Redtail Rise juhla

pretend this was yesterday?

He'd nudged Eirlys in the early morning with a volley of kisses to her face. "Hyvää syntymäpäivää!" He hadn't forgotten their birthday - how could  he - and it was worth a celebration. After leading them towards a new territory and spending part of the morning chasing down a turkey Ceallach guided @Eirlys with their meal proudly in his mouth to a small clearing he'd decorated loosely. Before they'd started to eat he had nosed Eirlys' cheek gently, giving a thoughtful hum. "Do you want to call Malliadh?" He didn't know if Eirlys knew where she lived - and he didn't know that she'd gotten herself a new identity as @Furi but it still felt right to have the remaining children together on their first birthday.

This is a cameo so I can have it in my thread log. <3 I'll hop back in as soon as she's howled for!

Furi goes to bed the night before without a second thought to the next morning and she wakes up the same way. She trots along the borders by herself and as she nears the eastern side of the redwoods, the tangle off into the distance, she makes a break for it. For a long time, she disliked the tangle. She’d gotten tied up in the roots but her experiences beyond that hadn’t been entirely terrible. She’d made a friend, sort of, and ran into her sister. Frequently, she checks nearby to see if her scent has become fresh—they’d promised one another they’d see each other again soon—but never is there anything there and she frowns, often retreating back to her patrol as usual or meandering through without much purpose.
 
As the early morning progresses, Furi finds herself opting for just roaming around with no particular goal until she gets bored.

I’m the worst sibling, oops. ♥

“Rakas!” Eirlys quipped affectionately, giggling at the barrage of kisses and responding in kind. “We are so old now,” she groaned theatrically. Truth be told, she still felt like a puppy herself, and she was so excited to be able to celebrate the special day with both Ceallach and Mallaidh that she danced a clumsy jig in place. “I know where to find her,” she said confidently, and once they’d either secured their meal or divvied up how to carry it, she led him to the tangle of undergrowth where the sisters had first been reunited.

Throwing back her head, she called for their sister, fully expecting Ceallach to join in.

*quietly reclaims title of worst sibling*

 

 

"I already have greys," Ceallach deadpanned, in better moods than he could remember in a long time. Ceallach tilted his head as Eirlys spoke, surprised and yet not that his sister had a better idea on their sister than he did. When she called out Ceallach lifted his voice, almost surprised by the deeper timber to his tones. At some point they had grown up, after all, and had lost the ideals of puppyhood that had once clung to them. The change had almost been so subtle and so slow in him he hadn't noticed. He wasn't like his other siblings, painted by layers that had receded until they were beautiful and new - so clearly kissed by Lotte's influence. No where on him did their mother shine through, and regularly, the male was disappointed by that fact. 

There’s no particular destination she has set, moving from one strange path to another. She’s been here enough that she can get around but whatever draws her back to this place hasn’t quite presented itself. As she turns the unfamiliar to familiar, a sound rings out overhead, just now realizing how far into the territory she’d gone: so much so she’s on the other side. 

The howl—howls—aren’t anything she recognizes and yet, they call for her. It takes several seconds to register that it’s probably her siblings and the instant it does, she hits the ground running. 

It’s a bit of a struggle to get through parts of the tangle she doesn’t know but eventually she’s tossed out to the other side. In the open, she realizes she didn’t even respond. What if they don’t wait for her! In a panic, she slings back her head and howls I’m coming! before she darts off again for the rise.

Time ticked by, minute by inexorable minute, but Eirlys never doubted that Mallaidh was going to make an appearance. Maybe that was naïve, which was the one thing the colorpoint female shouldn’t have been at this point in her life, but somehow — against even her scribe’s understanding — the girl remained an inherent optimist. Had she been aware of her brother’s negative thoughts about himself, Eirlys would have protested vehemently. Ceallach had spent the most time with Lotte out of all four siblings; Roarke and Mallaidh had been separated from their dam far too soon, but Eirlys simply had spent more time with papa. That was probably why she had adopted the lilting brogue of Quicksilver Hollow — her father’s brogue — instead of the rollicking accent of the Enok Tundra. Beyond his speech and his familiarity with the tundrian language, though, Ceallach had inherited so much of the truly good things about Lotte: her love for storytelling, her surefootedness, her protectiveness.

“Your grays are handsome, rakas,” she countered. “If äiti heard you say that, she would say she was all grays.” She whuffled, wondering where Mallaidh was and if they should call again — but at that moment, a melodic howl proclaimed she was on her way.

Excitement whipped the pleochroic depths of Eirlys’ eyes into twin sea storms; she grinned at her brother, mouthing fondly at one of his long, graceful ears. Then she bounced, throwing up her head and singing for the sheer joy of it. She didn’t have her mother’s vocal range or volume control and simply threw out a few undulating howls, punctuated by excited yips — and then, too happy to stay still, she began to chase her own tail. Her chubby frame wasn’t particularly bendy, but she was pretty sure she was going to catch it this time.

It doesn’t take too long for Furi to finally reach her siblings and she’s happy to see them, tail wagging frantically back and forth and tiny whines and yips leave her muzzle as she closes the distance. She presses herself against Eirlys first, nuzzling her fondly and giving her kisses on the cheek before she turns to their brother and hesitantly offers the same. The enthusiasm isn’t as strong but he’s been wary of her since their reuniting—but it’s only the beginning and they can rebuild—but it doesn’t deter her too much. Ceallach is still her brother and she won’t have it any other way.
 
Once the affection and excitement begins to die down, they enjoy an evening together; and while none of them knew it would be the last for the unforeseeable future, they treated it as if it were. After so long apart, who really knows when they’d see each other again? But they know where they are now, where they live—but how easy it would be to just… stay.
 
Together, they enjoy the night, talking and playing and exchanging stories in ways Furi never thought she’d be able to experience. By the next morning, when the sun rises, she knows she needs to return, but only with reluctance does she tear herself away and go home.