Morningside Cuesta sat my back to your stars and breathed in your sighs

For @Sunny and @Dawn, set directly after this thread.

He was a bit angry, and that was what outwardly showed, but mostly, he was saddened by his children's behavior. Saddened, but not at all confused. He'd sensed that they could not continue in the way that they had been, but to see it come to hurtful words... He knew that he had to nip this in the bud before it became rooted in their relationship.

Even if it meant he had to be the bad guy.

When he thought he'd gone far enough from the group that they would not overhear, he sat in the grass and waited for his kids to catch up, guessing that they would be dragging their paws.

dragging her paws she was, when their father called for them. anger, and the beginnings of an ugly hatred withered in her gut- born of her own stubborn independence and the fact that Sunny thought he ought to care for her- a noble gesture, really, but lost on her. she hated feeling lesser, lesser than her own brother. she arrived first, seating herself awkwardly before her father, shifting slightly in the manner of a child who knew they were in for a talking too.

she was silent, watching her father subduedly and waiting for Sunny to catch up.

Sunny took his sweet time. Delibirately in fact, as he had his own stubborn and dark streak within him. Finally he decided he should catch up before GrayDay yelled at him to do so. Sitting on the opposite side of Dawn and assuming a relaxed posture, though he frankly was hurting and angry inside. This was how it would be for him if he didn't fix it soon, using bitterness and harsh words and actions to mask how hurt and frustrated he was. 

Ignoring Dawn he cast his gaze up toward his fathers face, and then back down again silently waiting for the dreaded conversation to begin.

He looked between the two sullen faces of his children, his heart sinking further and further as he saw the intensity of emotion there. These were angry faces, disgusted faces, hurt faces. Had they inherited his own inability to bond the way they ought? Had their mother left some latent and unknown evil in their genes? Perhaps the same kind of instinct that'd driven her to abandoning her family?

"I am the boss," he said at last, seemingly out of nowhere. He looked at Sunny. "I am the boss of Dawn, Sunny. You are not the boss of her. You were born together, you were raised together, and until one of you kicks the other's ass, we're going to assume you're as strong as each other. Equals."

He looked at Dawn.

"And being equals means you have to respect each other. I know you feel disrespected, baby, but that's tough. You can only choose how you act, and not how he does. You can try to explain it to him nicely, or you can send him to me. But I don't ever want to hear you speakin' evil to each other. You got that?"

He looked at both of them. "You got it? This is all the family we have. Those boys out there? They don't have a mama between them, and they've both lost all their brothers and sisters. Do they look happy? Do you think you'll be happy if you say something, one day, and it breaks your bond for life?"

Whatever responses his children might've spoken, Grayday spoke over them, wanting himself to be heard. But when he'd asked this last question, he waited, wondering what sort of retorts they'd have for his little monologue. God forbid he actually work something into those thick skulls of theirs - Grayday might die of shock if they seemed at all contrite about their little spat. Of course, there were more Wise, Fatherly Words to come, but he doubted they'd let him get to that without a fuss.

the girl was silent for much of her father's talk, though a burst of pleasure came when he disciplined Sunny, and her ears perked when he spoke of beating Sunny's ass-for surely he wouldn't be able to defeat her, obviously the best fighter amongst them. her ear twitched a moment when his attention turned to her, and gingerly, she nodded. she could make an effort not to spit fire at her brother, seeing if he stopped bossing her around. 

next he spoke, and she settled uneasily. she had spoken to Kieren, learned of his sister and his mother, and felt truly bad for him. she looked uneasily to Sunny, then back to Da. after he finished talking, she was silent a beat until merely saying, "okay, Da."  but her simple complacentness did not last too long, for next, she asked, "If I kick Sunny's ass, I'll be the boss of him, then?" she questioned, looking to her brother with a hint of mischief in her eyes. the sheepishness that had come with Grayday speaking of family had manifested in her anger subduing, though she was still a mite bitter.

Sunny gave a startled look toward his father when he was told not to Boss Dawn around. When the subject of fighting one another to gain the ability to be the boss came up, he looked alarmed but then forced himself to be serious. He waited until his father was done talking and then of course waited for Dawn to speak. When Dawn asked about the ass kicking thing, with obvious pleasure he stood up and looked at Grayday "For one, i dont boss her around I keep an eye on her and speak out when she does things that could end up with her hurting herself. She had done it many many times, in many different ways. If you Don't want me keeping her safe then I wont." he stated bluntly and with a very angry tone to his voice.


