Hushed Willows sister of pearl

The willows were more magnificent than she could have imagined — but the natural world always had a way of surprising her like that, with it’s continual chaos and beautiful infinity. As such, not soon after their arrival and marking of the borders, Olive abandoned the group of others in order to chart and map the territory with her own two eyes — the temptation was much too great, and Olive could not see any reason why she should not. 

First she saw her way through the draping tendrils of the willows, then across a water way or two, from a meadow to the mouth of a cave, and then she followed her nose within the earth and walked the caverns from one complete end to the other, exiting the system somewhere to the west and somewhere behind a colossal column of rushing and falling water, roaring and making a mess of the area’s serenity for anyone with as close a proximity as she.

The small woman, dampened by the spitting of the falls, espied a small escape to the side. Entirely thrilled by the reconnoitre of it all, Olive nearly leapt at this chance but quickly learned to stow her excitement — it was nothing more than a finger of rock, jutting out from the sheer face that frames the grandiose falls. She very neatly tucked all of her legs beneath her, not wishing to slip and fall from these heights. It would make a wonderful stargazing spot, and when her children were older, she would bring them too… and not a day sooner.

after the rather unpleasant encounter with the red woman, she and @Solomon moved on. they had to… do something. find their way back. and, of course, brilliance knows exactly where they’re going. they’ve totally gone this way before and her sister simply doesn’t remember. and she doesn’t really remember, either, but she’s not going to say that. instead, she keeps on, because eventually they’ll find what they’re looking for. or maybe they’ll find someone that does.
 
or maybe they’ll find their arch nemesis and exactly what they’re looking for all in one.
 
brilliance turns back to see her sister had broken off at some point. both of the girls are hungry, thin and bordering malnourished. her own energy, which is often times not very high, is lower than usual. they’ve lived on scraps they’ve come across, left by other predators, or an overabundance of grass that usually results in her vomiting. regardless, she smells something familiar that takes a while to put her paw on it but when she does, she stops in her tracks.
 
one of the mothers.
 
one of the mothers that brought all those dumb puppies.
 
she glances up, unfamiliar with the willows and pretty certain they aren’t quite home, she moves until the scent is thick. brilliance doesn’t see her (and doesn’t think to look up), but if they’re here, then they’re home. or at least close to it, since none of this she remembers. her ears stand up but she hears nothing but the sound of rushing water. the closer she gets to the misting, she loses the scent, backing up to frantically search for something else familiar.

Mali was getting to the point of thinking yet again that he was going to have to go and search for himself since nobody around this hellhole seemed to care other than Delight.  Why had they moved when his sisters were missing?  He still couldn't fathom why.  He bet that if one of their kids were missing, they would have stayed put forever but now that they had control of the pack, Mali and his sisters were somehow lesser, and nothing that had happened had proven him wrong.  The world seemed to circle around that other family and all the sheep seemed to be happy with that.

The falls, though, were wrecking havoc with the scents by wafting things around on unpredictable air currents, scrambling the scents and the directions they came from, and generally leaving him befuddled.  He was pretty sure he was heading towards the edge of the territory at least, and it didn't seem like Delight was hot on his trail... Or was he?  Oh, heck if Mali knew.  One of the mothers had been through here a while back, but like that would stop him from doing anything.  As far as he was concerned, they had zero power over him.

Sourly, he trudged on.  And honestly, he'd probably gone a bit past where Brilliance was, albeit a few dozen yards away, before his brain processed the muddy mix of smells and he came to a dead halt, his fur standing on end.  Hello? he yelled, cautiously.  That better be his sister and not a ghost, but due to the fact he still hadn't left the territory and nobody had announced her return or told him, he was leaning towards ghost. The fact that spectral phenomena probably didn't have a scent hadn't crossed his mind.

delight is keeping an eye on mali -- down to one child, he's feeling especially protective. he trails him at a distance, a strange, hovering guardian (easier than dealing with his feelings). soon they should leave to go look for the girls, he knows, and actually picks up his pace to tell mali exactly that when his son shouts. alarmed the androgyne picks up his pace, looking up and ahead.  he sees olive, looking ethereal as she stargazes, but surely that's not what mali was --

"brilliance!" delight shouts, materializing next to his son. her smell is not exactly as he remembers -- a few weeks away from the sanctuary does that -- but he knows it, and springs forward, attempting to track it. "where are you," he calls, more softly, making his way hopefully in her direction.

It was the daytime, so the brightly-lit autumnal sky could only inspire so much wonder in the astronomer. Without the stars or her beloved moon to delight her senses, her attentions quickly dropped from the universe above her to the universe below her.  Olive was a mountaineer, a fact which surprised some, and great heights did not have a tendency to frighten her. There was movement in the underbrush — or, at least from this height, the drooping branches of the willows appears as underbrush — and the woman strained her eyes in order to glimpse at the happenings underneath. It wasn’t until she caught flashes of several quite distinctive coats that Olive, from her bird’s eye view, knew what was happening.

