Broken Antler Fen In a beautiful world
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All Welcome 
On one of the nights, when the clouds had cleared the sky, revealing the dark blue fabric with thousands of sparkling dots woven throughout it, Wraen left her den for a stroll under the moonlit sky. The mist was flowing among the trees and she imagined walking a realm together with ghosts. Here and there she would recognize a face and a pair of cold blue eyes watching her for a moment and then disappearing in the mist again. She was not afraid, whether the spirits of the dead really were there or not. She smiled to herself and quickened her pace, until she broke in a run and raced to the edge of the lake. There she plopped down in the snow and rolled heartily in it, sprang to her feet and was off again. 

By the time her lungs reminded herself that she should take it easy, she had come to the destination she had had initially in mind. The big boulder that she could perch upon, observe the surroundings from above, as if she was a queen. And for a while, she straightened up with head held high, pretended to give a speech (in her mind only - to the rest of the world here she had her eyes closed, lips moving soundlessly). With a small sigh she let the imaginary scene go, slid down to lie on her belly and lifted her head to see the view above. There the moon waved a hello to her and numerous stars winked at her joyously. It was a beautiful moment to be alive.
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#2
Snagging this and setting it to be after she gets home with news from Arbiter
After running into Jupiter, before running into Penn, Maia knew she needed to find Wraen.  She would want to know.  Running into their younger sister had improved her spirits a bit, but as she walked on, they slowly began to fall again into dread.

She found Wraen sitting on a boulder beneath the moon in a large clearing.  Maia hesitated.  She looked so content up there.  Then she steeled herself with a sigh and stepped forward, tail waving slightly.  Hey!  If they are telling a good story, I can wait.  She smiled, but her tentative tone likely was a tip off that her news wasn't... great.
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Wraen was awakened from her night-dream state by the sound of a familiar voice and she looked down to meet her sister's silver gaze. Maia had been gone for a while, up and running, once the wounds that had been inflicted upon her had healed enough to let her do so. Sharing a similar disdain for being careful and going easy, the older sibling had not even attempted to deter her from doing so. The bird had sat in the cage for too long, it had to spread its wings and fly again. 

Here she was now again. Home with her. But for how long?

She shook her head, not wishing to dwell on this now, because it was evident that her sister had something more important to say. Therefore she beckoned her to join on the Thinking rock - there was enough space for two and she did not mind sharing her throne - and then urged her to talk: "What's new in the world?"
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Maia paused, but as soon as Wraen gestured, leapt up to join her on the rock.  She sat down close and leaned against her a minute, her tail thumping briefly with happiness.  First off, it's good to be back!  She smiled, but then her expression fell.  Second, I... found where Terance lived.  His mate was still there.  She, um....  Maia paused, took a breath.  She said he died.

Despite having had the entire trip home with it, it wasn't any easier this time when she said it.  She got it out clearly enough, but when she looked at Wraen, she did so hesitantly.  Because it didn't matter how much she'd trained herself on holding it together, if Wraen lost it, she was going to lose it too.

She always seemed to get the worst news.
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While Maia felt uneasy about delivering news about their brother's untimely demise, Wraen was surprised to feel nothing at all. It was a fact of life - people were born and people died - there was no way of changing that. Yet she would have epxected to feel at least sad for the death of Terance, but she had not seen him for the last two years. They had grown apart even before that. Name aside, he had become a stranger to her, their bond had been severely weakened - mostly of her own decisions and choices in life - therefore now she was sorry that he had passed away, but that was the extent of it. 

In order not to appear totally cold-hearted, Wraen sighed, left her post and came to sit next to her sister. She nuzzled the fur on her neck affectionately, leaned against her to be there, if she needed comfort. "I am very sorry, Maia," she told her softly. Sentiment was real. Not for the dead, but the living, who was mourning. "What about Sarah - was she still there too?"
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Wraen didn't seem too upset but Maia would never judge her for that.  Instead she leaned into the nuzzle and into Wraen's support, letting herself be hugged for a moment.  It had been a long time, but for Maia, things always felt like just yesterday.  She remembered him so clearly, all the good parts, and it felt like another piece of her had been hacked out.  Smaller this time, and easier to deal with because she knew.  He'd been so much like dad.  Maia turned her head and pressed her face into her sister's ruff for a long minute before she answered.

Sarah was gone.  She didn't know where.  That was better, at least.  It wasn't good news but it wasn't bad news and Maia could only take so much of that in one sitting.  Maybe she went home, or found somewhere else.  There was a note of hope when she said it, one that she'd keep for as long as she could.  And likely as long as she lived, since there was no one living who could ruin it now.
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Found this nice song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB9xDoGeGqo - seems fitting to the mood.

"I hope that, wherever she is now, she's happy," Wraen replied, this time with true sincerity in her voice. "And if she happens to come by, she'll have a place with us to stay," she added and for a moment there that future reunion stood vivid before her eyes. They would probably not have much to say to each other, since it had been a lifetime ago, since the two had last seen each other. But - however unrealistic it would seem - they would rekindle their friendship and share memories of their parents. Now - there were very few of the living left, who had actually met them in person. 

