Hideaway Strath a map to find my way in the dark

Takes place the evening of June 30, 2017.

Happy National Meteor Watch Day, Teaghlaigh!

The end of the month was marked by what felt like a particularly early sunset. The sun seemed in a hurry to dip below the horizon, leaving in its wake a brilliant green flash, quick as an errant thought. The cloudless summer sky was a swirl of purples and blues; and when the waxing gibbous moon tiptoed up through the tenebrae, her light shone especially brightly.

Though the moon was still about a week shy of her full illumination, her unnatural luminescence and the pale cyan halo that appeared around her made it seem that she’d skipped ahead in the lunar cycle. Moondogs glimmered to life like a pair of symmetrical parentheses — and then, in scant trickles at first, the stars began to dance across the sky.

They came in ones and twos — trios and quartets, quintets and sextets — and then they lanced the darkness in the tens and twenties, filling the balmy summer night with kaleidoscopic light. The stelliferous light show was bound to last for a few days at least, but this was its brightest hour. The strath’s clandestine sanctuary, from the morass to the ravine, were illuminated; and the thickness of the trees made it impossible to tell where each individual star might fall. The King Sequoia seemed to glow, as though the stars had seen fit to decorate its great branches, and the reflection of the meteors on the surface of the river that bisected the territory created a mesmerizing mirror effect.

posted by coelacanth.

 


The sequoia had come to mean many things to him, but, it was bow tainted with memories of times past. His brothers absence was felt terribly among all of them - Ceallach was doing what he could to keep Eirlys' spirits up but it felt like they were all sagging. He was melancholy as he watched the sky, eyes going wide once he saw the flickering in sky. "Look! He shouted, sitting up suddenly to watch the night sky, nudging @Eirlys and then @Mallaidh quickly. 

Mallaidh doesn’t know what to do most days without her brother. He’s the one she goes to when she has too much energy or when she feels like getting into trouble. Ceallach spends far more time with their sister and the absence of Roarke has taken more of a toll on her than anticipated. The fact her days have become to revolve around him, searching for him, instead of what she wants. Each day began to bleed from one to the next and she isn’t even sure how long it’s been but it doesn’t feel right without their missing sibling.
 
It isn’t until Ceallach draws her attention, with her other sister, that she finally stirs from her resting spot. One eye opens as her youngest brother comes up to her and gives her a nudge, forcing her to pay attention to him. At first, she does not notice what is going on above them but a flicker of light catches her attention as a one, then two, meteors fly through the sky. Her ears perk up, swivel forward, and her tail arches high as she takes to all four legs. With fur bristled, confusion takes over but she glances to the others who don’t seem too bothered.
 
After a moment, as she relaxes herself, she glances to her remaining brother.
 
“What is it?” she asks as if he may know all the answers to her sudden raid of questions.

 

Ceallach is gentle as he always is, more intrigued than concerned because so far no adult has raised the alarm nearby. Ceallach gently nuzzles against his sister, snout tracing along her jaw for a moment before he looks up at the sky again. Her question is one he's already thought and he looks up hopefully towards a nearby grown up before he considers the question again like it's meant just for him. What was this oddity? Well...

"It looks like the stars are dancing," Ceallach offered after a few moments, his voice steady even if he wasn't certain at all. It's the first time he's really voiced his imaginative thoughts, akin to his mothers brand of fable weaving. "Or maybe the stars got too heavy for the sky to hold, like the snow from the Tundra." 

lil turo cameo~

A life without Roarke has become a sudden tragedy that the Fearghal family must overcome. It effects Arturo in his own quiet way. He does not grieve as openly as Lotte or the children — he does not feel that he is afforded such a luxury. Regardless of his pain the world keeps on turning and Teaghlaigh needs him to keep to his duties. He is Ceannasach and he cannot shuck his responsibilities to wallow in his grief. Thus: he does not deal with it. He accepts it as what it is because he is not afforded the luxury to tear apart the Teekon in search of him as he had once been able to. He does not say what he thinks: that Roarke is very likely dead. If he wandered outside the Ravine on his own it is extremely unlikely that the boy survived. Not on his own. Not when he couldn’t hunt and could barely defend himself. As much as Arturo liked to be believe that they Fearghals were a hearty bunch he was also a realist. The world stole a child from them too early and, for the gangster, what made it worse is that there is no closure. Roarke is probably dead but as there is no body to bury it leaves things open, painfully so.