“Oh,” she uttered when she saw Brilliance attempt to scry a scent, perhaps hers, from the mist of the falls, then — “Oh!” and immediately began to pace back and forth, in an agitated feline manner, across the narrow finger of rock. A family reunion was at hand, and the woman had quite the vantage point to be an audience to such a beautiful thing; but Olive had horrible thoughts of being forced to watch as the two parties pass each other by without knowing they were so close to their kin. Olive could barely hear her own whine over the noise of the falls, so she knew she would be no help in this endeavor, but still she attempted to bark “Stay where you are, please!” and cry “Oh, you are so close, oh…” as she wondered if there was any quicker way to descend her perch other than jumping into the rushing waters herself.

the waterfall drowns out most of everything. even the rapid fire thoughts of brain. she turns once, trying to locate someone, anyone, but she’s so tired and hungry. she’s thinner than she usually is and her stomach hurts. everything happens all at once.
 
any noise from above is not ignored, but unheard, and so when she hears the first voice—hello?—it is distant and she’s not sure she heard it at all. several times over her mind repeats the word but then she hears her name and she spins, too quickly, and stumbles. something tells her she’s been here before, hungry and lost and so, so tired.
 
“papa?” she says and even if she shouted it, she won’t be heard. she tries to steel her legs and leave the waterfall, trying to get away from the sound. god, what is this place? where is home? “papa!” she cries, collapsing in exhaustion on the ground.

He jumped a little when Delight appeared from friggin' nowhere.  For a moment, Mali's concentration had been broken and he forgot all about his sister's scent.  He glowered at his father, starting to say something before he was interrupted and thus reminded what the hell was going on.

But then there was a response?  Maybe?  He was pretty sure!  Mali hopped forward in the direction he thought the voice came from (but could very well be completely off), yelling an echo of Delight, Where are you?!  Pause, look back to his dad, look back the direction he thought they were gonna go.  He wasn't dreaming, right?  Whatever direction Delight took off, Mali wouldn't be far behind.

he almost envies olive's position -- not because it would be easier to find brilliance from above, but because what a scene to witness, his stumbling like a fool and his two children, attempting to cross paths blind. he can see olive shout but cannot understand her words, and anyway, his focus is on that feeble voice, that tiny papa burned into his ears. "mali," delight says, serious, "please keep yelling."

he might as well put his son's ... well developed vocal chords to work.

just in case brilliance is still making her way toward them -- and he keeps moving forward, trying to pinpoint the location he heard that tiny papa, until he can catch a scent, strange from last he smelled it, but still recognizable enough for him to surge forward on weedy limbs. brilliance is a spotted heap on the ground and he descends on her like a tornado, a flurry of relief and concern as he pours over her frail body, taking in any damage he can see. "brilliance," he whines, licking her head softly. he needs to call for seabreeze or -- just move her home, at any rate, but for a moment he frozen, curled protectively around her with space allowed for mali to see her, too. [/font]

Alright, that was about all that the poor mother could take of this. She paced nervously back and forth, still unsure of what more she could do from such an inconvenient location, and when something so critical was at hand! At any other time, Olive might have recognized the divine providence of her being on that cliffside and settled down to enjoy the pretty picture of father and daughter reunited — but up here she was no help, and she was a leader now. She needed to help. 

The sylph darted back behind the falls and deftly navigated through the unfamiliar caverns as if she were an earthworm. An earthworm in great haste, that is.

Olive reappeared out from a break in the rocky subterranean walls, somewhere that wasn’t the place she originally entered, but scent helped her locate the group of others amongst the expanse of their new home. Once the woman picked up their direct, her paws dug into the dirt and propelled her featherlight body towards the frenetic cluster of energy. When she burst upon the scene, she at first surveyed without words, but not quite silent — she huff huff huffed with the efforts of her panicked expenditures.

“Is the little bird alright?”  the shakti woman managed to string together between breathes, simply relieved that the three had found one another and not passed each other by. 

she’s lost in the brief moment from crashing on the ground to delight scooping her up. brilliance groans at the disturbance, but quickly remembers what’s happening. home. she’s home. right? it’s just been a while. “papa?” she calls, turning her head to look up at the familiar form. she smiles and thumps her tail and immediately buries herself into his fur. never does she want to be apart from them again and she’ll never leave their side. “i’m hungry,” she cries into his fur.

84

He was indeed very good at yelling.  Sure, lately he had been quiet aside from when he went off at Seabreeze, but that wasn't a talent that would just go away. Say things! We'll find you!

And that they did. He galloped after his father and was quick to crash into his sister's side, happily licking whatever random bit of shoulder or whatever happened to be right in front of his nose. Maybe stuff wouldn't be so bad! Solomon was probably right behind, right?

