Witch's Marsh kiss your eyelids in the morning as you start to raise your head

It was not the world’s most beautiful of milieus, but for that moment it was hers and that’s all that mattered. She was a spry wolf despite her years, and she snuffled around in the snow with a sense of glee that was usually reserved for the youthful. There was such pleasure to be derived from simple things, even those things that were not conventionally joyful, and it took a keen eye to see things are they really were. But where there was snow, there was an opportunity to play, and where there was a stranger, there was an opportunity to make a new friend.

When the stranger introduced himself, it took a second for it to register that he had actually used her name — not miss, not lady — so for that second she stuck her nose out closer and tried to scry who this newcomer might be. With her gaze narrowed, she saw that it was a man, with a pelage quite similar to hers, a build that also resembled hers, and an age that matched hers. Then the use of her name struck — Olive — and realization fell upon her like a massive landslide.

Suddenly, the joy she felt only moments prior doubled, then tripled, then even quadrupled! There was so much bursting energy within her body that it was simply impossible to contain, looking upon her brother as she was, so her mouth dropped open and then clipped shut and she rushed forth, not worrying about convention or normalcy or decorum. The fates had given her the most blessed gift, and it needed to be recognized at such!

“Oh, Cortez!” she gasped, stopping only when she was inches away from her womb-brother and even then she moved her face to be centimeters from his, looking closely as if into his soul, to see if this was really him or simply a mirage. His scent was far too real, and when she pressed her nose into his cheek, there was real fur and real warmth that greeted her. He was indeed there, here in the Teekon Wilds, a wolf of her own DNA and genetics. Unless they were her own children, Olive had previously thought this occurrence to be impossible. After all, she had traveled so far since she had left her mother and father and brothers. How had he achieved this feat of fate — and where was Calder?

Her heart continued to beat fast, as did her tail behind her, but her initial amazement at this incredible turn of events no longer boiled over. Instead, it simmered steadily. “You are not dead, nor deceived,” she answered him, “but in a dream, we may be.”  Then she drifted closer, so that their cheeks were touching. “I am so blessed to see you again, brother.” silently, she wondered where is our other-brother? and hoped her might perceive her question through osmosis, or mind-reading, or something like that. Perhaps their connection as siblings might still be that strong. After all, it had transcended time and distance in order to bring these two back together.