Moonspear to that special place

It was a quiet evening and as it so common in autumn months, the sun began to set early and the Mistress Night, who Wraen firmly believed had slept in the caves during the day, walked through the forest. Fur of shadows and mist and eyes bright in the color of full moon. The young wolf saw her walk past and for a moment their eyes met, the world became still - "Good evening, miss!" she said -and then time resumed again and the creature of the shadows could not be seen anymore. 

Wraen climbed up a rocky path towards a place, which offered a very good overview of the lands down and far away. She had suddenly felt home-sick - seeing Charon's children grow up - made her wonder, how her younger siblings were doing, and more - be there to see them herself. Now and then she had mentioned this to Terance, but seeing that he was busy with the grown-up stuff and impressing the trio, she had resolved to listening to him rather than burdening him with her feelings. 

And there she was - in the distance she could see the faint golden line, where the day disappeared over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight that would be wonderful to share with someone... and suddenly the revelation that she really did not have any friends here, made a single lonely tear roll down her cheek.

Hydra ascended the mountain in a bout of exercise, panting heavily despite the cool fall breeze that lent itself to her. Idly and without fully recognizing it, she followed the scent of Wraen—and utterly unaware that the girl wept, Hydra burst onto the scene in a lively manner. 

She saw the burning sun sink lower and lower, and with a grin she said: it never gets old. Moonspear has some of the best views, and it was clear Hydra was as proud as her father was of this mountain, which she considered to be the best. Let's go to my favorite one, she encouraged with a grin—she did not look to Wraen to see the tear being shed, but instead only considered her own excitement and the excitement Wraen would no doubt feel when looking at the stars from this particular summit she had in mind.

Korei made a trip up the mountain, to get as close as she could to where the stars would be coming once night comes. The sun was setting, and she wanted to be quick to get there. With a joyful skip in her step, she arrived, only to stop when she saw her sister Hydra and...well, she wasn't sure who it was. But she looked young, around about their age. She wanted to go over and say hi, yet Korei still wasn't too sure about butting in when Hydra was always there. So she stood a good distance away, until she decided to just go in closer so they could at least see her.

Only then did she catch that this wolf beside Hydra had a tear that glimmered in the last light of day. That obligated Korei, who knew all too well what being sad was like, to go even closer, till she was right next to the two. But her attention was not on the stars. "A-Are you...Are you..." She stammered, trying to ask the other wolf if she was all right.

Speak of the devil... Wraen thought and almost laughed at the ways life fulfilled your wishes and surprised you along the way. She shook her head to rid of any remnants of tears, because - firstly - the enthusiasm of Hydra was contagious, and second - she did not strike her like a person, who felt any sympathy or understanding for cry-babies. "Hey, Hydra," she said and then noticed that the black she-wolf was not a lone. With her had also come the fourth sister no one talked very often about and the one she had seen from afar few times, but never mustered up the courage to go and talk to her. 

"Oh, nah - just got some dirt in the eyes," she replied with the lamest excuse in the whole world, but what did it matter now, when she was in a company of two. "You must be Julia, right?" she asked the girl. "My name is Wraen, just in case." Then she cast a glance at Hydra and said: "Lead the way!"

Hydra swung around when Korei arrived, watching her approach Wraen as though she were sick. Hydra was surprised and dismayed to hear her sister stammering, and her ears pricked forward. She had been training Korei, and had hoped that it would make her more confident... in all aspects of life. Korei, she greeted bluntly, hoping her own voice would serve as a reminder. Her voice wasn't cold, per se, but it wasn't necessarily warm either. She wanted Julia to get it right. 

When Wraen spoke, Hydra looked to her. She hadn't noticed, but let out an ugh. Dirt in your eye is the worst. Just so annoying, and when Wraen offered that she lead the way, she was about to. But wanting her sister to have some semblance of confidence, Hydra offered her the reins. Actually, Korei here is the starwatcher. Korei, what's the coolest spot this mountain has to offer for that, do you think? Don't embarrass me, I mean, I know all of them, but if you had to pick one. Hydra didn't mind including Korei—she believed the girl could act normal, even if she had yet to see it. But dammit, she wanted to see it.

Korei raised a brow to Wraen curiously, before Hydra earned her attention suddenly with a greeting. She gave a little false smile to her sister, she understood the meaning behind the tone she was given. 

Then her attention went right back to Wraen. She didn't think it was dirt, but then she went with it. She hadn't had dirt in her eye, not that she could remember. "Okay then..." When Hydra asked if Korei knew of any good places for them to stargaze, all thoughts were out the window. 

"I sure do! This way!" She went straight to leading them off to where her Papa had taught her about the stars, she thought it was a good spot. She didn't once look back to see if they were following, however, being driven to the spot and only thinking about the spot.

Something in the dynamics between the two sisters was off and, though Wraen shared a happy smile first with one of them, and then with the other, she did not feel quite at ease. Being in the middle of unspoken and strained business was not pleasant, even if it had nothing to do with you. 

"A starwatcher, huh?" Wraen addressed the white she-wolf. "It must be great to look up in the sky and see not just millions of little shiny dots against a dark blue fabric, but actual creatures, figures and stories," she mused out loud, thinking about, how she had never had the patience to learn more than four of the most obvious constellations (because, as it turned out, they never stayed in the same place).

"Which one is each of your favorite?" she asked - first turning to Korei Julia, then to Hydra.

