I was oft given to wonder if because we were born and raised by such true love as that of MoonGlow and Alcide, that we as their children were cursed to walk the world alone. Surely a bond as strong as that which had pulled Alcide from this realm when MoonGlow could no longer walk amongst it was more than one generation’s allocation of true love. Maybe that was why Meryl and I fit better as friends than romantic partners, why Leonidas had left me again. Perhaps it was the reason Sleekwing’s imprint had chosen another, and he walked lonely upon the mountains day in and day out. Even Ceal, who I had thought maybe to escape the curse when she brought Teliran back to Spirane to meet me, had befallen to it. He had left her, and there was a hollow place in her heart now; surely the reason she had kept to herself so much lately. Even Orca had told me of how she’d lost a male named Hawthorn, and her only child Wallace. Part of me secretly hoped that my brothers Taliesin and Swallowbane might be the exception, though each of them had already suffered losses to the heart in their own ways.

My paws extended before me as I woke, the first predawn hints of light creeping into my cave-like den. I rolled, stretching my legs and my jaw parting in a wide yawn. Curling my hindquarters back in on myself, I laid my head on my stretched out forelegs, groggy eyes blinking away sleep and the tireless dreams I so frequently had. If I was not trying to find MoonGlow in the shadows just beyond my reach, I typically chased Leonidas’s retreating form. All I ever saw of him was a glimpse of his tail, nothing more. It seemed as if everything I coveted was just beyond my grasp.

’Dany!’ I heard her call, and my ears perked forward as I lifted my crown. This, this was important; this was the reason to live for today and not the things I had lost yesterday. A small smile crept onto my features, a warmth blooming in my chest. Ceal had come forth from her state of recluse. If anyone could understand withdrawing into oneself for the simple need to recover from loss, it was me. Rising from the floor of my den, I walked forward, emerging into the day’s first light. A warm summer breeze caught my fur, caressing me softly and parting my fur to expose that stark black undercoat, before moving on. I had paused, my lids half closing for just that moment as the mountain reminded me that I would never be alone so long as I had my home and my family.

Eyes of deep mahogany turned to my sister, lighting up at the sight of her. I walked towards her as she moved to greet me. But as I drew closer to her I stopped for half a second, looking her over. It would seem that her time of isolation had not been altogether innocuous, for she had lost a fair bit of weight. Continuing forward, I rubbed my shoulder against hers in greeting, nose extending to nudge against her cheek lovingly. “Ceal, how are you?” I hardly missed a beat in my stride, moving to continue away from my den and falling into pace with my sister’s walk. Her legs were somewhat shorter than my own, and I easily compensated so that our steps might match one another, so that we could take this lovely morning walk in the best of company.