Dawnlark Plains move like grey skies

she'd always been aware that morningside did not exist as a place, but as a people, a family. above all, it was what she'd always bonded herself to. but now, when morningside lay dissapated and her packmates scattered, it was difficult not to fall back on the plains as some attachment to the past. not a particularily good moment of the past (if it was relieving the good parts, she would have gone to the plateau) but a place to anchor while she waited all the same. 

when her hunt had, ultimately, show success, she'd returned to the borders thick with her brother's scent and laid dawn the carcass of the ailing goat she'd taken down early morning. she called for @Sunny once, short and low, before turning back the way she'd come, leaving a short trail a ways away from their borders. in the same way she'd forced him from the packlands after he'd reacted violently to the grief of loosing Grayday, she understood that there was no guarantee that he'd want her near. and so she'd wait.

It was freezing cold. Even his thick fur didn't do anything to prevent him from feeling the chill. To keep watch he ran along the borders, his breath panting in short bursts of clouds in front of his muzzle. His thoughts were on the season, the air smelled of various females going through their heat but none of them were Aliac so he stayed away. A call sang through the air and he froze, ears shooting upward at the voice that made it. His heart skipped a beat, a paralyzing wave of hope drowning out any other thoughts. Dawn. His sister. 

Quickly he raced for the sound though unfortunately he was too late to catch her at Elysium. He spotted the kill she had left, curious as to why she had left it there and vanished. The confusion turned to concern and then to anger. She had vanished once, he wouldn't allow her to do so again. Quickly he dragged the kill inside the territory and then headed outside the borders, following the faint trails. It felt like he was following a ghost and he paused wondering briefly if he was allowing all the loss to drive him mad. 

She had just vanished out of nowhere back at the Maplewoods. No warning, no trail. Why had she done that? Why had she left him there alone to handle the aftermath of the fire? Why was she now leading him....he looked around. He recognized the area. He sniffed around and followed the stronger trails until he lifted his gaze and there she was. He stood there silently staring at her, not daring to blink in fear that the wind would blow her away leaving her to be simply an apparition of his mind. When she didn't vanish he took a step closer, his eyes flashing as hurt and anger arrived first. Where had she been? Why hadn't she let him know she was okay? He flicked his ears and continued forward his expression changing quickly into one of joy, a sharp whine leaving his maw. He didn't care that she had left, not when she had come back. He had lost too much for him to wreck this with anger. "Dawn...I missed you!" he whispered and sprang forward, intending to embrace her and check her over with sniffs.

"sunny." hoarse, low, a voice similar to the one she'd used when the fire was fresh in her throat. and then he rushed her, not with fangs and claws like she'd feared (and he would have all the right to) but with joy and love. though her limbs had grown stiff from her frozen vigil, she moved into his embrace, allowing him to check her over though not making any move to do the same; it felt like a right she did not have. she pulled low and hummed a soft note in her chest, adopting a stance similar to that of faint submission, but one which conveyed the apologies that would sound to meaningless to her own ears should she utter them. she did not have to offer back the same words, they were evident in the rawness of her gaze; she'd missed the boy terribly.

Test: howl, howled, howling, h o w l e d, h*wled

She was skinny though it was natural for lone wolves to be that way in winter, so he wasn't too concerned. She had small scratches and nicks her and there but nothing too serious. He was relieved that she was alright and so he stopped fussing and simply lay his head on top of her shoulder for a moment before stepping back. He noted the way she shifted her stance lowering herself before him and blinked once, swallowing thickly. He understood. With others perhaps he was slow but this was his sister and he understood. "Thank you..." he acknowledged and showed his gratitude for her remorse but he didn't accept it. Despite the joy and relief that was flowing through him and warming him up he couldn't do that quite yet though he knew he would accept it ultimately.


"I have the rest of Morningside with me. That would be Aliac, Pema and  Faye. Skraeling came back." he left out the rest, the deaths, what Aditya had done. "Will you come back with me?" he asked though the true question remained silent [I]"Are you going to leave me, leave us, again?"[/b] he was scared of the answer. Dawn being back opened up so many possibilities for them, so many options. Morningside could eventually be opened up once more, that was the biggest possibility to him.

he confirmed what she knew, though the addition of the latter name brought forth hope lanced with a bolt of fear. "avianna?" skraeling was a name familiar but with no bonds attached to it; she let it slide from her thoughts, for now. fear turned quickly now to dread, for in naming only the living Sunny left out the dead, and there was no way in hell Avianna would leave behind her only daughter, for any reason.

it made the last decision a little easier, though not as easy as it would have been if Sunny had not asked his question immidiately after. "no." soft, but firm. she did not allow much silence in which he could offer a rebutal. "I am much to blame for all that's happened. until I can find peace with that, I will stay away, but I will not leave." brief pause, and then, "I never did find any of them." she knew that the deaths were many, the vanished many more.

Though he had left it out she made it impossible for him not to say it. He shook his head slowly, not bothering to hide the pain in his eyes. "She went peacefully. In her sleep. I'm looking after Faye but... she's lost a lot. I don't know how to really help her. Radcliffe is in Undersea. Sebastian went to a place called Moonspear last i heard" he wasn't sure if she knew what Aditya did. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. 

