Sun Mote Copse we are biding our time, for these myths to unwind

dream sequence! maybe @Wildfire ?

Weejay had slept little in the days following her dam's death. Her father was visibly distraught, and the overall melancholy of the pack had trickled down into her little heart, too. Not even the new digs brought her out of her stupefied grief; she ate with lackluster interest, played as if it were some cumbersome chore, and had an all around dull aspect to her that was most unusual.

Tonight she managed to sleep by curling up away from the others. Her slumber came slowly, gingerly -- but at length her eyelids shuttered closed, and her breath became even rather than muffled sobs. Soon the girl was drifting somewhere between reality and the nameless realm where the subconscious presided, and it was here Weejay walked tentatively.

Ahead of her, the den spilled out into sunlight and was empty. At the foot of the grassy knoll where the den presided, Weejay saw a familiar shape basking in the scintilating sun, her fur glittering a coruscating orange... Blinking back confusion, she had only enough time to register it was Wildfire before her limbs were carrying her towards Wildfire of their own accord. "MOMMY!" The little girl howled, joyous tears springing to her eyes as she flew ahead.

Dream sequence.

Elfie was dealing with his mother's loss way better than Weejay and Eljay. He had been angry and upset for a day or two, but being a practical fellow even at this young age, he had woken up one morning and decided to stop being sad. Mom was not in the picture anymore and as more days passed, her loss felt less and less acute, until she had become a faint memory of a time that had once been and was not anymore. 

With the move to the crowded, but cozy corners of his grandparents, Elfie had full-paws of stuff to do. He was never in want for anything - he was showered in attention, he had plenty of food, whenever he wished it (and his persisting voracious appetite was the only sign that not all was fine and dandy with him as it appeared) and he had four, little aunts and uncles as his minions to play with and to boss around. 

Eljay was not much fun these days, though being a good dad, he did his best to provide for his children. But even, when Elfie played with him, he could feel that Eljay's mind was elsewhere. Soon his namesake left him in peace. He had come to the simple conclusion that, if adults were gods of his universe, they were smart enough to deal with their problems on their own as well.

The only person that truly worried him was Weejay, because nothing Elfie tried to do to make her smile, seemed to work. She was wrapped inside her grief and was unreachable by her doting brother. Many a time he would generously share a particularly great toy or invite her to play along, but eventually all he could do was to cuddle up right next to his sister every evening and guard her sleep. Hoping that one day the little flower princess would awaken from her sadness and smile again. 

Either because of his sincere wish to help his sister or because he had a very strong connection to her, having shared the same quarters from conception to birth to this very moment, he was able to materialize in the girl's dream. As a pudgy, fluffy, red-furred puppy, in a pink tutu and a crown made of flowers on his head. Seeing himself as this, made him thing that this dream had happened once before. And there was his sister running at something so bright and shiny that the boy had to squint his eyes in order not to let it blind him. 

"Weeeej!" he called out to her. "What did you do?"

Weejay's lip twitched, but all was still across the rest of her body as night descended.. The great gods of sleep and slumber had taken her mind and spirited it far away.

In her dream she was running, running towards her mother -- but as her limbs carried her joyously ahead, the mere inches became miles and it was as if the world was rotating under her while Wildfire's sunny form pulled further and further away. She was about to cry aloud in twisted frustration when she heard her brother; whirling around, Weejay caught sight of Elfie's auburn form entangled once more in soft layers of pink fabric.

"Elfie!" Dream-Weejay chirped, stealing a glance to her mother who was still sitting there, hazy and shimmering in the distance. "Elfie, look!" Weejay cried, shuffling her tiny feet excitedly in place as she pointed a forepaw towards their dam's form, which oddly rippled and stirred like disturbed water. Being asleep, Weejay did not see the fabric of her subconcious working overtime to fabricate Wildfire's form; but if an onlooker cared to look on, they would see Weejay's dream world was a mosiac of not-quite right assemblies: inverted flowers, a strangely orange sky, trees that were formless up close, and a Wildfire whose fur rippled like the infernal face of the sun.

This was Weejay's dream and Elfie was just a visitor inside his sister's imagination land. Therefore though he could enjoy some of the crazy and surreal sights there, not all was as clear-cut and down-to-the-details for him. Where his sister saw mom's spectral form, there Elfie perceived something as bright as the sun itself. He could not look at it for long, the light it emitted was too much for his eyes. 

