[ P ] Changes

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uietly, the girl walked along a path that was once again familiar, far from the Mainlands and almost home again. The only sound she produced was her small paws as they shuffled along the path drearily, shoulders sagging and eye fixed to the ground. Still clutched in her maw, Willow carried the mask she had spent so much time creating, though it was now battered and unrecognizable as such. She would trail behind her mothers, lost in contemplation. It was a long walk home, and Willow had spent much it in rare silence.


Willow had been exuberant for the ball for the days preceding it. She had imagined how beautiful and grand it would be, and all of the beautiful, grand wolves that would be there to celebrate. And she would be there with her sunshine-y mask, and it would be the most magical evening imaginable… But now, in the daylight hours that followed the eventful evening, her young mind was filled with entirely different thoughts, while conjuring up very different images.


The scenes of violence overshadowed any of the pretty sights: Instead of wolves dancing merrily, in her mind’s eye, she could see the savagery that had ensued. None of it made sense to Willow, and the girl had been stunned to see the festivities descend into hellish chaos. The crowd had gone wild with confusion and chaos, and the girl had been grateful to find her mothers and leave before… What? Willow could only imagine how bad it had gotten after their exit. And imagine, she did.


The fighters… What were they there for? It had to be something pretty important, and Willow had not the faintest idea of what would possess a wolf to risk their very life. And in public! Had the brawlers and the soldiers been lurking, blending in among the crowd the whole time, undetected? What if she had even smiled at one, or said hello…?



@Nephele @Kylar

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Salty tears had streaked both plush cheeks in the wake of the chaos. Her throat raw from calling Willow’s name and trying to find her precious child while fearing the worst for her safety. All it took was for her to get caught between a soldier and one of the attackers. She knew the soldiers wouldn’t have harmed her, but the criminals would have. Nephele hadn’t felt so scared and helpless in years, not since before meeting Kylar. Her wife had helped keep her together and as a team they’d weathered the storm and located Willow before anything had happened to her. Nephele had felt the conflicting urge to check if anyone needed medical attention and get the hell out of the ball. Sense had won out in the end and she left before they could get swept up into the violence. The clinic’s doors would be open later if anyone needed them.

"Willow? Are you okay?" she asked, a slight quiver in her voice. Nephele was still very shaken from the experience. Not being able to see anything and being surrounded by a cacophony of confusing noises, half frightened out of her mind that every scream or cry she heard from the crowd belonged to Willow. Later she knew she would be able to sink into Kylar’s arms and release all of the pent up tension pumping up inside of her, but for now she needed to be strong for her baby.

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T

he sound of her mother’s voice pulled the girl from her frantic thoughts and the questions that would find no satisfactory answers... "Willow? Are you okay?" More than anything, Willow wanted to put on a brave face, to show that she was doing alright. It had been her idea, after all, to go to the ball. She had practically begged to come along, and was the only sibling of her trio that had been allowed the privilege. She had gotten exactly what she had wanted… Only, it had turned out so very differently than she had imagined.


Forcing a smile, the girl opened her mouth as if to speak. Except, no words managed to come out, just a soft whine that sounded even more childish, like a pathetic little pup, Willow thought to herself. This noise was promptly followed by an influx of tears that flooded down the youth’s cheeks, blurring out her vision so that she stopped in her tracks. Her head dead shamefully as she began to cry uselessly. ”I -- I don’t know -- why they -- had to -- fight,” she managed to choke out between sobs.


She inhaled deeply to steady herself, looking through bleary eyes to her mothers, her expression crestfallen. ”Why -- Why? What happened? How come --”
Here, she paused, uncertain if she really wanted to know, but too curious to remain in ignorance. "How come they were so angry?"



@Kylar @Nephele

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

It broke her heart to hear her daughter whine and when the tears finally came Nephele did not hold back on the kisses and cuddles. She gently attempted to wrap her forelegs around her taller daughter’s shoulders and draw her in for a much needed hug and to plant soft kisses on her brow like she’d done when she was small."I don’t know sweetie,” she admitted, hating that the magic of the night had been spoiled and her daughter terrified. "Some people aren’t happy that King Adamh is our king. I don’t know if any of them were fighting, but they might have wanted to hurt him and ruin the ball," she answered, dark ears flattening against her skull. "There’s two groups who want to change things. One is called Voxi and there’s Jacobites. Both of them want to take the throne away from King Adamh, but Jacbobites want to give it to Prince Jacob and the Voxi want to put their own leaders in charge," she explained it to the best of her understanding, but Nephele’s knowledge was limited.

"Whoever it was. What they did was wrong and they’ll be arrested and punished for it," she assured her daughter, wanting her to know that she could trust the Imperial Army to subdue the attackers and arrest them.

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