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The big bird Fiadh had managed to scare off had been…interesting? Scary? Weird? Cian isn’t sure what the answer is, exactly, but it had been so big and yet gone through the air so easily. Would she be able to do that? Would any of her sisters?

The idea almost made her giddy to think about, and when Ksyusha’s call goes out, Cian rolls over from where she’s at, back pressed against the floor of the den, watching a spider crawl around on the ceiling of it. Can too! She calls back, tail already clumsily wagging behind her as she charges forward- and then stops in her tracks, abruptly backpeddling a little to touch the rocks. Before she can get a chance to really charge after her gold-pelted sibling, though, several things happen in quick succession.

Éabha barrels into Sasha first, with enough force to knock the darker-furred sister over. Fiadh leaves her spot watching over them, claiming she’ll be right back. We’ll be good, mama! Cian calls- a blatant lie- before she wheels around to make a beeline to pounce on Sasha as well. The shadow, what it could mean, all go unnoticed by her- until they don’t.

The bird, the one Fiadh had scared away, has Éabha in its grasp. While her sister doesn’t seem to mind, it looks like it’s trying to carry her away.

That’s our sister! As young as she is, the danger doesn’t register. Especially not when Darragh screams, and oooooh, she’s going to be in so much troubleeee. And so was Cian. Encouraged by her sister, she inhales to scream out too.

Yeah, you big ugly fuck! Go steal someone else’s sister! The bird isn’t even ugly, but it may as well be, for all its stealing ways. And maybe if they insult it enough, they’ll hurt its feelings so it leaves.