Duskfire Glacier Cause you could see yourself trapped in my eyes

He was gone. 

Her one friend in this cold place, the one her heart had begun to stir ever so feebly for. 

He would not return. Even if he did, Siarut would not accept him with open arms - not again. Not after this second disappearance. 

The night found her sleepless once more though this time it was not the fault of her disturbing past; the blame fell on her mind, which would not leave her be. It plagued her with betrayal and loss though she had tried to block it out. 

Idly, she wondered if the numbness might have been better as she slipped from her nook silently. Her breath rose in white puffs as her paws moved steadily over fallen leaves, accompanied by their soft rustle. She did not bother to silence her steps, for she was not hunting and she didn't expect company at this hour. 

Tapeesa wandered, her path leading her to the forest. She entered with confidence, unafraid of the dark that washed over her. The shaman was no longer the same timid girl she had been upon entering Teekon, she moved with purposeful strides - anger fueling her - and this was visible in her hardened gaze. 

She had come south on the promise of fertile grounds and had joined nanuk for family yet she felt more alone with every passing day.  

Uki embraced the solitude, the loneliness, readily for it seemed that this was what she was meant for. 

The darkness gave way to a snowy plane illuminated by the myriad of colorful auroras weaving across the sky, accompanied by the soft twinkle of the stars. 

Uki approached, the sound of her heartbeat the only noise to be heard as she settled on her launches amidst the snow. Her moonlight gaze was drawn to the heavens, watching the lights as they danced over her. 

"I thought you would stay," she whispered yet the words still seemed a shout on the hushed plane. It was the only admittance of hurt she would give aloud, for Tomkin was no longer here to hear her words. 

The only one left to listen was the night.

The snow fluttered, coating the already white ground with the light dust of frozen water, easily swept by the wind. Slowly his paw prints faded behind him, all evidence of his passing disappearing into the night.

Sleep evaded him, avoiding him and leaving him desperate for just a few moments of shut eye. Weeks of anxiety and worry seeped into his bones, and his thoughts ran rampant. Thinking of alternative ending for the haunting scenarios that had plagued him recently. His argument with Takiyok, his encounter with Ceara, Tomkin’s most recent departure. But most of all, what had happened to Nanook. Nightmares of her last moments forced him to stay awake. His first real lose echoed in his heart.

Over the last severally weeks he had furiously guarded the border. Not sparing the time to rest or eat. He refused to let another predator snatch a member of his family. No this was something the brute could not allow.

On one of his usually sleepless nights the scent of Uki caught his nose. For a moment he considered turning from her, ashamed by their tense relationship. Perhaps this was his penance, to care so deeply and yet be so misunderstood. Taking a deep breath the man made his decision, wandering closer to the woman. Siarut knew that she had been getting close to Tomkin, and was glad for it. The anchor they both needed could have been each other. Alas his idiot brother had messed up again. And this would not easily be forgiven, the warning had been spoken long ago, now his brother was truly alone.

Approaching softly, Siarut waited for the winds to shift for Uki to recognize his presence.

The lights dance over her, the gentle colors in direct conflict with the absolute grayness that she felt - unsurprised by Tomkin's departure but disappointed all the same. Wherever he is, she at least hopes that the gods watch over him and keep him safe. 

Uki's drawn from her thoughts of Tomkin by the soft crunch of snow underfoot, an indication of a being larger than she approaching at her back. Ragged ears pinned to her skull, fluttering back to catch the nearly silent approach, as her head turns to glance over her shoulder. 

"Nanuk," she greets softly as she turns to face him, nerves fluttering in her stomach. Their relationship has been rocky to say the least but Uki wants to move on, be the sister he needs. To tell the truth, she could use a brother.

Or just a friend even.

"You look...exhausted," she murmurs in concern. He is thinner, his eyes sunken with grief and the light in their summer color does not glimmer as brightly. 