"You know what - this place is ours now. Why don't we find a memorial place for Terance? Name a landmark or something equally grand in his name," she suggested, thinking, how none of her immediate family had had a proper grave. Dante and Osprey had perished in the fire, Terance had been torn into pieces and - if Sarah had died at some point too - no one knew her grave either. It suddenly felt wrong that their parents and siblings would be scattered around the world just like that. "Maybe something for our parents too - Sentinels are far away, I don't think their spiritual selves would mind having a memorial somewhere closer to us?" she asked.
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Definitely,  Maia said with feeling, echoing the sentiment on both statements with a single word.  It felt great to finally have family here again, especially with.... oh!

Maia's face brightened for a moment, both with Wraen's words and the memory she just had.  She smiled and nodded.  I think they'd like that!! All of them.  Dad and mom would have liked this place, mom especially, Maia thought.  She could feel herself thinking more and more that this felt like it could be home, and if that worried her for what it meant for her future, she didn't bring it up.

Especially since there's so many of us here now.  Guess who I met up with!?  Jupiter's here!  Well, not here here.  But she was around, and had looked super well!  The meeting had helped to offset the sad some, and she loved the idea of creating a place to remember their family.  It made it feel less like they were lost forever.
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"Then let's go and see, if we can find something for Terance first," Wraen got to her feet, stretched and looked around, while her inner navigation device decided on the route they were going to take. Broken Antler Fen consisted of many sub-territories - there was the lakeside, there was the swampy area, flooded area, forest and fen itself. "It should be something that reflects his personality. I would vote for a tree, because he always aspired to fill in dad's shoes. He wanted to do great things in his life, he stood firmly on the ground, but his eyes were trained on the stars. A practical and pragmatic man, but a dreamer too," funny, how a moment ago she could not even shed a tear about his passing, not come up with a single memory. Now it came back to her giving the black and white photo with tattered edges some colour.

"And I think we should make it two trees - him and Sarah were inseparable as kids," she suggested, almost missing the last passage of Maia's speech. "Who?" she looked inquiringly at her sister.
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Maia nodded and followed along, agreeing one hundred percent with Wraen's reasoning.  A tree would be absolutely perfect for both of them.  It didn't hurt to give Sarah something too, because even if she wasn't gone, it was a good place for them to think of her.  Maia kept her eyes trained out for the perfect spot, but she cocked her head slightly when Wraen asked the last question.

It took her a moment to remember that Wraen might not have ever met their younger siblings.  Oh!  Sorry, Jupiter.  She's our little sister.  I guess she wanted to come check out the world outside home.  Maia was thrilled to see her!  Though a part of her still worried about her wandering alone, and for the first time, she considered if maybe this was how Wraen felt.  Weird!
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"They must be quite adults now... I feel very old again," Wraen laughed, having hard time to put together "little sister" and "2 years old already" in the same sentence. "Did she tell, how the rest are doing at the moment - all is fine and well?" she asked, curious for sure, but not feeling much connection to the rest of her family members. Half of them she had never met before, the others - only as teeny tiny babies. So it did not count. They probably felt the same way. 

"I never asked - who was Terance's second wife again? Treason?" she furrowed her brow, trying to recall specifics about her brother's family and coming up with virtually nothing. So much for being a sister.  "What about the kids - did you have a chance to meet them too?" they had to be adults too. It felt as if Wraen was lagging behind the time and needed to catch up or leave the race entirely.
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Last she knew!  At least, Maia hadn't heard differently.  She didn't remember if Jupiter had said that directly, but in her excitement, Maia hadn't really thought to ask either.  Maia had seen them all quite a bit more recently, and staying with them a short time had allowed her to really get to know them some.  She wasn't sad to be away, but heck if she didn't love the idea of Jupiter joining them here.

Yeah, Treason.  I think?  Arbiter, now.  She didn't understand the name shift, but she wasn't one to judge either.  She'd just... be confused herself, taking on a new name.  I didn't really stick around.  I wanted to, but I wasn't sure I should.  Her face fell a little, and she glanced around, suddenly caught up in looking for trees.  The news hadn't been easy to take and she'd felt uncomfortable thinking of making it a social call while she dealt with all... this.  Now she felt a little guilty about it.

What about there?  She asked, indicating a few boulders with a small patch of trees growing right nearby.  One might have even been growing... alongside the rocks?  Two of the trees seemed similar size, but Maia couldn't tell quite yet from this angle.
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"That's good. Hope it stays that way still," Wraen remarked, furrowed her brow then, when she learned that Treason's name had changed, wondered briefly, why, but then put it aside altogether. With Terance dead she had no ties to the woman whatsoever. They had never truly liked each other either. Therefore it at least made some things less complicated. As for the offspring... it would, of course, be interesting to meet them, but she did not know, whether seeking out relatives out of curiousity only, but no real intention to establish a bond, was a good thing. Better leave things as they were. 

