Moonspear and she offers me sleep

@Vela 

Despite the somberness that had overcome the mountain, there were moments of good to be found. It was strange and surreal to see the features of Vela again... she looked so much like their faher di—had. The correction sobered her, but already she could not prevent the trajectory of her path that had shifted from whelping den to where she knew Vela had bed for the night. None of them seemed to have slept very far from one another that night, for the strength of her scent was near their collective whole. 

The newly crowned Queen moved at a slow pace; her belly had dropped with the progress of her pregnancy, and more than what had transpired exhausted her. Vela? She called, ears pricked forward and listening for any indication that she was near as she paused, one leg suspended in the air.

Sorry for the wait!!! Busy weekend!

Vela had not really been able to sleep after what she saw. The speckled female did find comfort in being with her family at this moment. And most of all, that she was accepted once more in the ranks of Moonspear. The girl kept thinking that she never really got to say goodbye to her dad or tell her what she experienced on her travels. Vela had noticed that things had changed around here as well. Most noticeable was that her sister was pregnant.

Vela had so many questions but none was able to answer them at the time. Before she would have demanded them but now empathize with her sister and her brother that this was not the time. They had questions as well. The female lifted her head when she heard someone approach. Hydra. "Hydra," she greeted mournfully and pushed herself into a sitting position. She had not strayed far for her pregnant sister, feeling protective of her now she could clearly couldn't fight herself.

Hydra's tail swayed to see the hauntingly familiar visage of her younger sister, and she moved to rub her scent against her to further welcome her into their fold again. It was as though her family had been summoned; her important wayward sisters, at least. Revui, if he had heard it, had ignored the call.

It is good to see you again, Hydra hummed in earnest. The circumstances were less than ideal, but they were together again as they ought to be. The sadness that permeated the air was a heavy cloak that the mourning Queen wore, her features veiled with the darkness of grief. Their father would have been thrilled at her return, but she suspected that if there was an afterlife he would have found it, and would know; he would watch among them all among the stars. Her inky nose reached to touch her sisters cheek, flaring to drink in the scents that Vela had adopted in her time away. How was your time away? she started, inviting conversation if she was willing. Hydra wondered at all the things the freckled Ostrega had encountered on her trip, and hoped to hear about them. Hydra did not see her return as ill-timed, despite it all... to see it brought a sort of terrible finality, but one she imagined Vela would have regretted to have not witnessed with her own eyes. They could find closure, and find their way to say goodbye in time.

Vela nodded stiffly when Hydra spoke in earnest about her return. She felt conflicted about the whole ordeal. She was glad to be back with her family but extremely upset that she had not been able to speak or see her father alive before she returned. It was mostly guilt that was constricting her heart. Perhaps that was why she tried to keep her face as stoic as possible.

"I want to say that it was good but it has been overshadowed by father's death," she spoke. "And mother's of course," she added. Still, it had not been a secret that she had been closer with her father instead of her mother. She had loved her father. She had not been able to go to their secret spot. "I regret leaving," she admitted, sounding quite bitter now. She couldn't keep that emotion out of her voice.

Hydra was no empath, but could understand how and why Vela might feel the way she did. There was no changing the outcome of it all, now, and no taking the guilt away either. Vela was not at fault, and Hydra did not think that in the slightest. In fact, Hydra did not think her sister ought to have any regret at all—except, perhaps, for timing her return a day later than she ought to of. She was not in the wrong for seeing the world. 

She was a well-spoken woman, but did not know what to say. Hydra never had been any good with words when responding to sorrow, and she was no healer. For those that she cared for, though, she made the painful effort. If he were here now, she tried, what would you tell him? Perhaps it may be cathartic; who knew?

Vela had not expected such an answer from Hydra. The female frowned when she had to think. The female knew what she wanted to say to him but it felt weird saying it out loud to Hydra. She would love to spend some time with her father in their secret spot. "I would tell him about my travels and that I've missed him," she spoke, which was all pretty general. The female kept her dark blue eyes on her sister. There was something else. She would have told him... She would have told him that she was not ready to return. That she wanted to see more of the world.

But this wasn't an option to tell Hydra. "That I was happy to turn home," she said with little emotion. She had to be there for her sister and her newborns. Her family would come first. Hydra would need her, Jarilo needed her. Perhaps it was the guilt that she didn't want to return yet that made her feel this way. But as she thought about this, what was there to see on her own? Perhaps it was good that she was with family again. She just felt conflicted. Her words sounded like bullshit. She was not sure if Hydra was going to believe her.

