Deathbelle couldn’t stop thinking about Hari since that day she swore that she saw his face. The vibrant yellow of the dandelion and the placement of the blueberry were nothing special, but she knew she had seen him there. She had felt him there, heard him call her name on the breeze. Or she thought she had, now that she had witnessed the sacred fires Belle wasn’t so sure she wasn’t going crazy. The feeling of the veil being dropped could have been from the magic of the gods, or her own deteriorating mind. Deathbelle couldn’t be certain, not when reality shifted and waved before her very eyes. Perhaps this was another fever dream like the long night had been, but maybe it was something else. A chance to touch the beyond. Something she had craved for a very long time.

She wondered sometimes if she should have perished in her brother’s place, how much anguish would she have saved if the inverse had happened. She wouldn’t have seen half the heartbreak, and Hari’s sons would have had him. She called for him that night, knowing that there would be no answer. Her voice desperately called into the forests, tears streaming down her face. Her hoarse voice more cathartic than useful in her seeking. Harbringr’s name echoed through the sparse wood, rustling the dead autumn like leaves and making Belle sound more like a ghost than the man that she sought.

Her speckled paws swept through the dead grasses as tears fell from her royal purple eyes. All of the sorrow and heartache that rested on her shoulders weighed even more heavily now as she let the walls down and the emotions rolled over her in massive waves. She relived the devastating mistakes of her life and she mourned the wolves that were taken from her. Of all of them she felt Hari was the closest now. She missed her brother deeply, one of the pillars that she had leaned on for so long. The sibling that she adored and the one that had been taken far too soon. She had committed too many sins to feel the presence of her once husband, the connection between the two of them was all but fully dissolved and that fact made the tears fall faster.

Age should have helped her to keep control of herself, but she had been holding back the emotions for so long that they were overwhelming now. She had put on a strong face, she had made the attempt to be there for Recluse, but really she was just a useless husk now. The once powerful Empress was now completely helpless. She held no power, she didn’t even have the capability to hold herself together. She was a complete failure, to her pack, to her family, and to her name. Why would her brother wish to see her anyway, even if she managed to call him here?

Self doubt took over the emotions within, the sorrows the guilt, all overwhelmed as she was forced to her haunches. Deathbelle lowered her head as a creeping fog began to move in. She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears fell from her eyes, streaked down her cheeks, and began to pool in a golden orange leaf at her paws. The soft sobs rocked her body as she gave up. The thin veil was so thin that surely if she just let go that she would finally be able to cross over, to finally be free of the pain and turmoil within her.

Her broken heart cried out, Deathbelle wept there in the middle of the forest. The mists began to accumulate around her and small little blinking fireflies began to glow within the thick air vapor. Deathbelle’s eyes were closed and she did not see the change in her surroundings as she cried for death, she wept to the reaper, she bared her soul to the great beyond.

Yet it was still not her time, there was still some life left to give, and she would not be given a quick or easy end. The tears that pooled at her paws began to shimmer and change, the fireflies surrounding her began to close in, drawn to the shimmering liquids. One quiet glowing insect landed on her nose, causing her to blink open her bleary eyes. Her head lifted, and the lightning bug lifted from her muzzle, but as her eyes opened she realized the difference in scenery before her.

She sniffed softly, the tears falling from her eyes until they were dry, they pooled in the leaf at her feet, and her eyes followed a stray firefly to the tiny pool. Surprise shocked her again, as she saw Hari’s face instead of her own reflecting back at her. She lost her breath, and again questioned her sanity as she sobbed softly at the sight of her beloved sibling.

wc:820

THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

---

Frustration had built in Harbringr's heart at his thwarted attempts to have more meaningful interaction with his sister. While the stunt with the dandelion and blueberry had placated him some what he sensed the hurt in her heart and would not rest til he could comfort her properly, or at least better than his previous attempt. Hari spent the rest of the feast testing the limitations of his spiritual form, trying to move items, trying to make his voice more readily heard. The results were mostly fruitless. He felt like he was displaced, like a barrier was still in place between himself and the objects and creatures surrounding him.

His ears perked up when he heard his name, knowing his sister was calling for him. "Deathbelle! Deathbelle! I'm here, i'm coming!" He raced toward the source of the call, the leaves stirring as he went though he bore no physical form. He came upon her weeping and felt the urge to sob himself. She was hurting. She was hurting so much and there was nothing he could do about it! "I'm here, I'm here!" He called out anyway, trying and failing once again to embrace her.

