He sighed, relaxing as he perched on a large rock along the beach, staring out at the waters. There was an island out there, he knew that now, but he doubted he'd ever get Serefina out there. She was scared of the water, wasn't it? No, the heat of the island wouldn't do her good if she couldn't get out there. But there had to be something else for his firey sister, especially when the temperatures faded. His mind wound through it, searching for solutions for his most beloved sister before he sighed again. He had been doing a lot of sighings today, but he barely noticed it as he watched the sun fade below the horizon. It had been hours since Voltage had made his perch on this rock, hours, which was beyond strange for Volty. He often found himself falling more and more into his mind, even as his paws shifted to expend his extra energy, or his tail twitched behind him. He merely sat there, staring entranced at the water before him as he took a deep breath of the coastal air and sighed it out again. There was only so much thinking he could do before he kept going through the same thoughts, over and over and over again, as he tried to come up with solutions. Not only to his family, but his seemingly more and more obvious "scary" apperance. Everyone that he had met so far seem wary of him, and it was starting to worry the poor boy. He sighed, for a fourth time, and watched as the sun finally dipped below the surface. Hopefully, hopefully, one of his lovely family members would come and distract him from his thought. "Talk"

I'M GUNNA PICK UP THE PIECES

AND BUILD A LEGO HOUSE

›if things go wrong we can knock it down‹

Walk | Talk | Think

For the reservations she had possessed coming to the Obsidian Beach, Gale thought she was settling in really well. She might still have held a soft spot in her somewhere for the rises and steep faces of the volcanic mountain where they had originally stopped in their journey, but there was still something invigorating about this piece of shoreline. The skies were unobstructed by trees or other peaks, empty and wide and breathtaking, and there was nothing to stop the brisk coastal winds that rolled in off the water. They might not have been as strong as those that had buffeted against the mountain, but they were certainly more consistent.

It set her in good spirits as she padded down along the beach, enjoying the warmth of the sun combined with the coolness of the wind. It brushed roughly through her grey and lavender fur as she moved, tugging at the more flighty ends of it but she was not at all bothered with a windswept look. In fact, she rather preferred it to being tidy and well kept. There was an easy smile on her face as she moved leisurely along, her grey-green eyes lazily shifting about until they caught the electric yellow of her elder brother.

She smiled a little more at the sight of him, wondering immediately if he was happy with their choice in new locations over all now that it was all finalized. Or at least until she noticed how still he was. Her smile slid slowly from her face as a small furrow showed between her brows, a touch of unabashed concern stealing across her expression. This was not the usual Voltage she was used to, nor was it the kind that she had grown to expect. Something must have been up. Carefully she eased her expression back into its easy, carefree smile, hurrying just a little faster as she padded over to the rock her brother sat upon. "What's up, Flash?" she greeted, hoping to draw him from his reverie and back into the present with her. There was no follow up comment to tease or prod further; in her concern, she chose to be a little more straightforward instead.

Voltage stayed where he sat, his mind swiftly moving on to more pressing matters (that he had already mulled over...twice, since he perched upon his rock) and he knew that he should be out talking with his family, getting their input. But instead, he merely sat there, staring out at the horizon. It wasn't until Gale's voice jolted him (literally) from his thoughts, and he turned towards her. He blinked a few times, his eyes dry from staring, before a small, embarrassed smile crossed his face. "The sky.." He said easily, teasingly as he tilted his head upwards with a grin. It was like a saving grace to have her head, to and he couldn't help but count his blessings. Here she was, one of the family members he hadn't gotten input, and she had saved him from his many sighings and thoughts. Oh, it was a good day, indeed. "Have you been settling in?" He asked, nearly with worry. He knew some of the family disliked the place they had chosen, especially Serefina and Astrea, but he hoped that the cliff side had managed to appease the star lover. And he knew his daily plays with Serefina was helping her warm up more to the idea....he hopes. Dunking him in the ocean certainly seemed to please her. Voltage was often so worried about his family's affection towards their new home that he barely thought if he liked it or not, and to be entirely honest, Voltage was on a fence. He hated the storms, but he loved the idea that it seemed to have so much for almost everyone. All he needed was his family, really, and Voltage would be quite happy. Slowly he shifted, stretching out his stiff joints before he stepped from the rock. Bowing down, he stretched, hoping to return the feeling to his numb behind as he took a few steps, circling his sister only to try and get the pins and needles out of his paws. Voltage had never sat still for so long before, and he didn't like the after affects. With a gentle hum he turned to look at his sister then, smiling. He might aswell ask her, he guessed. He needed his family's input, needed to know this move would be great for everyone and that they supported it. He really didn't want the same thing to happen when they moved. So he turned towards her, his stormy eyes shining. "Hey, Gale, say Glacier and I decided to make this a more...permanent home. If we made us into a pack, officially. Would you support it?" He asked softly, nervously. He needed his sister's support, truly, just as he needed everyone elses. "We've been mulling it over since before the third litter came to us, but it seems we might have finally found a place where we can settle in...forever, hopefully." With a toothy grin he would wait for her response...hopefully she supported it. "Talk"

