Lion Head Mesa sea witch [wp]

it was midafternoon when teya and @Sorana arrived. the palace was bustling, and she was sure to keep the girl tucked close. "this is akashingo. it is where lilitu live now. maybe we see her today." a servant approached, giving the younger wolf a surprised look, for when the sun descended it would hardly be a place for such.
teya urged sorana into the palace, down into the winding of rooms and apartments and wellspring, cheeks burning when she caught sight of sayf, confidently overseeing the carrying of meals upstairs.
the top of the palace was massive and resplendent, small winds carrying the scent of meat, of honey, of the berries. the thick perfume of flowers surely now clung to them both. 
teya settled at an eating-mat, leaning toward sorana. "that is pharaoh ramesses and the new queen treva," she whispered just as the ceremony began.
and afterward she smiled widely at the girl, wondering what her daughter made of it.

Tierra was captivated through the entire ceremony. Imagine! Now THIS was a princess! Being waited on, fawned over, having an entire pack's worth of guests outside of your own pack there just to see your perfect day?! She had been dreaming way too small. It was over - she wanted this now. If she ever got married, of course... like anyone would be so lucky. She was suddenly very aware of Sybol's presence.

After the ceremony completed, Tierra set herself to nosily finding as much out as she could about the guests. She wasn't expecting to see a familiar face, least of all her dad's new girlfriend (or whatever).

TEYA!! She made a beeline as soon as she saw. She also cast a look around, but there was no sign of her dad. Whatever. The disappointment stung deep and she was quick to drown it out. Isn't this place amazing!! It's, like, a billion times cooler than Mereo. You just ask for stuff and they just bring it. I can't believe mom doesn't want to come here. Do you know the prince? Or the princess? She finally stopped and waited for an answer, really only interested in why her step mom was there. She barely noticed Sorana at all.

Cameo!

Nazli had tended to the visitors as they arrived, flitting like an eager hummingbird from group to group and offer food or service, and was drawn to a dainty she-wolf who looked immediately at home within the mesa; then, she spotted the little girl.

To say she was stunned was an understatement. The look was brief but poignant, hidden when she returned to herself, and then the servant moved to offer them something - but a voice boomed loudly from another group and startled Nazli back. A soldier from Mereo came to greet the woman and so Nazli hurried on to tend to others.

teya did not know who she had expected to see, but tierra surprised her. hadn't reyes been going to see her? but here she was.
and dread suddenly dulled her belly, dulled the edge of the party and the festivities. "it very interesting here, yes," she agreed with a faint little laugh that tied together all the ways she was feeling.
"i know princess lilitu. she will marry prince charles, later, maybe. she from brecheliant." her eyes danced. "it good to see you, tierra. you are soldier now?" and she wondered why towhee didn't want to come.

Skippable as needed

The ceremony had quite captured Sorana's attention. Such a grand display and collection of wolves! Such grand words shared by the couple! Even when all was said and done, Sorana continued to watch the stage so raptly that when Tierra barked out her mother's name, the girl visibly started.

She wasn't shy by nature but found herself shrinking back a little from the brash red-and-grey she-wolf swaggering toward them. A friend of Teya's, she supposed. Sorana studied her for a moment, reminded for some reason of her father — the similarity of fur colour, nothing more — which made her stomach cinch with hurt.

She tore her gaze away and spotted a little blue-grey girl looking at her, only to turn and hurry away into the crowd. Sorana watched her go, shocked to see someone like her — small and young — in the role of a party servant.

Awkward rolled off of Teya in waves. It was impossible even for Tierra to ignore. Princess Lilitu? Never heard of her. Apparently Teya wasn't here because of any sort of prior connections either. Ugh - she'd been hoping to score an intro.

Obvi. Germanicus noticed my moves the instant I joined. That's why he promoted me, too. She replied with a proud lift of her head. In that instant she noticed Sorana.

At first she dismissed her, but she was hanging around too close to Teya to be just another guest. Right. Didn't dad mention something? Maybe.

