Firefly Glen up till dawn

Nikai'd travelled quite a bit to try and find new recruits for Easthollow, but he hadn't been in much luck so far. Yet he was enjoying seeing a lot of the lands in the time out of the pack, and he loved it. His wanderlust was finally being quenched, and it was with a huge smile on his face that the freckled boy had crossed through some plains, mountains and beach over the past days. By nightfall he reached the firefly fields, just in time to see it light up.

First one, then another, and before he knew it all around him there were lights lit up. With widened eyes the boy watched and before he knew it a "Cooool!" had slipped from his mouth. Around him the skies darkened, the last pinks and oranges slowly leaving the skies as the daytime finally gave way to the night.

hoping for a @Korei Julia @Alya @Hydra and/or @Lyra ! :D

Hydra was back at it again. In the backdrop, her sisters @Lyra and @Alya mimicked her. They played a game that could not really be won except by proclimation, and Hydra always seemed to win it. Who could catch the most fireflies? Hydra wildly snapped at the insects and this time (as opposed to the last), none evaded her attack. She knew more patience than she had the last time, and knew to observe their trajectory before striking. She had about a dozen in her mouth already, and trotted toward her sisters to stick her tongue out triumphantly. Observing their similarly decorated tongues, but noting that they had less than she did (she could not see her own tongue, but she just knew it), Hydra held her head high and tail aloft. I win, again, and she moved to swipe a buggy tongue against either Alya or Lyra, whoever she could get really. 

And then she sprinted away, moving in headlong strides. She was not sure if Alya or Lyra followed her, but before long she caught sight of Nikai and wheeled around him. If her sisters followed her, he'd be the unfortunate shield she utilized. If not, they likely were chasing one another—and that was fine with her.

She had been goaded into finally leaving Moonspear, at least for a little while. It'd do her some good, Hydra had said. Alya was also keen on the idea and so the sisters went on an outing, just like they used to. However, the mournful, downcast demeanour that had fallen upon Lyra since Galaxy's death barely eased as she followed them to the Glen. As much as she tried to muster a smile and join them in trying to catch the fireflies, she couldn't fake a complete carefree attitude. Her eyes lacked their usual shine.

She stuck her tongue out for Hydra to inspect at the end of their game and determine the winner (of course the head of the Cerberus won), turning away as the victorious sister then wiped it against the fur on her cheek. Where she would have otherwise squealed in disgust, today she simply accepted it, silently wiping a paw to rid herself of the gunk afterwards.

She followed her sisters as they sprinted ahead then, though lacked their excitement. She did slightly show some sign of life, however, when they came across another — a young boy around their age, with dark fur and strange pale freckles which she quirked her head curiously at. She only knew of Charon and Vela with such markings. She came to a stop and watched Hydra dance around the poor boy, her expression blank as she observed his reaction.

Alya spat her own bugs out and glanced around surreptitiously, making sure no one had seen her acting like a kid. Her worst nightmare was Cypress coming upon then during one of their particularly silly games, and deciding that she wasn't cool or pretty at all. But Cypress was not around, so Alya allowed herself to relax once more.

She turned to Lyra, noting the other girl's melancholy. "We should go visit Cypress soon," she said, seemingly out of the blue. Of course, she was usually thinking about Cypress these days, but she had also been thinking that, perhaps, a trip to visit the older boy would bring back a bit of Lyra's pluck. Or, perhaps, Cypress's solemn demeanor would only compound Lyra's unhappiness.

There was only one way to find out, she reasoned.

Such thoughts were quickly shoved from Alya's mind as they caught up to Hydra and came upon another dark-coated boy. Alya had never met him before, but she was sure, quite suddenly, that he was the more gorgeous boy she had ever met.

"Hi," she said brightly, pushing forward with a glazed look in her eyes. "I'm Alya! What's your name?"

It was vitally important to know the name of her future husband, after all.

Nikai's ears perked up when he heard voices in the distance, but soon the sounds died out again and he went on to watch the fireflies around him. Soon he heard the thrums of footfalls though, and he looked in the direction they came from. A black wolf around his age came wheeling in and circled him in a way that almost looked like she was afraid of something else that was coming. But there was no negativity radiating from the girl and so he could only conclude that —

Before he could finish that though two more came bursting in who looked exactly the same as the first one. Nikai's eyes widened and he blinked a few times because he couldn't believe his eyes. He'd never seen anyone who looked exactly alike, let alone three of them. One of them didn't come up to him, the first one, he imagined, was still somewhere at his back and the third came right up to his face and introduced herself in a cheery manner.

The blank surprise falling off Nikai's face he replaced it with a fond smile and a wag of his tail. He liked their energy, and they were one of the most intriguing things he'd ever seen. "Hi, I'm Nikai! It's nice to meet you, Alya!" There was an excitement in his voice that was unmistakable; Nikai'd travelled for days without meeting other wolves now, and he was happy that the ones he met were so energetic, positive and intriguing. Nikai glanced at the wolf that stayed back and then looked over his shoulder to try and pinpoint the first, most bounciest of black wolves, hoping that a look was enough to draw their names forward, too.

