Sun Mote Copse That's when something wild calls you home

After seeing Charon and letting it all out, Maia definitely felt better.  It would be a long while before she felt okay, but better was at least... well, better.

She was both eager and dreading the news she had to share with @Wraen, but eager was still winning out.  She'd missed her sister a lot as she traveled, and while seeing Sarah and Terance helped, she was too used to sleeping next to her every night.  Sleeping alone, especially after this, had been rough.

So as soon as she passed into Firebirds, Maia made a beeline directly for her and Wraen's shared space.  Hopefully she'd be there! If not she'd look until she found her, because she didn't want to do anything else until she'd met up with Wraen again.

Due to the recent subzero temperatures and absence of Wraen's favourite heating element, she had moved into the Nest for the time being and shared the warmth with the rest of the crew there. However, she made sure to return to the place at least once a day, in case Maia, who she waited so eagerly waited to return home, arrived. 

Therefore it was a lucky coincidence, when she turned up at the spot the same time her sister did. "MAIA!" Wraen exclaimed happily and dashed towards her and, once there acted not like a grown-up and mature adult at all. She embraced her, she danced around her with giddily wagging tail, she planted numerous kisses on her siblings face and, even when she finally settled down before her, it was still an effort to keep herself still. 

"I missed you like... infinitely," she finally said with a smile.

Okay, she was determined not to cry. She wasn't going to!  She wasn't..... and that lasted like 2 seconds.  As soon as she saw Wraen, she yelled, and half crying, half laughing ran to meet her.  WRAEEEN  It hadn't been that long but it felt like forever!

I missed you infinitely plus, she said, sniffing.  I saw Terence.  And Sarah, she was there too.  Her ears pushed back, and she looked away.  She really didn't want to share the news.  Not again.  This time was better, more distant, than it had been with Charon.  But the fact that it was Wraen made it worse at the same time.  There was a fire, back home.

Maia was just as happy and yet there was something wrong. Tears? Wraen tilted her head, scrutinizing her sister's face, searching for reasons behind them. The second piece of news was both great and slightly confusing - Sarah was here as well? What had prompted her to leave dad's side - when Wraen had left the pack, it had seemed, as if her sibling was climbing her career path pretty quickly and had all her ambitions fulfilled. What had changed?

And then came the second part, which sent a shudder of fear down her spine, but for her sister's sake, she did not let it show. Instead she touched Maia's cheek gently and smiled at her, and requested calmly: "Sit down and take a deep breath, and tell everything that weighs your heart down."

Wraen was so calm about it, and it did make it easier, just a little.  Maia took a deep shuddering breath.  Sarah said mom and dad didn't make it, and she couldn't find anyone else.  At least, that's what Terance had told her.  The same sadness as before started to choke her up, but she moved closer to her big sister, sitting so that she could lean in against her.  Maybe it would help her, and Maia knew it would help herself.

It took a little while for Wraen to register, what exactly had Maia told her. And still only several hours later would the actual gravity of the news hit her and she would begin to mourn. For now her mind was digesting the facts and she remained calm and unshaken. Which - as she saw, how shattered her sister was - was the right thing for now. She had to be strong for her. 

"Did he say anything else? Any more details?" she asked after a while, trying to find an explanation of, why Sarah was the last man standing from the whole pack and how had others perished.

More details.  She didn't want to think about, and didn't want to say it, but for Wraen she would.  And then she wouldn't think about it again, except when her traitor brain reminded her... which was pretty much every time she had a moment of silence.

He didn't but I talked to Sarah.  She steadied herself for a minute.  She went back to find mom and dad, but when she did, they were together.  She said it was the smoke.  She looked at the ground.  The others had already run, so she got separated.  They might be okay. It was enough to hope at least.

She kept her eyes down, thinking about it.  About how Sarah had seemed to blame herself, about how they hadn't gotten themselves out.  In her entire life, she'd never felt loss like this, or pain, and it was a new emotion that she hated with every fiber of her being.  It wasn't fair.

"That's very unfortunate," Wraen replied quietly, looking down at her paws and realizing that she felt less sorry for the deceased than Sarah, who had had to go through all this on her own. They had never been on good terms as an adults, but she was her sister still and despite her sensitive nature that kept reminding her about all the wrongs and forgot about the good things, she did not wish her ill.

"Was she - Sarah - alright?" she asked then, because there was little else worth knowing about the circumstances.

I don't know. She'd looked okay, but just because she looked it didn't mean she was.  She said she was sorry.  I told her that was dumb.  It's not her fault.  Not in those exact words, but it was dumb.  It wasn't like she could control a fire, and if she'd tried, she might be dead too.

She's staying with Terence though, so I'm glad they won't, yknow, be alone.  She would have felt a whole lot more guilty leaving this last time if that hadn't been the case.  Not that she didn't feel terrible anyway.  Would Sarah and Terance hate her for coming back? Were they really okay?

"But you know, what's Sarah like and Terance too for that matter too," Wraen said softly, thinking about her two siblings, who had proudly worn the mantel of responsibility and power from early on and but only later had found out about the disadvantages and failures that came with it. She could only guess, if this characteristic - guilt over stuff they could not impact - was just as strong in Sarah as it was in Terance. But even then - it must have been a hard blow for her to feel helpless.

"Maybe we can go see them in the summer again - maybe things will have improved then," she suggested, so that they had something to look forward to even in this grim situation. "And I think that now you need a solid meal and a good rest," she added. "I stashed some moose scraps and I won't take "I am not hungry" for an answer on this one," she nudged her sister in a friendly manner.

"Tomorrow we can think about... I don't know, we could say a proper goodbye to our parents. Find that one special place, where we could go and remember them..." she suggested further.

She did and she didnt.  Terence she knew less, and Sarah had always seemed so in control.  To Maia, it was hard to believe they could have the same doubts and fears that she did.

She opened her mouth to say exactly what Wraen shot down next, then her teeth clicked shut because she didn't want to argue, and she should probably eat.  

Okay.  She stood to follow, only then realizing just how tired she really was.  The trip had been a long and unpleasant one all around, with only a few small shining moments when she got to see some faces she cared about.  Physically and emotionally, she was running on empty.  A snack and a nap sounded perfect.

last for me!

I will wrap it up. Thanks again for the thread!

Wraen nuzzled the fur on her sister's neck affectionately and walked side by side with her to the figurative lunch-table. She spent the rest of the day and following night, lying next to Maia, watching her sleep and guarding her from the dark shadows and nightmares of the night. And at one point with her head resting atop Maia's back, she fell asleep and was revisited by a memory that was as old as Wraen herself. Of a beautiful summer day at the Sentinels and a place called Donnelaith.