One More Word and You Won't Survive

astra is currently visible @Sachiko

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The days had blurred together since Shiroshika reached jagged peaks. In some ways you could say a mountain was a mountain, here was no different, but it wasn't the mountain she knew. Snow blanketed only the highest peaks and Vanderfell's footholds proved to be more slippery or narrow than her own. It was all something she'd simply have to get used to...seeing how it had been decided they would stay and find a new home. The princess had been enraged at the news when word first reached her ears. They had fought for their home only to give it up so quickly, yet each moment she lingered on the thought brought more understanding.

She still didn't like it.

She thought of @Haruki often, now more than ever as she ran off to avoid getting in the way of their allies. So much had happened since last she saw him. Now she wondered if she ever would again... Sleep evaded her even as the drive of battle long since cleared her veins. She wasn't sure of the cause, but it was not hard to gather a few reasons why. Sighing, Hotaru slipped from her makeshift bed into the cool open-air outside of Vanderfell's caverns.

Whatever storm had brewed came hard but quick leaving nothing but the stars in their place above. They were easy to see through thinned trees, even those that shined dimly against a canvas of black. Hotaru would linger for some time letting the buzz of her mind drown out as she tried to map those marks she had made in Tsukiishi.

We all live under the same sky...

or so she had heard once. Would Haruki see the same stars from his location? The angle certainly had shifted, but eventually, she was able to make out a few familiar dots. Like a distant dream, she traced invisible lines until a paled gaze reached something shifting. Squinting she looked harder until eventually, an oddly familiar shape took place dancing across the sky. “You—” The word barely left her lips as she stared blankly...oddly unphased. It was not the first time she saw it and she had not seen it alone. Still, it had been some time since then and the princess had almost chalked it up to a dream.

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Thankfully she didn't leave the hunt with more than just a few bruises. The same could not be said for others as some did not leave at all. Muscles ached as she walked to find a bed for the night, thinking back to the pelts that were made for them back in Tsukiishi and wondering if they could be retrieved or too much work to be given more. It felt like she was spoiled with such gifts, even if it was for everyone. To wake up in a soft bed of plush seemed right for girls like herself, like Hotaru.

Needing rest, she focussed on the lands in hopes of finding somewhere nice for the night - only to catch sight of the princess staring at something in the sky. Casting her own gaze upward, she caught sight of what must be had caught the Princess' attention. “What... is that?” She said in both fear and awe. Never did she think such a thing was possible and yet she was seeing it with her own eyes!

Keeping her eyes to the sky, she would sit shoulder to shoulder with the smaller princess. As they grew older since the swan's arrival in these new lands, their height difference had grown. She noted as such just looking away from the skies for a moment and seeing where Hotaru's own shoulder rested against hers, much lower now than ever before.

She wasn't quite certain how that made her feel as a little lady.

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A voice behind her almost caused the girl to leap from her skin as her head whipped to find the source, though she would soon find comfort as lavender eyes met the familiar coloring of her friend. “S-Sachi— あなたが私を怖がらせた神々... — Gods you scared me...” Hotaru would sigh as she tried to ease the race of her heart, her gaze slow to rise back to the figure moving across a darkened canvas.

Sachiko found a place beside her, their shoulders brushing as the other followed her gaze and subsequently drew her own back. Her friend had always had a charm that soothed her, though now she was not sure if she was helping or hurting the rapid beating in her chest. They weren't kids anymore...something Sachiko seemed to handle better than herself. Even when faced with Kuhn she had been so calm with her rage where she had been...plain.

The pale girl could feel her ears heat as she pulled her stare before the other could notice. In all ways physically and mentally she felt like a mess, and for how much of that had her friend bore witness? To think her mother wished to hold her to the status of queen. Recollecting herself, Hotaru closed her eyes before raising her head to share the sight above. “I...don't know. I've seen it before though. A wolf of stars danced the skies above Tsukiishi once. I can't be certain if it is the same or...” Or if there is more than one.

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Nervously she smiled at Hotaru who quickly reacted, whipping around to meet warm reddish hues with her own lavender stare. “Gomen ne~” — Informal/friendly "I'm Sorry" Being met with their native tongue, naturally, Sachiko replied the same. There was certain comfort found there. A sensation of being at home with Hotaru as they spoke a common tongue between them that very few within the pack could share. It was like their own secret language, that wasn't... completely secret.

It was a little hurtful to feel Hotaru pull back from the light touch of the shoulders - did they grow apart that much over the past year? Well... A lot has happened and Sachiko would just try to brush it off as such and that it was nothing personal at all. Choosing to keep those invasive thoughts to herself as she continued to smile a curious grin at the figures above. Whatever the heck they were.

“Waaa! That's so scary! You've seen this before?!” Her overreaction was more or less a way to try and diffuse the static between them. “Is it an omen or something? Hopefully its a good luck one... we kind of need that.” Even she couldn't stop the wishful thinking that things would settle down into the peace they all seemed to be searching for. Madness never seemed to end here or back in their birthpack. It was getting very difficult to keep her own spirits high let alone try to be helpful to others in a spiritual sense.