The freckled wolf was startled upon seeing her mirror image. And then the other. Her tail waved, deducing that their desire for revenge had ended with the arrival of Nikai. Her eyes fell to Alya, who visibly fawned over Nikai. Hydra sidled alongside her, ears pricked and curious. Nikai, she repeated, looking to Lyra, isn't that a nice name? her tail waved, encouraging Lyra to come nearer. I'm Hydra, she introduced, and then Hydra moved toward Lyra. She attempted to preen the quietest of them this eve, and paused dramatically—Lyra, I didn't even notice how pretty you look in the fireglow! She gasped, and, then looked to Nikai and Alya with a knowing yet somehow inquisitive look: Doesn't she? She knew that because Alya was fond of him, Lyra would be too—and she also knew that Alya would understand that this night, Lyra needed this validation.

Even the mention of Cypress barely brought a smile to her lips, though her heart still fluttered at his name. She didn't react to Alya's suggestion that they see him, the envious rage that had surfaced when she came upon them that one night still quietly simmering away. She wasn't even sure why she felt so possessive of the raven, but she knew she wasn't fond of the idea of sharing. Even if it was Alya.

And just like her, the loudest of the sisters pranced forward to greet the stranger almost immediately. Hydra had rounded him as he reacted to their presence; quite amicably so, and for that Lyra was grateful. She studied him as he then turned to face Alya who had invaded his personal space, introducing himself.

Lyra jumped slightly as Hydra suddenly appeared beside her, fiddling with some stray fur at her neck. She quickly jerked her head out of range and turned to give her sister a confused look before following her gaze to the other two wolves. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment at Hydra's comment, avoiding Nikai's own gaze and hoping Alya would steal away the spotlight again. She shot Hydra a bitter, sidelong look that simply said: why are you doing this?

"Huh?" said Alya, turning her head a fraction at the sound of Hydra's voice. Though highly distracted by the vaguely dad-ish wolf before them, she had to turn around at the strange tone Hydra was using. Though Alya was (arguably) the most enthusiastic about boys, she didn't yet have much experience with flirting.

Seeing Lyra's uncomfortable look, Alya shot Hydra a nearly imperceptible look. They'd have to try something else. "If you ever need to tell us apart, Lyra is the prettiest," she agreed, but then quickly drew the boy's attention away from her embarrassed sister. "I think I we should get married when we grow up," she blurted, too busy trying to save Lyra to filter her words. Her ears flew back in horror when she realized what she'd said. When I grow up? He's going to think I'm a baby! she berated herself, smiling thinly to try and veil her horror.

Nikai's attention shifted from wolf to wolf as he took in the three of them. The one that was furthest off was accompanied by the most intrusive one, who introduced herself as Hydra, and her presumably-sister as Lyra. Nikai blinked and stared at each of them in turn. He quickly deduced what was going on but it was also clear that Lyra didn't seem so happy with all the spotlights on her.

"Very pretty," Nikai admitted as he looked at Lyra, despite his deductions that she didn't want this attention, and he felt a weird feeling in his stomach that he hadn't felt before. Soon his attention was roved back to Alya who said that Lyra was the prettiest of them (well, Nikai couldn't tell the difference so far). He wanted to ask if they were indeed sisters when suddenly Alya said that she said they should get married. When they grew up.

He stared at her wide-eyed and felt his cheeks burn hot. It felt like everyone was staring at him — but maybe they were? — and Nikai felt shy for the first time in his life. The butterflies were still darting around his stomach at the same time. He wasn't used to this rollercoaster of emotions. "Uh-huh," he murmured bashfully before saying, suddenly out loud without any stammers or unclarity, "I think you're very beautiful too." Which didn't make any sense, he realised after he had said it. Nikai felt as though he should be embarrassed but somehow he couldn't stop smiling stupidly as he looked at Alya (and Lyra, and Hydra, sort of — well, he could hardly deny they looked exactly the same so looking at any of them made him feel wobbly in the knees), as if he had just said a completely plausible and logical thing.

Lyra didn't want it. Hydra huffed, hurt and offended that Lyra had withdrawn from her so. She took several steps away from her, but did not advance to Nikai and Alya. Hurt though she was by Lyra, she would not leave her alone. She heard Alya speak again, sagely putting the attentions back onto herself in the most extreme of ways. She knew immediately the horror Alya felt when she spoke the words as though she herself had said them: he's going to think we're babies! And to take away from that, Hydra hummed, Not too much longer, Alya. We might as well be, she shrugged and focused on her peripherals as she thought of Lyra, wondering if she would make an attempt to save their sister with her, or if her depression would allow her sisters to sink. When Nikai's gaze turned to her, she offered him a pretty smile but did well to not overshadow Alya. Alya could have her men—Hydra simply wanted the power.

