The alabaster lass had returned home, finally, after a little wandering and getting used to her home's new places and faces. A few packs had arisen in her absence, but she had yet to encounter any of them. Slowly, the petite femme would cross the familiar borders into her home. The familiar musk of the mangrove and all it's humidity welcomed her, swallowed her up in memories of times long past. Her siblings, were they still here? Her mother and father, were they well? Had her family forgotten her? Her dainty pedestals struck the moist, springy terra with an easy, fluid kind of grace. Her silken plume swept across her heels, but couldn't help wagging a little out of excitement and nervousness. She would get to see them again, and that was wonderful. Crimson and golden hued optics scanned the treeline, seeking a familiar face that did not appear. Soon, her paws were unevenly landing upon the roots of mangrove trees, trying to draw up the memory of her previous ease at walking upon them. It had been so long, and mangroves weren't exactly a common sight in the world. Eventually, her paw slid on an especially muddied root, and she tumbled headfirst into the murky waters. They lit up with a flash of blue brilliance, announcing her presence even more than she might have been doing before, and the giantess couldn't help but laugh. An embarrassed, throaty chuckle escaped from her maw, and the wolfess couldn't help but feel like a pup again. Clumsy and accident-prone, it was a wonder she was alive at all. Shit like this happened way too much, a stubborn streak a mile wide forced her to push herself into situations she knew would not end well. Rising from the water, she shook out her thick ivory derma. Her tiara would shake in derision, her own idiocy a wonder even to her sometimes. Deciding to just roll with what had been thrown at her, she trotted through the shallow water towards what was the main clearing where the pack resided, as far as she knew. Mismatched audits remained perked, standing at attention to capture any warnings that she had stumbled upon someone. Small fish scattered from her as she plodded along, dual toned optics seeking that which might not be found just yet. She stopped, realizing that she might not be brilliant in doing this after all. What if Ludicael had been taken over? The new leader or leaders might not be pleased to find the daughter of a once upon a time healer in the pack wandering about the territory in search of her family. For a moment, she looked to her rear and pondered returning to the borders. But the scents of her family, and their familiarity and strength, pushed her to continue. If someone had a problem with her finding her family, she would tell them right where they could shove it. So off she went, trotting through the waters that lit up with every impact of one tea cupped paw, wondering if there would be anything better than seeing her family's faces for the first time in forever. Speech,

Things were just starting to come into balance again, the sudden and violent sickness that had struck the pack throwing things into chaos, now starting to recede. The girl would go about her duty, patrolling the border as long legs carried her with some ease and grace. A scent she had not smelled in some time caught her, causing her to stumble to a clumsy halt. A frown creased her dark brow. Why here? Why now? The girl lifted ebony muzzle to try and follow it. She was a bit perturbed to find that not only had her sister failed to call for anyone to come and get her, she had crossed right over their borders. Then as she neared the stream it faded. Frowning again she scanned the area, catching a faint flashing of light from the water. Feeling more annoyance rise up in her the girl loped towards the fading lights. It didn?t take her all that long to find the offender. Anger rising up within her as she stalked towards her long lost sister. Tail flagged high over her rump and she carried herself with a dominant air. ?Lakota!? The monochromatic girl barked, no joy in her words. ?What are you doing?? She hissed, drawing to the edge of the stream. Why was she here now? Where had she been when mother had fallen sick? When their father had left them and their mother had faltered under the weight he had left her? Where had she been when their family had fallen so horribly ill? Why was she here now? Talk like this

