OOC: Set perhaps a week after their arrival? Ivory flashed, and with a startled squawk Valeriya would pull her fourth fowl from the reeds surrounding the lake's edge. The poor beasts were so exhausted form their migration this hunt felt like she was breaking some sort of rule. Too bad you're so tasty, she thought towards the fluffy little bastards. Her catch gave it's last futile twitches before she shook her head sharply, snapping its neck. At last the avian fell still. It was just a ruddy duck, not too large, but enough. She had a mind to bring a bird to the dens of those she didn't get to speak to all that often, to catch up. Certain members of the pack always seemed to be around, but there were others yet that preferred the borderlands. Val moved to place the bird on her growing pile farther up the bank, and sat down beside them for a short rest. It was easier than tracking and chasing and killing of course, but she'd been at it for the better part of the morning. The noon sun shone cold and weak over the lake, their air brisk and lacking warmth. That morning a thin lace-like film had covered the water's edge, and three nights ago it had snowed ever so lightly just as the sun was setting. She was glad to have her siblings arrival coincide with the harvest, knowing the extra paws would be a great help in preparing for the season's turning. The sky was littered with puffy clouds, and she wondered if it might start to snow again. The wind smelled of it, but she couldn't always be sure this far south. The leaves around her were a blaze of color, and Val watched as the wind seemed to set the forest around her ablaze. "Talk" "You" Think

Coming home, admitting your mistakes and trying to make up for them was no easy thing. For Svetlana... coming back to Ebony was liking going to be one of the hardest things in her life to bear. She had been wrong, reacting purely on her frustrated emotions and letting them eat at her. Mature? No. She hadn't been. Svetlana had been a child, was, in many ways, still just a child. But was that to say she hadn't mature some? Of course not. That was why she was here. It would be a big step. An important step. Apologizing to Valeriya... and to her other siblings. But this time it wasn't just her and Korrin. Somewhere behind her mother surely lurked... and Koros too. They were each other's strength in this. Svetlana would take a breath as she passed into Ebony territory. Her heart hurt and ached. She wished that what she had done could be erased. That it was gone. But... here she was. She had made mistakes. She was a mortal after all. The girl would pause, hesitate, eyes fixed on the ground. Her courage was wavering, but her polar fox companion, sweet as she was, did her best to encourage the wolf. "Svet is close now. Valeriya's scent is strong... Val came this way. Come... it is time to make amends." The young femme would lift her head, expelling a breath. "You're right. We came this whole way... to turn back now... what would be the point? This... this must happen." Svetlana would say softly. She would keep going... and before long she saw the brown form of the femme at the bank of the lake. Her sister... Queen of Ebony. Svetlana would slowly approach her, ears and tail lowered. She would speak up, though her voice still held a soft tone. "Valeriya...?" She would not blame her sister for reacting in anger... yet Svetlana would pray that it wouldn't be so. "Hear Me Talk," "Listen To Korrin," 'Read My Thoughts.'

A soft voice, sweet and wavering, broke into her meditations. At first Val wondered if she had imagined it, making sense out of the wind, but when she turned to make sure she found out just how wrong she was. At first she was terribly afraid, mistaking her sister as the ghost of her mother, coloration so similar yet so pale. She staggered to her feet fighting through the mass of confusion in her mind before it finally started to make sense. Svet... Svet was back! The young Queen could not move, so frozen between confusion and desire. She wanted to rush forwards, to embrace her sister and laugh with her... But somehow she wondered if Svetlana would want that. After the way the other girl, woman had left her... You never know, a darker part of her mind would whisper. Maybe she's here to kill you. Valeriya blinked that notion away quickly and with great force. No, it would never come to that between them. They were sisters and no matter what had happened Val knew the love between their family was strong. She took a deep breath, and then a step forward. She tried to be strong but her chords could not stand the emotion welling up within her. "S-svetlana?" A slight tremor took over her shoulders and hips, her ankles. It was not fear or anger or anything other than pent up wonderment. Val wanted to rush forwards and embrace her, to cry and tell her how much she'd missed her only... She was so afraid of upsetting the girl again and driving her away. "Talk" "You" Think

Here it was, the moment of truth. Svetlana was braced for anger, but instead was met with surprise. Baby blue hues focused upon her elder sister, waiting, but instead of getting told off the emotional question, as if truly trying to make sure it was her, would leave her sister's lips. Val began to shake, likely from the emotion within her. Tears appeared in the faded girl's eyes, giving a nod, and then she would close the distance between the two of them, pressing her head to her sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry Val... I'm so sorry... I was wrong... I was angry and hurt... and... and I'm so sorry I spoke to you that way." Her voice was shaking. Her body was shaking. She was glad to be here, yet she feared rejected. Feared Valeriya pushing her away. She wanted to come home. Wanted them to be a family again. Korrin would come up near the two, her voice soft. "Svet has been lost with Ebony, Val... Svet... wants to come home." Not just here either. If Valeriya thought Svet's apology was going to be the biggest part of the today... just wait until she saw who the young wolfess and fox had been traveling with. "Hear Me Talk," "Listen To Korrin," 'Read My Thoughts.'

