Barrow Fields where weird and grim the standing stones

I have no idea where Em is going. @Casmir, I hope this works— I know it's ungodly far from Silver Creek. :<

She crested one of the large hills, feeling her guard hairs stand on end as the chilled ocean breeze rippled through them. In Donnelaith, there had only ever been one path— at least recently, and that narrow road had been her reason for departure. But the youth now found herself overwhelmed with choices, and she wondered if the safety of familiarity and comfort wasn't so bad in the end. Deirdre would doubtless take her back, but Emaleth knew what awaited her beneath the watchful gaze of the Sentinels. Patterns. Patterns she had walked countless times before. A wraith in the wood, her sister's silent shadow, untapped potential.

A ribcage jutted out from beneath the snow— an elk killed and scavenged long ago— and the dark witch moved towards it. She wasn't particularly hungry, yet, but if there were frozen flesh left it would serve her well to consume it. And if not, an easily loosed bone would be comforting to chew on— and the marrow no less good for her.

<3

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after leaving Donnelaith, Casmir headed up the coast with a wandering gait. he only wanted to gaze at the ocean, and breathe the salt air — he devoted long moments to cantering along the cliffs and doing just that, with a heart overjoyed by his return, even if it was temporary. the frost blanketing the grass crunched satisfactorily beneath his paws and his breath rose in a pale feathering of steam. soon enough, he headed down into the more level lands and set about hunting.
movement caught his eye and Cas' gilded eyes swept down upon it. a leggy wolf soon came into his vision, and Casmir wildly decided he was down for some company. he trotted toward the creature with a low chuff, but soon the boy realized he knew the gait, the pride of Emaleth's form.
"Em!" Casmir exclaimed, his features splitting into a wide grin. "i've missed you."[/tr][/td][/table]

Before she could set upon the snowswept ribcage, a dark figure reached the barrow's summit on the opposing side that she had— and Emaleth paused, unwilling to come to the embarrassing conclusion that she had before. But this time, it truly seemed that an echo of her father had reached her. It was not Lasher, but it was one of his many children that had been left as his legacy. She felt her throat catch, and it was not until she had rushed to her elder brother and buried her nose in the long fur at his chest that Emaleth could speak.

"Cas," she breathed, contentedly. "I've missed you, too." Beyond Deirdre and their deceased parents, it was Casmir that the young witch was most closely bonded to— he had been there in the den site, and seemed to have a knack for appearing whenever the dark sister was most troubled. "How have you been, brother? Tell me everything."

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if Casmir held any apprehension that Em would not welcome his approach, they were dispelled when she ran to him, folding herself against his chest. he lifted a foreleg and slung it awkwardly across her shoulders, pulling her closer and holding his sister there until she drew away. "i'm ... well, i'm really happy to see you, Em." he couldn't remember how old she'd been when he left, but there was something about the glow of her two-toned gaze that forced the words from him. "i went to go stay with our cousin, Saena, in the Maplewood. but we had to leave, and we went ... so, so far, Em. that way," Cas gestured, toward peaks neither of them could see from their place on the coast.
"and then she disappeared ... right after the famine, i think. she had three kids. we lost one, but two survived. and i had a mate, and we raised them. but then Saena just...left. she was w-weird, Em. i dunno what was wrong with her. and we tried to keep her daughters at Silver Creek -- that's the name of the new pack she founded -- but their dad came and got them. my mate, Laika, and i, we followed them and tried to find them, and then Saena was suddenly there with us and ... well, it didn't work. so i went home. but Laika disappeared. she's never come back. Saena didn't come back, either. she was angry at us for losing Indra and Laurel to their dad. she told me to take over the Creek."
"when i came home, Spring -- the leader -- she made me Beta. and ... oh gosh, i forgot. before all this shit, or during, i don't fucking remember, Rowan Mayfair came to stay at Donnelaith, and i guess she and dad — well, anyway, she got pregnant and Aria kicked her out. and Connie fucking backed her up. Rowan is at the Creek now — you have a baby brother and sister. but i fought with Connie about her being kicked out of Donnelaith for being pregnant. we didn't talk for a long time."
"and after all that bullshit with Rowan, fucking Aria up and leaves out of Donnelaith and abandons Dee. like what the fuck. she thinks it's too "Mayfairy" here or some shit. what does she expect? Lasher left it to us, mostly to you and Dee. you're the witches." a tight smile tugged at his expression. "anyway Aria and Connie and Eilidh are living on some stupid mountain. did you know Aria and i used to have a thing? i had a girlfriend named Behati, too.i loved them both. she ended up dead randomly and Aria broke my heart and i dunno, Em, and we'd also lost mom, and i just couldn't hack it, i guess. that's when i went to the Maplewod." 
Casmir wilted and cast his sister a sheepish look. "you did say everything, Em." i think i'm in love with Rowan hung on his tongue but there was no need to mention that. "tell me everything, now. your turn."[/tr][/td][/table]

