The Warlord staggered back to his son-in-laws home. The vision of his wife, standing tall and regal, the golden mask in her paws was burned to his thoughts. It was a blessing, if a very small one in the ocean of his pain. That the last sight of her was not of her thin, cold body lying along on the stone steps. “We will make sure she gets the burial she deserves.” He could not bring her body home. She had given that to the gods, but her cloak was wrapped about his shoulders, and the scent of her thick in his nostrils.

He paused on the border of the Hallows. Sinking to his paws at the threshold as he took a moment to wrap the strength he needed about himself. “Zee, my love. I’m sorry” He said quietly to the air. Through what he apologised for he was not sure. After a time, he sighed and pulled himself to his paws. Their children were confused, and that confusion would only grow. He could not hold them off any longer.

As he approached the castle, he raised his head. Calling to all of the children in their youngest litter. He was sure Art would ensure their privacy for a little while, and pulled themselves into the guest room where they all were sleeping, and waited for the kids to arrive.


"Speech"

Her father's call had reached the puppies and Vanta clambered to the front to dart to the room, shoving her shoulder into the door roughly and breaking through with hard, shaking breaths. Mom, was mom with him? Nobody had mentioned seeing her come back with him, it was just.. him! But that couldn't be right, because he left with mom. "Dad!"The pup exclaimed, her confusion dulling the excitement in her voice. "Where's mom? Why didn't she come back with you?"

Turning her head from her father's dour expression, Vanta began to scour the empty room. Was she hiding? Oh, it must be hide and seek! Maybe mom was feeling so much better that she was ready to play with them again! "Moooooom!" She shouted into the empty space. If only her siblings would hurry up and get here too, so they could get to playing!

"Speech"

Charlie had been sitting outside, watching the sky when his father’s call for not just him, but all of his siblings had been heard. He blinked, a bit surprised at the tone in his voice. Had something happened? He had known that his mother wasn’t doing well, and had seen that she had less energy than before. Charlie furrowed his brow. Was this a call for all of them so they could make her feel better? Charlie took off for the room they were sharing, unaware of what he’d be walking into.

When he arrived Vanta was already there, calling for their mom. Oh, was she hiding? Charlie grinned a little at this, looking around the room as his tail started to wag. His father’s solemn expression had been missed for the moment as he padded to one side of the room and checked behind a piece of furniture. “You’re sure she’s hiding in here Vanta? Maybe we have to search the whole castle for her!” He didn’t see a lot of places she could hide in this room, so maybe she was in another one?

"Speech," 'Thought.'

He was awoken by the subtle reverberations of heavy steps on the smooth wooden floors of the room where the pups were all spending their nights. The golden furred boy had been napping in a bundle of furs, trying to will the time to pass until his parents were home. Their parents had been gone for a short while, but their absence left a void somewhere deep in his chest. He knew mama was sick. She wasn't feeling well, but they'd all been sick before! Sniffles and coughing and teary eyes, but they cleared up! So it was just a matter of time before his mama was all better, even if she told him it wasn't gonna happen. When he was sick, he also felt like it was never going away.

He stared balefully up at his father as he walked in, his expression painfully neutral while the rest of the siblings wandered in. The familiar golden pelt wrapped around the dark titan's shoulders stood in stark contrast to his pelt, unlike the way it seemed to blend seamlessly with the dun hues of his mother's fur. Why was dad wearing mama's coat? It was getting warmer out, but it still wasn't warm enough for mama to take off her coat. The fact that she wasn't there with their dad really threw him. Had she gone right to bed, exhausted after their trip? He stumbled to his oversized paws, plodding across the room towards his father. While his siblings were optimistic, planning a round of hide and seek to hunt for their missing parent, he could only hope that she was napping in a bed in the infirmary. Glancing between his father and the door, he slunk past to poke his head out through the doorway. He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb while he peered down the hall, one way and then the other. He couldn't smell a fresh new trail of her scent. Only the older aromas lingered from before she'd left with dad.

Maybe she just hadn't made it upstairs, and all he needed to do was head down to the infirmary later. A slow, shuddering sigh rattled from his little lungs. He turned back around, quietly trundling back to his spot on the furs. He'd just wait to see what dad wanted to talk about, before he went hunting for his mama.

"Stratum Fatalis"

Dad is home. The fact reverberates through the small purple girl like a hollow drum, pounding painfully as it tells her soul that her mother is gone. Andy had seen them leave, watched from the shadows in the grove as her father and mother left the Hallowed lands. And she had been there when he had returned. Pale blue eyes watch him, sadness tugging at her heart as she reads the grief etched into his features. Her mind does not know what has happened to her mother, no one has told her anything; yet, deep down in her soul, the pup knows that Zee is gone.

His voice reaches her ears as the wind carries it her way and they slick back against her skull, head lowering to rest on the ground as she lays under a bush that has been perfect for cover. He stands, moving into the lands beyond but she stays, hidden from view and away from the sadness of the world. His call rings out for them to gather and Andy considers ignoring it, her puppy mind foolishly latching onto the hope that their mother is okay and, that if she stays here, underneath this berry bush, nothing bad will touch her.

Even as she thinks it, Andromeda knows how silly a hope that is and silently crawls out from hiding spot. She shakes out the legs and twigs that had gotten stuck in her lavender coat before making the journey to the castle. She slips quietly into the room, shrinking back toward the furthest wall to take a seat. Vanta and Charlie search for their missing mother, thinking that she is playing a game while Stratum, much more subdued, pokes his head out the door. Andy does not move from her place against the back wall, nor does her pale blue gaze leave her father’s form.