"Second of all, I am the one feeling wronged and disrespected. I haven't done nothing to Dawn that is mean or nasty except when she does it to me first! All I want is to make sure she is safe, so that we don't lose her! We already lost momma, I don't want Dawn to disappear or even worse get injured so badly she dies"  As he spoke his voice trembled and he grew embarassed because of it, his eyes were watering again. He didn't want to be seen crying about this, he wasn't a baby. He simply cared too much about someone who hated his guts and had soem ridiculous grudge against him.

Turning to look at Dawn he himself also had a mischievous look "If she wants to be the boss she will have to fight me for it, because I dont want to be anything but equals. I am her brother, i want to make sure she is happy and safe. that's all I ever wanted, but if she is going to make me fight for the right to help her out and make her feel safe then I will" All his emotions were out there, all his feelings, his sandess, his anger, his determination, as well as the reasons he followed her around so much. It seemed he inherited His father's knack for speeches, for he had said alot. He felt exhausted now that he had gotten everything out there, and let out all his emotions. Sagging a bit he gave a small sigh and shut up, waiting for them both to speak again.

Day resisted rolling his eyes at Sunny and Dawn's dramatacism. Mostly Sunny's. Of course, he'd probably be a lot more concerned if he'd known all that Sunny did - but he didn't know, and so he simply assumed that Sunny was being over-protective and borderline overbearing.

"You can't protect Dawn from herself, Sunny," Day said, managing to speak gently to his son. "You two are getting older, now, and that means you're getting new freedoms. Dawn's not always going to make smart decisions, and neither are you."

He laid down in the grass, done speaking over them, for the time being. His scolding had turned quickly into a far more serious topic than sibling rivalry.

"When I was a young man - not much older than you two - I decided to leave my father's pack," he said solemnly, giving each of them a measured look. "I had a lot of fun, but there were also days I nearly died of starvation, or wounds or thirst or sickness. To this day, I regret leaving like I did. I don't know how to get back there, and I have to live the rest of my life wondering what happened to them, if they're okay, if they remember me at all. There are times I wish my dad would've stopped me. But you know what?"

He sucked in a breath, only just realizing how close he'd come to tears. "He didn't. He said, 'Day, you go out there and find what you need.' And I did. I found your mom, and I had you two. And if my Dad had said to me, 'Grayday, you're not strong enough,' or 'Grayday, you're going to get hurt' - I would never have had the privlidge of becoming your dad. And you know what else? I wasn't strong enough, and I did get hurt, just like he knew I would. But dads gotta live with that, knowing that their kids are gonna make their own decisions, and that they're gonna get hurt along the way. And brothers gotta live with that, too."

he infuriated her. he refused to accept that he had been wrong, as she so obviously saw- but instead went on at length to prove why he was right. eyes narrowed in anger, she interjected as soon as he finished the first part of his speech. "I don't want you 'keeping me safe'! Just leave me alone, Sunny!" she stated without a quaver in her voice, hellbent on getting Sunny to stop thinking that she needed to be constantly supervised, that she was weak and he oh so much better than her. her jaw clenched as he continued to speak, feeling that this whole thing was grossly unfair. 

at his final words, she burst out, "Then fight me, Sunny." Her gaze narrowed into a burning glare, but it lasted but a moment before her father spoke once more. she didn't interrupt- Da was on her side, it seemed, and maybe he could get Sunny to stop. Instead of the lecture she was expecting, however, he instead went on to tell a story. one, that she found, her anger faded as she listened. 

he had gone on an adventure, wanted to go on an adventure, just like her. and he spoke of the good that had come out of such an adventure- and the bad. hearing of all the downfalls to striking out on her own adventure had her fierce desire to do so falter in the slightest- but still, that desire remained. hardship, and the importance of making one's decisions, and how her father had no regrets. the talk stirred the girl, in the slightest- wondering what it would be like for her to strike out on her own, and what it had been like for her father. she thought she ought to say something, but she couldn't think of what- her gaze flickering to Sunny and back to Da, wondering what her brother would have to say. "Would you be angry, Da- if I did that one day? Went on my own adventure?"

As soon as his father spoke back Sunny gave up. The fact that Grayday knew nothing of any dangerous act that Dawn had done made sunny seem like the bad guy and he couldnt speak out again without looking stupid. It was all obvious to him in that moment, Dawn was daddy's little princess and Sunny wasnt the favored child. Sunny never wanted to be favored but the fact that Dawn got sided with all the time was beggining to make him bitter.


When Dawn stated that Sunny should fight her he lifted his tail and snarled, though the sound was cut short by his father. Shooting Dawn a glare to match her own he turned to face his father and gave him all of his attention. As the story began Sunny felt his fur lie flat against his body as he too began to relax. So his father had left his own family to explore? It sounded fine to Sunny all except the starving or being thirsty, exploring was a part of Sunny too he had done so since he could walk.