I'M GUNNA PICK UP THE PIECES

AND BUILD A LEGO HOUSE

›if things go wrong we can knock it down‹

Walk | Talk | Think

She spooked him, which immediately earned a widening of her smile into a grin. It was always a fun day when she could catch her siblings off their guard, and Gale was definitely one to take what fun she could out of any unexpectedly amusing moment that came her way. Thankfully she had not thrown Voltage so far off that he had not been able to answer her, though the silly answer he did offer was clearly not the truth. "Oh, ha," she answered with dry humor, even as she continued to grin up at her brother while moving to sit beside the rock he sat on. Her grey-green gaze went seaward, letting the winds buffet against her and tug at her grey and lavender coat. There was a small pause before she answered his question, enjoying the sensation of the wind before she spoke, "I'm adjusting. It helps that the winds are really consistent here. They might smell like the ocean but there's nothing stopping them."

Her arrival seemed to have stirred him back into action, and whatever had bothered him so to keep him still for so long was forgotten. There was still a little curiosity in the girl that wondered what it might have been, but given the reaction her brother had to it she figured it might be best to just let it be. He looked like he was waking up again, getting up from his perch to join her back on the sands only to circle around her in that maddening way of his. Her ears turned to follow his endless pacing while her eyes stayed resolutely forward, letting him have his moment of movement while she enjoyed her peaceful marine breeze until he again turned his pointed stare on her with a question.

The tone of his voice set her off first, though the question itself was enough to get him her full attention. Her pale eyes stared at him a moment, blinked, before she found her voice again and answered with intrigue, "A pack, huh?" Go figure the steady mountain would have wanted a more permanent home like that, and she was sure Voltage's zeal and energy had only solidified the idea even more. There seemed to be so much weight to the idea, so much finality in it, that at first she was averse - she was barely adjusted to the beach as it was! - but she reminded herself again that her family would be there. Her brothers and sisters would stay and make it work. So long as they were together, what did a silly title matter to her?

"You guys are really serious about this, aren't you?" she questioned, lifting one brow as she angled her head away to stare sidelong at Voltage. How had she not seen this coming? But she relented, relaxed, and answered him in a tone that was nothing but sincere. "You know I'm not going anywhere. You guys are my home," she stated, reaching forward to nudge his chin roughly with her nose, "and if that means home is a pack, then call me a pack wolf."

