Moonspear In all the good times, I find myself longing for change.

Her howl tapered, faded. Lean muzzle lowered to point over a peppered shoulder so yellow gaze could search for the faces of her young daughters. Exhaustion showed on each of them and, while she felt quiet concern for Mahler, she found herself unable to look upon him for longer than a glance. Soon, after all this time and despite the fondness she held in her heart for him, the part he played in her journey through life was about to come to an end.

Emotion brought forth the furrow of her earthen brow, and the lioness turned her head away in the hope that her companion would fail to notice the swell of her sorrow.

Nyx' focus returned to the glen stretched out before them, and she breathed a sigh. Somewhere up ahead she saw movement, a flash of grey between the foliage, and her sable ears thrust forward. A voice followed, feminine and familiar, but... how? Quickening her stride, the tawny Ostrega loped forward to meet her sister with an excited sway to her dense tail and joy in her bark.

"Grey!" Nyx cried with enthusiasm as distance closed between herself and a sister she'd never expected to see again, until their bodies collided. Nostrils flared as she buried her nose among the other wolfess' fur, Nyx drank deep the strong scent that she associated with home, with family, before she released their hold and looked for Grey's pine stare, "what are you doing here?"

Before there could be room for a response, Dirge arrived on the scene. Nyx blinked up at him, her expression softened on him as she attempted to compose herself. "It's so good to see you," she smiled at her brother, and flit her gaze toward their littermate to include her, "both of you."

Making up for long lost time, however, would need to wait. Nyx shifted her weight, pointed her snout toward Mahler and their cubs. She first regarded the palest of the two: "this is Elke," then the darker, "and Ciri." Lifting her chin a little, she hoped to silently communicate with them that she was content with these wolves' proximity - that they were safe. "My daughters. Girls," she turned once more to her siblings to complete her introduction: "this is my brother and sister. Your uncle Dirge and aunt Grey." She beamed proudly at the duo, unaware of the latter's new moniker.