"I don't see anything, Weej," he told her, padding over to, where his sister stood and tried her vantage point. Nothing changed. "Where are we?" he asked her, casting a glance around and letting it rest back on his sister. "How did I came here and - how did I get this?" he wiggled his hips a little and, though he would never admit it in real life, in the dream-land he was quite conscious of, how awesome the tutu was and how cool he looked.

Weejay was so enthralled by her mother's rippling form that she didn't really realize Elfie's tutu was the best damn thing ever; she was disappointed he couldn't see it -- how could he not see it? She shook her head and insisted: "no, look!" Yet no matter how much she pointed and insisted he look, it seemed he was not destined to see Wildfire there.

Frustrated, Weejay bounded over to Wildifre and no sooner had she gotten close did her mother's form burst in a wild display of sharp light and stardust: Weejay gasped in shock with a loud cry as pylons of bright light shot from her mother's frame .. and then disappeared in a wisp of pale smoke. "W-what?" She grimaced, her face a mixture of confusion and dread; had she caused her mother to explode?! "Where are we?" Weejay suddenly chirped, having no idea that Elfie had literally just asked something very similar (she had been too distracted by her mother 'sploding, sorry.)

"It's your party, Weej, I guess..." Elfie told her and was about to ask her to repeat that cool trick with the plants that she had been able to do the last time, but something quite literally kicked him in the gut and the dream sequence dissolved. And he awoke inside the dark den of his family with a start. He growled at one of his aunts/uncles (it was difficult to tell in the dark), freed his forepaws from one of the fat bums that were lying on them and pushed heftily around, so that he had enough space to raise. 

"Weej?" he nosed his sister's forehead gently, trying to wake her. "Weej, wake up," he told her.

Weejay's eyes lit up at the mention of party, but no sooner had her brother spoken did he disappear with an audible pop, the wind of which forced her hair back and caused her ears to involuntarily pin. What?! Weejay's mouth hung open in shock, frantic as she scoured the simmering area for her brother -- he had just disappeared into thin air, in the most inconceivable of manners..

She started darting from place to place, calling her brother's name -- and it was in that moment that the sky started to darken and fracture, trees and ground grumbling and crumbling. Startled, Weejay barely missed a section of sky as it plummeted down upon her like the debris of a demolished building. Her heart raced, and she spun around in the dust as another tall column, this time of starfire and trees, came crashing down upon her.

Suddenly she was awake. The world was eerily quiet. Dark. Still. No fissures in the world she perceived, no cracks or groans or roars -- just the peaceful song of nightime, and the smooth soothing sight of her den.

It seemed so peaceful... but why was her heart galloping a mile a minute like a loosened horse?

She felt something nudge her and startled, recoiling almost instinctively from her brother. Adjusting to the darkness, Weejay realized it was Elfie. "Elfie!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice, her heart thudding against her chest as she reared and clumsily tried to hug him tight.

"It's alright, Weej, it's alright," Elfie let his sister hug him, even though it was a little uncomfortable. He spoke as kindly and gently as he had seen his dad and grandparents do. It had been a while, really, since Weejay had sought out his company and comfort. He had not complained, but it had made him feel a bit left out and therefore he cherished this moment even more. He could be useful to her and this was all that mattered.

"You had a bad dream?" he asked her, when she had released him and he was able to look her in the eyes.

For her part, Weejay did not realize how her isolation had impacted Elfie. It was obvious now she had hurt him - at least by accident, but still.. in that slow dawning way the sun gently and slowly spills over the earth replacing a cold night, Weejay had the startling realization she had accidentally pushed her entire family away in her grief.

She hated that; she hated being a part of that. Sniffling and trying to find her composure, Weejay nodded. "A bad dream or.. I don't know..." The girl trailed off, at loss for words despite feeling Elfie's gaze pour into her. "I'm sorry Elfie."

"Bad dreams just happen," Elfie told her and touched her cheek affectionatelly. "But they are just dreams," he added, in case that was, what Weejay was apologizing for. Whatever he had felt, he had never resented his sister or his father for that matter. Finley had done a good job at explaining that some people were simply sad for longer just as he had bounced back to life very quickly. 

"And I am here and I will be always be here," he promissed with ease, not realizing, what weight was to his words. "For you."

Elfe consoled his younger sister with a gentle nudge to her cheek; if only all brothers were so sweet to their little sisters! Weejay felt encouraged enough to manage a sad smile, but her heart was still thudding.

