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

Her half-hearted struggles did nothing to deter him. Dagfinn was adept at this game and knew exactly where his twin was most ticklish, rendering her almost boneless in her laughter. What saved her was not her cat-like swipes, but Dagfinn's own desire to be near to the beloved girl.

"Done," he said in response to her teasing, allowing himself to be gnawed upon. "I am already home."

For he was - she was. As long as he could find Lotte, he could find home. She meant more to him than any one place, after all.

Apparently in agreement, she shot to her feet and tackled him to the ground, her thick pelt tangling with his as they automatically arranged themselves into a roly-poly ball of Dag-and-Lotte. At this, the youth was also adept. He did not have to think to make himself a comfortable bed for his sister, and neither did she in order to accomodate him. His whole attention was on the words she spoke, and they were words he had no trouble echoing. "And I, you," he professed, tail beating the ground. "Tell me everything - Haluan oikea tarina."

Settling down as if to go to sleep for the night, he waited for Lotte to weave her tale. Hopefully, she would not insist on hearing his before she told hers. She was a more talented storyteller than he was, and in any case, Dag was uncertain about quite a few things in his own life. For the first time since he'd been able to speak at all, he wondered just how much he would be telling Lotte.