Nova Peak birnen

She did not care for this gathering, not one bit. Even as Elke shifted to bump affectionately against her, Ciri could not deny the discomfort that brought about the flip-flop feeling in her gut. She feared the pale youth might turn a sharp stare on her hide and kept her own lowered, fixed to the ground beneath her dark paws even as her father spoke.

A frog king, he shared. And what should they say to him?

Fuck this shit, the blackbird thought bitterly to herself, then her brow creased a little at the sound of the eldest cub's response. Ciri sucked in a breath and held it, a raven lobe twitching nervously in the speaker's direction as she dared to glance toward the amphibian that her sire had attempted to draw their attention toward.

Phaedra's glowering look toward Mahler went unnoticed, as did the sharpness of her words against him. Ciri barely registered the Eisen's own response until he prodded at the frog, which provoked a loud croak the spill from an inflated throat. The blackbird bit back a sudden, unexpected bubble of laughter at the gesture, though any suggestion of amusement was swiftly replaced by her prior sullenness as the ivory girl quickly removed herself from the scene.

She'd expected relief to slacken the tension in her shoulders, but it never came. Like a coiled spring, Ciri lingered uncomfortably at her sister's side and urged time to quicken, so that she might return to the quiet safety of her family's solitude.