Snowforest Taiga righteous children

mother and father were both there, sitting quietly outside of the den. there was no sound, only sight; everything was still and void of life. grezig's brown fur sparkled brilliantly beneath the inviting rays of an afternoon sun. alsek traced the rays to the source, but found the sky to be— kavik was directly opposite of his once partner, standing post with gaze averted from his son's line of vision. what color were his eyes? the eyes which were hidden, what color were they? kavik's mouth remained closed as he asked: did you find me? alsek nodded his head while walking to bury himself with his father's soft waves of obsidian fur.

his eyes closed, then reopened, revealing a darkened scene. he was inside of the whelping den again; grezig was still there, but kavik had been replaced with a scowling spire of stone. beside his slumbering mother sat pele, her closed-eye stare boring into that of her littermate. get away, she warned him, alsek, no. he wanted to ask what she meant, to assure her that he was alright, but found himself wholly unable to speak. pele continued wrapping her caution tape around his frozen frame — bad, alsek, bad. — until her words became unintelligible. 

alsek could see grezig begin to stir. he watched with panicked eyes as she slowly rose upright, growing with each movement until she towered over both pups. pele continued with her mumbling, as though unaware of their mother's temper: cold and unmoving, unforgiving of their mistakes. and though he tried to open his mouth to voice some warning, alsek had been locked in as observer, forced to watch the catastrophic chain of events unfold. he blinked furiously, thinking- hoping! that it might wipe the nightmare from existence and take him back to before.

hello? little one?

distantly familiar, alsek's subconscience allowed the voice to guide him from that restless sleep. his body jerked awake with a pitiful whine, though that innocent protest quickly grew into panicked shouts. where had pele gone? why hadn't he been able to help her, and would she be okay without him? surely, their mother would be upset, but alsek wouldn't be there to help his sister through the shouting. he didn't know that dreams weren't real, or that they sometimes went awry at no fault of the dreamer. up until then, he'd only known sweet dreams which were understandably easier to rationalize than— 

semi-lucid and still struggling to fully awake, alsek quickly herded himself behind a pillar of grey. the stone afforded some coverage; though he was still visible, being mostly hidden added the comfort needed for him to fully soothe his racing mind. the quiet dripping of distant water, somewhere deeper within the cave, echoed through and into the cavern's entrance, becoming married with birdsong. alsek slowly peeked around the stone's edge in an attempt to discreetly study the woman before him. her dark blue eyes were soft, her gaze pleading; she was the opposite of his mother, from what he could remember, which ironically made the idea of her more inviting. either that, or the scent of whitebark invoking already well-buried memories.

where's pele? alsek asked, his voice soft and timid. it might have been inaudible, should aphrodite have been distracted for even a moment. he wanted to know more about his sister's wellbeing (moreover, why she hadn't come to find him instead) without coming out just yet, entering the open before making his full earthbound return. she.. where's papa? why had he disappeared without a word? in other dreams, kavik often drifted, but he always said his goodbyes.. so why was this time different? alsek bit anxiously at the inside of his cheek while (im)patiently awaiting aphrodite's response. 

the blackbird might have even been tempted to approach, had the gentle voice of polaris not been heard. immediately feeling the urge to seek comfort!, alsek abandoned his makeshift hiding place to run and hide among dust-colored limbs more familiar and safe than those of a distant memory. he'd only known chaos since his parents' sleep, an uncomfortable state of being which swallowed its inhabitants whole and without remorse.. but for the most part, polaris offered order; stability. she gave him things to expect — food, shelter, safety, freedom — without inhibiting his natural curiousity. she allowed him to be a child and adventurer, and each of the many times he'd needed someone since their meeting, she'd been there.

pola, alsek sniffled, burying himself within the plumes of her chest, missed you, pola. his tail was turned to aphrodite, his gaze averted back to the outside. it was bright there; here, inside of this cave, light was swallowed by the darkness, and with it, any sweetness he'd hoped to find. rather than feel well-rested, he felt scorned, betrayed, and to some degree, abandoned. his parents had left him alone not once, but now twice! left him alone to mourn beneath someone else, still largely unsure about the world around him. alsek might have cursed their memories, were he capable of such a thing, but his inability to anything except love them made dealing with their continued betrayal all the more difficult.

when he did finally turn to look back at aphrodite, it was with an apologetic glance. anyone who knew alsek would see that he wasn't a rude child, but rather well-mannered. if he'd offended her, it hadn't been on purpose; under different circumstances, he might have rushed forward to greet a new friend. alsek wanted to tell her all of these things but could not form the words with his mouth or fix his legs to approach her. instead, he continued sharing forlorn glances with hopes that she might understand his intended message, even as he backed further into the safety polaris was providing. i want home, he whispered to his sister, home, please, pola. whatever that meant, anyway. given the situation, alsek would have been content to walk two steps to the left if it meant he could stop feeling so.. bleh.

1,007 hehe