important enough to warrant the quick concern from the Habari Seraphim. Thus, she’d arrived late in the evening, beneath the oddly colored full moon that never seemed to wane. The first thing she noticed was the strange scent lingering on her mother’s markers, the same sweet scent she’d smelled on her Great Aunt Deathbelle.

Oh hell no.

A frown immediately marred her maw and she went to search out Recluse, sure that the matriarch would be up due to her nocturnal schedule. She raced through the barren Redbud trees, the glowing blue fireflies that mysteriously floated in the air flying past before, finally, she saw her Mother’s outline. She slowed, snapping her teeth at a bat with peculiar purple eyes that flew too close, before she greeted her. “Mom, I’m back. Did I miss something?” she asked, brows rising above her bi-colored gave. Certainly she would know what she was talking about.

"Kali Klein"

Kali had been gone for a week, long enough that her pregnancy had started to really show, her abdomen swelling enough that it was visible but she wasn't waddling anywhere yet. The scent of her hormones had shifted as well for sure, though she was not lactating yet her body was gearing up to prepare for the lives growing inside her. Recluse knew well enough to try and keep her stress down while pregnant, though she was doing her absolute best, which was a feat considering the way the last week had introduced more fucking changes. Just when she thought they might have a normal winter after last year's absolutely fridged temperatures. The light of the unwaning moon was a little more than Recluse would have preferred considering her delicate sight. The fact it had not shrunk yet was more than a little alarming and tonight she was doing what she had taken to doing ever since, which was glaring up at it as if that would do anything, or reveal any of the secrets the moon held. Her ears flicked when she heard her daughter's approach, peeling her gaze away from the infuriating moon to rise to her paws and move to embrace her daughter. "Welcome back." She cooed, planting a gentle kiss on her daughter's cheek. Then she met Kali's gaze, cherry eyes sharp. "Do you really need me to answer?" She asked, a tone of warning in her voice. Of her children, Kali was one she worried the most might react strongly to her pregnancy, though she had no intentions of shrinking before any of her children. They were her first and as such had to know the expectations they carried, and if they seriously thought they would be her only children then they were sorely mistaken. speech think action

Recluse swept her up in a hug, dousing her in her hormones so strong that the girl fought to keep from blanching. A kiss was placed on her cheek and she returned it, her gaze nearly level with her mother. The moon’s light glinted off of her pale pelt, bathing her in an unearthly glow and she was reminded of how beautiful her mother was. Of course it wouldn’t be her fault that there were suitors lined up across the lands to be with her, it was only right, but it still hurt for some reason to know that her siblings would no longer be the apple of Recluse’s eyes.

The warning in her tone was not lost on Kali and she bit her lip, cherry pink and blue searching pure cherry pink as she paused, contemplating her response before she sighed. “You know I barely like the brats from my own litter, so don’t expect me to like the ones from this one. But as long as you’re happy, I’ll be on my best behavior,” she grumbled, gaze lifting to look at the sky that was still painted in odd, starry streaks the likes of which she’d never seen before. It was as good as the Seraphim was going to get, she had to know that. Kali was a suck up most of the time, but she made no effort to show undue love to her littermates. Recluse was the only wolf who deserved respect in her eyes, the rest would have to work incredibly hard to earn it.

"Kali Klein"

Recluse rolled her eyes as her daughter spoke, she fixed her daughter with a meaningful gaze. "That's all I ask." Then she chuckled. "Hell I certainly did not get along with my half-siblings." She put one her paws out, gently resting it on her daughter's toes. "Kali, I love you, you and your littermates were my first litter. Regardless of what litters come after, that will always be so special. Give them a run for their money eh? You have the benefit of getting to set the image of a worthy heir." She gave her daughter a meaningful gaze, she was not so naive to her children's ambitions. A light flitted too close to her face and Recluse blinked, trying to banish the sudden light spots in her vision, lazily snapping her jaws shut just shy of the light and watching it flit away up into the too-bright sky. "That is, of course, assuming the world isn't just fucking ending." speech think action

Thankfully, Recluse didn’t ask more of her than her tolerance of the new little bundles-to-be growing in her stomach. She even assured her that she didn’t even like her own half-siblings, to which Kali gave a grin. Of course her mother would understand, she always did. The girl liked to think of her and her mother as two peas in a pod, wolves that were two sides of the same leaf. Really, that was just her ego telling her that she could be just as great at the matriarch, but it didn’t mean it wouldn’t possibly someday come true. It especially helped when the Seraphim told her to set an example of a worthy heir. If there was ever a way to inflate her already massive ego, it was those words right there. The girl stood a little straighter, her bi-colored gaze sparkling with a little more gusto, and she gave her mother a gentle nudge with her shoulder. “Well duh, who else is going to do it? Wendigo would burn them alive before he could teach them anything useful anyways,” she retorted, reminiscing on her firebug brother with anything other than fondness.

She watched her mother blink angrily at the sky, knowing that the woman suffered from light blindness. Kali was sure her own cherry eye would get there once she got older, but for that moment she was blessed with perfect vision. She laughed at her mother’s words, batting away another set of nosy fireflies that danced a little too close for her taste. “Surely it wouldn’t end without your permission,” she teased, though a part of her really wondered if Recluse was right and this was the beginning of the end times. What a sucky way to enter her first official year of life.

"Kali Klein"

Recluse couldn't help but smile and chuckle as her daughter took well to her words. No matter what she wanted her children to be happy and successful and while she wasn't going to not have more just because they may not like them she wasn't interested in ignoring their needs and desires either. Her father had done that and Recluse had vowed that would never happen to her own children. Recluse laughed as Kali assured her the world couldn't end without her permission and she took a few more false snaps at the drifting blue glowing lights. "Well winter seems to be a little less willing to listen." She teased, though she did silently pray her children would get to understand a normal year in the world. speech think action

Kali

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…

Recluse

In a ne͒̈́͟arby tree two squirrels begin chittering angrily at each other. At closer inspection, it appears the acorn they are fighting over shimmers a vibrant purple where it catches the light. You also find 1 crystal. Maybe these are worth keeping…