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The pale girl could only chuckle nervously as Sachiko cried out. “Only once— I wasn't...certain” but now how could she possibly deny it? Before felt like a dream, but this was more akin to an awakening. “I couldn't say... We've heard stories of other animal figures, but not one of us.” She wasn't even sure if she did believe in the gods, yet it was hard to deny when a beast of stars ran overhead. “Maybe it's an ancient spirit. Although, I don't know why it lives in the stars. I doubt it can offer us anything but...it would be nice for a bit of luck to come our way.” The princess sighed as she found her head resting against her friend.

They had lost so much together...two homes now and with each some family. If she could ask for anything at this point it wouldn't be luck or even a home. Just @Haruki. “Do you think we are cursed?” That I am cursed? Hadn't her mother been happy before she was born? Hotaru would quickly shake the thoughts from her mind. It mattered little now. There was no changing the past and it wasn't as if she wished she was never born. Only that things had been different...

“Maybe we should plead with the star wolf for a clean start.” She'd chuckle dryly at the thought, though...admittedly she would not fully dismiss the idea. Who knew, maybe it was capable of changing their lives after all...A wall of mountains would be a good place to start, but hiding would do them no good, nor did she wish to be trapped within an empire her whole life.

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Wide-eyed, she listened to Hotaru as she spoke of seeing the beings once before dancing in the stars. Her ruby eyes glistened in both wonder and slight fear. What were they? Did mean well or a harbinger of more to come? “Luck... Yeah, that would be nice for a change.” Even if the figures could do such a thing, would they? Or were they the reasons behind all this turmoil? Were they the ones who took them to this new land for more suffering, or was it just a trial before the peace could be found?

One thing was for certain, she wouldn't trust them just now. Hoping they were just trickery of the light and things they didn't understand as opposed to living, sentient beings that was playing with the living of these lands like toys for their amusement.

Her smile faded as Hotaru mentioned, questioning if they were cursed. The friend was saddened by this, wondering the same thing once in a while and certain others who had come here from the Empire felt the same... did their mothers think so too? “No.” Not wanting to be the downer here, she had to bring Hotaru up from these dark depths of her mind. Letting the smile blossom on her face again and leaning into Hotaru's embrace as she finally accepted the shoulder offered to lean on. “Just some bad luck. I think we've had enough for a lifetime, don't you? Should be any day now for luck to be on our side.” An attempt to try and sprinkle in some hope.

“That's not a bad idea. If they could hear us, why not try to talk to them?”

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Sachiko always had a way of making her feel safe. It wasn't even her who initiated contact, but just laying here it felt as though the world was a little more safe. Their world was untouched...but her mind wouldn't sit in that bliss for more than a moment. The conversation at hand kept her distracted as she felt a biting sting in her eyes. Just some bad luck. It was easier to say than believe and the pale princess found herself struggling to admit her next thought or not.

“Yeah...any day now.” In the end her lips clung to the words on her mind. Asking about Haruki wouldn't help. It wouldn't change anything. And frankly, it hurt more to ask... “Any day.” She'd fight the tears before they had a chance to spill. He wouldn't want her to cry over him, would he? He never wanted her to cry. Swallowing hard, Hotaru would shift so she could gaze up again as the dancing form began to fade. “I wouldn't know what to say.” She had never been particularly religious and starting now...felt dry. “No matter, it seems our words must wait for another day. I think it's leaving.” Or hiding away in the belt of stars, who could say?

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It didn't need to be said. Sachiko knew that Hotaru missed the prince, her brother, her twin - there was always that bond that distance nor death could break between the two; and frankly, Sachiko missed him too. For so long it was always the two of them, and Sachiko would always find a way to infiltrate it somehow. Inserting herself between the siblings and following them along to their next destination.

But now she stood where Haruki was meant to be. Filling a hole that was far too big for the swan to fill. Her feathers were far too frail and weak to hold everything in, but she would try regardless of her failures. And believed she was doing a damn good job of it thus far.

“Not if we're fast!” Hotaru's hope to reach the star beings faded as they moved away from sight - and Sachiko was quick to action. Standing at the edge of the cliff with her head lifted to the heavens. “Oh beings if you hear me! Some good luck would be appreciated!” Her voice carried through the mountains as loud as she could yell, fearless should anyone else hear her words. Her words echoed in their ears, but she wondered if they heard her. “Thank you!” Of course one had to thank the great beings in the sky should they have heard her.

Turning her head back to Hotaru, a sway in her tail she smiled at the princess.

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Where she had resigned, Sachiko remained determined. The princess would be taken aback as her friend quickly moved to her feet and raced to the cliff's edge causing the pale girl to almost topple over without the support of Sachiko's body. She hadn't expected any of it, but what followed caused her face to flush as she quickly moved after the other. “Sachi—” The name was hissed under her breath as she attempted to grab the girl's tail to pull her back.

Had she no fur surely she would have been red from embarrassment as Hotaru cautiously glanced around them and toward the heavens should they somehow invoke wrath from whatever the hell that thing was. It hadn't bothered them so far, but who knew if it even knew of their existence? Sachiko looked far too pleased with herself despite this and while she couldn't believe her audacity there was...something mildly amusing about it all once her wave of panic began to fade.

“Leave it to you to somehow sway the minds of star wolves.”

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