It’s a dead moon

She remembered smoke and ash. Suffocating heat, a sky painted orange and gray. An alluring wall of flame, inviting her closer, pulling her towards it.

She couldn’t breathe.

The little dark wolf scrambled to her feet, gasping and shaking. Ears pinned and teeth bared, she whirled around—but the sky was clear, save for a few innocent white clouds. A faint sliver of the moon still stood out against the deep blues and purples of the early dawn. Around her, the dead, dry grass of autumn poked through a fresh scattering of snow. Her breaths slowed; the air in her lungs was icy and crisp, but clean.

Tentatively, Corvi took a few steps. She swore she could still smell fire—but there was no evidence she could see that fire had burned across this landscape at any point in the recent past. She’d awoken in the midst of an open field, bordered by mixed pine and birch. The pale branches stretched out stark and pale against the dark green firs. They clustered around water glittering in the river to her right; its center had not yet frozen over, though she could hear ice cracking on its margins. Was she home? It reminded her of home, but it didn’t smell like it. Bjarni, Alyona, Kazimir—she couldn’t smell any of them.

Corvi resisted the urge to howl, fought back the sudden panic that gripped her. She dug her toes into the snow, teeth gritted. She bowed her head. She’d lost enough already.

She’d lost enough.

Forcing herself to take several shaky breaths, she looked up. To what she had deduced was north, a tall boulder overlooked the river, one face carved smooth by the action of the water. Corvi set off towards it. From there, she could get a better look at this strange land she had found herself in. She would not let herself think of what came after. One thing at a time.

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She had seen it— all of it. An eerie glow of ancestors, illuminated by holy light, as pain seeped and ebbed out of her limbs. The branches of elder wood that stretched overhead. Guardian spirits...doing all that they could for the children of the moon who still suffered the onslaught. She had searched for any sign of him. That he still lived. But before Alune could find comfort in a mirrored face, the image was ripped away, replaced with only darkness.

Neither the moon nor the sun shone there.

Though, as fortune would have it, she was not meant to stay trapped in the void. Alune felt the weight of her body before her eye found the will to open. The phantom pain that ripped her chest forced a cry from her maw. Her breath wavered in gasping breaths until she forced the blues of her eyes open, peering at the sliver of moon that hung above. Mother was weak...

Still panting, she took in her surroundings. A wall of peaks unfamiliar, sloping to the steppes she now laid on. Cold grass, chilled by winter's touch, caressed the sides of her body. “Where...?” Alune huffed, forcing herself to sit up as the pain faded. This wasn't home...nor did it look like the spirit realm she was prepared for.

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Corvi was stopped in her tracks by the sound of a cry.

She froze, ears swivelling. Another scent was fresh upon the ground. Yet it was not one she recognized.

Diverted from her course, she slowly turned and crept towards the source. How she had missed it before, she was not certain—but she would worry about that later. For the moment, she trained all her attention on locating whoever it was without being spotted herself. Through the dried grass of the steppe, she saw a figure: a small silver-furred wolf, resting alone in the snow.

She watched as the stranger sat up and asked a question. She looked young, she thought. And confused. Was she all alone?

Some subconscious concern drove Corvi onward. Slowly, she rose from her crouch. She moved hesitantly, trying not to startle the yearling too much. A warm, foreign scent surrounded the stranger, subtle yet pleasant. Corvi had no name for the plant it belonged to.

“Hello?” she said in Common, half-testing her own voice. “Are you injured?”

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A voice pulled her ear, and just as quickly the star's eyes. A woman stood near, likely no taller than her, with a coat that mimicked the night. Alune's throat felt tight, dry, but she managed to speak all the same, “I am...” A fleeting gaze as she quickly scoped her body to find herself remarkably unharmed. “Alright.”

Her tongue darted from her lips as Alune chanced her eyes to wander away from her company and around the pass to its steppes and valley below. The smell of slat hung in the breeze. The ocean laid near, though she could not quite see it beyond the hills. “Does this place have a name? I fear I may be...” Lost? Dead? She was no good at hiding the frown that tugged her lip, “where I do not belong.”

At the very least, wherever she was, there was no sight of the Solari.

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As she looked herself over, so Corvi did the same. Her mother’s training did come in handy at times, even if she’d never been able to call upon the power of the gods. No injuries that she could see, at least—simply confused and disoriented. As she was.

