The Sentinels I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem

Lotte appeared first; this did not surprise him. His kaskonen always had a keen sense of him, and had probably known of his presence before he'd ever lifted his voice. It was just a part of the closeness they shared; that they had always shared since they day of their birth. And it was only for them - Tove and Bård were not invited, and neither was Laerke, beloved to them as he was.

It had always been this way. And her voice had always spoken in songs that invited his own - this day was no different. He could hear her rising alto before he could even catch fresh scent of her, and his own thrumming bass reached out to catch the chords she offered. All song failed them, however, when they finally caught sight of each other. Dagfinn stood his ground, mindful of the border, but his heart seemed to swell in his chest each time she stepped near to him. Her words, though a trifle dramatic, seemed a fair description of what had happened to his own organs.

After nearly two months on his own, it felt like coming home.

"Good! Jos olet kuollut, sinun täytyy olla tukala!" he proclaimed, descending on the silliest of his siblings with an open maw. Growling playfully, he raked his teeth through her velvety fur, taking in the scents that tangled there - some familiar and some very strange.