If Hydra knew her sister was withholding anything from her, she did not indicate it. She was not a wolf suited to comfort others, and though the inky Ostrega could (and did) try that was the extent of it. She simply nodded, not at all willing to force Vela to say any more than she desired to on the matter. The two of them had to stomach this tragedy, but at least they were not alone in that.

Hydra was interested, though, in her travels. How were they—your travels? She asked then. Though Hydra had traveled, she had never done so outside of the Teekon and had no personal desire to; still, she enjoyed hearing of these things and the experiences of others. What had Vela learned?

Vela licked his lips. "It was different," she admitted. "There were other creatures, dominant ones. They walked on two legs. There were hard paths and on it were things making loud sounds. They were dangerous, no wolf could fight them," she explained. It had been so strange but she had seen a wolf get hit by it when she realized this was not something she wanted to fight. It was not alive. 'But it was so exciting, and the wolves there were so different," she spoke.

She then battered her blue eyes at Hydra. Somehow it was less difficult to tell Hydra than she might have felt if she would have told her dad. "I like females," she then told her sister. Somehow she would feel her dad would be disappointed. Maybe Hydra would be as well, but she was less of a hero compared to how she felt about her dad. Plus, compared to both of their parents dying, her being gay was not as bad. At least that was Vela's opinion of it.

Hydra listened to her sister speak, and hearing of the places beyond here—beyond the places she herself had even traveled—caused Hydra's interest in them to fade. These things that could not be fought... what good were they? What about them meant they could not be fought? Hydra trusted her sisters say on the matter, given the inky Ostrega believed there was no reason to fabricate things such as this. More interesting to Hydra was the sort of wolves that populated the area. What made them different? She asked, curious. 

As Vela bat her lashes at her, Hydra watched her features for any other shifts in demeanor. Hydra had plenty to learn about her younger sister even still, and she was keen to learn the details which were simple for her to memorize. It took Hydra a moment to get to the meaning of what Vela had said—she had met few wolves who did not like females, and they were the better of the two sexes Hydra knew to exist—but when she did, Hydra struggled to fully understand. Bright though she could be, she was a woman ruled primarily by nature. 

Only? Hydra started with, her blue eyes searching the lines of her sisters face for any indication that this was not so before she spoke. I remember long ago you were taken with Wintersbane, she half-reminded, half thought-aloud—they had been an item once, as she recalled. It was not as though she refused to believe it, rather that she had never heard of such a thing that she could remember. It was strange and unsettling only in its newness, but there was no disappointment to be seen—only a lack of understanding.

Vela thought about it for a moment and then realized what it made those other wolves so different from them. "Their lives revolved around the two legged monsters," she spoke with a firm nod. "They had to avoid them and plan their lives around those creatures and their beasts on wheels. They were not active during the day and would always be alert for their scent. It was strange," she admitted. Not a way for her to live.

Vela watched Hydra's expression and then nodded. "Only females," she confirmed. She always fell for the prettiness of a female and how they were not anything like her, most of the time. "He was a loser and I was only a few months old," she returned, she may have been older but she felt like a pup. "He never put me first place or was only thinking of his lust for power and having his own pack one day," she spoke with an eye roll. "It probably confirmed that I shouldn't be a with a guy." Honestly, did Hydra see her raise pups? Vela didn't. "It is just, every one I really liked so far were all females. If I think of being intimate with someone it is a female. I don't really care for having pups."

Hydra listened to her sister. The truth of it all was that it still did not make much sense to her, though if it made sense to Vela and this was what made her happy Hydra found she did not need to. Whoever it is you pick, they had better put you first, she huffed with a lash of her tail. Vela was an Ostrega, after all, and they deserved the best. As for pups, well, Hydra's interest came late—perhaps eventually, Vela would want them too—but time would tell. As long as you are happy with who you pick, Vela, she said at length. Even if the thought confounded her, it was not for her to make sense of; it had nothing to do with her. She neither approved nor disapproved, not knowing such a thing was necessary. 

Come, let us track some game, Hydra elected next, wanting to distract her mind, body, and soul with this task. The duo moved on, Hydra simply glad for her being here.