Northstar Vale the snow carefully everywhere descending

✹☾❂

 

Surprisingly, Ibis was not in complete and utter agreement of one pack expending resources and bodies to help the other. If Eleuthera was disturbed by this, she showed nothing of it on her face. She listened to her sister’s reasons and concerns, all of which were completely reasonable, but Eleuthera felt a pang of distance in her chest. Eleuthera had thought the appearance of her sister was a god-given gift, perhaps divinely conspired by their mothers up in heaven, but it seemed that Ibis did not feel similarly. Who else would she not wholeheartedly pledge herself to the cause of the willows?

But, now that Eleuthera thought about it, she realized that there was a whole lifetime between them. They were not children, anymore. They weren’t even young adults, anymore. They are grown women with experiences and relationships that the other could never even conceive of. The Ibis of today might be an entirely different wolf than the pale child she once knew. Ibis was a leader. a mother. a being who had made the conscious decision to live outside of the willows, just as Mali had, rather than live within it.

Suddenly, Eleuthera felt very far away from the things she had wanted the very most. However, it wasn’t entirely a bad thing — it was the beginning of something. It was the beginning of the next chapter. She had to start somewhere, and she would start here and now and meet her new life where it was at. So, this was Ibis as a grown woman?  Eleuthera was excited to embark on the adventure of getting to know her.

Eleuthera looked towards the ground, then up at Ibis, and over to Reiko. She hadn’t really expected to be met with contention, and didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t really her place to make decisions or statements on behalf of Lumiya. “It would be a big request — but I am not sure if Lumiya intends to make it. I was sent to warning you of the tension amongst these mountains, and nothing more." Eleuthera backpedaled a step, feeling uncomfortable, and not wishing to steep in these waters for much longer. “As allies, such gracious would be returned to you, should the Empire ever be in need." They were allies, no? Eleuthera hadn’t been in Seelie Court for a long time. Perhaps she had been mistaken.

With a dip of the maw and a bow of her thin chest, it was clear Eleuthera intended to leave. “I must continue on my journey. But take heed, and be careful." After this, his lavender gaze fell upon Ibis, not holding any worry or contention — just a promise that, after this, I’ll be back. Back to meet her children, learn who she is now, and to become familiar with her empire. With another bow, Eleuthera turned and trotted away, her lilac image almost immediately obscured by the summer’s verdant undergrowth.

Just going to throw in Leu’s last post! Feel free to continue, or just archive :)