Exploring had given Sunny a sense of independance and brought him happiness. When he was exploring on his own or smelling unknown things it always thrilled him. He did know how Dawn felt when she explored because he felt the same way. Swallowing his pride and feeling regret he turned to Dawn "I Love exploring too. I did it before you began to walk, and it made me feel strong and big like my pa. Exploring is...natural to us it seems and I shouldnt follow you everywhere. The whole point of exploring is to make discoveries for yourself, so I cant be up your ass all the time."

He shuffled as he stared at the ground and pinned his ears against his head "i know you hate me, and I never wanted it to happen. I dont know what is wrong with me.I love you Dawn and I wanna be a good brother if you can letme try again" he ignored Dawn's question to their father choosing to get his apology out there instead of waiting. "we'll never see eye to eye,but I dont think anybody ever really does" he finished with a hopeful glance toward his sister. He was scared that she would snap at him and disown him, or call him names.

Things seemed to be calming down, though Day wasn't couting on the peace to last. At least they'd both listened quietly to his story, though it seemed that Dawn, at least, had either not grasped the moral he was trying to get across or had simply dismissed it. Either way, he was glad they weren't bickering anymore.

Before he could answer Dawn, Sunny hopped in with his own little speech. Day stared at him with helpless, incredulous affection, thinking that this must be what it was like for others to listen to his speeches. There were a few points he was sure Dawn would have a thing or two to say about, so he was quick to cut in as soon as Sunny was finished, hopefully waylaying his daughter's unruly temper.

"You two get that from me," he bragged, nudging Sunny in particular. "And you got my lack tact and charisma - which means we're both gonna have to work on not upsetting the ones we love. Did you know I once made Addie so mad she didn't talk to me for three whole weeks?"

He'd been chuckling before, but it died quickly at the reminder of one of his bigger social blunders. Poor Sunny had a tough road ahead of him - hopefully, he wasn't quite as much of a disaster as his father. At least the kid seemed to mean well.

Day looked to Dawn, hesitating for a moment before finally answering her question. "When you're older, it'll be natural for the two of you to go off on your own for a while - maybe even for good," he said to his daughter, stressing the first three words so that she didn't think she'd be allowed to traipse off on her own that evening. "I will be very sad to see you go, but also happy that you're finding your way, and proud of how strong and brave you are. I could never be mad at you for making a life for yourself." He gave Dawn an affectionate lick on the cheek. "But I will always be ready to welcome you back - both of you. I will always be glad to have you home. Don't ever think that, just 'cause you left, you can't turn around and come right back."

the girl scoffed at a few certain points in her brother's speech, (explore before she could walk, as if), but was certainly less vocal about her thoughts than usual. his final words had her roll her eyes, adding in a matter of fact tone, "I don't hate you, Sunny." her father cut in rather quickly after Sunny finished, not allowing her much in terms of words. her father's words had her brow furrow, and her mouth fell open to ask, "What did you-" she stopped short, snapping shut her maw; she had come to realize that not all questions ought to be asked, and she felt this might be one of them. 

Da spoke again, and she watched him, nodding solemnly. she wouldn't go off on her own- not yet. but, that didn't mean she couldn't go off with someone else, right? she didn't think she could leave. not yet. no matter how much she loved adventure, she loved Da, and Sunny (even though at times she wanted the throttle him), and that held her here. with a grin, she looked up to her father. "I'll make you proud, Da. One day, I'll even have my own pack, like you." this she knew; she wanted to be a leader like her Da. she would be. she'd make her own discoveries, discover flaws and strength and perhaps friends. all that would come, but for now, she was happy here.

Sunny gave a small wag of his tail as Dawn said she didnt hate him. That was what mattered to him right now, not exploring or playing around. He was just happy that his baby sister didnt hate him. He remained silent as Dawn and Grayday shared a moment, his ears flicking with surpised pride as Dawn vowed to have her own pack someday.

"I will become a great hunter just like you. You wont ever have to be disappointed in either of us" he said softly to his dad, looking up at him with a boyish smile.

He grinned down at his two (newly reconciled) children, amused and heartened by their grand claims. He believed it of both of them, of course. How could he not believe it? But - "That would certainly do me proud," he said to them both, unable to keep his tail from wagging, or the smile off his face. "I know you'll be an excellent hunter one day, and I believe that you could lead any pack, Dawn - but I'm proud already, and I'll be proud of you no matter what. The only thing I want is for you two to be happy, and to love each other, and to grow big and strong."

He looked between his son and daughter, his heart seeming to swell with all that they meant to him. "I couldn't've wished for two better kids," he said gruffly, poking his nose against Sunny's chest and giving Dawn's cheek a rough lick. "I mean it."