In the dying light of what was likely one of autumn’s last days the young ruler sat perched outside her den atop a small outcropping of rocks, attempting to drink in the last vestiges of the suns warmth. As the temperature dropped she would soon be driven back into her den for the long night, the den which still smelled of her mother and siblings after so much use by them. They were all a bit scattered now, her brothers off adventuring and her younger siblings taken to different callings and of course her mother who had taken to a quieter area to heal. It seemed so much time had passed, but the young girl couldn’t help but feel it had all just happened yesterday. So often she had been tempted to try and go visit her mother but the fear of what she would find left of the mother she had looked up to and adored kept her away. At least she had received regular reports from her younger sister that Daenerys was still alive, still healing, and that had been just enough for her to get by on.

Still it hadn’t been easy, faced with the momentous task of leading when she had put away any intentions of doing so long ago. It was her pride in her heritage and the strength gathered from her ancestors that had given her the ability to lead so far despite the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that occasionally plagued her in the darkness. She had a duty, a responsibility that ran deeper than simply protecting those that called the mountains home and she would not fail in it. Still a part of her had begun to yearn for more, something to fill the void and she had begun to understand her mother’s yearning for someone to love.

Consumed by her thoughts she did not hear someone approach, not until her name was spoken softly but still loud enough to break the spell of silence that had wrapped around then silken girl. Her warm eyes snapped open, their moon rimmed pupils locking onto the too familiar form of her mother like a homing beacon and her face split into the biggest grin. Like lighting rolling over the thunderheads, she ran to her, in this moment no longer an alpha and leader but a child reuniting with her mother once more. It didn’t matter to her how her mother looked, that she might be skinnier and perhaps wear a touch greyer around her muzzle, every bit of her still screamed home and safety and familiarity and that was all that Kalseru needed.

Tempering her excitement just enough so as not to knock her over, Kalseru nuzzled her head under her mother’s chin before tucking it around her neck in the most canine form of a hug possible. “Mother.” She breathed the word into her lighter fur before drinking in her scent while slightly different was still everything she remembered and needed. Closing her eyes she held on tighter than a starving wolf to a haunch of meat before finally releasing her hold and stepping back only enough to be able to look her mother in the eyes, eyes that she shared. “It is so good to see you.” She meant every word, fighting back tears which had suddenly sprung up into her moon-rimmed eyes despite her long, silken tail beating a staccato rhythm behind her.