Moonspear The Pale Skier

Korei almost jumped at the chance to do it again. When she saw the frozen over water, she went on it one paw at a time. The last time she had done this, she had hurt her paw, sprained it. Since then, she had been sure to be careful, avoiding all rocks around the edge. But it wasn't long befor she was sliding along with glee, occasionally falling onto her belly, laughing and giggiling as she slid along.

@Lyra

The sound of giggling and laughter drew Lyra in from her wandering, ensnaring her curiousity. At first, she thought it was one of her younger sisters but, as she neared the source, she realised who exactly it was. She paused at length, observing her pale coated sibling as she slid around on the frozen surface of a small lake. Lyra spent so much time in the upper reaches of Moonspear she forgot such places existed further down.

She blinked as Korei fell onto her stomach, but the girl simply laughed it off and got up again. Nothing could get her down, that was for sure. Lyra was still ambivalent of their sister. She didn't hate her, but did not exactly like her, either. Still, it had been a while since the two had spoken, and so Lyra strode to the edges of the lake with a small smile. "Having fun?" she called sincerely with a tilt of her head.

Korei glanced up for a moment, getting distracted to see one of her sisters. Since she never really talked to them much, she also got confused with who was who. But still, that didn't stop her from nodding with a large smile as she put one paw in front of the other, sliding along across the ice. "I'm doing great! You wanna join me? It's fun!"

However, just like the last time she went ice-sliding, she got distracted. One of her paws slipped, and she went sliding, one of her paws hitting a rock and her chin hitting hard against the snowy ground along the edge of the water. "OW!"

Her mouth formed into a thin smile as Korei extended an invitation to join her. She should have expected her friendly sister to do as such. The girl shook her head lightly, stifling a laugh. Imagine if that had been Hydra she had just asked. She knew Korei wouldn't know exactly which of her dark three sisters stood before her, and Lyra liked it that way. She would rather keep her company guessing, let them assume who she was before she revealed her actual self. It seemed today, however, she would have to prematurely disclose her identity as the sister who was in training to be a medic.

Before she could say anything else, the pale girl suddenly slipped and skidded along the ice, one forepaw twisting as it hit a rock. Lyra winced, glad she hadn't heard a snap but knowing it must have hurt all the same. Korei's cry confirmed her suspicions and the darker Ostrega couldn't help but let out a resigned, quiet sigh, "Korei." She walked towards her and leaned down, eyes trained on her injured paw. "Are you alright?" she asked, keeping her voice gentle for her softer sister. She was still family, after all.

Korei slid a bit along the edge of the drozen over water, whimpering at how painful her paw felt. She tried to stand, but her paws slid out from underneath her. She looked pitifully up at her darker-furred sister. "N-no" she sobbed. "Can you h-help me to the snow?" She couldn't seem to crawl over to the snow-covered ground. Even if it meant that she had to be dragged by the scruff over.

When Korei tried to stand, Lyra took one tentative step onto the ice to stop her, knowing it would only further aggravate her sprained paw. She inevitably slipped again and the girl's ears fell back in both sympathy and annoyance. "Don't move," she commanded in a gentle tone as her sister looked up, whimpering.

Lyra looked from the pale girl to the snowy bank, judging the distance. She wasn't very strong herself, but Korei had been the smallest of the litter by far, and still wasn't a large wolf at all. At least in comparison to the rest of the family. "Okay, try and stand, but lean on my shoulder," she said, drawing up beside her sister with a soft nudge to get her up and moving.

Korei froze, seizing up at the command. She did slowly try to turn her head however. She watched as her darker sister came up to her side, then tried to get her to stand. Korei tried to lift herself up, slipping up a bit. She decided to lifted her injured paw off the frozen ground after finally standing, taking pressure off.

She then went to lean on her sister. The last time she sprained her ankle, she had been a lot smaller. Small enough to hang on a wolf's back. "Do we take it slow?" she asked, her tone sounding worried.

Thankfully, Korei complied, though not without some minor miscalculations as she stood. Lyra was ready to ensure she didn't completely fall, but she managed to finally get to, well, all-threes after a moment. At her nervous question, her darker sister gave her an amused but tender smile. "Of course," she said, taking a slow step towards the snow-covered embankment.

She briefly remembered how slow-going her and Rannoch's trip to the river was, that one time when she still cared about him. She shook the bitter thought from her mind and concentrated on making sure Korei didn't slip again.

Korei followed with each step as best she could. Soon they reached the edge of the frozen water and Korei went to immediately go lay down on her side as to not put any more weight on her sprained ankle. "This...isn't the first time" she said quietly. "Pyx last time..last time got me...rasberry! Rasberry leaves."