She stared off into the mid distance, gaze hardened as she avoided all three of their own. Lyra is the prettiest. If she wasn't in such a despondent state, the girl might've been flattered. Instead, she simply flattened her ears and gave her sisters a cold look from the corner of her eye. It was obvious she didn't want to be there (or, at the very least, the focus of their attention) but still, she wouldn't deny Alya her newfound obsession with this boy. She did feel a little sorry for him but also had to admit it was slightly amusing to see her sister so head over heels for a complete stranger. Was it because he looked so oddly familiar?

The unexpected word vomit from Alya though caused her to suddenly whip her head to look at her in horror. The embarrassment was felt by all three sisters and Lyra almost recoiled from it. Thankfully, Hydra managed to save the moment with a casual shrug and offhanded comment and Nikai's reaction was just as calm (though she did notice his giddy smile as he looked at them all). However, Lyra still reeled on Alya's behalf. "You can't marry someone you just met," she said in a quiet whisper, shaking her head.

Alya shot Hydra a grateful look, and aimed a fond but disparaging huff in Lyra's direction. Alya could do whatever she wanted, of course, and Lyra could just deal with it - except Nikai was an outsider, and Alya was obliged to side with her sister, where outsiders were concerned.

"We'll just have to wait until you and Hydra approve, then," she replied, a bit waspish, but wholly sincere. To Nikai, she said, "Where are you from? Is it close? Can we visit?"

The other girls filled Alya in on what she had just said, though Nikai hadn't really noticed anything in regards to the age-thing. He blinked and looked at each in turn as they spoke, then back to Alya as she spoke to her sisters. He thought she sounded a bit mean there, but didn't make much of it since her sisters didn't seem too bothered. He supposed they were like this all the time, and it wasn't like he and Keoni were always friendly with one another. It was the sibling way. Probably even moreso when you looked so much alike.

Alya started to barrage questions onto him that he couldn't respond to until she had finished speaking because there was no space to. When she was done he answered: "Easthollow, it's beyond the mountain ridge in the east. You can visit if you want to, but it's a bit of a journey." Not undoable and surely with the three of them it'd pose little issue to them, but Nikai figured he ought to warn them. It might not be as easy to find if they'd just go and try.

She nearly snorted at Lyra's declaration, not taking into account that Nikai would surely have to agree to this for it to be so. If he didn't, they'd just have to... encourage him. But as she looked to him, she didn't think he'd disagree. He seemed starstruck. As he should be, she decided. But she liked what Alya said, though knew it went without saying—Lyra sometimes liked to be reminded of her importance, though how could she ever really doubt it? 

A journey, Hydra echoed him, now stepping away from Lyra and toward Alya and Nikai, we do love journeys. Of course we'll visit, she responded, looking to Alya and then Lyra. Some day. What's it like?

She didn't miss Alya and Hydra's reactions to her comment, but ignored them with a slight turn of her head. The three couldn't truly be angry with one another, but when Lyra was in a mood, they sure did grate on her thin nerves. She gave a flick of her tail tip, silently simmering in the background as her two sisters conversed with the stranger.

One notched ear kept swivelled to them, however, eager to hear about where this Nikai boy lived. Easthollow. She had never heard of the place, but she was just as interested in it as her sisters, even if she didn't show it. At Hydra's glance she gave a small nod, agreeing to a journey should they ever make the effort to visit the boy. Lyra wondered why he couldn't just come visit Moonspear; as nice as she was sure Easthollow was, nothing would beat their mountain.

Alya sniffed curiously at the dark boy's pelt, wondering if she could divine anything from his scent. Her ears were pricked attentively, as eager to hear his answer to Hydra's question as she was. Although he'd not done anything particularly cool yet, Alya found something about him very exciting.

She was definitely in love with him, she decided.

Nikai's eyes darted between the three wolves, though moving back to the first one as she spoke and asked him what Easthollow was like. "Well, there's forest, meadow, rivers... And we have a great stone circle, it looks really cool! These really big stones are lined up in a circle, almost like someone put them there, but they're way too heavy to roll." The latter was probably the most special thing about Easthollow, though it was not even Nikai's favourite thing. "Where do you live?" he asked them curiously, hoping to find out more about these mystery girls.

Alya was entranced by the idea of these standing stones that Nikai spoke of, but she was far more entranced with herself and her sisters, and with her mountain home.

"We live on that mountain," Alya piped up, tail wagging as she pointed her nose toward Moonspear. "It's the tallest one in the range," she bragged, proud to share this fact with Nikai, her future husband. "It's called Moonspear - my Hydra, Lyra, and I are princesses there."

my last post, let's finish? :D

Nikai followed her gaze to the mountain and looked at it in awe. It was pretty amazing; and to top it off, they were princesses, too! "Wow! That is so cool," he said with a broad smile. "I should head home now, but I'll visit your mountain sometime!" It was a promise made a bit too easily perhaps, but Nikai was sure that he would visit some day. He would just have to make time for it once he had a bit more time.

After turning away from them Nikai started trotting away, glancing over his shoulder at the three identical girls one more time before making his way home, head buzzing with everything he had been through in this journey, but the meeting with these girls in particular.