He was about to ask when Olive showed up.  His head whipped around, stared at her a moment, now lacking the joy he'd had a few seconds earlier, then he shuffled even closer to Brilliance, trying to wall her off from Olive. After all, she couldn't be bringing anything good -- she'd decide Delight couldn't be their dad any more or something. Brilliance was way more important and better than her.

olive is quick to meet them, and despite his own children's distrust he is grateful for her. he tucks brilliance against him, nosing her gently, feeling how thin she is under her coat. aside from that he doesn't notice any injuries, at least in this cursory check. to his daughter he murmurs, "i've got you, we'll get you fed, promise," before lifting his head to address olive: "i think we just need to get her home and -- a good meal, at least. can you look her over for me too?"

as he speaks he shifts, not to push brilliance away but to let olive gain access to her as well, reaching to gently nudge mali from blocking the pale woman (he hasn't quite realized mali's position is intentional). once he was sure brillo wasn't in immediate danger of dying, he'd carry her to the dens and get her something to eat.

The family reunion was beautiful, as most reunions were, but there was a certain bittersweetness that lingered in her throat and simmered in her gut. Why couldn’t her babies come back to her and love her like that? Why was it that her eldest children had gone — and stayed gone? 

But this was not about her, this was about Brilliance, so Olive readjusted her focus without losing a breath. “Oh my, of course”  she whispered as she drifted forward and made use of the wiggle room that Delight allotted her, seemingly despite Mali’s wishes. Treading carefully not to impose upon the boy’s delicate sensibilities, Olive’s deft attention surveyed the starving cub. “Here, little spotted dove, let me see.”  Had this not been such an emotionally charged moment, Olive would have preferred to ask Brilliance questions about her rogue state and feel the girl’s tactile form, but no one was in the mood and Brilliance did not look in danger of perishing in this moment, or any of the next moments. 

“Let’s bring her home and have Seabreeze look at her too,”  she commented, as Olive was more midwife than medic. “But I see nothing immediately life threatening, though hunger may feel close to it.” The druid was about to move to help the child to her feet, but this was not her place — this was a place for a father and a brother to show their intuitive support. Clearly, there were things going on amongst their small family that she would not dare encroach upon [not more than she already had by uprooting them from their home, of course]. Olive was there to help carry Brilliance, if her assistance was rendered necessary.

brilliance buries into delight, listening to the promise of food. she wants it, she’s hungry, but her stomach churns at the sudden thought. her mouth waters and she licks her lips, turning away when mali approaches. she’s so tired. she could sleep for days, probably.
 
mali stands protectively nearby, too, until their father shuffles him away and makes room for the strange woman to look at her. pale eyes dart up and she pulls back even more, lips curling to show her teeth. dry gums over missing or broken baby teeth. olive doesn’t get too close, at least, so when she pulls away, brilliance relaxes a little. the adults speak over her and she doesn’t bother to listen, glancing up to delight and watching him.

Though he was nudged out of the way, that lasted maybe only a few seconds before he velcroed himself back in to place, digging in his heels this time in case Delight tried again, kind of confused that his father had even tried.  Hadn't he agreed with Mali that Olive and Seabreeze were the problem back when he returned to the pack?  So why was he trying to make Brilliance vulnerable to them?

His face contorted too, but not as much, his new uncertainty and possible betrayal tempering his expression.  He was not happy and he did not want Olive near his sister.  And no, they should not go by Seabreeze. They should just go home.  Where was his other sister anyway?  His mind was coiling up in case something drastic needed to be done -- he'd protect his sister from these witches even if his father was starting to fall under their spell!

olive's diagnosis is reassuring, though he agrees they need seabreeze--but mali is, well, being mali. he can't fault his children for what they are, given their genetics. really, in retrospect, him and queenie were one of the worst matches he could have conjured.

but he loves his stubborn children. sighing, delight nudges mali, not to move him but to get his attention. "we'll all head back together," he says, agreeing with olive, "mali, you can help me get some food for brillo, and aunt olive will help aunt seabreeze check her over to make sure she isn't hurt, okay?" of course he suspects the answer will be no, or, more likely, N O, but-- but he's got to put his foot down. rising, delight gently scoops brilliance by the scruff (her own display of resistance largely ignored, since she's earned the right in this moment). solomon's absence weighs on him, too, but for now he wants to focus on brilliance -- they'll sort out the rest later.

i hope it is okay i wrap this up! it's gettin' old <3

delight offers to take mali away and find her something to eat, which causes her eyes to widen in surprise. her jaw tightens and she shifts, not wanting to be away from them but she’s much too tired to object. her stomach turns over from the anxiety (likely lack of food) and she wants to puke right then and there. her mouth waters and she looks up desperately as her father that he may not leave her again but it is inevitable. there’s promises that she’ll be okay, they’ll be back, that olive and seabreeze aren’t going to do anything to her (she doesn’t even have the energy to think about all the bad things they could do!) but she eventually resigns to her fate and slinks off with the pale woman.