Step by step, the two sisters finally made it to the levee of the lake, away from its slippery frozen surface. As Korei settled onto her side, Lyra pulled away and shook out her coat, reaching over to quickly groom the thick fur at her neck. She wasn't particularly vain per say, but she wasn't a fan of looking unkempt.

Her notched ear swivelled to listen as the injured girl spoke, and Lyra turned to her with a tilt of her head. Pyx. She vaguely remembered the name. What intrigued her, though, was the mention of raspberry leaves. She had not heard of such a thing. While giving herbs to Terance once, he spoke of blackberries, and Lyra had wanted to try mixing the two together to alleviate the bitter taste of the medicinal plants. The fact that a plant already existed that both tasted good and was help medically, though, piqued her interest.

"And they helped with the pain?" Lyra questioned. "Are there any in Moonspear?"

Korei thought back to Pyx, and how she had helped. Though she doubted her sister would allow a back ride. She heard her sister ask a question, and she nodded. Pyx had found them somewhere here, but the pale wolfess knew not where. She did however remember what they looked like. 

"They're green..with pointed edges...They didn't taste nice." That was something she remembered. 

"Don't be gone too long?" she asked. One thing she did not recall, was that she had asked Pyx the same thing. She hated to be alone in such a state.

Feel free to PP her coming back with the herbs!

What a strange twist of fate, that Lyra would be the one asking for help from Korei. In her mind, her sister was just a useless hanger-on. Just someone who was there and only kept around because she was lucky enough to born alongside she and her sisters and shared Ostrega blood. They had to love her because they were expected to. So the information was unexpected, but nonetheless helpful.

Green. Pointed edges. Lyra nodded, frowning slightly as she tried to remember if she had noticed any such plants within Moonspear's borders. The fact that they didn't taste nice kind of ruined the entire point of her finding the herbs — why on earth were they called raspberry plants, then? — but she was always looking to add to her stockpile.

Korei's request took her by surprise, and Lyra's clinical gaze softened as she looked back to her sister. "I won't," she said after a moment with an encouraging smile. She then turned, taking a second to determine which direction to go, before setting off at a swift trot.

Korei Julia lay there waiting, and waiting as her sister headed off. In her sisters absence, she thought about which one was even helping her. She had not thought to ask that. She kept her gaze in the direction they had gone, until they returned. When they did, her tail started wagged a bit, and she could see the herbs held in theri mouth. "Pyx had told me I have to...eat them" she said, a tone of disgust at the end.

Surprisingly, it didn't take Lyra long at all to find the herbs. There were some nestled conveniently along the line of trees just a few minutes away from the lake. She quickly noticed the frozen, shrivelled berries first and then realised Laur was an idiot because Korei had meant the literal leaves raspberries grow on, not an entirely seperate plant called a raspberry leaf. Of course she knew of raspberry leaves. She had asked Korei about them all for nothing and had made a complete fool of herself and her writer, oh my God. She rolled her eyes before delicately tugging a bunch from the ground.

They were slightly frozen and stiff, but the girl was sure their properties wouldn't be affected, right?

She returned, pleased to see Korei had stayed put, and placed the herbs at her feet before her injured sister. Her disgust made Lyra laugh, and she inwardly thought, well, duh, before nudging the leaves towards her. "Well, they won't work too well if I just rub them on your paw," she giggled, though there was a sternness to her gaze that indicated Korei should best do what she was told.

Korei Julia looked down at the leaves, then moved her mouth toward the leaves. She picked it up with her teeth, then after throwing her head up, she got it in her mouth, and chewed down. The stiffness did not help as she chewed on it, and neither did the taste once it finally went down. She shivered in distaste. "I need to get back to my den now."

Thankfully, she followed her sister's instructions, and Lyra watched on unblinkingly as Korei choked down the leaves. She supposed she could have found better ones but she couldn't exactly bring herself to care. For Terance — or even Rannoch — the effort would be worth it, perhaps, but for her least favourite sibling? Besides, it was only a sprain.

Her mumble about needing to get back to her den was met with only a nod. She guessed this small injury just about ruined Korei's day, but she would try her best not to make it any worse. Lyra nudged her shoulder gently, in both encouragement and a prompt to get her sister to her feet. "C'mon, I'll help you," she offered with a smile.

Wanna fade here?

Korei smiled lightly to her sister, and considering how kind she was being, she finally managed to guess who it must have been. "Thanks, Hydra" she said, going to nuzzle against her sister in appreaciation. Even she got confused as to which sister she was with sometimes, like almost everyone else.

Sounds good!

Lyra wasn't even offended by Korei's mistaking her identity. It happened all too often, and the sister had grown used to it. Who wouldn't want to be Hydra, anyway? And if it grew Korei's trust further in the head of the Cerberus, then Lyra had no qualms in correcting her. Her pale sister struggled to her feet, and the girl offered her shoulder before the two made their way slowly to Korei's den.