"There?" she asked, looking in the general direction of, where Maia had pointed to, but with being slightly nearsighted, could not tell much details apart. "Let's go and check it out," she said.
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Maia pressed eagerly forward when Wraen said they should check it out, circling around the trees.  One was definitely growing out a little sideways... the boulder next to it pushing the trunk into a curved slant that straightened as it rose.  It was pretty cool actually!  It meant the one next to it was taller, though.  And she wondered if maybe the two shouldn't be more similar.  The place felt like it should be important for something, but was this the right something?

Hmmmm.  It feels like something.  She put the words out, since Wraen couldn't really hear her thoughts.  That would be pretty cool if she could though!  Well, most of the time.  Okay.... some of the time.  Like right now it would be embarassing, since she was all of the sudden thinking of a billion things she'd hate Wraen to overhear just by thinking about things he'd hate her sister to overhear.

Anyway.

Should they be more similar?  She asked, cocking her head and stepping forward to place her paw on the trunk of the curved tree.
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"Well, if we try to find two identical trees in the forest, we might be here for a very long time," Wraen remarked, walking around the trees, looking them up and down and finding nothing wrong with them. "Except, if criticize we need - I wonder, which of the two will be the "crooked sibling"?" she glanced over at Maia and grinned. "Sarah and Terance - as far as I remember - were very rule-abiding characters," she said.

"Do you have any idea, what kind of trees are these?" she asked, coming close to sniff the trunks and tell the species by smell only. Not an evergreen - that was for sure.
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Maia laughed and was happy to be able to do so.  It wasn't a super long one, but it was real and felt very good after how bad the last few days had been.  You've got a point.  I guess that doesn't really fit either of them.  They were both tall and strong too, at least in Maia's memory.  She sighed, suddenly a little morose again.  But in a quiet way.

Not sure.  Weejay might know.  Maia had been impressed with how much gardening had taught Eljay's daughter about the plants around her.  They look like pines, but different?  Pines weren't really a species anyway, but Maia hardly knew what she was talking about.  Maybe there's some other story to them.
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"Well, on the other hand, where would be the fun of portraying them exactly as they were - the rule says that "Of the dead speak nothing but good" - but it does not mean that we should not have a good fun," Wraen offered, kind of liking the idea of ghost Terance and Sarah wagering between themselves on, who gets which tree. "I say we stick with these two and we can come up with a story about, how and why it came to be," she said.

"Because - these landmarks will perish at some point, but a witty tale may live on for years. I don't see, why those dead siblings of ours should argue either - most people... yeah, never mind," she shook her head, feeling that she had got carried away too much. It was as if joking, while shopping for a coffin and planning funeral.
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That's true!  Besides, who says they can't both have both?  I'm sure they had their crooked days, just like us.  Maia joked back, appreciating the levity that Wraen inserted in the moment.  It was odd, maybe, but it also made it less sad and more like the memories of them should be.  Similar to what she'd said to Eljay - it was better to remember the good than to dwell on the bad.

Now it just needs a name.  Maia stared at it, then let her head tilt sideways, parallel to the listing tree.  Hmmmm.... maybe.... "Warden's Stand" or... "Guardian Boulder".  Actually, that second one is dumb, not that one.  She laughingly dismissed her own suggestion. The first wasn't awful though, unless Wraen had an idea.  Sarah and Terance were both big into guarding the borders, and both had been pretty amazing leaders.  Whatever name they came up with could play on that, though she was having a hard time brainstorming currently.
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"Warden's Watch, maybe?" Wraen toyed with the first name Maia had suggested to her and added something that made it sound a little better. "And it will be called Bouncy Boulder for party-time," she added jokingly, furrowed her brow trying to remember, if she had seen either of her siblings ever smiling, ever happy, and could not. Time spent apart from each other had become four times as much as they had spent together. Memories faded and dwindled and it was a scary prospect that there would come a day, when the only memory of you as a person would be a lonely tombstone in the cemetary. With your name written on it, two numbers and a line that represented your whole life between them. 

"Well, that's settled, then. Since it is late and you must be quite tired from your journey - I suggest we call it a day and continue tomorrow?" she yawned at Maia. "Maybe I will be able to dig up some old stories and dirt on these two and we will then properly baptize the Warden's Watch?"

Wrote "Bouncy Boulder", immediately thought about "Bouncy Castle" and this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUb0JBOIOAA
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That's way better!  Warden's Watch.  She turned it over a few times and thought it suited the trees (and their siblings) perfectly.  She loved the second as well because it added a touch of nonsense.  Almost as if, despite their seriousness, Wraen and Maia would always be around to inject a little whimsy as well.  She'd usually managed to make Terance smile, and her heart ached a little again remembering it.  

Sounds like a plan, Maia started to say, but halfway through the last word, she broke out into a wide yawn.  Wowee, yeah.  Bedtime!  She felt a good deal better now than when she'd started, mostly due to Wraen's ability to always turn the situation upside down.  It felt really good to have a place to 'visit' to remember them, cutting the hurt down by a huge amount and making the memories more warm than cold.  Thanks, she said, with no real lead up or lead in, but giving her sister an affectionate nuzzle before she followed her to where they'd sleep for the night.  Wraen might or might not know what it was for, but it definitely felt like it needed to be said.