Wasn't like he could update her, though, when he didn't show. Did the awkwardness mean he was avoiding her and actually was back at the Caldera? He wouldn't. Would he?

Who're you? She asked, cutting off her thought train and directly to the point all in the same instant.

teya grinned. "congratulations, tierra." it occurred to her, belatedly, that sorana and the older girl had never met. in fact, reyes had denied her efforts to bring the older ones closer.
anxiety rose swiftly in her throat.
she took a breath, glanced between them both. "you are sisters." tierra could deny it; @Sorana could as well. it was a bold statement to make.
and yet it was the truth, and she glanced to her daughter with apology, once more. she had not known what to say and so she had said it all out at once.

Sorana continued staring at the place where the little girl had been up until Tierra asked who she was. It was easy enough to ignore the bold she-wolf when she was talking to Teya, but impossible to pretend that question hadn't been for her. Feeling a little put on the spot for some reason, Sorana turned back around and then balked.

Sisters? If Sorana had any real sisters, she didn't know about them. Reyes had made sure of that in his efforts to start over with her. She knew she had grandmothers and many relatives, but not this. She had no memory of the day Caracal came to the Caldera, and the only sisters she knew of were pack sisters in the form of Maia and Eljay's children. The revelation that she had real siblings was shocking, to say the least.

Sorana gaped for a moment before she could swallow her surprise enough to quietly say, um, hi, Tierra. I'm Sorana.

Teya confirmed what Tierra already kind of thought. She looked like her (their!) dad, a similar color to Tierra herself, and she was pretty. Young, sure, but cute! At first Tierra wasn't sure how she should feel. She wasn't, like, jealous or anything crazy like that. It was just kind of weird to see her dad's new family and think about them being happy. What did that look like?

That's cool. She replied, feeling Teya's eyes a little more than before. And it's lucky for you, you got to meet the best one of us first. Caracal and Sphyra are totally lame compared to me. But I bet they'd think it was cool too, if they were here. Tierra grinned. They usually don't know cool, but every once in a while they're alright.

She missed her siblings quite a bit, even Caracal, something she never thought she would ever think (and absolutely would never admit. Okay maybe she would - but -definitely only once). It didn't seem like Sorana had any brothers or sisters, which had to have its upsides! Still... maybe it was a little lonely too. It looked like their dad was actually gone too, and while Tierra didn't dwell on it, it wasn't hard to remember how that had felt the first time.

I've got a ton of training and all, but... I bet I could convince Germy to send me over there for a visit or something. If you wanted to help me get some scouting cred, maybe we could hang out? Bonus points for doing work without actually doing work - the Imperator totally didn't need to know. It'd just be fun too, she thought, having siblings other than the ones she already had. Leona was fine but she wasn't really all that into - well, anything fun. And Jack was way too much a boy to be legit cool to hang with. Maybe Sorana would appreciate a totally amazing big sister and guide to teach her all the ways to not be lame?

teya relaxed; tension she had not realized she carried seemed to exit the base of her spine. she moved closer to sorana with a reassuring air, eyes trained on tierra as she talked with great acceptance.
this was a good thing! teya couldn't have asked for it to go any better. 
"we would love to have you, tierra," the raven murmured. "caldera always open to you and caracal and sphyra." she was desperate to mend things, to prove to the fierce young soldier that she was not designed to be a withholding and evil stepmother, or even a stepmother at all.
maybe more like a mellow aunt.
the words fell to sorana again. she glanced sideways at her daughter, wondering if this was all overwhelming in the same good way it was for her.

Cool! I'll come visit sometime. She'd see if Germanicus had a message to deliver, or whatever, while she was at it of course. But even if he didn't it'd be cool to take a break and travel some. Maybe Sybol could come with.

Tierra spent a bit more time chatting, but left them to it and wound her way back towards the main party after. She could catch up more when she visited - after all, you didn't get a party like this every day!