Moonspear all i heard, all that sound.

*slaps a 300 page novel on here as a reply*


Under any other circumstance, Liffey would have been thrilled to be seeing a new territory, especially one inhabited by a foreign pack. She would have peppered the sisters with questions, mentally logging each answer right alongside the landmarks and paths she was mapping in her head. As it was, the tension between her and the sisters and her anxiousness to see Rannoch distracted her thoughts completely. Seconds seem to stretch to hours as they walked, and all the while Liffey's brain was at work trying to figure out what was going on here. Why had they lied? Why would Rannoch have chosen to stay? And if he was here, why would he not have come to the borders to greet her himself?

The latter two questions prepared her for what she saw marring the frame of her beloved friend. The former wouldn't become clear until ...Well, it didn't even make sense to her after Lyra arrived. But we'll get there.

The trio came to a stop after what seemed like ages. Liffey glanced at Alya as the girl warned her to be careful with Rannoch - a comment that prompted a terrible, clenching feeling in her gut as it simply confirmed what she dreaded already. She turned to step towards the den, fear for what she was about to see squeezing her airpipes shut. She'd barely taken that step when the sound of her name whispered by the voice she'd been so desperate for brushed softly against her ears.

"Rannoch," she breathed as she pressed urgently forward. He came out to meet her, looking weak and ragged but somehow more handsome and wonderful than she ever had seen him before. She remembered Alya's warning only in the last few seconds before Rannoch reached her when she stopped and allowed herself to be swept into his embrace. Her tongue eagerly swept across his nose, a cheek, his neck, shoulder - whatever bit of him she could reach as she melted into his arms and breathed his scent deeply, all the while whining with happy ecstasy as her mind sang the same words over and over again in her ears - thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness.

There was movement around them, but Liffey didn't notice at all. She was entirely focused on the movement of Rannoch's muzzle towards her ear and the words he spoke softly to her then. It was a conclusion that she too had come to while searching for him. Or maybe before that. When later she considered it, she'd realize it had happened the moment he first stepped out of her sight at the Vale, and even that might not be entirely accurate. Happy tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she smiled and pressed herself more firmly into his embrace. "I love you too," she said quietly back in a tone that spoke of the massive relief she felt in that moment - a tone that changed quite abruptly a few seconds later as a stern expression swept across her face and she pulled away from him to look him squarely in the eyes. "Don't you ever do that again."

It was then that Liffey's attention finally shifted. The sisters were there still, she discovered - with another one in their midst. A weirdly angry one... She glanced only briefly at the new girl before her attention settled on a more familiar, more friendly face. She smiled at Charon, heat rising to her cheeks as he called her by the name she'd given him that day. She'd completely forgotten about that, and was quick to explain. "Charon!" she replied happily, sliding out of Rannoch's arms to slip into a position at his side. "It's Liffey, actually. Sorry.. Key was a nickname I was trying out because.. I don't know, I was a stupid kid - I thought it made me sound cool," she explained, dipping her muzzle demurely as though her humility was weighing her down by the tip of her nose.

"I came looking for Rannoch, actually," she continued, leaning gently into his shoulder and glancing at him. She flinched as she finally spotted the livid wounds upon his neck and felt her blood run cold. Fortunately, she was an excellent compartmentalizer, and merely looked back at Charon to continue her explanation. "I thought as allies of the Vale, you might know of his whereabouts. Alya and Hydra met me at the borders and let me know that I was correct in my thinking. They were kind enough to escort me in to see him."

The Blackthorn glanced once more towards the cerberus, giving them a grateful nod, though they were clearly distressed about this entire thing. Instinct warned her to be wary, but another warned her not to react as she was standing in their territory and so she needed to remain respectful and submissive in spite of the tension. Charon's presence (and to a different extent, Rannoch's) was a great help to the hold she had on her calm, for she was confident that as long as the alpha did not turn on her, the sisters would not act on their aggression. Hopefully that would last.