"I know it's been hard, sister.." He said softly as he continued to move, almost groaning over the odd feeling rushing up his legs. "It hasn't been easy for everyone to settle in, some more than others. But if you need anything, at all.." He trailed off then and smiled, hoping she knew without him saying. He was always there, always willing to help, just a single call away. But he would grin, pushing his paws harder against the sand as the feeling slowly returned to his paws. "Have you been up to the cliffside? Two dens down from the main den is a tunnel and it leads up to this gorgeous viewpoint. You'll get lovely winds up there." He said with a gentle smile. When Lightbutt finally got the pins and needles feeling from his paws he stopped to sit beside his sister. This time, though, he didn't stop moving. His tail would flick behind him and he went about pawing at the wet black sand, pulling it into a pile before he began to push it and pat it to try and shape it into...something. Maybe a sand-cave or a new home for his hermit crab friends. Yet he still kept his ears on Gale, smiling down at the sand as he sat in her company, waiting for her response to his question. Part of his constant movements now were due to nervousness, but why should he worry? When she spoke he let out a soundless sigh, feeling some weight lift off his shoulders. Another family member, he knew Gale would stand at their side. "It wont be too much of a change, only now our siblings will have jobs and be accounted for them." He said with a playful grin. "No more endless days laying in the sun....or the moon, if you prefer." With a boyish laugh he shook his head, sighing and patting at his sand mount as he turned to look at his sister. "It's not necessarily that we are serious about making a pack to be one, nor do we want official lordship over you all. My main concern is the safety. As a pack, our borders will be stronger and trespassing will be a lot less likely. Our siblings will learn and practice skills we don't use on a day to day basis. We will be a stronger...structured family this way, I just see it." He said with a gentle grin before looking back out at the ocean, watching the breeze play with the calm waves. But no, it wasn't just about safety, at least not to Voltage. "Our Parents never gave us this sense of structure, and whatever stability we may have felt was so easily ripped away from us. It's been too long since we've felt home, hasn't it Gale. This place will be our home, domi nostrea, and no one will be able to take it from us." He whispered, his paw pressing hard enough on his sand mound that it flattened. "Not again" With narrowed stormy eyes he would vow, his voice deep with promise as his toes flexed against the sand and he stared at the sun bouncing off the water, at the pastel colors of the evening, feeling the breeze comb his bright fur. Never again. "Talk"

I'M GUNNA PICK UP THE PIECES

AND BUILD A LEGO HOUSE

›if things go wrong we can knock it down‹

Walk | Talk | Think

Selfless as always, Voltage was willing to lend himself if he could be used to make the adjustment any easier, and though Gale knew that he would do everything in his power to make things as comfortable as they could be she thought she had a good handle on it now. Or at least better than when they had first arrived. She was starting to like it, starting to feel more at home within the new, larger den they shared, and was finding that she could enjoy lazing about on the warm beach while the winds played with her fur. But the cliff that her brother mentioned was something that immediately intrigued her, and since she had not been there yet there was a noticeable glint of curiosity in her pale, grey-green eyes. "I'll have to pay this cliff a visit," she answered optimistically, sure that if Voltage was going to boast about it like this that it would no doubt meet and possibly exceed all of her expectations revolving around it as well.

At last her restless brother settled, sitting beside her and allowing Gale to relax a little more where she sat. She turned her gaze on him then, listening as he went on to explain what he thought their pack would be like, how they would all make adjustments to the new status and positions as pack wolves. It all sounded rather silly to her since they functioned perfectly well as it was, but she understood at least the bit about boundaries and safety. That was something that, as rogues, they simply did not have, nor could they officially get. But as a pack, as a band stronger than simply what they were, it could be better. And maybe that in itself made it all worth it.

He might have played with the sand, but Gale could hear the subtle shift in her brother's voice as he brought up their parents, about their less than structured lives they had lived with the two wolves who had raised them and then cast them out as easily as if they had cared nothing for them. It stole away her smile, darkened the atmosphere between them, and gave her a little insight into her brother that she had not taken into account before. Their abandonment, their exile, had never settled well with him, but she had always supposed their new life had set those thoughts away - after all, it was how she had managed to cope with it. But obviously she had been wrong, and she carefully, softly, lifted a paw and settled it over the one that he ground into the sand. "Easy there," she muttered with a consoling half smile, "you're gonna call a storm with that look on your face."

Voltage had continued to stare out at the ocean, his eyes narrowing just slightly as he lost himself to his thoughts once more. It was rare, very rare for Voltage to fade out like this, but it was possibly because he rarely ever thought so deeply. He was a wolf of instincts and emotions, but everything seemed to pile up so high that he could only really try and think about it, to find a solution. Play with Serefina did distract him for a while, and deep conversations with his siblings helped, but they always came back full force. It made his already scattered sleep even more scattered to the point of almost uselessness. But when her paw settled on his, light suddenly snapped back to widening stormy eyes. He glanced down at her delicate lavendar paw, before turning to look at her aswell. He hadn't noticed, as his own thoughts grew darker and sadder, that he had nearly pulled her down with him. Drowning in a sea of memories. Slowly his lips would spread from their tight line, showing off-white teeth as he sported an embarrassed looking grin, before he chuckled softly. "If the storms came at my call, I wish they'd listen when I tell them to go away." He said with a grin. His fear of thunder was common knowledge, he assumed, but perhaps he was better at hiding it than he thought. After all, Serefina had helped him make that near-soundproofed den for the nights the storms rolled in. Looking down at the sand he would lift his paw (possibly lifting hers with it, if she had left it where it was) and looked sheepishly at the black sand."Sure hope I didn't crush a hermit crab....again." He said almost teasingly before turning to look back at her. "Thank you, Gale." He said softly, grinning at her before moving to lean over the distance and nuzzle into her neck, breathing in the scent of salt and the wind on her fur. "For supporting your senseless brother in all his spontaneousness." Voltage would grin, brightly, lifting his head back to look at her, tilting it just slightly. He wouldn't trade any of his family for the world, but right now his sister was at the center of it. "I'm sorry...for not thoroughly discussing the move with you. I plan on being much more...informative in the future." He said with a bright grin before he turned back to the sand and went about recreated his sand-cave. "Talk"