A part of her knows what is coming, yet she is wholly unprepared for the news itself and the ripples it will cast across her life. Yet, she waits, a stoic expression on her features as she at attention against the wall furthest from Sirius, awaiting the news she dreads the most.


"Andromeda Fatalis"

The prospect of his mother being up and walking around in her current condition was not one that Dread was enthusiastic about. She was unwell. She should be resting. If there was anything the boy had learned from Halo, it was that rest was the best way to recover from being sick or injured. Mom was sick. She needed to rest. To find mom and dad both gone... it didn't sit well with him. Still, all the already somber boy could do was wait. Wait for what exactly? Only time would tell, but he knew it probably wasn't anything good.

When dad finally returned, calling them into the bedroom they'd been sharing within the Hallows, the boy was already braced for the worst. He wore mom's cloak. Within his chest, Dread's heart squeezed. He slunk into the room, refusing to make eye contact with his father. Instead his gaze flickered between his siblings, nearly holding his breath for what was to come.
"Dread Fatalis"

The Warlord waited, and as he did so he attempted to smooth the distress in his face. Unusually, Bast stuck close by him. No longer stalking the hallways after puppies, she stuck close to the Warlord, tucked gently against his large side. Even Marshal, who hated the indoors, sat in the windowsill watching in. Bear, whose large cuddly presence was less unusual indoors, sat in a corner. Ready and waiting to watch the children and offer any comforts the Warlord might not manage.

The first to arrive was Vanta, and the creamed toned girl who kept her mothers colours, and her mothers strange mutation poked her head in with a chipperness that physically hurt. Her excitement shifted to confusion in a heartbeat, and then to excitement. Each word Vanta spoke caused the Warlord to twitch as if struck. He said nothing as she started to look around the room, and Bast silently patted his paw.

Next came Charlie, who immediately joined in the ‘game’ Vanta had started. “Don’t leave the room.” he warned Charlie, his voice sounding strange, strangled. “Stratum. He said, his voice a warning as the pup poked his head through the hallway, but the little zee-look alike returned a moment later, settling on the furs. Andy came next, and there was something in her gaze that mirrored the Warlord. They watched each other for a moment, neither speaking. Then came Dread, as subdued as his sister. Unlike Andy, Dread couldn’t meet his eyes. Last came Kite. the blind girl stumbled in, her blindfold in place, and a scowl on her face as she struggled to find the entrance. Using her nose to stumble her way to Andy and curl up at her sister's feet. Safe with a seeing wolf. They were all here. All of them waited, and at his word, none allowed to leave. He closed his eyes, bitterness on his tongue. She had left this hardest task for him, and he couldn’t fault her for the choice. But that didn’t make it any easier. “Vanta… Vanta, stop” he said, as the girl continued to poke about in search of their mother.

He could feel his heart slowing in his chest, an ache blooming from somewhere in that region. Panic tingled at the edges of his paws. He could still scent her blood on the tips of them. His nose flared at the horror of that thought. “Your mother… went on a journey this morning. Together, we went to visit one of the statues” he began. The urge to hit something had receded. All he could feel was the sadness, the horror. Rage was so much easier, and he wished he could touch even a taste of it. But he had sworn to her, and if he let go now, he did not know what damage he would bring to their children. It gave him nothing but hollow emptiness to cling to, and it left him feeling everything. “Because she believed in something. She believed in you, all of you, and our future. Your mother--” he choked on the words. He had to pause, concentrating on his breathing. What did you tell children? He didn’t want to share this pain with them, but he had no choice. “Was sick. Very, very sick. She wasn’t going to get better. So she chose to join the statue. The statue… the statue took her away.” too ambiguous for children. But he couldn’t stop himself. He danced around the words, struggling to say them.

"Speech"

Andy sits against the back wall, staring stoically at her father as she awaits the news that her heart already knows. She tries to keep her features neutral but, when Kite appears and stumbles in her direction, the girl’s resolve cracks and she soothing calls her sister toward her. Normally, the purple pup would get up and help to guide her sister toward where she is sitting but instead, she keeps her back firmly pressed against wall. Mainly because she doesn’t trust her knees not to buckle if she tries to stand.

Luckily, Kite is able to make it to her and curls up at her paws which has a soft smile appearing on her lavender lips and she lays a gentle, soothing paw on her sister’s back. Pale blue eyes move back to her father and Andy inhales a deep breath to steady her nerves while slipping back on her neutral mask. This is going to be hard enough for her dad and her siblings and Andy wants to be here… for them. Dad starts off by telling Vanta to stop searching for their mother and she darts a glance to her sister, swallowing in a dry throat as she understands why he wishes her to.

Looking back at her father, she offers a soft painfilled but understanding smile to him as she reads the panic and hurt that rest in his form. Andy sits a little straighter as he begins to explain, a single bob of her head showing she is listening and she does not interrupt him as he speaks. It is difficult for him and she understands why, even though her heart knows what is coming it is still painful to hear. His words may be ambiguous but she knows what it means and, as he finishes, she looks around at her siblings to see if they too, can read between the lines. Her paw never leaves Kite’s back.


"Andromeda Fatalis"