Moonspear breathe in sorrow

She scarcely left the area Galaxy had disappeared into, refusing to believe her sibling was gone. They had no body, right? They couldn't prove a thing. Deep down, of course, Lyra knew there was no surviving a fall from such height, but her mind clung to the smallest bit of hope. The days since her sister's death — no, her disappearance — stretched slowly into weeks, yet Lyra still searched.

She stood now on the ledge her family had gathered that night, staring down at were Galaxy had fallen while the mountain breeze tugged at her fur. Her blue gaze was listless, empty. She hadn't even known her younger sister that well, but she was family. And it had happened only days after Ran.

Lyra breathed, withholding a soft, mournful whine. They should have all been up there, pups were prone to being active and rowdy, they shouldn't have let the sky distract them so. Slowly, she settled onto her stomach, laying her head upon her paws which dangled over the edge of the ridge, though her eyes never left the crevice poor Galaxy had succumbed to. For once, the girl felt a trace of disdain for the mountain she called home.

In her jaws, Hydra carried with her a large, glittering rock that sparkled no matter what way the light hit it. Even in the shadows, it glistened; she was quite proud of her find upon Moonspear, but it was not meant for her. No, it was meant for her mourning sister who was interested in the sky. Hydra had found a star—likely one of the ones that had fallen from the sky the day Galaxy had passed, but a star nonetheless. 

She found Lyra where she expected. And without preamble, Hydra darted toward her and placed the star down, grinning. The sky has given us a star, Lyra, she hummed, and then, noting her sisters expression (and seemingly reading her mind), Hydra shook her head. The mountain didn't do it, Lyra. Korei did, she reminded with a deep frown. That was what their father had expressed. We cannot dwell on what is gone, Lyra—we have to protect what is here. Or else it could happen to Jarilo, or Vela, she expressed dolefully. Of course Hydra was upset Galaxy had passed—it was a lot of wasted potential, and Hydra surely despised Korei now for killing off her potential sidekick—but she would not risk the wellbeing of Jarilo or Vela for it. They needed to act on what they knew—being distracted, or a distraction, like Korei, could be fatal.

While she heard the soft but confident footfalls approaching from behind, Lyra did not react to them. She knew exactly who it was. As Hydra drew up beside her, the triplet made to turn her head the other way; a well practiced way of saying I want to be alone. Yet a glimmer caught her eye and she instead looked up at her sister, immediately focusing on the beautiful, translucent gem Hydra placed upon the ground. Lyra stared at it, enamoured and immediately taken by how it shone in the moonlight. Her gaze didn't even break when her sister spoke.

"Galaxy," the girl whispered quietly, almost to the rock itself. No, the star. With a deliberate but delicate move, Lyra reached out a paw and pulled the star close, cradling it close. The smallest of smiles threatened to break her forlorn expression as she admired it.

When Hydra mentioned Korei, the smile instantly disappeared. Her ears flattened and she felt a fire spark within her chest. She wasn't usually one to place the blame on a single figure — especially one of her siblings — but the fact that Charon and now Hydra singled out Korei for the incident, she couldn't help but feel a growing disdain for the odd one out. Against her better judgement, she agreed. If Korei hadn't distracted them all. She should've known. Was it on purpose?

Her sister spoke further and Lyra looked to the ground, staring at it as tears welled. Hydra had always been like this. So hard, unforgiving even. She had a heart, however, it was just moulded after Charon's own. A realist. Where Lyra's own soft nature had come from was a mystery. She spoke the truth, though. It did them no good to dwell. The remaining two were their priority. "She...she could still be down there," she said, almost pleadingly as her voice rose barely above a whisper.

But she knew as well as Hydra that it was a vain, useless hope.

Hydra's tail waved as Lyra spoke to the rock. She named it after their late sister, which was a bit odd but whatever the hell made Lyra feel better worked for Hydra. And thinking of all the star stories they had heard, mythical and otherwise, who knew? She tilted her head and said, maybe a little bit of Galaxy is in there. Like, a bit of her went into that star and she still wanted to be with us, she could be a little creative, realistic though she was. But she certainly wouldn't pretend that the dead were with them. Pieces of them always would be but not to the crazy extent that some might think. 

Her sisters words caused her to frown. Morbidly, Hydra said, well, she is, but you can't survive that when you're that small. If Korei hadn't... she grit her teeth. She hadn't been there, but the events had been told to them (vaguely or otherwise) readily enough to avoid an incident like that ever occuring again. I know you're sad, but mom and dad need our help. We have to be there for them and make sure what happened will never happen again, perhaps by keeping Korei away from the other ones. Certainly by keeping an eye on them.

She nodded gently at Hydra's words, tightening her grip on the star and smiling a little at it as if it was a puppy itself. She remembered Charon telling her of the stars and how they were actually wolves who had passed, watching over them from the night sky. She had liked the idea, though now that it was a reality, she wasn't sure if she was so comfortable with it. It just made her more sad, really.

She looked up at the mention of Korei, seeing the muscles in Hydra's jaw clench and feeling the same contempt for their pale sister. If she had any spirit left, her words would have crushed it; the odds of surviving the fall were stacked against their poor little sibling. Lyra sighed, resting her head upon her forepaws with the star resting against her cheek. Sad was putting it lightly. She was crushed. Mournful. She never expected something like this to happen. Moonspear was their home; it was meant to be safe. "You're right," she said after a pause. It was all of their jobs now to keep a close eye on Vela and Jarilo.

"When they're old enough, we should teach them how to defend themselves." She wasn't sure what she'd be able to do help, but she knew that sort of thing was Hydra's speciality. It couldn't hurt to at least teach them the basics.

Hydra did not feel any smugness at Lyra's admittance of her being right. It was always the case, Hydra was used to it, and truly now was not the time for gloating. Even Hydra could read the room that much... hell, she was in that room, and feeling it. As for Lyra's suggestion, Hydra agreed totally. Definitely. We will teach them, Hydra agreed, nodding her head. Hydra had taught Alya and Lyra both to defend themselves, sharing with them lessons from their mother and father. She was sure Lyra would be a more sensitive teacher than she would be.

Come on, lets go hang out with the others, she decided. Keeping an eye on them, and keeping Korei away, seemed the best thing they could do right now. Hydra trotted off a distance and Alya came upon them. Hydra filled her in, and the three of them set off to the present den the cubs resided in. 

FADE! cause i el sucko