Desperation flooded his being and he searched madly for something, anything that could help him and there he saw it. An albino squirrel, tucked away in a tree as if hiding from the wolf below. Eyes narrowed with determination he leapt for the squirrel, feeling the world lurch and the barrier that had existed before melting away.

The next thing he knew he was the squirrel, peering out into a much more solid world. Scrambling down he bounded toward his sister. "Deathbelle? Deathbelle can you hear me? It's Hari!" He squeaked.

She took in a shaking breath and exhaled just as unevenly as she tried to regain her composure. Each breath in succession became more tame as time went on, but her exterior didn’t reflect the turmoil within. She felt the autumnal breeze drift through her fur, the fresh breath cooled her cheeks and she closed her eyes. She could smell her brother in the wind. Again her sanity was questioned as she leaned back onto her haunches and the air swirled around her thin shoulders. Detahbelle heaved another deep breath before she convinced herself to get up and go to bed. She was obviously tired, and her mind was playing tricks on her again.

The once empress froze, her mouth agape as her eyes rounded in surprise when she heard her name from the from the tree above her. She couldn’t move as the pale white squirrel spoke to her, proclaiming itself the brother she missed so badly. Surely, the Klein woman lost her mind. Slowly she turned, violet hued eyes lifting to the creature. The squirrel had wandered down the tree to get closer to where she lay.

”It can’t be,” She whispered to herself as she stared unbelieving at the small white furred animal. She was mad, she had to be now.

THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

---

His little eyes searched her face, begging for understanding. As she stared at him and spoke he knew he had a chance. "You can hear me! Oh, thank the spirits, finally!" He hoped closer, eager to embrace her but also not wanting to frighten her. "It really is me. I'm in the squirrel. Something has happened allowing spirits to cross into the world of the living. I've seen others… I don't think it is for long." He gazed up at her, knowing as he spoke the words that he had no idea how much longer he could maintain the possession let alone how long the merging of their two worlds would last. He wanted to sear her face into his memory.

"I've missed you so much. It hurts to see you in so much pain. If there was some way I could help I would gladly do so." Risking rejection he hopped forward and attempted to embrace her left leg, praying this time now he wouldn't just phase right through her.

Once vibrant purple eyes were glued to the form of the pale squirrel, obviously disbelieving as it scurried up to her. Deathbelle spoke her doubts, and accepted that her mind was finally going. She had succumbed to her sorrowful afflictions, this craze was now her reality. Hari, or the squirrel, spoke again. Thanking his lucky stars that she could hear and understand him before he went on. The strange squirrel voice was nothing like her brother’s had been, but his spirit being within was the only explanation. Beyond her going absolutely crazy.

He assured her that it was really him, that something happened to allow him and many other spirits to cross over and arrive here. So perhaps she wasn’t as ill as she had first thought. ”Hari…” She whispered as she finally accepted what she was experiencing. Mind tricks or reality she still wasn’t so sure, but she submitted and accepted that she was being given this gift. Real or not.

The squirrel, or Hari, hopped forward to embrace her foreleg and she accepted his touch. His strange squirrely hands wrapped around her arm as her other paw lifted to hold his back against her. The weirdest affection she had ever received. Tears again streamed down her features as he spoke again, wishing he could take away her pain. ”I know.” She whispered as she lowered her cheek to the top of his squirrely head. She squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to for a moment, just be grateful for this moment with his spirit.

THE WOLVES WILL CHASE YOU IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT
Drunk and driven by a devil's hunger...

---

Hari could feel the squirrel's spirit fighting against his own. It was a twisting, flipping of his stomach and an almost overwhelming sense of vertigo but he held on. He embraced her leg, trying to comfort her with the gesture as he searched for the words his heart wanted to say all while fighting against the pull. He flinched and released her foreleg, instead grasping at his stomach as he grimaced. "Ack… I'm being forced out…I-"

It felt like everything suddenly spiraled sideways and the squirrel broke free. It screeched in fear in skidded away into the forest. Hari swore as he got to his paws then stared in shock as he realized that he was more solid than he had been before. Maybe, just maybe, Deathbelle could still see him. "Wait, wait, can you still see me?" Whether she could or not he moved to wrap his arms around her neck. "I know we don't have much time and you can't tell me everything that's happened, but I hope you'll keep moving forward. That you'll put one paw in front of the other. This world is cyclical. If something ends… its only so that something new can begin."