4/30/2025, 1:01 AM
Of sorts, Fable replied, indicating a far-off fawn-spotted whelp blazing a trail through the snow-covered meadow. Solulfur huffed out a soft chuckle before she could school her reactions. Pawing at the snow, she swiftly and shallowly buried the rabbit carcass for the next hungry Avon wolf to sniff out and help themselves to, nodding to Fable to lead the way.
She remembered her own parents, aunts, uncle often hovering nearby while Solulfur herself explored the world. They'd never been far, and she'd never queried once in those earliest days that she was surrounded by an unstoppable, if sometimes invisible, shield from any danger or discomfort that might befall her. One only had to look at Sigrid, draconic in her bearing and loyalty, to know that she was wholly safe. Now, a long-forgotten concept Solulfur had only reclaimed the most fragile scraps of. She nodded solemnly to Fable's explanation of what she was doing. Solulfur would help keep watch, so the child could find her footing in the comforting knowledge of her safety, ensured by those stronger than she.
May they never have to walk alone, at all.She offered, not unkindly.
Fable began to walk, and Solulfur only had to take a few strides to fall into easy step with the older woman. Her mission remained at the forefront of her mind, but she had already relaxed more than perhaps expected, finding Fable familiar and unobtrusive presence easy enough to relax in, if only a little.
How did things fare in the Vale? Such recent loss, such recent turmoil. Solulfur did not wish to betray the depths of their recent tragedy to a foreign pack's leader. She delivered her report crisply, but with a slight charismatic lilt to take the edge off.
The Vale is as strong as ever. We have had a recent promotion, and new additions to our ranks. Winter is as testing as ever, but the mountain provides.The Black Sun paused, and made a perhaps-visible effort to soften, slightly. Taking on the mantle of friend, and slightly setting aside the one of diplomat.
Your kin would be glad to see you, and your children, I think.It was only a guess, of course. Solulfur still wasn't sure what the intricacies of that bond between the various facets of the family actually were. But she knew that beneath the hurt incurred between their members, and the distance time and alliances had afforded, at least the four sisters Solulfur knew had large hearts beneath whatever veneer they chose to wear. For Tiberii, it was burning ferocity. For Aurelia, stone-skin. For Dalmatia, she seemed to mask her softness behind hermitude. Euphemia remained the most difficult to get a read on, but seemed kind.
They had all experienced devastating loss. The sight of their kin, the opportunity to connect and share their burdens - perhaps it would do them well, and so Solulfur, ever the meddler, smugly planted the seed of that idea into their conversation.
Tell me of your Meadows - I hope they treat you and yours as well as our peaks.