She nodded and sat down.

“This is Somovo Pass,” Corvi replied automatically. Was it really? She looked up at the mountains that stood tall and grim over the steppe; she thought she recognized their peaks, crested in white. But was it just her, or was there significantly more green covering their slopes? “I am Corvi, the Ataman. Commander.”

She didn’t sound particularly commanding as she said it; her tone was neutral. Straightforward, but not harsh. The words still felt strange in her mouth. Even stranger now, in this landscape that was both home and not-home. Could she still call herself ataman if she had no one to protect?

No. No. They were here. They had to be here. Where could they have gone?

“What is your name?” she asked her.

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Commander. So she had trespassed, even if her arrival was unexplained or unintended. Then again, she could hardly say this was unintended. Mother Moon had brought her here for a reason.

“Alune.” Follower of the Moon. But those words would not come. Not while she had no gauge of the Solari's reach. “Your ranks are not one I recognize, but I apologize, Ataman.” Alune paused, allowing her head to bow minorly. This was not someone who deserved her full respect, even if she stood on the other woman's land, but she would bow anyway as a show of good will.

“I had no intention to misstep. I'm...looking for my brother.”

Raising her head, Alune looked out once more, searching for the waves she smelled on the air. This was not home. If it was, Corvi would not be here with the name of the peaks on her lips. If it was, then the Lunari would have greeted her with the moon's praise that she had somehow been unscathed.

But it did look close to home, between the peaks and the salt that lingered in the air. A bit more...green, but the star found it pleasant. It was unfortunate she would not have the chance to look around more, but she had more pressing matters as it was.

“If I may... does the name Solari mean anything to you?”

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“No need to apologize,” Corvi said, a bit more gently this time. Though she couldn’t say it out loud, yet, her rank meant nothing without her family. Her home. “You don’t look like a troublemaker, anyway.”

Corvi looked out across the fields—towards the rock in the distance—and then back at Alune.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know that name,” she said quietly. With more confidence, she added: “I can take you as far as those mountains at the end of the Pass—” —she gestured to the two peaks that guarded the entrance— “—but I can go no farther.”

She had her own family to find first.

“You can rest and gather your strength here, if you wish.”

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Alune forced a smile unto her lips, though it would not quite meet her eyes. Little did Corvi know, it was a boon for the group to be unknown. Wherever she had ended up was far from harms reach, though that meant the Lunari were just as distant.

“Don't be.” The words were quiet on her lips as she followed the other's gesture.

“I appreciate the offer, but I fear I am nothing without my brother. If he is not here, then I best keep searching.” Only she had no idea where to begin. Surely the moon would guide her? Why else would she be spared or tested so?

Alune tested her limbs with care, shaking the dusting of snow from her side. “I don't expect all to be as kind... do you know of other settlements? They may be my best hope of finding Phel, but I'd rather avoid those who bring conflict.”

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Corvi frowned with thought.

“It’s only us, as far as I know,” she said. That was assuming the world beyond the Pass hadn’t shifted unrecognizably. It was not something she was normally worried about…

…But today, everything felt wrong. Burying her terror as deep as she could, she stood up. Alune seemed in a hurry. Corvi could understand; the passes would soon be filled with snow, making it even more difficult to navigate the already treacherous cliffs.

“Come, I’ll show you the way out,” Corvi said, waiting for Alune to follow. How had the little wolf even gotten here? Nevermind that.For now, she’d just pretend everything was fine.

---

good spot to wrap/fade?

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Alune tried not to let the stranger's words sour her mood, though there was an undeniable sinking feeling that only her people resided nearby...and even then she did not smell many. She must hold onto hope though. Just because no groups had been sighted did not mean there were none, nor that her brother might be not be nearby.

“I see...thank you.” Alune pressed the disappointment out of her voice. Corvi had been more than helpful, and she would hate to make the other feel bad for not having the answers she desired.

The star nodded once more, waiting for the Ataman to take the lead through her territory. Perhaps if she had no other options come winter, they would meet again...providing her offer to stay extended beyond a night's respite.

The tumbling plateaus and rising peaks still brought some semblance of home, even if home was no longer in sight. Surely it wouldn't be that bad of a place to bide her time at, but for now she'd press onward.

---

sounds good!

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