Svetlana did not charge her or move to maim, she did not scream or rage or fight. She simply pressed her head into Val's shoulder, and the older fae found herself far too startled to move. What... was this? Valeriya, on instinct though with no lack of desire to comfort her once-lost sibling, craned her own neck so that she might rest her jaw atop Svet's head. A silent hug, until the pale replica of their mother began to speak. The apology came once, and then again and again. The emotion in her tone sent pained shivers through Valeriya's chest, mourning the obvious suffering her sweet sister had undergone. Why are we all such broken things, she thought with great mourning. "Ssh," she said at last, in barely more than a whisper. "You don't need to apologize. You're here, and that's all that matters." One down, and three to go. Their mother, Sindri and Sigmarr, all gone. For how long Val could not say, and until then the gods had been ignoring her prayers. Korrin spoke of the trouble Svetlana had faced in her travels, and it was a painful thing to hear. At last she said to Svetlana, "No matter where you go and what you do, you will always be my sister, and you will always have a place with us. With me. Your family, Svet." She didn't have the words to convey her intent. Never mind Ebony, and bugger their whole lineage. The two of them, their three siblings, would always be home if they were together. That was how it was supposed to work. "Talk" "You" Think

Fear held Raisa's chest in a vice grip. Her heart thudded painfully against the constraint of her ribs, and she found that breath was in short supply. There they were... Svetlana had taken her mother's return with more grace than Raisa could have ever hoped for, but she had always had a kind heart. Valeriya... had always been a different sort of fae. She and Sigmarr had laid siege to Ebony since their birth, both wild and unruly and quick to anger. What are they like now... she wondered, and how much of that is my fault... She forced her lungs to expand and take in a deep breath, shuddering all the while. She would not run, she would not run, she would not run. If her children hated her so be it. It was deserved if nothing else. Just seeing her eldest there with her youngest, sitting side my side, embracing... That would be enough to make any retaliation worth it. She took a slow step out into the open, and then another. Despite the instinct to slink there on the edges she brushed her feet along the terra below, hoping that the auburn Queen would turn her gaze. Queen... Her little girl... Valeriya a queen and Svetlana a princess... Never mind that Raisa would not doubt the regal nature of Xanilov blood, it was hard to come to terms with. And I am only a washed up failure, past her prime... Koros was ever her faithful shadow, and he kept close as his master laid claim to whatever fate had in store. "Speech"

Feeling Val move in, resting her head upon her own, the two siblings would find themselves in an embrace. Apology, the start of understanding, the start of healing... Several things stirred here today. Even though she apologized to her sister, spoke it with sincerity in each syllable, the young girl felt she would never be able to truly make amends to Val... To any of those in her family or Ebony. But by the gods above, by their will and what strength she had within her heart, by her own willpower and determination she would fight to not make such mistakes ever again. Svetlana would swallow hard, giving a small nod. She felt the desire to argue, but she would not. There was no point. Her sister forgave her... Even if Svet could not find it within her heart to forgive herself just yet. The girl would slowly draw back, looking her elder sister in the eyes. She would give a gentle smile, a smile that showed the sort of girl she once was. ?Val...? Her words were softer now, though that emotion still tinged the back of them as relief spread within her. ?I... I want to come home... But... I?m not the only one who was lost and found.? Beside her Korrin would look over her shoulder. Yes... Raisa had been with them. Mother and daughter, a crucial part of saving each other. Family was an incredible thing, and these wolves had become her family. The former Queen of Ebony approached them, her steps slow. The small fox would try to give her an encouraging smile, her and Koros both. The older fox held much of the credit for the older woman being with them here today. Korrin would look back to Valeryia. ?Things are not made of just what we believe we know. Queen Valeryia... It is time.? The fox would announce Raisa?s arrival, both she and Svet a support for the old and new queen. Perhaps the rope to help keep the bridge between them from collapsing. Could they all find forgiveness and move on with each other? Or would their family still have a vital part missing? "Hear Me Talk," "Listen To Korrin," 'Read My Thoughts.'

All had been going so well. Svetlana was back, she did not thirst for her sister's blood, and above all she sought to return home. Valeriya could not have wished for more. A broad grin split the taller girl's lips and she parted her jaws to reply when she appeared. That woman. That dark pelt which brought to mind the smell of milk and feelings of despair. That mask which marked so many of them as having shred lineage, but somehow Valeriya did not feel the same kinship as before. She turned, squaring her shoulders to the older woman. Her mother. When she'd left Valeriya had been filled with a burning desire to hunt her down and bring her home. It had been a task fueled by fear and love, each as potent as the other, and it had driven her. But so much time had passed since then. The fire that had once filled her to the brim was banked now, cool and waiting for a task more worth it's heat. Finding Sigmarr and Sindri, perhaps. Going to war for her homeland, protecting those she loved. But fighting for a mother's love?... No. " I?m not the only one who was lost and found," her sister would tentatively claim. She sounded nervous, and rightly so. It seemed at least one of them had been around long enough to learn that Valeriya was one to hold a grudge. How dare you, she thought with cold malice. Valeriya stepped forward slowly, head low and contemplative. She would trek paw by paw in a ring around her mother's still form. She looked lean and haggard. She'd fallen on hard times, it would seem. The auburn Queen could not restrain a grain of satisfaction from burrowing into her mind. Finally she stood before the once-Queen once more. Cerulean eyes were hard with glacial ire. "I want an explanation," she would hiss, every inch the powerful woman she might one day become. Valeriya noted with a hint of satisfaction that she stood taller than Raisa now by several inches. She had been a spindly juvenile when she'd last stood in her mother's presence. Now her plumage was vibrant, the set of her shoulder's strong and toned by hardships she should not have faced at such a young age... Oh she was angry, but somehow lacked the potent rage that usually overcame her. She was reserved, wondering if the grey bitch deserved even that. "Talk" "You" Think