Their mother had been out in the rain, though she wasn't entirely sure why - then again, she hadn't really asked. Instead, she had been busy tending to their father, or playing with him depending on which minute she was interrupted during. She would move him or take one of the long bones to the den's mouth so that he might look up at the sky; then she might chew on him a bit, or snuggle into some of his pale fur. But she always put him back to rest eventually, never bored but rather, certain he'd grown tired of her games. Then she merely waited in the den, mouth ever so slightly agape as she stared ahead and drifted into her own dreams and stories, eyes like glazed moons before she drifted in and out of sleep. Sometimes she was there but sometimes not, but always there when her siblings came and went - she made sure of that.

What was unusual is that their mother had not returned even as the stars had come out. She had, of course, come back briefly to set out some food for them and check on their wreath, placing more leaves and grasses beside it, but then she'd left again. As they grew older, their mother seemed to find old tasks to keep her busy once more. She hadn't followed their mother to those tasks yet but she dreamed of them nonetheless. But it was strange to be alone in the dark and so, she had crawled forward to the den's mouth before she slipped out entirely - the moon was half, the stars were bright, and the rain had cleared to reveal a deep, inky sky. She stared up in awe, head tilted far back until it began to spin and she fell onto her side with a satisfied huff. From there, she could see everything even better! The way stars spread out and kissed the horizon and the way thin, barely-there clouds whispered through the darkness...

She watched for a long time in silent admiration but then, a star fell. Then another. Once every few minutes, one seemed to fall, a line of light taking off across the darkness. Immediately, she rose to her feet, hackles up and tail standing straight - "Sister! Lucy! Sister!" She called for Lucy but she called for them all too. Lucy had been, of course, named long before them, named by Others that were not their mother but it did not change a thing: Lucy was a sister. Now, she had found more of Lucy's sisters and they were diving through the sky. Lucy had, of course, come from the sky - they wanted to say hello to their long lost sister, she knew it. And so she called out, excited as she spun and dropped onto her side to watch once more.