Then, try as she might to recall the dream, it melted away from her -- just like water through a sieve. The more she tried, the further away it became, until she was just as distant from its memory as she was from the stars above. Scrunching her brow in vexation Weejay loosened a long sigh, but gave up. What was more important now was Elfie. "I'll always be here for you too. Posey promise." Her words were earnest, and in no way did Weejay ever believe that promise could possibly be broken.

"I would like that very much," Elfie smiled at his sister, not knowing, what a posey promise was, but believing it was something good. He already had an inkling that Weejay was smarter than him in many aspects and rather than envying her, he was quite glad that he would have his Google Search and Wikipedia in person by his side. 

"Let's go outside," he suggested in a whisper, casting a wary glance over at Eljay's sleeping form and hoping that their father would not wake up for a very, very, very long time to come. Otherwise he would spoil all the fun. He carefully extracted himself from the near vicinity, tiptoed around and over the other Blackthorns asleep and went to stand at the doorframe. "Come on!" he encouraged his sister.

Weejay did not believe herself smarter than Elfie, whatever he may think. Like most sister-brother duos, Weejay happened to idolize Elfie. He could trample her garden and she would still forgive him, and think he walked on water. Heck -- he could do much darker things (like maybe kill), and she would be there to help him bury the body, as the american saying goes.

Nodding mostly to herself as a show of excitement, Weejay quickly bustled after her brother as he exited the den. She took special care to not be too noisy -- she did not realize until they broke from the den that she had been holding her breath the entire time!

"wheeww!~" Weejay exhaled once they were further away, already breathless. Turning to Elfie with a where to now? look, Weejay caught her breath in short but anticipatory gasps.

Mischief felt so good! Like a candy in the forbidden cupboard. They might be the same as the ones on the table, but, where was the fun of rule-breaking, huh? Even the night air and the usual quarters around felt different under the moonlight and the sense of exhilaration of being sneaky and stealthy. 

Elfie looked around, did not come up with any fresh ideas on the spot and with a shrug he turned to Weejay and said: "Anywhere. We will have an adventure! It does not need a plan." For a moment he thought he could hear the Blackthorn ancestors cheering at him from their graves and nodding approvingly. That was their boy through and through! Go for it, little man! Make us proud!

And with this collective shouts of joy and encouragement in the spiritual frame, Elfie beckoned his sister to follow him in the darkness of the copse.

Being mischief-maker was not Weejay's bag -- at least not in the skilled way. She padded after Elfie willingly enough, putting on a brave face that she almost believed. It wasn't that she was scared to leave home, or even afraid of the dark -- Weejay was worried about their father, and knew he would be distraught and disappointed to see his children so wayward.

So, Weejay shoved thoughts of Eljay out of her mind and continued after Elfie, never missing a beat once she caught her breath (and stride). "We could go to the river?" Weejay offered, already headed in the direction but ready to change her course if Elfie had other ideas in mind.

"We can go to the river," Elfie agreed readily, because it was one of the places, where he and his sister were forbidden to go alone. He did not see point and had already disregarded as one of Eljay's silly ideas. There was nothing wrong with water, quite the contrary - all the great and fun things took place there.

"Maybe we will catch that wish-granting fish aunt Wraen told us about," he suggested to keep the conversation going. What would he do with three wishes? What would Weejay choose?

It was decided; they were going for the river. Weejay's eyes lit up in excitement, though she did briefly feel guilty as she thought of their father. He would be worried sick, she knew -- but she also knew, in that wise way children often did, that sometimes it was good to push boundaries. Sometimes, it came with learning experience.

Weejay wasn't thinking about the fish, though. She was thinking of all the wild moss and flora that rivers normally had. She loved the brown reeds, and the lilypads! Her eyes lit up in excitement, changing to thoughtfulness as Elfie spoke of the fish that could grant her wishes. She knew instinctively what she would wish for: she would wish for Wildfire to come back. Then she would wish for her daddy to be happy all the time (he was always so stressed and sad!!!) and finally, she would wish a secret wish of her own: that Aengus could have all the adventures he wanted. Somehow, she didn't really want to share all this with Elfie, and she felt guilty for that too.. maybe he would think she was silly -- and she hated to feel judgment from her brother, for she looked up to him more than any other wolf in the world. Cautious of her dreams, Weejay decided to ask Elfie instead of answer for herself. "What would your three wishes be?"

