Wolf RPG

Emaleth had been, in general, a fairly quiet and peaceful child. She accepted change in ease, and seemed to trust that any discomfort would ebb quickly. Her sounds had been soft squeaks and grunts— mostly babble to entertain herself and her sister. It had become rare that she would squall, though she would not tolerate the absence of her sister or parents for long.

But today, little Emaleth discovered a sound that she loved to make.

Aaaoooooooo!

She paused, grinning with her new teeth, to take a breath. They were stark against her dark fur, though she was not aware of it. Though it was definitely a child's voice, the timbre was silvery and low— less jarring, perhaps, than a typical puppy's howl. This time, she sought to see how long she could make the noise, and she gulped down as much air as her lungs could take in.

Aaaaaa-OOOOOOooooooOOooooooo..oo...oooo.... came her next vocalization, the sound broken as she struggled to force the sound to continue even as she ran out of air.

Pleased with herself, Emaleth rolled to the ground, stretching out on her side as she caught her breath.

deirdre mayfair had heard a sound that compelled her to join it. and so every time the wind howled from thereon, deirdre would join its song. in comparison to its ballad, hers was a simple and sweet ditty, quite breathy and broken for the lack of oxygen her tiny lungs could hold in comparison. the character of her own singing voice was as of yet undefinable, as truly it varied as she warbled. in one moment it was low and thick, like velvet fog, though the next it would be high and saccharine; for the most part, it was mellifluous, but their childish lilt would not compel the listening ear to mull over the sound. there seemed promise of that in the future; a voice so sweet and melodious it could be soporific! and yet, who could desire sleep when one could listen on? she had been told this.

but the instant her sister sang, deirdre had forgotten; her own Forgetting had begun, and she was slowly but surely exposing herself to it. there were parts of her that wanted to wait, but the biggest piece of her demanded that she join voices with her sister: it was her heart.

a strange, pure, unearthly note came to fruition as their voices meshed for the first time. the strength she felt in it was astounding and something deirdre knew was shared with emaleth. it lasted all of five long seconds, though their transcendent creation lingered when deirdre paused to catch her breath. her tail innocently waved; she had known what this would do, had been told, but had forgotten the reasons, the meaning; all that, she had given up so that she could sing. deirdre would relearn, but her pleasure in singing prevailed over her desire, and she lifted her head and let out a breathy woo-woo-wooooo! again, though none created the same thing her very first song had.

all that she knew was that it could be done; already, she had forgotten how.

Eilidh had been quite busy on the healing front these days: dealing with Dante's breathing issues and helping Pearl with the seal bite. It made her little chest swell with pride when she thought about all the good she'd done. But she wasn't perfect, not nearly so, and she still had a lot to learn from her mother, so today she decided to visit her mother and learn a bit more about their trade. Visiting her baby sisters would be good, too, since she hadn't seen them in a while.

When she arrived at the den, a rabbit pelt in her jaws, Eilidh found that her mother had stepped out for a moment (likely to stretch her legs and relieve herself) and her Pappa was not around either. But the sounds from within the den were melodious and joyous to her ears. Eilidh crawled inside the dark den, letting her eyes adjust to the dim light, and what she saw there made her smile. Emaleth and Deirdre were howling together, testing out their lungs. Though she was now an adult, it didn't seem like she was much past her own youth herself. Placing the pelt down by the entrance, Eilidh crawled in gingerly, and placed a kiss upon each babe's brow. "Hello, little sisters. Who are we singing to today?"

Emaleth would grow to be a talented bard, and this was only the very first spark— truly, nothing in this small life had brought her as much joy as that small taste of song. Even as Deirdre joined, enhancing the melody, the dark child felt that this was something that was wholly her own. It was a feeling she did not yet understand, but one that seemed to grow as the Forgetting continued, and as she began to recognize that she and her littermate were indeed separate beings.

Her breath caught, the small babe began to wriggle in the dirt, perhaps a bit too vigorously for Deirdre to join in. Little Emaleth was overcome with a joy she didn't know how to express— and so, she wriggled a moment more before sitting abruptly upright. In the same motion, her head tilted upwards, and she strove to sing as she had before— but only a sharp yelp emerged. She attempted to sustain the note, but the sound was not cooperating... and it was at this moment that Eilidh entered to plant a kiss upon their heads.

She paused in her exploration of noise and rose clumsily to her feet. Whole body wiggling with her small tail, the child danced near her elder sister's feet. This was not the Giver or Bringer, but it was someone she had frequently seen— and so she said, "listen!" in her excited baby chatter, "hear the song i made!"

deirdre sang and sang, the action rather thoughtless and more responsive to her sisters own noise but far from mundane. she could not grow bored of this, she felt—why, she could do this forever! and she might have, for she thought much the same way as her sister, that this was something that could become a part of her. it truly did link with her soul; it found its place and rooted itself in the depths of her heart. but a shadow came, and deirdre felt her song die in her throat, the note becoming what she felt must be an infinite fermata there. the little witch swallowed it down and looked shyly to the one who entered.

it did not take too long for her to recognize the fine face of eilidh, and her tail waved. deirdre liked all who were permitted entrance, but experienced stage-fright and so remained quiet. emaleth was ecstatic, and the pale cub would do nothing to steal from her the spotlight, or even share it with her. could not, even if she desired to! it seemed her sister was unaffected by this feeling of foreboding, and deirdre looked to her, confounded by that.

Eilidh chuckled softly as Emaleth cooed louder after she spoke, as if she wanted her to listen to the song she was singing. Eilidh settled inside the den, tucked herself around the two children, and nuzzled them each as they sang. Deirdre's song ended quickly, however, as she settled in, and Eilidh kissed the girl's head again. "It's alright, little sister. You don't need to be shy around me. I'll never laugh at you or judge you. You're safe."

But though Eilidh said these words, she knew her younger sisters didn't understand them just yet. Perhaps in a few more months they would, but for now Eilidh would simply have to show them what she meant. So, with a quiet breath of song, she joined Emaleth with her own voice, a soft and quiet howl to match her sister's, head lowered to their level so they would not be afraid.

Emaleth was delighted that the large, white presence would join with her, and her song grew stronger for it— she held the note for as long as her breath would hold. When she could make no more sound, the air gone from her lungs, she drank more in greedily— swinging her head to look upon the smaller white form that was Deirdre. "Sing with us," she babbled encouragingly, wanting her companion to feel this joy, too. It was invigorating, awakening emotions in little Emaleth that she could not yet understand.

the warmth of eilidh's love lit the features of the pale-furred cub, but the unintelligible words were not regarded. she heard her sisters gentle insistence that she join her in song again, though she hadn't the heart to do such a thing now that she was faced with her nerves. they were not so easily overcome, and the babe slid to her belly and allowed her paws to settle over her eyes. as ever, she thought that she could not be seen once this was done [as she could see no others], and hid away contentedly in this darkness where others would forget her altogether. such was the effect of her humiliation, and though she had shared in the joy her sister felt and the revelations that came with song deirdre kept to her silence.

Though she knew the girls couldn't understand her yet, she liked to talk to them nonetheless. Emaleth seemed unperturbed by her presence, but Deirdre was shy, and despite her encouragement, crawled to her belly and hid beneath her paws. Eilidh chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head before letting the girl be. It would do no good to bother her if she felt so afraid, though what she was afraid of Eilidh didn't know. She and Emaleth could sing together, and maybe if they showed her how easy and fun it was, Deirdre would change her mind and join them.