all of my stars ✦

tagging @Tiberius and @Kuhn, but leaving it open to others!

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In truth, the small band of Duskguardians had not been gone for that long. Still, Olive somehow felt that she had aged a thousand years between the moment they left, and the moment they returned.

They made a slow progression back towards the Vale, trudging through the thing slows enveloped in a blanket of quietude. There wasn't much to be said for the events of the past weeks, but there was much to be felt. Olive felt it all, in its full strength: the splendor and fear, the mysticism and confusion. She had seen the power of the Gods in their almighty strength, and had glimpsed into lives long past.

In the wake of these happenings, Olive was left wide-eyed and shell shocked.

The waif suffered from a certain level of insecurity, following. She wasn't certain that bringing Dalmatia had been the growth opportunity she needed. The trial itself was a confusing blur, which Olive couldn't decide if it had been successful or not. She had no more clarity over their future as allies with Northfall. If fact, the mother now wondered if she had willingly put her own offspring in the face of danger, so that she would feel less homesick as she attended to her business. Parts of her even wondered if her dalliance with Kuhn had been ill-advised. How much one-on-one time did she manage to gain with Archon, anyways?

Of course, the godly woman was certain that all things would be fine in the end, but her pervasive desire to be in a place she considered safe and predictable drove such cyclical thoughts.

Carrying little Dalmatia, the trip felt longer than it actually was. The Vale yawned before them, welcoming the troupe back within its aegis. Olive made haste towards where she suspected the titan might be laying in an unsuspecting wait, possibly with the four little girls that she missed so dearly.

Olive's breath hitched with physical exhaustion; they might be back home, but the job was not yet done.

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Euphemia played with her sisters, but was growing angsty and irritated as the days went. Mother was gone with Dalmatia, and all were generally jealous and displeased. It didn't matter how much they were told of the why's, she wanted to go outside too ; tired of the same vale every day, and with the meeting of those from Elysium, she was all the more curious of those on the outside. Impatience was getting, and their father didn't allow them to go out — in-fact he was keeping away from them. @Aries explained by the need of rest, but they never been away from their parents for long. A guardian could not fulfill the needs.

So she ran like the wind when the smell of someone familiar came to, "mama! Dalmatia!" so Euphemia cried with rejoice as she was barking and howling like no tomorrow to nab her sisters to come, she finally, finally she came home. And all the more the little yellow-eyed twin tried to jump into her fur, like a football.

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Tiberii quite liked the vale, being all she'd ever known and generally distrusting of outsiders, but her mind had wandered to Mother and Dalmatia often, missing them both so for it was tiresome work keeping the territory protected and more so... Father! Injured as he was, the young darkling took it upon herself to protect him from the wrongdoer and her sisters as well.

Be her relief when she and Euphemia cut their play short when the scent of home came right back to where it belonged! Tiberii was quick to follow, quick on her still clumsy paws. "Mama!" she hollered out, tail wagging all wild as she neared. "Dalmatia! Yer back, hello, hello, hi—yer back!"

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By now, even though cursed with a feline level of empathy, Kuhn did notice the subtle patterns in Olive's movement. All he could really guess was that Olive was upset about something. Getting closer to home, he was surprised she wasn't carying herself with more confidence. She should be more proud of herself.

The large predator still had a knack for picking out someone in the herd who looked like an easy meal, and Olive didn't look like she had much fight.

Partially for his own amusement, and to sate his own instinct, he figured he would give the priestess a distraction. Without much warning, the cat half bit the woman from behind making heavy contact with the side of his face. Dropping down a level the big cat quickly mouthed her ankles, before trying to trip the woman up with a playful swat of a paw at her front leg.

Releasing her leg, the big cat looked up from the ground in a playful contorted position, waiting to see an expression of either anger or relief, either way he would take it as a win, as long as it got her thinking about something else.

With his hips in the air and torso contorted on the ground, he waited staring dumbly at the pale woman. A moment later however, the sound of the pups incoming rang out.

Rolling over to his other side away from the woman, he gave the procession some space. The pups could probably do a better job with her anyway.

Licking the back of his paw, he did his best to fade into the background, letting the mother have her moment.
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^^

He knew those scents. He had all but memorised them, they had been ingrained into his very being. His entire body was washed over with a sense of dread, even though his heart was bursting at the seams with joy that they had returned. It was a new feeling, fear. He had gone so long with it being no part of him yet since his scrap with Vera, the titan had felt the fear of his children being scared of him with his new look. Felt the fear of rejection from two pieces of his heart. Tiberius felt as if his toes were suddenly cold, drenched in freezing water as he drew himself from his belly and made his way from the den, a place Olive was sure to come looking.