He stood still, stiffening at her refusal though he was surprised to find that while it stung, it didn't wound him too deeply. He blamed it on being used to it all by now, all the loss and his family leaving. He listened as she continued, explaining that she needed to come to terms with what she did alone. He sighed softly and though it pained him he got it. It had taken her making him leave for him to come to terms with his own problems. At least he could lighten the load of guilt for her on one end "Kitten is somewhere around here. Winterbourne as well. Lavender is with dad's sister Sunspot, she has a mate." he smiled at this, his eyes gleaming with happiness for his half sister. Then a serious expression came to his face and he sat down looking hesitant "Aditya....he abandoned us all. Left us leaderless. Stockholm says he went to Undersea and attacked them and Coelacanth got injured." he felt she should know this, that she alone hadn't caused the downfall of Morningside. 


He wasn't sure what was left to say. He didn't want her to go, he feared he wouldn't see her again. After a moment of silence his gaze softened "I am happy you're back, I missed you very much. I want you to know that you were missed and I think everyone would be happy to see you if you do come back eventually. Aliac and I....well hopefully we will be having children. I'd like you to be around. Especially since I hope to eventually start Morningside again"  he was dragging out the conversation afraid to say goodbye.

she did not know how anyone could go peacefully when their child still remained, alone and loved fiercely, but she was silent. then came the rest, gradual puzzle pieces that began to fill in a void. she was glad for those who'd wandered and found new lives, truly, though her her chest ached when news of Aditya was offered. she merely dipped her head, accepting without seeking to judge or understand why he'd done it. it was terrible, but was not too cheating on her mate, leaving behind her all after one failure too many? perhaps she'd go next to undersea. perhaps it was better to stay away. 

her crown tilted, muzzle stretched into a slight curve as he spoke, but at her brother's final words she paused, attempting to bring words to the sentiment she'd come to. "morningside is - was never a place. it was a people. those people are dead, scattered, some to good ends and others worst off than when they joined us." she paused, seeking her next words with care. "it began with Da, and some of it ended when he died. but now - " she exhaled, finding her brother's gaze then. "start your own legacy, Sunny. something new, with only hope and none of the failings of Morningide's last days." aditya had not left morningside leaderless; he'd left it with Sunny. her brother had not been enough, not had the experience to keep them upright, but he'd managed to keep together a small fraction of them. one day, he might be a father, a leader, but nor of morningside. those people were dead and gone, taking with them old bonds and potential to start something of themselves. 

"I will not come back with you, but nor will I leave. I need time to think, time to do what I need to. in a moon, I'll be back." to stay or to spend only a few days, she didn't know yet. still, wih the coldest part of the winter upon them came the knowledge that the thaw would come soon, and then spring; with it renewal and possibility.

It hurt to hear what Dawn said of Morningside but it rang true, it was a bittersweet type of pain. He needed to let go of something that had died out long ago, that's what he heard from her words and it broke his heart and at the same time healed it once more. Morningside was his father's responsibility, his dad's dream and it wasn't Sunny's job to keep it going now that his father was gone. He needed his own dream and even now he found that to be leading his own group, his own pack of wolves. He kept silent his eyes studying her face with various emotions but most of all was acceptance, It could be seen in the way that the pai left and was replaced by a somber but calm softness in his eyes. 

"Do what you want to do Dawn. You're right...I need to do my own thing. I should figure out what my dreams are. I wish you would hang around just for a while but you deserve freedom from all this crap that seems to hang around us." he gave her a smile, a true signature lopsided Sunny grin "Keep in touch though okay? Also....would you do me a favor and go visit Aunt Seelie? Shes..sad and I think seeing you're around will brighten her" he couldn't recall how close the two had been but Aunt Seelie loved everyone and he was sure she'd be relieved to see Dawn.

he understood, then, at least in simplest term. some of the tightness in her chest released when he agreed, glad then that they'd forge their own paths. a small curve of her muzzle was all she offered when he spoke of freedom; freedom from all the had been was impossible. morningsides, all it's highs but especially its lows (and her own) were tightly intertwined with her very identity. in many ways, morningside was all she was and all she was dedicated too, and there came a dizzying sense of uttter aimlessness now that she knew it to be truly gone and faded. "I will." she promised, and she knew that this was one bond that would be easy to keep. 

at his second, request, she too nodded; at his request she'd put aside her own trepidance to visit the island home that Aditya may or may not have shattered. once more she pressed her muzzle to his shoulder, quiet a moment before withdrawing. "I should go." she felt utterly drained and intensely desired solitude, now.

She agreed to both requests and he believed she would keep her word. He knew she'd be alright, he hadn't thought her dead but simply vanished this whole time and now that she'd confirmed that he knew she'd continue being hardy and last the winter. When she touched her nose to his shoulder he wrapped his head around the back of her neck, embracing her and releasing her when she pulled away. "Yeah...me too" he said softly. He exhaled slowly and then backed away, hesitant to look away from her. He still feared he wouldn't see her again but hanging around and trying to hold her here wouldn't help "Gotta get back to Elysium. Come visit sometime, maybe in a few months you'll have some neices and nephews" at that the sadness faded completely and he stood straight, smiling "Love you Dawn. Don't go climbing any trees" god he had to be an ass at least one time. Just once.

she wanted to by happy for him. she was, truly, but it was tainted by a pang of jealousy and regret and shame, emotions she clutched tightly yet stung like an angered wasp. the fact of the matter was that she did not deserve what her brother would soon have, that was clear and vivid and no amount of wallowing would change that. nonetheless, at his final words a ghost of a smile tugged at her muzzle. "I won't" it had been a long time since she'd done so, and she couldn't imagine doing something so stupid now. 

and with an echo of his words and a farewell, she turned and was gone.