He hears the voices of Ceallach, Mallaidh and Eirlys. He follows them, giving them some distance as they look heavenward. A meteor shower. The sight is ethereal and beautiful and for the first time in many days Arturo feels a small, albeit genuine, smile tug at the corners of his lips as Ceallach weaves a poetic tale (a talent he has no doubt gotten from Lotte). He wants to scoop them close and never let them out of his sight for the fear that they, too, would be taken from him too early but he does not. He reclines back upon his haunches and then lowers himself into a sphinx-like position upon the earth as he glimpses again at his children before he looks back to the sky, watching the marvel and glad that he could share in the phenomenon with the lotturos.

Mallaidh tears her gaze away from the sky as Ceallach gives his analysis. She doesn’t see them as dancing so much as… just flying. Or falling. Or whatever. A few more come in quick succession and she turns immediately to watch them before they fizzle out in the distance.
 
“D’ya think we can fin’em?” she asks, dancing on all four feet until she hears a rustle behind her. She turns her head over her shoulder to see their father settle behind them. Instantly she turns around to face him with a wag of her tail, temporarily forgetting her brother as she runs up and greets him with several licks against his chin. Both of their parents have been quiet around them involving their missing brother and she doesn’t want them to feel sad and in an attempt to fill all their time, she makes a point to spend time with them. She can easily make up for the absent child.
 
Arturo quickly ushers her back to her brother and she returns, hoping she hadn’t missed the answer, but the idea still lingers in her mind. “Let’s go find one!” she whisper-shouts with excitement, as if their father won’t hear them. Without waiting for an answer from Ceallach, she bounds forward to follow along the trail of the stars.

since this was before the Ran thing I'm just going to not reference it! Also no need to actually respond, Van, just wanting to have Hemlock a background presence in this thread unless addressed. 

Hemlock was slower to gather with the rest, nudging @Sirius towards the rendezvous site in the evening that day. She tried to make sure that they all gathered up at least once a day, wanting to keep SIrius socialized since he was lacking in siblings directly present. She could not do that for him, not yet - although the persistent nagging of the back of her head had her considering the children that might have been constantly. "Let us go see what everyone is up to." Hemlock said to her boy, smiling down at him as she met his mismatched eyes. She could not remember what Aries eyes looked like, but Sirius had such gorgeous eyes she thought. 

When they arrived Hemlock gave a fond nudge of her skull against Arturo's, laying down and curling up on her side, eyes wandering the night sky before she heard the children plotting out their games. She wondered where Lotte was, having not been present with both Lotte and Arturo since the talk and was almost hesitant. Not that she thought either would lash out at her, not directly, but it was a.....complication. "How beautiful," She murmured quietly, smiling gently as the stars reflected in her bright eyes.

sometime i will actually spell mallaidh's name right on the first go. sometime.

Ceallach glanced over as he heard his father approaching, smiling as his little tail wagged furiously. Like Mallaidh he approached his father, nuzzling against him and licking his chin before his sister wanted to rush off. She even did, Ceallach giving a whine when she bolted but he was quick to shout. "Wait for me!" Before he took off after her, bumping his shoulder against hers once he caught up to her dark form. "I bet they're gonna glow when they hit the ground!" Ceallach said with a conspiratorial grin to his sister, glancing back to see if Eirlys' had caught up to them or if she had stayed with the adults.

Unfortunately for most puppies, the realization wasn't there that the fireflies starting to appear in the haze of night were not the stars fallen to the earth. Ceallach still stopped, wide eyed, once they'd hit a small clearing and the little flies were dancing everywhere. "Woah!" Articulate as his mother? Definitely not by a long shot yet. 

Sirius was urged along by Hemlock, and he obeyed happily enough, but the boy's heart wasn't in the dancing sky that evening. It was far away, as were his thoughts, and he watched what they all watched with a deep and steady sinking feeling in his chest that he could not identify as a yearning. He wanted more than this forest, and since meeting his siblings, he knew he wanted them too. The only things that held him back was pessimism— for surely none of them thought of him as he thought of them— and the idea that he would hurt his mother by asking for such explorations.

It wasn't obvious now, but he had the true soul of a scout. A star-wanderer. He sat beside Hemlock's curled form, hardly noticing the excited children beyond them as he watched the flashing sky; the angel meteorites falling far and bright; and he imagined that he could travel to them, and ask them all the questions he dared not ask back on earth.

