She greets me so affectionately – more so than mother had ever been – as her tongue swipes across my muzzle. I had always been so connected to Kairos right from the start; it was as if she truly understood me even when I could not utter a sound.

Her attention shifts to Ilias then, her immature voice rising to echo within the hollowed out caves around us all. She speaks so happily, her demeanor friendly, and for a moment I am given to believe she wishes to start a game for us all to play. Bright amethyst optics move with her as she prances around Ilias to place herself between him and the cave entrance. Her words split the silence once again, speaking of Ilias as a squeaky, little bird and it causes my head to tilt slightly in curiosity. Yes, I suppose she was right about him being annoying like a bird when he has one of his episodes – so deafening Ilias could be with his voice. But I am lost as to how she is supposed to get him to cease this issue.

Kairos’ behavior instantly switches from sleuth-like talk to all business as she assumes a position seen many times by Elijah and Stella. I knew this stance. She wanted to kill Ilias!? I had not agreed to this… at least I did not think I had. Had I??? Surely Ilias was the most strange of us four but that was no reason to end him. Right? I feel him pressing closer to my stockier body as unease rolls off of his figure, his voice finally falling in pleading tones. My eyes shift nervously from my frightened brother to my aggressive sister and back again. I am uncertain of what to do, my loyalty and love for Kairos hindering my ability to comprehend that this is, perhaps, wrong in many ways.

It is when Ilias shouts at the top of his lungs that I am startled into action. His passive aggression driving me into a lunge toward his anterior as I aim to barrel him over. Anything to keep him from having one of his attacks – if only I understood the caliber of what exactly I was doing.