Together we walked the mountains, sometimes in silence and sometimes chatting amicably. Without a doubt, Ceal was the sweetest, most good natured wolf I had ever known. Whenever life got a little too serious, Ceal was there to remind me of the sweeter side of life. Sometimes we would even still play the way we had when we were pups, and I was so grateful she had come home when I had succeeded in reclaiming the mountain. Spirane was our home, and it would not have been the same without her. Perhaps we were not of the same blood, but we were family all the same. She was just as much my sister as Orca. And Taliesin was just as much my brother as Sleekwing. I thought to myself then that whenever Taliesin returned the girls home that I would need to get to know my little sisters better. We had been ripped apart from one another, thrown into discord by our parents’ deaths. But the world was righting itself, Ceal walking by my side was evidence enough of that.
She was as happy as she ever had been, which lit a light in my heart like nothing else. On occasion she spoke of a wolf, giving no name or hint as to who he was, but the tenderness with which she spoke gave it all away. Her soul had found its other half. Suddenly she exploded, and I chuckled softly to myself. “What is it?” I asked, one ear flicking sideways to listen to the cacophony of birds that took flight nearby. My brows lifted curiously, wondering what had my sister in such a tizzy. I held my grin, even as I felt my heart ache at her mention of Meryl. “Oh yes, it is something like that,” I said, trying to keep a lightheartedness to my tone. Part of me would always feel lost in knowing that though our souls were destined for one another, each of our hearts pulled us in different directions. It was a troubling thing to endure indeed.
Feeding off of Ceal’s excited state, my tail wagged happily behind me. Clearly he must be close, this imprint of hers. And then his call lifted in the skies, and my ears flashed in the direction from which the call had come. Before I could so much as react, Ceal had erupted and disembarked. I set off after her, taking more careful steps and descending in a more graceful fashion than my sibling. I jogged along behind her, allowing them a moment of privacy to greet one another before I moved forward to join them. Ceal rubbed her body entirely against him, encircling him once and again as I approached. My tail had lifted, stiffly displaying my right of office here. ‘My tiger,’ was all Ceal called him, and so perhaps he was. I had never seen a tiger before, nor really knew what they were other than large cats with stripes. I could see the resemblance, I suppose; his wide brindling lent to the nickname. I halted, leaving some space between us, keeping myself within Spirane while he lingered without. “Greetings, he who is the other half to my sister. I am Daenerys, Protector of the Realm Spirane. I should think you have a name other than, ‘my tiger?’” The hint of a smile edged at my lips. I was happy for my sister, to be sure, but without Alcide around anymore, it was my duty to protect my sister dearest, even if it was from the other half of her soul. Although from the way he endured her greeting, I doubted any protection would be required.