It is only a few seconds before Ceallach catches up to her, announcing his excitements and her eyes widen in response. She hadn’t thought about what they may look like when they find them, she just knows when she sees them. She pays little attention to those they’ve left behind as she drives her feet into the ground to come upon a small clearing where fireflies have gathered. Mallaidh slows to a stop as she feels a new wave of panic.
 
“They’re floating,” she whispers loudly, watching as one goes out and another lights up but the sheer amount filling the space between them is enough that she barely notices. She glances to her brother, once, with a you seein’ this shit, bro? look across her face, then turns away and slowly creeps through the ground. Glancing up, there are still flashes of light blazing through the sky but they’ve located the first and she is lost for words.

There is an empty place in Eirlys’ life that cannot be filled. Roarke is gone, and although she is young and will one day find it difficult to remember the finer details about her twin, the ache is still too new and the hole too wide to overcome. She follows her siblings and her second mother without enthusiasm, her tiny muzzle so low it practically bumps against the ground. Already there are differences to be drawn between herself and her remaining littermates; Ceallach and Mallaidh bear the slightly sharper features of their father, but Eirlys gives an impression of roundness that can only be attributed to her northern blood. She is almost the antithesis of her sister — fierce, lithe, spirited Mallaidh! The firstborn child lightens as she ages while her middleborn sibling darkens. Eirlys’ ears, tail, and paws are a soft, smoky taupe and a smudge of the same hue wanders up the bridge of her blunt muzzle.

Her glacial, pleochroic eyes seem particularly blue as she tips back her head to look at the glimmering light show, and something in her heart breaks as she says her first words. She’d been trying to save them for Roarke’s return, but it’s become more and more apparent that her kaksonen isn’t coming home. “Roarke,” is the snowdrop’s first tentative utterance, her voice light and sweet with the buoyancy of youth. “Papa?” She makes her way to @Arturo’s side and plants her tiny paws on her father’s great chest, looking beseechingly up at him. “Papa,” she says, seemingly unsurprised at her own fluency. She’s always known how to speak — no child of Lotte Ansbjørn Fearghal’s could possibly be quiet forever — so it doesn’t shock her into silence. Without hesitation she gives her first full sentence to the parent who loves her best. “Don’t be sad, papa; I’ll never go away from you.” The accent, smoky and lilting, is all Arturo’s. For all she resembles her mother in appearance — minus the coloring, which is yet uncertain — she is the Fearghal’s daughter.

 

Ceallach couldn't tear his eyes from the fireflies for long, even meeting his darker siblings gaze for a moment to share their disbelief doesn't last. He looked back to the fireflies, mouth agape, before a sudden idea took hold of him. "Mols lets catch one." He said in a stage whisper, all alight on his own with the wonder of the night. Whether the two could manage to take one back or not was left to be seen but still he was delighted with the idea of it all. 

The boy lowered himself, crouching as he approached one of those floating stars. He fully expected it to stay but then just as he was nearby the little light went out and he made a near squeak of frustration before another bug light up not too far away and he resumed the hunt. 

Caellach’s idea does not go unnoticed but Mallaidh does not respond right away. Her eyes widen in surprise, the great idea overwhelming. She doesn’t have a clue what she’ll do with one when she catches it but what she does know is she has to have one. Her ears slick back and she lowers to the ground, watching her youngest brother try first. He’s met with disappointment a moment later and her brows knit together, turning back to the expanse around them. She notices the flicker here and there as one goes out and another chimes in. Carefully, she directs to the new one her brother has put attention to and follows suit. Two against one will definitely give them an advantage.

He watches as Mallaidh moves, joining the hunt with ease. It doesn't take confirmation by words to get the meaning of their actions; both are working together towards a common goal. Ceallach falls silent, moving with a surprising grace as they make their attempt at catching one of the fallen stars. Between the two of them there are less places for the little stars to escape, Ceallach moving to try and herd the little bug towards his darker sibling as best as he can.

Mallaidh catches on to her brother’s next move, standing one opposite of Ceallach. She opens her mouth to snap upon the firefly but it goes dark, causing her to halt and lose the star. She huffs in frustration, finding it difficult to really catch one before it goes dark. They unknowingly managed to get a cluster of several together in attempts to get away but her eyes widen in delight and the two rush over, spending a little more time with the stars among the wolves while the skies continue to paint a map above them.