I'M GUNNA PICK UP THE PIECES

AND BUILD A LEGO HOUSE

›if things go wrong we can knock it down‹

Walk | Talk | Think

She pulled him back somewhat quickly from the reverie he had fallen into, though he recovered well enough. Gale matched his smile with one just as understanding, though it quickly widened further in unabashed amusement as Voltage joked. Oh yes, there was that little phobia he had of those storms. She should have known better than to think he had control over them; they never would have been around him otherwise. "I think they just like seeing you jump," she teased gently. It would have been her own reason for spooking him as the thunder did.

He commented upon the little mound of dark sand that he had crushed and then thanked her with a nuzzle. Gale closed her eyes as she leaned into her brother's touch, tucking her forehead against his shoulder. "Aw, Flash, don't get sappy," she joked as she drew back, grinning. He was hardly senseless; he was the total opposite, full of sense and senses and always effect by both. It was what made him her energetic, excitable brother, and she hardly wanted him to think he needed to thank her for tolerating him.

An apology followed his thanks, now regarding the decision he and Glacier had made to move here to this beach. Of course Gale expected it was Serefina's outburst which had made him feel sorry about it at all - she had such a way of making a scene when she was feeling out of sorts - and Gale was quick to ease Voltage's mind. "No apologies, I actually like it here," she answered, watching as he went about rebuilding the little mound of sand he had destroyed a moment ago. "I trust you guys. You aren't going to make stupid decisions if they involve us." Of them all, and despite his eccentric manner, she knew Voltage and their cautious Glacier would never steer them wrong.

She fell silent a moment, merely watched, before she scooted a paw forward, taking sand with it, and added it to one side of the mound Voltage was working on, trying to build up the side and help though he had not asked.

Voltage would smile softly, feeling her forehead press against him. With a small laugh he shook his head. "I don't mean to be sappy" He said with a gentle grin, nuzzling into her fur before pulling away just slightly. "It's merely the truth" He'd offer a charming, boyish smile before he tilted his head back towards the sand, continueing to play like the childish boy he was. He often felt split, between his boundless energy and boyish nature, and his calm maturity of a leader, between wanting to play and thinking about his family's safety and health. And by the gods, he would never have it any other way. When she voiced her trust he would look back to her, stormy eyes growing slightly wider before falling half lidded. Dipping his head to her, he would grin. "I appreciate it, honestly." He always found himself overly critising the way he acted or the choices he made, so hearing his siblings say he was doing good, well, it made him overly happy.

Silence fell around them, and he would turn, once again, to his sand castle. This time, though, he wasn't alone. Gale was there, paws and all, to push up the sloping side he had neglected. A grin spread across his face before he continued to dig and displace the sand, pushing up the mount as best as he could with his limitations. "Wonder if a crab will make a home out of this." He said with a small smile, finally happy with the height.With a delicate touch he'd dig out a small space in the front to act as a door, somewhere a crab may decide to hide out and dig under. "Castle built for a crab." He laughed softly, turning shining eyes back up to her before he sighed. "It's getting late, little lady. I should probably do my rounds, make sure Sere didn't run away...again." He laughed, moving to stand before he paused. "I appreciate it, Gale, really.Thank you for always being there for me." He would smile gently, lowering his head to her again to nudge her cheek and nuzzle into it if she would let him, placing kisses along her crown before he would turn, if she had nothing else to say, and venture off to make sure all the siblings were accounted for.