She wasn't quite prepared for her brother to wholeheartedly tell her everything, but she appreciated it and lost her worries in the deep rhythm of his voice. He told her of some things that she knew, and plenty that she didn't— but for her part, she remained quiet and listened in earnest. She bit her tongue when he spoke of Rowan, for Deirdre had told her of that particular development— the illegitimate half-siblings were a stain upon her father's memory, but she couldn't bear to tell Casmir what she thought of the situation and risk losing him to silence, too. And she felt her heart swell for him, too— for his openness, for his effort to explain things she wouldn't have understood in her youth but could, now. Emaleth felt closer to him. There was an honesty and authenticity to their relationship that somehow the dark she-wolf did not share with her twin.

"I left Donnelaith," she told him, then swiftly elaborated, "For good."

"There is an alliance, and I do not believe in it. Donnelaith should be sovereign— but it is Deirdre's, and I will not undermine all that she has worked for. And I am tired of being her shadow in that place. It is so different now. It doesn't feel like home." She felt her voice tremble at that, for she hadn't admitted that to anyone yet— not even to herself. To say it aloud bore some finality. "There are places I could go, but I don't know what I want. I don't think I ever have, but I know I will never find out if I stay there. It is Deirdre's place. I need to find my own."

"It was hard to leave her," she said quietly. "It feels like I am betraying her."

Then, as suddenly as it dawned on her, Emaleth told him: "I want to learn to fight."

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Casmir was not surprised to hear that Emaleth had left Donnelaith. it seemed like whatever wanderlust had gripped her during the famine had never left. what she was seeking, he'd never know. but his heart was pained to know that the sisters were separated; he glanced toward the ground. "it seems like ... maybe .. we had different ideas of what dad wanted." Lasher had reared Deirdre and Emaleth on witchcraft that Casmir neither understood or wanted, but maybe he'd done wrong by them with that gesture.
Em spoke of shadows, and Cas was reminded of what Aria had said. even as Dee's star shone, she eclipsed those around her, and the boy sighed heavily. "i'm sorry, sis." he hadn't scented a pack on her fur; he found her bi-hued eyes and smiled. "you know, if you wanted to come home with me, you could. just till the winter is over. don't want you to freeze, kid." had he known of Em's true feelings about Rowan and her kids, he wouldn't have offered, but as it were, Cas and his offer hung twisting in a naive breeze. "then you could strike out in the spring, find a place of your own." he shook his head. "i'm sure Dee understands. she's always been open like that."
"i can teach you to fight. and so can Connie, i bet." he smirked. "you'd be good at it."[/tr][/td][/table]

Making assumptions and tagging for visibility. @Freyja @Thuringwethil

She nodded, then quietly mused, "He never really said, did he?" They had all been raised so differently, and each of them were proud Mayfairs— she wondered what might have been, had they actually all talked after his death. But she had run, unable to face her grief, and perhaps they all suffered for that, or perhaps nothing would have been different at all. They would never know. Deirdre, at least, seemed so certain and held such conviction of her beliefs— it was not Emaleth's right to strip that away, and she assumed that the others must have felt similarly. And so they had all left. That was a guilt that would stay with Emaleth for a long time, seeded into an anger that would fuel her desire for violence as a release— but that was only beginning to awaken within her.

"I'm sorry, Cas," she told him, and the pain in her voice showed the truth of it. "I really think I need to go somewhere that bears no connection to my past. I'm so— I'm so confused about everything, and I would do anything for my family. Even hide what I really want and who I really am." It was the very reason she had decided to leave Donnelaith, and the dark child knew she would fall in the same trap no matter which sibling she lived alongside.