"I won't ask if you're alright, that would be stupid." It was obvious he wasn't and no one should expect him to be. She had not know Nanook but she knew that the dark lady had meant something to the leader. 

"You will be," the shaman promised, voice soft as her moonlit gaze lifted to the heavens again. "The pain fades. In time, it becomes an easier burden to carry." Tapeesa spoke from experience.

The tension lifted from between his shoulder blades, his former apprehension disappeared as he approached. Slowly he drew closer, trying to gather the energy to smile but ultimately failing, his gaze softened with kindness and familiarity instead. Seating himself beside his sister, he leaned against her. Glad for her company.

Pale ears perked slightly at her words, not surprised that grief was displayed so keenly on his pelt. Nodding as she spoke, he thickly wallowed the lump that formed in his throat, staring at his paws.

“Perhaps one day.” Siarut I couldn’t imagine a time where the pain would be dulled, but he trusted in Uki’s words.

Clearing his thread once again, he refocused on the pale woman. “Gone again, I see.” There was no need to specifics, Uki would know if whom he spoke. “Perhaps I should have warned you about my wayward brother.” Heaving one more heavy sigh, he let his walls crumble. If only for a little while.

She was not accustomed to physical contact but slowly she leaned against him in return, welcoming the warmth nanuk provided. 

The cold always seemed to come from within her, buried in the marrow of her bones and the roots of her teeth, rather than from her surroundings. 

She offered no words to his hopeful statement, knowing that he likely doubted her own. The berserker's head dipped slightly in acknowledgement - the wounds would heal in their own time. 

Her head hung at his next statement, shoulders curling with the weight of Tomkin's absence, unable to meet his gaze. 

"I likely wouldn't have listened," Uki murmured, a humorless grin twisting her features into a mockery of a smile. "It's very lonely here. I will miss him." 

"I owe you an apology, Siarut." She glanced to him, hoping he could understand. "I admit...my thoughts of you, of this pack, were dark these past few weeks though not because you rejected me."  Anaktok bit her lip, her head ducking as she shook it slightly.

"It wasn't about you in truth," she admitted as she met his gaze, hoping he could read the truth in her own. "I was just...hurt. I didn't feel welcome here. I didn't feel like family," she whispered. 

You said you were my brother but we did not speak, we did not see each other. Even your sisters seemed...cold. Tomkin was all I had and even he is gone now. 

"I hope you can forgive me. I realize now that just because your family is distant does not mean they don't care. You've had much on your shoulders and you didn't deserve it."

Her eyes turned to him, remorse pooled in the silver orbs. 

"I am not a good person, Siarut. I don't deserve you for a brother but I would like to be your sister."

Tilting his head to the side, Siarut gave Uki a tired smile. He hadn't known her inner struggles, once more he added this to his failings as a leader and a brother. The recent days hadn't been kind to his ego, as he struggled to find his way through the anger and the resentment that followed him everywhere. "The fault is not your's Uki." Shaking his head, he let his gaze drop from her form to his paws. "It was mine."

"This family is all I have ever known." Siarut found the words tumbling from his mouth, "I hadn't realized how different we truly were until having spent some time within the Wilds." Lifting his head he regained his sight on the pale woman alongside him. "We are so closed off in our own ways, that sometimes, often," he conceded, "we forget how to let others in."

The smile had yet to leave his face, simply accepting the fact that his family was difficult. "But despite all that, you have a place here. Even if it didn't feel like it, you have had a place here since you followed me home. Being part of this family isn't easy, it's rather difficult. But we are stronger for it. Our bond, stronger than most." A slow nod added to his confirmation.

"I am not a good person, there are no good people. There is no deserving or undeserving. There is just us. You and me, and everyone here in the glacier. We are all a family." His gaze matched her's, his olive orbs focused on her silver. "And you my dear sister, are an important part of our lives." He reconfirmed there discovered relation, he was glad to finally be accepted as her brother.