Although Hydra was not the most creative of wolves herself, she did know how to recognize constellations. She was no expert on them, but her father, when she had been young (and even sometimes still) had helped her map out the sky and given names to the things that twinkled there. He had told her what she was named for, and so when asked, Hydra grinned. I have three—Hydra, Alya, and Lyra. The fact that Korei Julia did not wear the names of the stars was not missed by Hydra, a perceptive bitch. Charon loved the stars himself—perhaps it was fate that Korei was not named for them.

No, that was cruel. Charon loved Korei, she was sure. She loved her, too, though it was sometimes very difficult. But they were family.

It is pretty cool, she said with a smile. And though she knew plenty of stories, Korei was probably more suited to tell them given her absolute adoration of them. Hydra enjoyed them, but they were not her passion. Starwatching was more of a hobby, something she did when she had the time. Korei made time for the task, whereas Hydra's time was carved for her own preferred activities. If you were told some, could you see it then? She wondered aloud, her eyes falling to Wraen.

Korei shook her head excitedly. It was nice to be acknowledged, as being a watcher of the stars. She had however not been told what her sisters names meant, and when Hydra said them, she realized now. "You're named after stars?" Korei thought about why she wasn't, at least to her knowledge. But she didn't let that put a gloom over her night.

"A favorite...I don't have any favorites. There's too many to choose from" she said, eyes up. She did a little circle with her eyes still up on the spot, to see all the stars above, before her gaze settled back down to Wraen.

"Aha..." Wraen understood Hydra's play with words only, when Korei intercepted and asked, if her sisters were named after stars. She dug around the compartments of her memory and faintly remembered that there had been some sort of "Lyra" in the sky, but as for the rest - they did not ring a bell.

"Oh, don't worry. I am a visual lerner, therefore, if you showed me, where to look and which dots to connect, I think I would manage. Of course, if there is a story behind the constellation - that would help enormously," any bit of knowledge, of history, silly fact would aid her to remember, what she was being taught. 

"How far is it?" she asked, after they had walked some distance up the mountain path.

Her head swung toward KJ when she spoke. I thought you were becoming the expert, she asked, in all seriousness—she did not know that, yet? Well, what constellations do you know? She prompted with a little wave of her tail—she had to know some, right? Even if she did not have a favorite. She grinned to Wraen, her ears twitching as she spoke. And then her head swung toward KJ, who would surely serve Wraen will all the answers she desired. Hydra knew some stories, even of the Andromeda sky—but was no good at telling them, really.

Korei felt her face go warm under her fur, and she turned her shy face away. Her Papa had only taught her so much by now, but never told her of her sisters names and how they were named after stars. 

"W-Well..I know about the...the Big Dipper! Yeah, and the Little Dipper. Papa taught me them." She put on a proud smile, as she usually did when she spoke of something she thought she should be proud of. Ahead was the spot she said they could head for, and stopped. "Here we are, the perfect spot to look at the stars..." She gazed up. "Aren't they just...beautiful?"

Wraen cast a quizzical look at both sisters after the brief exchange about constellations and Korei not kowing that her own siblings were named after the shiny dots in the sky. Being the one, who disliked conflicts or negativity of any kind, she wanted to defend the white she-wolf somehow, but, since she did not know either of Charon's older brood that well, she did not want to cause more trouble by intervening. She had had enough trouble with Sarah, who - as she had grown and matured more - had lost not only patience, but frequently told Wraen off for being to childish and irresponsible. And Wraen - though deeply hurt - had not fought back or wanted anyone else to solve the issue. Because she knew that Sarah had been right, even if the truth was unpleasant. 

"This is a cool spot," Wraen said after a brief look around and then taking a seat next to Korei, in order to have a better sight. "So - where are these Dippers? Do they look like paws in water?"

Big dipper, little dipper—all names Hydra knew. Hydra knew a great amount on the stars but still did not consider herself an expert. She listened to the stories her father told her, and kept the information close... but their importance to her was only because of her fathers love for them. She herself had no personal affinity toward the stars but for their relation to her name (and the names of her favored siblings), which she appreciated immensely.

They're actually out tonight, which was of course had to be why Korei mentioned them. She grinned, they don't really look like paws, I wouldn't say... kind of like... I don't know, the physical part of the lake, what surrounds it? She glanced to Korei, looking for confirmation. She was more eloquent, anyhow. She also waited for Korei to show them where exactly they were located. Hydra knew, but she was content to let KJ have full rein over her passion. It was nice to see, actually.

Korei Julia pointed them out after Hydra looked to her. "Those two. They look like two they have tails, and that the body of the shape is dipping down, doesn't it?" She had spent a lot of nights looking at them, and came up with that being the reason they were called that. She smiled over at her sister. It was the first time she had done so in a while, with actual joy behind it. 

"Could say it's like a paw, and the tail is the leg...you can look at a conste...a conste...the stars anyway you want. Use your imagina...imagination to draw them." She wasn't too good with the big words. "There are many others as well. Like that one, you see that one there? I don't know it's name, but what do you think it looks like?" She asked, pointing to the one commonly known as Canis Major.

"O-o-o-kay," Wraen said slowly, squinting her eyes, in order to have a better focus at the constellation. She was a bit near-sighted, therefore it took her more effort to identify the two feet in the sky with legs attached to them. Eventually she located the biggest of them, however the small dipper was still obscure. And since Korei had moved on, by pointing out another one, the aspiring star-watcher decided not to ask to show her the previous constellation again. 

"Is it the one with the super bright star in the middle?" Wraen asked, pointing out to Sirius, but not managing to connect any lines between the rest of the constellation to form the promissed dog.

They spent the next hour together - Hydra and Korei patiently explaining constellations and names of stars to Wraen, who did her best not to forget right after she had heard about them.