Legends in the Stars [Seasonal Prompt]

It was her first time seeing the land where, according to her mother, she had been conceived. Nomad life was very blunt about these things, with children being well-versed in the mechanics of life, and the making of such. She’d watched her first birthing well before her mother had borne her half-siblings into the world. Now, as the Chapter spread out across the Dancefloor, her half sisters and brother bounced around her dark hocks, tugging at her bi-colored tail as she towed them across the autumn-gilded grass, wincing at the yanks and prickled of their teeth.

The adults busied themselves with unloading and erecting the tents and yurts that would house them for the next couple of weeks, while the Nomads offered healing services to nearby packs and loners that might be in need of assistance.

Eventually, Legacy shoo’d her siblings off to play with the small horde of pups and got to work helping her mother and step-sire erect their large yurt. It was big enough to comfortably house the eight of them, and the effort took an hour at least. It helped that the Chapter had managed to capture and tame a small herd of burros, and the equines had been intelligent enough to see that the Nomads weren’t out to hurt them after they’d been corralled. Oh, they were nowhere near the level of intellect that the wolves had met, but they had a rudimentary instinct for survival, and found themselves much safer among a pack of predators than wandering alone.

It made pulling the travois and carrying the packs much easier.

Night fell, crisp and clear. Her siblings were asleep in a pile on the furs in the yurt, and Eramaya had led her out, deep into the flat grassland, where the Nomad’s fires didn’t shroud the sky from sight.

It was bittersweet, laying here on her back, tucked against her mother’s silver side as the woman lifted a paw and pointed out different constellations, murmuring their names and legends among the Nomads to Legacy’s ears. The love was heavy in her mother’s voice, both for their culture, and for Legacy herself.

Legacy lifted her black-toed forepaw, pointing out a shape in the stars as she whispered, "Breathnaíonn an ceann sin cosúil le iolair. Cé hé féin?"

Her mother followed the line of her daughter’s paw and smiled. "Is é sin Ly'unmo'at, nó de réir mar a thabharfadh col ceathrar do athar air, Somneil. Is é Dia na gréine é, ach freisin a bhaineann le héin, go háirithe an t-iolar órga. Is é an ghrian é, ach dúirt a mháthair, Galei gur chóir dó féachaint ar a dheirfiúr Tim'oat, nó Luneil, agus rinne sí a patróil tríd an spéir. Agus mar sin rinne sí é a réaltbhuíon i measc a réaltaí ionas go bhféadfadh sé a bheith in ann eitilt lena dheirfiúr tríd an spéir. "

Legacy listened to her mother’s stories, soaking them in with a faint smile, eyes sparkling as she imagined the two ethereal wolves shining across the black sky, twins of silvery blue-white and fiery sun-gold and red, bringing the tides and warm sunlight to the lands far beneath them.

She tipped her head to look at her mother’s silvery features. Eramaya was a woman who had always struck Legacy as the most beautiful creature in the world. Her soft blue eyes gazed across the sky picking out stars and the shapes they made. She was swathed in swirls of varied shades of silver and brushes of snow like a mountainside in the wind. Her coat was silky and soft, like Legacy’s own, but shorter around the tail and ruff.

Eramaya shifted her gaze to study Legacy’s face, tenderness and a tinge of sadness welling in her eyes. Her throat worked, and she took in a breath before she leaned in and pressed her nose to Legacy’s brow, pressing a soothing kiss across the black spot there as she whispered, "Is breá liom tú chomh mór sin, mo chéad iníon daor. Agus tá a fhios agam go mbeidh grá agat do d'athair go domhain. Nuair a théann muid go Valhalla chun bualadh leis, tá a fhios againn nach beannann sé seo go deo. Tabharfaidh ár gcaibidil cuairt ar a laghad uair sa bhliain, agus tá súil agam go gcloisfidh tú go léir faoi do shaol gach uair a thugaimid cuairt air. Ba mhaith liom go bhfaighidh tú grá agus rath, ach go gcaithfí le daoine eile i gcónaí le trua agus grá. Ach tá a fhios agat nuair a chaithfear an ceartas a dhéanamh."

Legacy listened closely, feeling her own eyes filling as she pressed close to her mother’s side, soaking in the maternal warmth. She knew it wouldn’t be goodbye forever, but it would be a long time before she saw her mother and half siblings again, and she knew it.

She breathed deeply, taking in her mother’s warm, herbal scent, lilac and summer grasses and travel-dust. "Is breá liom tú, Mama. Agus déanfaidh mé iarracht mo dhícheall. Ach ... Is beag scanraithe mé."

Her mother’s forelegs tucked around her shoulders, squeezing softly, steadying her. Her ear was pressed to her mother’s chest, and over the steady thrum of her heart, her mother’s words vibrated softly against her eardrum.

"Tá an domhan scanrúil, ach tá misneach ag tabhairt aghaidh ar do eagla agus ag brú ar aghaidh. Bhí eagla orm nuair a chuaigh mé i saothair leat, ach bhrúigh mé ar mar a bhí orm, agus bhí an chéad cheann agam agus ceann de na bronntanais is mó a d'fhéadfainn a iarraidh riamh."

Her mother nuzzled between her ears, warm breath misting through her fur as she squeezed her tighter.

"A ligean ar a fháil ar ais go dtí an yurt agus a fháil ar roinnt codlata. I gceann cúpla lá, rachaimid chun Valhalla agus d'athair a fheiceáil. Beidh grá agat duit, oidhreacht. Díreach an oiread agus is féidir liom."

Legacy nodded as her mother released her and they got to their paws. But as they settled into their furs back in the yurt, she couldn’t help, for all her own self-confidence, but wonder; What if he doesn’t want me? What then?

She would just have to see.

Word Count: 1037 (Made sure by going through the Html Edit thing, and then a word counter. lol)

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think