An angry bark from a feminine voice that was vaguely familiar preceded a very familiar scent, and a goofy grin spread across the lass' features. She whirled about, tail raised and wagging happily as she looked at her sister. However, the irate expression on the smaller sibling's face made her grin falter and her tail drop in confusion. "Well, I was looking for you and everyone else. Why? Should I be looking somewhere else?" Lower melodies would inquire, her previous higher pitched vocals of puphood deepened to a lower tone of feminine lyrics. Slowly she would look about, one brow quirked inquisitively as she peered over her sister's head and then to the rest of the mangrove. Was something up? Nothing looked off, but what did she know? She'd been gone nearly a year now, right? Slowly, she would hold her sister's emerald gaze and keep one brow cocked. So, this was the same Canta who had been indifferent to everything, and at one point, if her memory served, taller than her? What had happened? "So anyway, how's it going with you? Are mom and da okay? How about Dhiren? Novel? Fal'Dara?" She asked, smelling only a few of those scent upon her sister, barely there under the strong musk of rage. Had she done something wrong? Was her family angry with her for leaving? But she hadn't left! She'd gotten... lost. Very, very lost. Mismatched audits would fall back on her head for a moment, disappointed that this was the face she was getting to see first after all this time. Her sister, expression twisted with anger and not love, all because, all those months ago, she'd fucked up. She'd fucked up real bad. Then, that disappointed and hurt expression changed. Her stance straightened, and she looked down at her sister with an almost imperceptible shift in her gaze. This was not her fault, it had been an accident, and her sister didn't need to get her damned twigs in a bunch. She would wait with a self assured, patient, somewhat calm stance and wait for her sister to say something. Speech,

Canta hadn't realized at first but now as she glared at her sister she was stuck by how much taller Lakota was... Canta would not be the tallest of her siblings then. Not that she cared much, there was so many more important thing right now. She bit back her retort to her sister's response. "Well I guess you found us." She responded sarcastically. Then her sister asked about their family and Canta felt the annoyance return. "After you and Fal'dara disappeared Mom fell very ill, then when Jupiter went missing she had to talk over the pack. When Dad left her, the weight became to much! Novel, Dhiren and I tried to support her but it was too much!" She could feel resentment rising up within her. "While those of us that remained worked to keep Mother standing she never stopped thinking of you and Fal and Dad!" Talk like this

DEN DOES THE COARSE LANGUAGE WARNING!

Her sister scoffed, a sarcastic response all the ebony babe had deemed necessary as a retort. Lakota felt suddenly upset, and not in the way that she wanted to cry, the way that she wanted to bowl her sister over. Already. What had gotten into her? Wasn't Canta happy to see her? She'd come back from even she didn't know where, for the gods' sakes! Didn't she deserve a little smile, a little nuzzle or something? Or maybe even just a little oh my god you're back!? Honestly, she was already wanting to leave. Not a good thing. She had worked so hard to get back, and here was Canta, being little miss holier than thou. Suddenly, in response to her hopeful inquiries, Canta started barking and snapping. Annoyance, anger, they were evident in her sister's moss green pools as she glared. Fal'Dara was gone? Why? Then the ebony lass dropped another bomb. Mom had gotten sick?! Self loathing flooded the giantess, that she had been away and not there to take care of mom. It was her job, after mom had given birth to her and provided for her, to take care of her when she fell ill. Where was she? The middle of shitting nowhere wondering how to get back! Wasn't that enough though, that she'd tried to come back home? She almost tuned completely out of her sister's tirade, but snapped back into listening when she heard that mom had taken over the pack. Wow, that was fantastic. She should have been there to help... At least her other, better, present siblings had been there to help. Then, her sister let it slip. She shouted it out into the air, that she, her sister, and her father had abandoned them. No. A low, rumbling growl escaped her lips, much to her internal astonishment. Had she just growled at her sister? Apparently. However, that was the back of her mind, the rest of her was filled with righteous fury. Oh hell no. "You actually think I just fucking left?" She snapped, in no way afraid to start laying it down real thick for her sister. "I got fucking lost, Canta! I somehow wound up in the middle of gods be damned nowhere!" She barked, lowering her nose so it was barely a hairs breadth from her sister's indignant face. "And here's the kicker; the first thing I thought was- get this- how do I get home?" She murmured, her voice dripping venom as she stared her sister down. "I've spent the last, gods, year or so? Trying to get back here, because I didn't have it in me to keep wandering." She breathed, her sides heaving with the effort it took to keep from smacking a little sense into her elder sister. "So don't you ever, ever say that I abandoned you for my own fucking selfish reasons. Got that? I wandered aimlessly in rain, hail, and snow, deserts and jungles to fucking find my way back, and half of the time I only got more lost than I already was." She growled, daring her sister to try something. Oh yes, Lakota was mad. The alabaster giantess was very pissed off, and couldn't believe her sister didn't have faith in her. Did the rest of the family believe that? Had her entire family spent just about a year living under the belief that one day the pallid princess had just gotten up one day and decided screw you lot, I'm going to go off to who knows where and leave you all alone? That was cold, that was the worst thing anyone could do, and contrary to popular belief, that's not the story at all. Slowly, she lifted her tiara, taking a deep breath. It shuddered into her lungs, and she paused for a moment before releasing it. "So, da left, huh?" She asked quietly, her gaze closed off and distant now. It was fixed on something far away, between the trunks of the mangrove trees and past the pack lands. Somewhere out there, she'd lost her innocence and became the wolf she was today. She'd gotten lost, and had to use her blessed wits to survive and get back home. And what had she come home to? This. Her sister was gone, her father had apparently gone as well, and mother had fallen ill. Could things have gone worse? Doubtful. Could she have helped if her own idiocy and childish curiosity hadn't gotten her hopelessly lost all those months and weeks ago? Probably. Self loathing was tamped down, for the sake of keeping her blood pressure from rising again. The tip of her ivory plume twitched absently, and she slowly dragged her gaze down to her sister's face. Speech,

