Bearclaw Valley when the sunlight is arising

for @Averna -- but tagged are definitely welcome. some PP to set the scene, i hope that is okay. <3

it was no good.

her children grew more resentful by the day.

astara paced back and forth by her den, ignoring @Glaucos and @Astyanax. her children -- the important ones -- were gradually losing their love for their mother.

if astara had known the orphans were not merrick's, she might have thrown both to her children to torment, to play, to dispose of them -- but astara was still under the impression the orphans were sired by merrick's seed (every time she glanced at them, a wickedly bitter emotion flashed through her gut like a hot knife).

astara could take it no more. she did not know which was worse -- the constant reminder of her rook's infidelity, or the growing disdain of her children.

she left the pair in the den and strode out to the stony columns where averna often lingered. prowling through broken ledge, astara made for averna and bid her to follow.

The priest was tending her altar when her dark counterpart arrived. Ears perked towards her while the priest finished placing some bones upon the altar for Sithis. She greeted Thief with a chuff; no more was needed, for words had always been futile around her sibling. The pale ghost wordlessly followed when gestured to, eager to spend some time in the mortal realm. It had pulled her, lately, with thoughts of Powergirl -- not necessarily who she was but mostly what she was and what wicked desires she brought to the forefront of the priest's mind -- and she was unsure whether to give in.

averna was by her altar -- could she scry from her stones and blood-rituals astara's hopeless thoughts?

she glanced behind her once to confirm her ghost followed -- good.

astara lead averna back to her den, where astyanax and glaucos slept.

for a long moment astara peered into that gathering darkness, listening to the rise and fall of their soft breaths --

but they were not hers, they would never be hers, and her children despised her with every day she kept them by her breast.

no longer; she may have killed their mother, but she owed the harlot's brood nothing.

astara pulled from her thoughts and stared openly into averna's silver gaze. take them. she thought forcefully into the void, feeling fringes of darkness torrent out between her thoughts. take them -- do what you must -- but take them from me.

He slept soundly, unaware of the hateful looks thrown their way, of the ever growing contempt and the silent request their foster mother pleaded of her sister as they stood outside the den. Astyanax was comfortably huddled against Glaucos, bathing in the warmth and pleasant, dreamless sleep before suddenly he was abruptly pulled from the abyss of unconsciousness.

There was no reason for it. The boy's head whipped up and he blinked blearily in the darkness, before he glanced at the daylight filtering in near the entrance. Mindlessly he stood and began to waddle towards the mouth of the den, yawning and shaking out his body as he did so. As he reached the opening, however, he paused and took in the unexpected sight of the two adults standing just before him, both a stark contrast of each other. One, Ikkalrok's imposter, the other, a pale being he had only seen once before.

He stared, blinking, remaining frozen to the spot and entirely unaware of the wordless conversation that was taking place.

The priest was brought to the den where the spiderlings slept; the priest did not make much difference between Thief's own or the others, although it was ironic that a wolf with the name of Thief would end up stealing the children of another wolf in the most extreme degree. She watched as the pups blinked up at her, curled together. One arose, waddling towards the entrance of the den and blinking against the light that filtered in.

The message was not entirely clear to the priest, and she canted her head at Thief. What do you want? she asked, ignoring the little spiderling at their feet for now -- and though the priest was not really one to fulfil commands and would not mindlessly do what her dark counterpart would ask, she would not turn down gifts if it were to be so.

lmk if the pp of astyanax isnt ok! <3

astyanax's dark head peered from the den mouth. astara's gaze zeroed in on him sharply, one ear bent to averna.

if only her tongue worked! astara held the shade's gaze for a moment, searching in the silvery depths of her sister's eyes for any sign of misgiving. when she found none she strode evenly towards astyanax and attempted to roughly nudge him towards averna's feet.

would she understand then, or should she go and grab the second child? astara glanced down at astyanax and nudged his rump once more, before taking careful steps to place pointed distance between herself and the children she had stolen.

PP away! :D

He was ignored for the most part; the entirely white one barely sparing him a glance before she spoke words that Astyanax could not understand. By now, perhaps he ought to have had a basic grasp of language, but it was no surprise the delay in his abilities considering both his blood and foster mothers' inclination towards complete silence.

He then turned to said foster mother just as she began striding towards him. The fur at his neck prickled and he went to take a step back, but was instead roughly drawn from his spot and pushed towards the pale woman. He protested with a soft, laughably nonthreatening snarl, having no idea what was going on. Another nudge caused him to get to his feet, and he watched as the shadow then moved away.

He blinked once, before looking up to the white woman he had been deposited at the feet of.

The frustration was visible on her counterpart's face that she could not use the words in the same way that others could to express what she wished. She grabbed the pup and threw it towards the priest. She studied and then glanced at Thief, who was not known to simply hand out gifts. For me? said the priest, and she smirked. You shouldn't have.

The priest did not have any special interest in these children and had no specific use for them now, but she saw the value and potential in young blood. She moved closer to the pup as it snarled at her, its attempted ferociousness ignored, and moved to pull it closer to herself with a paw to inspect it up close.

little astyanax managed a snarl as the adults composed around him; astara gave him the barest of looks before peering curiously into averna's face. she had always been able to read some part of her sister's thoughts by her expressions, but even now she could not tell if averna understood - until she spoke.

the boy was proferred forward. astara's tail swung low to her hocks in confirmation -- should averna accept these children that were not her own, maybe there would be some redemption for astara when it came to her children's relationships.

He still had no idea what was going on. The adults did not respond to his snarl, and it died in his throat, giving way to a confused frown as he looked from the shadow to the wraith and back again. One spoke more garbled words, before she put a paw around his shoulders and pulled him close.

The boy stiffened, pulling his head away as she drew him towards her, though he made no attempt to escape her grasp. Instead he looked up warily, lifting a lip a little as she inspected him. He looked to the shadow once more as if she would provide an explanation, before looking to the den. Where was brother?

The child stiffened under her touch and looked up at her. She stared as though through him, as if she was trying to look at something her eyes couldn't see rather than his actual physical form. Come, said the priest, and she turned away from her dark counterpart then, guiding away the child, presuming that he would come.

She started to move off; either with Astyanax alone, or if Thief would throw him out, too, the other child as well.

last from me ! <3

the child, not her child, seemed confused. astara felt no pang of sympathy, no remorse, as he looked from her to his new caretaker, and then around him. she assumed he was searching for the other sibling, who astara would bring promptly to averna.

come, averna intoned. astara rose and began to move off. a weight had been lifted from her shoulders then. relief flooded her, for with those two gone, perhaps her children would love her again.