"I met a fierce warrior on the cliffs north of here, and she told me small things about her home. I could learn there. I'd have to make it on my own. I wouldn't have to lead if I didn't want to." Emaleth told him this with a wistfulness like it was a story her father had told. "And I met a young princess, I think born of the same place— and she's like me, wanting to find her own way. I like the idea of some long adventure of self-discovery... but she's younger than I am, and I didn't like leading in Donnelaith because I felt too young."

She realized, then, how badly she missed her parents— and how part of her resented that she nearly raised herself. Emaleth's mind was nearly made up, wanting the stability and education that came with following wolves that had far more experience than she.

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Cas shook his head ruefully. he'd grown apart from his father in the last days he'd spent at Donnelaith, culminating with his decision to join Saena. he found he had been lost in his identity as a Mayfair until the last year, when it came to bear in his anger and frustration over what had happened to Rowan. he was not a witch, but perhaps he could be a guardian to the family. 
it did sting when Emaleth refused him, but the sensation passed as soon as it had come. his sister was much more articulate than he — Casmir felt what she was saying on a knife-deep level. "don't apologize, Em. i get it."
his ears flicked forward as the girl began to speak of the warrior she had met on the cliff, and all at once, he realized her purpose. he couldn't speak to her desire, but he felt confident that Emaleth had many emotions to process. Donnelaith's downfall had begun when Deirdre rejected the idea of warfare and fighters for her father's pack — it made sense to Cas that Emaleth would seek this out. 
"princesses. finding your own way. fierce warriors." the boy smiled. "it sounds like you have a grand adventure in front of you, Em. i'm really stoked for you, but i know you've been in a lot of pain too." his golden eyes met hers. "i hope you know that you can always talk to me. about anything."[/tr][/td][/table]

we can fade whenever you're ready.

she felt a sudden urge to be near him as their eyes met— this would be the farewell that she had denied most of her other siblings, and the farewell that her father had denied all of them. there was a quiet understanding held between emaleth and her older brother; like so many times before, they could sit in simple silence and that was enough. there was a raw honesty to their bond that the dark child appreciated, for it was lacking in many others. she drew near him to sit at his shoulder, leaning against him. it was almost like when life had been perfect— all of them together in the den. those memories were fading, becoming less real as she aged, but there were moments that she would remember in a flash of brilliance and for a heartbeat that happiness was with her again.

"thank you," she told him. for not treating her like a child. for not holding her decisions against her. for forgiving her frequent departures from donnelaith. "you can talk to me, too," she offered, fixing her mismatched and discerning eyes upon him. "about everything. i will help you if i can."

<3 fade w your next post? also i found these gifs. cas would be the derp. (no need to have em follow him LOL)

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she cuddled close to him, and he propped his chin atop her head briefly. he couldn't remember ever holding her like this before — he supposed he had always felt like Casmir to her Emaleth, not the big brother to the baby sister he hadn't stuck around long enough to see grow up. of course he blamed himself for how things had turned out, but maybe it was meant to be? if laying out all their proverbial cards could finally bring him and Emaleth together like this, Cas had no reason not to count it as a good thing.
he let himself feel sappy for a long moment, until he pulled away and nipped her shoulder, gathering himself to his paws and stretching until his spine cracked. "agh, fuck," he swore. "never get old. it sucks ass." grinning at his sister, Cas swept his eyes along the snowy ridge and decided to slide down to a lower point, galumphing inelegantly in the snow. "do you want to find some food?" he shouted back up to her.[/tr][/td][/table]

lmao. <3

she was content enough to stay that way, in the comfort of her brother's space— but he pulled away and nipped playfully at her. emaleth mirrored the motion, though he had already moved away to stretch, and she grinned at his complaints. he was older than her, of course, but far younger than their father had been. "i should die young, then?" she queried, teasingly. "i suppose there's not much time left." the youth had meant these words in jest, but they suddenly felt heavy— but casmir was already away, sliding somewhat clumsily down the barrow's side.

she was glad for his suggestion to find some fresher meat than the abandoned ribs. perhaps, between the two of them, they'd be able to fell some heartier fare than she would be able to alone. emaleth shook the darker thoughts from her mind. with a grin, she sprang in a playful hop to follow his descent. they would share a meal together and soon go their separate ways, but alongside her goof of a brother, the dark she-wolf allowed herself to let loose for a rare moment in her life.