skill: seer 1/5 BWP

There was no amount of preparation or understanding that could have made Saorlaith feel ready for the way that the world looked now. What she had been feeling lately, almost like they were all squeezed in too tight and they needed to spread out.....she was restless in a way she had not felt before. Was it the feeling of being oddly independent and yet still clinging to the feeling of being safe and sound as a child in her parents' den. The threat of the world being shattered - perhaps staying shattered, Saorlaith felt a need to do her part.

She had started to make towards the glade further north of their claim. The urgency had her almost racing out of the Rise before she remembered. She'd wanted to have her siblings with her, if they wanted. Faolán and Eilidh might have been out looking on their own, it was strange with the whole concept still of having multiple dens as options. Keeping up with each other's locations was harder now.

Her muzzle pointed towards the sky, her call echoing freely across the ravaged land. The Mayfair knew the songs of the dead, but she thought the song of Mythris' pain was the most haunting she'd ever heard.

Sisters call on the wind.

It had Faolán moving before he could put much thought into the action. The world was in chaos, crying out in agony. It hurt him to his core to see the earth treated so cruelly. The spirits were restless, and so was he.

Runes, runes, runes.

The words echoed in his mind as he bounded after Saorlaith. Leaving the Rise? This was their first great adventure, and he barreled forward without hesitation.

Following the scent and call of his dear sister, she eventually came into view against the snowy backdrop of the glade.

Saorlaith! You called? What are you doing out here?

As he slowed, his back legs trembled before giving out beneath him. With a yelp, he crumpled to the ground, chest heaving from the exertion of chasing after his sibling.

It frustrated him that his hind legs were still so weak, no matter how much he worked them. Something he would have to live with for the rest of his life, Mama had said.

Pushing himself up onto his haunches, he brushed away the snow that clung to his fur.

You didn’t see that, he murmured, embarrassed.

She did not like these dreams.

She was younger when the first dreams came, and they were simply scary things she did not really understand. This time, things made more sense…well, sorta. At least there was a definitive direction to go. One might think little Eilidh would simply be terrified, and well, she sorta was, but these dreams were a part of life to her. She had not known the world any other way. She had not lived in distant lands, brought here by the magic of the island. She was born here. This is all she knows.

Eilidh did not know how to find these runes. They just…appeared? She whined outside the den, pawing the dirt every now and then, a frown on her face. Then her ears tickled. It was the beautiful voice of her sister. Eilidh whined, ears perking a bit. She circled three times, mumbling to herself. Does she go? Does she stay? The dream…it said they needed to find the runes. At least she could look with her siblings. Shaking slightly, she finally breaks the heaviness of her paws and moved forward.

It took her perhaps a bit longer to get there. She would keep her body low to the ground, as if she was a snake amongst the grass. Such a way of walking all the time likely would hurt to others, and it did hurt her at times, but she was growing used to such a constant stance. At times, she would pause for noises, pause for birds especially, but luckily few crossed her path.

She comes to her siblings, and quickly runs to them, her white and brown form clinging to her sister. ”Sister, w-w-whatever shall we d-do?” she whined softly, grey eyes looking up to her with concern, flicking to her brother having missed his struggle just moments ago. She licked her nose at him in greeting.

skill: seer 2/5 BWP

Neither of her siblings kept her waiting with her thoughts and the spirits for long. She'd gotten a bit carried away, she'd heard those names again - Julien and Cortland - but she had not remembered to ask her parents if they knew either of the names. Saorlaith had grown, seven whole months of her life she'd spent in and out of these grounds. They had never gone together off anywhere the way that their parents had.

They could though.

They were old enough to test those boundaries and if they were together then that should be fine. It would be. Three Mayfair children, three as it always had to be. Three Mayfair witches. That was more than enough. She turned when Faolan spoke to her, keen eyes picking up the way that his legs trembled. She had called him far too far! She had just been so caught up with the runes she had neglected her brother's wellbeing. Immediately she wilted, letting out a little whine before she sidled up to him and reached out to nuzzle his cheek. I'm so sorry, I didn't think... She admitted with a grimace.

Embarrassed or not, she didn't care one bit. That was not her focus. She looked around and realized how far she really had brought them, as Eilidh found them both. Saorlaith greeted her pale sister with a nuzzle. With all three, it will be. She quipped - and wasn't that what their parents had taught them? They could manifest; they could change the world and why not start with the runes and the dreams?

She nodded her head towards the deeper parts of the glade. Shall we? She would not force them - but she had a feeling. Maybe they were on the right path at least!

Bristling slightly at his sister’s realization, Faolán let out a chuff to cut her off.

It’s fine. I’m fine.

He didn’t want to be coddled. Didn’t want to be underestimated. Yes, he had his disadvantages, but that didn’t make him incapable. He was responsible for himself. If he pushed too far, that was on him.

Still… he wouldn’t leave his sisters out here alone.

Yes, with all of us, we’ll be okay, he added, more firmly this time, for the sake of the more anxious among them.

When Saorlaith asked if they should continue, Faolán instinctively drew in on himself.

Yeah, just… go ahead. I’ll catch up.

He wasn’t confident he could go much farther after rushing to them. The tremors still lingered in his legs, subtle but relentless. He quickly averted his gaze, jaw tightening.

