Blackfeather Woods someone to rely on as lightning comes a-staring in again

astara's slim muzzle turned away from the stone, stung with defeat. the stone was perhaps her last true connection with her mother, and she couldn't even figure out how to use it. she wasn't like her mother, she wasn't like averna, and she wasn't like maegi - all of them had some strange affinity for the world beyond theirs that astara had not been given.

she gritted her teeth, frustration mounting even as maegi attempted to be encouraging. she was talentless and stupid, and couldn't even do the one thing that was so heavily favored in their blood that it seemed impossible to not be skilled at. both of her ears pinned abruptly, and the girl issued a pissed off snort before rising and stalking angrily away.

it wasn't maegi's fault, and astara didn't mean to be so curt -- she just missed her mom terribly, and was slowly coming to grips with the realization life wasn't fair to little girls.