can be a RO, or a thread. backdated to when it first becomes apparent abel is missing :o
he was not in the den.
ava nosed the cold furs, the particles of his scent faded. she tried to find him, to bring him to ana - to show him what had happened -- but he was gone.
the sun set behind the western rim of the sea. spears of dark red rippled across the water.
dinner passed, and still abel did not return home.
by now the voices of sweetharbor rose over the glinting bay.
abel! they called out into the darkness.
abel, abel elam! their impatient voices turned to worry.
ava walked among them dumbly.
the moon's ivory face shimmered in the black waters of the ocean. from here, ava thought she saw the faintest glint from the mainland. when she turned to focus on it, it was gone in a blurry streak that seemed to fade across the horizon.
where are you, brother?
Desolation followed in his wake.
He should never have come here.
His own voice faltered to the crashing of the waves. Abel, Abel! The chorus rung freely, saying more between the words than had yet been said aloud.
Abel was gone.
Everett found Ava walking in her silence, staring out -- beyond. His eyes touched the night spun girl.
Abel Abel Abel
Rose
Rose.
And at the edges of darkness, fire frayed his vision. Then he blinked, and it was gone. Only the sea, the sand, and little Ava remained. The fire, contained to the glow of sunset off the distant sea.
Ava,
his hoarse voice hushed for her so she would not be startled.
She felt Abel's absence like a piece of herself had detached and drifted out to sea. And in a way it had, for her littermates were a part of her, and she a part of them. Her tremors worsened in the light of realization, leaving her a raw and shivering thing, tearful, unable to calm herself.
Ana no longer knew what it was to feel safe.
She snapped and snarled at all who approached save Ava and
@Saint. Her own snarls were brief, whiny things, nothing like the endlessly rolling growl which consumed Ava at times. Still, she had turned to a hostile and high-strung little thing; wary of the world, angry with it, angry with herself. Abel was gone. She would not have it.
She stalked past Everett with a sharp, dismissive growl.
Leave, all of her body language said, and she turned a harsh shoulder to him as she approached her sister.
Find Abel,
She whispered; announcement, inquiry, plea. They could not be separated, any of them, couldn't Ava see?
All of Ana was terrified that she would not; all of her was alight with fear, and she trembled and her stomach roiled and she fell into anxious silence.
in just a chance few hours, everything changed.
everett joined ava before long, his voice scarcely rising above the rush of the tide. ava looked to him mournfully - but any chance of interaction was cut by ana’s slim figure wedged between them.
a new energy spilled over the lavender fields of sweetharbor. one of tension and hostility. ava remained rooted, her expression one of blank shock — unaware of anything save the increasing needle of dread.