As I looked her over, I’d not meant to insinuate that Ceal was incapable of looking after herself. But my sister had caught the fleeting half frown I had displayed, worried for her at her loss of condition. She immediately reassured me in that girlish way she’d always had, a giggle lilting through her words. And I replaced the frown with a smile as we rubbed shoulders, touching my nose to her cheek before asking her how she was. Together we turned and I let her choose the path we would take from here. I look to my sister, a look of concern still lingering in the back of my eyes, as she haltingly tells me that she was doing alright. I gave her a reassuring grin and said, “Everything happens for a reason,” trying to convince myself as much as her. There had to be some rationale for all that had happened to our family. We had to come out the other side stronger, better. And that was something our parents most definitely had bestowed upon us.

Of course I worry for her, as a sister should, but her tinkling laughter puts my mind at rest; at least for now. When she mentioned that she wanted to show me her place, my tail wagged in earnest. “That sounds mostly lovely; show me the way!” I exclaimed, glad to have something to keep both of our minds on different things. We descended the mountainside only slightly, taking a bend around the trail before we faced a large, steep face of rock. Surely it had been caused in the tumultuous aftermath of the sky fall, but in the years after that dirt had settled in and solidified the feature. As we jogged towards the rock face, I realized that Ceal’s den must have been within all that cacophony. Both brows lifted as I looked at her, thinking her quite ambitious to go rooting around in an area that might not be one hundred percent stable. I wasn’t even able to give her a response as to what I thought of, well, whatever it was she was showing me, before she darted off.

Ceal disappeared through the boughs of a fallen pine tree, and I loped forward, sniffing around at what apparently must have been an entrance of some sorts. Then suddenly my sister’s head pops back out right in front of me and a laugh escapes my mouth as I climb through the entrance. And what a surprise lay in store for me. My jaw went slack, parting slightly to reveal my pink tongue and white teeth. Shafts of light illuminated the network of caves just enough to allow me to see around, and my pupils slowly grew wider to adapt to the darkness, letting me take it all in as Ceal gave me the full rundown of the layout. Finally as she concluded her explanation I looked over at my sister, pride replacing the worry that had lingered there earlier. “Ceal, this is amazing. You did all this yourself? Oh, of course you did! Hardly expect less than brilliance and hard work from my sister.” I lifted a forepaw then, pushing Ceal lightly on the shoulder before leaning forward and licking her affectionately on the cheek.