No. He wouldn’t let them see that.

Have you seen a rune before? Do we even know what we’re looking for?

He kept his voice as steady as he could, even as his cornflower eyes swept across the glade.

It was beautiful.

At least there was that.

Rune Discovery : 「 Failure 」 

---

The Isle lurks close off the shoreline, burning eyes cutting through the fierce blizzard that now threatens to bury the world entire - if the glowing fissures don't tear it apart first. Fear grips your heart and you long to help, to find these stones of so much importance, the Runes that would save Mythris, but perhaps it is that very fear which blinds you to their presence.

For now, at least.

There is still time.

Not much...

... But time enough.

Eilidh clung to Saorlaith like moss on a wet rock. The dream was so unsettling to her, and her sister’s calm confidence was a small comfort. She was not used to being out so far, and her grey eyes darted back and forth at every noise and movement.

It took her a moment to realize that Faolan was ALSO out far, and she knew that his condition may not be the best for it. He had ventured further out that Eilidh had though…so he must be okay? She looks to him as he said that he was indeed okay, but Eilidh could see his form. Could see the shake in his legs, no matter how he tried to hide it.

Her anxiety did not allow her to overlook anything.

Her own body shook as her eyes gazed at his legs, but he said he would catch up. What was these runes anyway? She shook her head.

”I d-d-on’t know for s-sure,” she said as she looked in the direction that her sister had indicated they should go. She would not move a muscle until her sister moved, and even then, her movement would be hesitant, not wanting to part from her brother. Her own form would be close to the ground, as was how she normally walked, in a crouched position. She catches sight of some moss, and swipes some with her paw, wiping some on her chest.

”M-m-oss eats sickness,” she murmurs, turning to Faolan, she tries to do the same to him. Her paranoid about the sickness…it never really went away, and if he could fall behind, he would need it the most.

skill: seer 3/5 BWP

His chuff went ignored, and she did not fear. Saorlaith saw a great deal, although sometimes she pretended she did not. She didn't need to see Faolan's displeasure when she apologized and then sought to comfort him. He soured, not enough to alter his aura at all, but he did sour. Saorlaith would wait out the storm, knowing that they were both getting better at navigating the situation. It was not pity, never! She just cared about him, and sometimes it was hard to stop herself from trying to mother hen him.

Bright eyes try to take in any sort of difference - any color, any new sound, any little hum. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, if it was whatever energy field occupied the Golden Glade. Imagine what it will look like soon. Saorlaith said as she swept her eyes around. Soon - after the Isle no longer loomed in the distance, threatening them all. The moment that Eilidh pointed out the moss and began to anoint herself and then Faolan, she immediately fell in line, expecting that the three must be maintained.

The irony was that at some times they would have to wait on Saorlaith rather than either of her siblings. There were so many new things to experience. The air felt heavy though, the energy felt so charged. This place had surely known strife before. There had been so many emotions here. I heard they have a glow... but she hadn't *actually* laid eyes on one before.

There was no slipping anything past his sisters, it seemed. Whether he appreciated their observational natures was up for debate at times.

Frustrated, he pushed himself back to his feet, trembling be damned, and shot Eilidh a gentle look as she began rubbing moss on him. There is no sickness, Eilidh, he cooed softly.

The fact that she was here with them made him exceptionally proud. Her hesitance to face the world had always broken his heart, so her willingness to come this far was a huge step.

It will be beautiful in the spring, he added quietly.

If the sun ever returned.

The never-ending winter was all-consuming. He missed the heat of the sun on his fur, the colors the world once held… he had known it so briefly, before his injury. A time when things had been so much simpler.

His gaze shifted from his sisters, settling on one of the many fissures that split the earth, its odd humming and blue glow sending a shiver down his spine.

Like that thing? We should stay away from it. It makes me feel sick. Like the spirits are suffering.

Leaning into Eilidh, he gave her a gentle lick to the cheek.

Eilidh was a little ignorant and perhaps not always observant of all things, her mind getting easily fixated on one thing or another when an anxious state grabbed her heart. She noticed not any tense actions between her siblings, and instead her mind was so focused on the terror that was the dream and the need to find these rune things.

Faolan allowed her to touch him with moss, but said there was no sickness. She frowned a little, ears falling a bit as she turned to her sister looking a little defeated as she gave her sister the very same moss mark. Was there no sickness? It would protect them! She just knew it! The sickness could just…appear out of no where!

Sister mentioned that the glow, and she thought on it. She had only really seen the objects in the sky glowing, and perhaps water reflecting their very glow. Nothing on the ground has ever really glowed the same as the moon or the sun. But sister must be right!

Brother pointed something out now, and Eilidh turned to look in that direction. She huddled up next to her sister now, slowly peeking her head up higher to see the blue glow in the ground further head. It made her feel very, very, uncomfortable. She suddenly pushed herself to the ground, shaking slightly as she looking from one sibling to the other as her brother licks her cheek.

”W-what is that? Isn’t it g-g-lowing? D-don’t the r-runes glow like that?” she asked nervously…not wanting to go to it, but also, if they HAD to find the runes to survive…wouldn’t they have to? She looked to them for direction, not knowing the answer.