Life in Glorall was, as I had expected, different now than it had been in my younger days. But it is not something I lament or detest - I welcome the changes openly and as a challenge of sorts. Time allowed me to readjust to life amongst the familiar sandy soils, re-acclimating to the lands like a breath of fresh air. It is good to be home, and I take nothing for granted in being here once more. Though the wolves are different, the land is the same. Strange though it is to be the only member of my family to call Glorall home at present, I have slowly begun to find my place amongst Eden's wolves. In time I will prove to him my worth - but the path was not chosen lightly. I had been a diplomat for Aithne, and yet I did not feel that such a vocation was appropriate for me here. But as I moved quietly through the tussocks of Glorall, it was not thoughts of a future rank that consumed my mind.

Something felt wrong, at my very core, and yet I could not place it. I felt off kilter, my paws catching in the sands like they had not done since I was a pup. The lightness of my usual step was gone, replaced with a heaviness whose origin I did not understand. That heaviness was present in my heart, too, and in the very pit of my stomach. Something was wrong, but what? I swallowed hard against the overwhelming feeling, part of me wanting to seek out the reasoning for it, and the other wanting to push it back and run from it, because I knew such a thing could not be good.

As soon as I hear her voice, I know. I swallow again, squeezing my violet eyes shut against the world for one last moment, where I can pretend it is still unknown. But it is not. It is reality and I must face it. Drawing a deep breath through my nostrils, I opened my eyes and turned to see my niece standing a short distance away. The emptiness in her eyes nearly destroys me. I bite the inside of my cheek, pulling on every reserve of strength that I have to not break down before Aster. For a moment I see Praetor looking back at me, the little pieces of him in her shining through now more than ever. She tries to speak the words, but freezes, and yet I cannot go to her. If I do, it will make it a reality, a truth that can no longer be denied. I want to scream, to cry and tear up the earth with my claws, to undo whatever had taken him. No, no, no, no NO! My brother is gone, and what had I done, left Iromar because he had a family of his own and I felt so lost without sand beneath my paws? I had forsaken what little time we had left together to return to our birthplace, to feel closer to my true self. Why?! He was lost to me now, gone, and I would never feel the touch of his fur or the warmth of his body again. We had come into the world together - we should have gone together, and some part of me bade me to turn and run from Aster, to cast myself off the nearest cliff into the swell of the ocean to be rejoined with him. He was all I had had left - Tesseract, Caligula, Judas, Cersei, they were all gone - but he, he was now more truly gone than any of them. He was...dead.

Through all of this mental torment I remain silent, tears welling unbidden in my eyes. But I am not alone, I am not without family. She stands before me as living, breathing proof of this. Praetor and Aithne's daughter. Aithne - the sting comes anew, realizing she was lost to us as well. A woman I had trusted, who I had called friend. Finally, I steeled myself against the pain of my loss, closing the distance between us in long strides to enfold Aster in my embrace. My bodice practically consumes hers, so intent on holding her close to me in these moments. I seek to comfort her in these moments, and perhaps myself as well, knowing words will mean nothing.