Tiberius hadn't been a coward before.

Today, he was.

The Chieftain bled from the den and cast his molten gaze through the thick forestry and stared for but a moment, working his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. The man, once strong and unrelenting, melted into fear. He turned and made haste for the opposite direction, going deeper into the Vale as to put off the very thing he had been waiting for. The girls had likely found their mothers scent, anyhow, and would keep her entertained for some time.

With each step he took, the titan felt a piece of his heart that had started to mend, peel away and crumble to the ground behind him. ^^

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Aurelia was distracted for the moment, enjoying an educational identification game about different herbs and flowers (which her sisters may have secretly abhorred for how gods-damned boring it was). She had just about managed to correctly name them all, though she still puzzled over the last item, her little feminine brow furrowed with utmost concentration as she stared.

What was it? The thing looked like yarrow, sporting very similar petals and coloring, growing upward in a stalk-like formation... but it wasn't yarrow.

She squinted harder, giving it a deep sniff.

Everlasting... everlasting something...

Pearly everlasting! That's what it was! She lifted her head in triumph, ready to share her victory with her siblings when suddenly her ears swiveled of their own accord.

Something familiar... a sound... measured footfalls, soft and light, quick but never hurried. Euphemia shot up first, taking off like a bolt of lightning, her excitement a near-fever pitch as it suddenly dawned on her what that noise was. Tiberii bounced up next, a little roiling black cloud that skittered haphazardly over the landscape in her effort to reach Mother as quickly as possible, kicking up bits of dirt and snow in her wake.

Aurelia felt nervous for some reason. She had only just recently 'enjoyed' her first (very severe) emotional outburst and not only yelled at, but hit her own dad, and she was still reeling from the experience. Would he tell Olive about it? Would she be punished for her behavior? What would mother say? Her stomach twisted into a knot, but she dutifully followed after her eager sisters, quickening her pace.

“Hi, Mama,” she called in unison. Aurelia hesitated a short distance away, seeing Euphemia and Tiberii fling themselves at Olive like moths against glass, feeling a little left out, when she heaved a resigned sigh and leapt forward to do the same.

She was independent, of course - but she still loved her mother as ferociously as any child.

“How'd it go? Hi, Dalmatia! What did you see? What was it like?”

Her former energy returned very quickly, lost in the moment. “Was there blood? Did anyone fight? How did you all make a decision together? Why didn't you bring us, too?”

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Oh, Gods bless Kuhn. As a woman who was prone to melancholy, Olive found it hard to pull herself out of the spiral of negativity with any sort of willful effort. Eventually, its intensity would peter out, to be replaced with blithe happiness at the next opportunity. Thus was the difficulties of being a highly sensitive person; not only an empath, but an amplifier.

She always appreciated when another could do what she couldn't: make her smile when everything seemed gray.

Truthfully, Olive hadn't expected the nip at her ankles and it took the woman by surprise. She gasped, hiking up the knee of her hind leg and pulling her foot into the negative space created, taking an accidental double-step (or was it more of a skip?) with her front limbs to prevent herself from falling forward. Olive's head whipped around, reasoning that her assailant was Kuhn before she glimpsed the sunburnt cat behind her. Regaining her stature, somewhat taller than before, she turned to retaliate —

But, oh, the familiar pitter-patter of her children's feet!

They came dawdling towards her, somehow seeming larger and more grown despite the fact she was gone only a week or two. Suddenly, all the clouds parted, and the look upon her face was nothing more than warmth and love, pure and simple, as she saw the procession of her most treasured things draw nearer.

At a point, she could not bear it any longer, and the sylph rushed to meet them herself, drawing the lanky cubs in and taking deep breaths of their scent; perceiving their warmth. "Hello my sunbeams,” she cooed, wishing to simply fall to the earth and let them crawl over her, as they did when they were pups. Instead, she braced herself and enjoyed their cajoling touches as the growing girls they were.

"Goodness, it's such a dream to see your sweet faces.” The mother laughed, licking the cheek of Aurelia as she spouted off her many question, as if to assure her that she would respond in good time, little one. First, she wished to know how things had fared in the Vale.

"Did you all have a good time with Daddy and Aries?”

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