"I dunno," Elfie shook his head, having never reached a conclusion, which three wishes were important out of those hundred he had every day. Wraen had said that those wishes also came with certain consequences. And that there were some rules that even magical fish could not break. They could not bring the dead back, they could not make other people change for the sake of yourself. And - I wish for another 100 wishes - was not an option either. 

"I have got you and I can get anything else I want. I don't need such a fish," he concluded, feeling smug for having sounded smart. "What about you?"

Her brother’s answer and then his smooth change of direction stumped Weejay. Particularly because she didn’t want to lie to her brother — unfortunately Weejay didn’t know the rules of the game and so blurted in a pained tone: I’d wish for Mom to come back. 

Her eyes adverted to the ground; talking of Wildfire was always so poignantly painful.. and Weejay didn’t want to hurt anymore.

"Fish can't bring the dead back. There are rules," Elfie explained to his sister, not realizing that by being bluntly honest he might hurt his sister's feelings. White lies would be a term he would never be able to comprehend and thus many would later deem him lacking empathy. 

He hated, how the mention of Wildfire had made Weejay sad again, and he shook an angry invisible fist at his dead mother, wherever she was now, for doing this to them all. The boy firmly believed that dying was a choice made by a lack of will-power and altogether a selfish thing to do. 

"But maybe it could take you to visit her. For a bit," he added mercifully, because as much as he loved truth, he did not like his sister hurting.

Elfie's bluntness stung the little girl, but she knew he was not being cruel. Her eyes fell to the ground, their rims overcome with water. She missed her mom more than anything -- she probably had taken the lions' share of Elfie's grief, or maybe she had internalized his sorrow for herself.

Visiting her for a time sounded like an okay compromise to Weejay, if all else failed.. but then she worried, would she ever leave? "No wishing back the dead." The girl parroted back in a defeated tone. "What are the other rules?"

"You can't change other people's will," Elfie replied. "I could not wish for... dad letting us do, whatever we want," he mentioned the first thing that came to his mind, because fairly recently the young father had tightened their reins in the name of safety. If this had been an option with a golden fish, then he would have wished for that. And for Weejay's wish as well. He would even give up his three for his sister to get her one.

"Or for you being happy, when you are not inside," he added, looking at his sister. "But I could wish for something to make you happy though."

elfie is so frickin' sweet <3

There was no hiding the disappointment in Weejay's gaze, but it did not stay for long. She glanced up to her brother, a new resolve in those wide eyes. "In that case. I wish for all the flowers, and food, and tiaras in the world for the both of us." It was not bringing back their mother, or changing their father's timidness -- but it would help for a time.

Content then, Weejay let loose a long sigh and rested against Elfie lightly, wondering what kind of wild flowers she could see if this wish ever came true.

Elfie was not sure about flowers and he had no idea, what a tiara was, but wishing for something as substantial as food seemed very rational to him. He did not say much after that, walking with Weejay in a comfortable silence. Now and then he would start with "hey, look at that!" - there was a surprisingly vast amount of things for a young boy to deem them exceptional and special. That keen interest in every detail would wear away as he got older and more experienced, and yet of many things he would forget about his early childhood, this moonlit walk he would always remember fondly. It would stand out as a bright little star in the overcast sky of mourning, sadness and difficulties, which were to plague him in the next following months.

The tell-tale sound of rushing water told the kids that they were near to their destination. But rather than going there straight away, Elfie stopped nearby a small pool, which was - in fact - a deep sink-hole, that had formed a long time ago. He looked at the moon above his head through narrowed eyes, then his gaze turned back to the surface of the still water, where he saw a sharp, clear and exact reflection of the celestial body. He smiled and looked at Weejay: "I think we have found our fish." 

Maybe we can finish this in a post or two?

Weejay often would think of Elfie, and though not of this exact moment in particular, in the months that followed would always recall with fondness how he had made her feel. He was her brother, her best friend -- and as she walked among the moonlit reeds and looked at every which thing he called to her attention, for a moment Weejay forgot about how incomplete her life was.

He called her to the side of a bank; a sinkhole, though she knew not its name or origin. The water here was eerily calm; even the reeds that flanked it seemed quiet, as if stilled by the strange air that came here. She looked from the wide reflection of the pool to her brother's face, which had the dancing ripples of watery light canted across it -- he looked familiar and ghostly at once, which captivated her. "What is it?"