A part of Canta wanted to rush forwards and cling to her sister, to be assured that Lokata would not disappear again. But then the girl had also felt that way about her father, and even after they had talked and her had promised her? No she couldn?t trust that any of those that had left even truly cared, clearly her father hadn?t, and they were all his children after all. The monochrome girl would watch with a stony expression, letting it all sink in. There was no satisfaction as she watched the varied expressions flashing across her sister?s face only numbness. Then there was only anger on her sister?s face. It took all her will power not to take a step back as the other girl began to shout but she glared through the entire tirade. As Canta spoke this time her voice was eerily calm, cold, but there was no shouting, no obvious anger. ?And how were we to know that?? She narrowed her gaze at her sister. ?Three members of our family go missing within a close time period and all we are expected to do is to drop everything and look for you guys?? She chuckled grimly. ?Maybe if you had a better sense of timing? but you all just wander off gods knows where when we need you most. Lakota, I?ve learned that life is a cruel and unforgiving thing, sometime you do all you can to help someone but in the end you get pushed aside for those that have left, or those that haven?t even arrived yet.? That last part was almost a whisper, she had learned to lover her older siblings? but the feelings she had felt, were still sharp in her mind. The two stood in silence for some time, and Canta found she could not look at her sister for too long. "So, da left, huh?" The last thing Canta want to talk about was her father, though if Lakota was seriously back now then she needed to know the truth. ?Shortly after Mother became pregnant again,? she gave a forced laugh, ?what a real gentleman our father is.? Talk like this

Seriously though, language warning.

Her sister was eerily calm in her response, but the alabaster damsel was only partially paying attention. If she gave her ebony sibling all of her attention there was a chance she'd go ballistic again, and this time she might actually end up lashing out. That would only end in disaster. Her sister mentioned that they shouldn't have had to drop everything and go looking for them, and while that stung a little, there was something in the delicate giantess that didn't even care anymore. She'd found her way back anyway, she hadn't needed their help at all. "You know Canta, when I was lost and hungry, it's amazing that I thought maybe you would want to look for me, isn't it?" She asked, her voice honeyed as she slowly turned an inquisitive gaze upon her sister. A small smirk toyed at her inky lips. "When I was all alone, it was selfish of me to think my family would come and rescue me sometime, wasn't it? You're right, thank you for correcting my childish thoughts." She cooed, her smile broadening as she looked down her snout at her elder sister. If she'd had a better sense of timing, yeah, that's what was wrong there. Abso-fucking-lutely. The smaller femme continued speaking, her condescension becoming another holier than thou speech. What a load of crap. While she did feel bad that her sister had been pushed aside by their mother, by the sound of things, she could only expect that herself. Mom had lost two of her children and her husband in a short period of time, of course she would mourn for them. Though, after the mourning, it was only fair that Canta have gotten to be with their mom again. Had that not happened? She nodded slowly, biting back her sarcastic quip in favour of simply listening to her sister. It was a pity really, but the onyx coated lass wasn't the only one who had felt some pain after the trio had disappeared- for each their own reasons, no doubt. The proper thing to do was stay silent, but of course her sister's self-righteous attitude was getting on Lakota's already fired up nerves. "You know, you're not the only one who learned that lesson then. I didn't get adopted by fucking royalty when I got lost, for your information." Her melodies would snap quietly, her gaze hardening upon her sisters features. Then it softened, a distant look claiming them. "I starved for a long time.. why do you think I'm so skinny now? I wandered until my paws bled, and at one point I remember nothing but crying and screaming until my throat was raw. Yes, the world is cruel, but you're not the only one who discovered that." She murmured, watching Canta's features and holding those emerald green optics while she spoke. Silence engulfed them once more, and that was okay. Sometimes everyone needed a moment or two to stew things over, let their emotions settle. Slowly, her sister was confident enough to speak again. Mom had gotten pregnant again? Fantastic! So she had a new bunch of siblings? Wonderful! Maybe she wouldn't screw it up with this bunch, and it would be even better if she could fix things with her litter mates as well. Her and Canta's relationship might be completely thrown to shit now, it would take time to prod that wound and see how it had healed, but it wasn't too late to try and get closer to her other siblings- right? But of course, the fact that da had left right after mom had gotten pregnant was not good. Mismatched audits would tilt back in disappointment for her father, but there was nothing she could do about it now. "Did he at least have a good reason for leaving? Last time? This time? Did he explain anything?" Quiet inquiries would be posed in a gentle tone, and she would watch her sister's face and wait for an answer. Maybe da had done the right thing. Speech,

She knew she'd heard her voice. That sweet voice she hadn't gotten to hear in so long. Where had she been? Was she unharmed? How big had she gotten? All these questions would swim through her mind as the pale alabaster dove made her way to the sounds. Canta was there, she could smell her daughter's recent trail. The woman would finally break through the trees, her bicolored gaze landing on her daughter's form. Her ears would catch wind of words of their father, and she would take notice of the negative energy that was felt. Her ears would fall, but she still felt an excitement to see her long lost daughter. "Did he at least have a good reason for leaving? Last time? This time? Did he explain anything?" Song would let her own lyrics soothe her girls, "The first time he claimed sickness. The second.. Your father might as well be dead. He's not welcome back here." She would say with an odd calmness. She had said good bye to him even before she knew of his eventual departure. As her form would appear beside her daughter she would surround her as best she could into an embrace. "I've missed you so much Lakota. Where have you been?" She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as her voice cracked from her pent up emotion. How long it had been. Speech,

Before a response would fall from the lips of her high and mighty sibling, the sound of heart wrenching vocals came to her attention. She missed that voice, and it had hardly changed in the least. Tiara would pivot slowly, and dual toned optics would meet a mismatched pair that she had missed dearly. A slow smile would build, and a pallid plume would wag at her hocks in excitement. Of everyone, she missed her mama the most. Song wasn't nearly as big as she was in her head, which brought her thought process shuddering to a halt. Song wasn't the majestic, giantess figure she had known so well in her head, and it was more of a slap in the face than her sister's response to her appearance. However, her brain ground into motion again, and she managed to process what her mother had said after a few moments of pause. She was just staring, unable to compute her emotions or thoughts for the majority of it. Song, her mother, was right there. All she could respond with was a small nod, a mute gesture to convey her understanding what her mother had just said.

Finally she would feel her mother's body close, and long limbs would stutter forward, muzzle pushing into the soft fur of her mom's neck. Comforting, familiar scents flooded her, and she felt at home, finally. The whispered inquiries met her mismatched audits, and she smiled, a sad smile. "I got lost, I was trying to get home." Soft melodies would reply into the silken threads of her mother's neck. She could hear the tones of betrayal and sorrow in her mother's voice, and it hurt more than anything Canta could dredge up to throw at her. She'd tried, oh how she'd tried to get home. She'd been lost for a long time, and it had taken her entire youth, wasted innocence was payment for her mistakes.