Characters: Yorshka, Aldan
1355 words, 583 by me


The ground rumbled slightly, but the act didn’t phase the pale ethereal. Irithyll always had something going on in their mystical realm, one little earth shake wouldn’t bother the male. Instead, he lay on the ground, paws cupped as he whispered a sort of incantation. In between the limbs, a small spark started, growing in size by the seconds. Once large enough to bring a gentle warmth, Aldan’s voice paused, enjoying the flicker from the flame. A gift from Pyxis he would always say, the ability to create something that others could find as destructive. To Aldan, it was warmth, it was comfort.

A small creature, a ball of light, shimmered near the ethereal’s ear, before shooting towards the shadows of the tree top. Comfort there the light found, and would likely stay unless needed by it’s bond.

A soft sigh escaped Aldan’s maw as his tail curled around his body. Another earth shake caused dirt to shift under his flame, diminishing it’s size. A groan as Aldan stood. Fine, he didn’t want a fire tonight anyways.

Yorshka was aloof lately, and not in the way that most would think. She was stark in contrast to her mother and brother, but lately some bleak emotions weighed her down, so far deep that she could hardly breath. At times peace was hard to find, so when the pink female found herself lost within the whirlwind that was her head, she sought out her better half, Aldan.

The world around them shifted at times, so when the earth rumbled beneath her paws Yorshka thought nothing of it, she simply kept on her way, searching for her mate. Beside her flew a small wisp, Ipsy, her bounded familiar. The two would bounce from stepping stone to stepping stone, searching for the fiery male. "Aldan?" she called out, her voice firm and concerned. Where could he be? Her long flowing tail danced against the wind as she found herself stopping at the mouth of one of their secret places, hoping that he would be close by. "Where are you?"

A low chirping noise from the trees above caused Aldan’s gaze to float upwards. His own wisp had begun to dart in and out of the shadows before darting right next to his ear. “Well, aren’t you the spastic one today.” The ethereal smirked, earning the lightest wap of the wisp’s wing as it floated down a path. A gesture for him to follow his bond, the light creature knew something he did not.

Luckily for him, he heard the melodic voice shortly after. “Ah, so that is what has you in such a fuss.” The male grinned. Deciding to ignore the words of the wolf bond, the wisp flew up to the tree canopy once more, watching from afar as Aldan stepped closer to the pinkish female.

“I am here. Although, I am sure you can see that now,” Aldan grinned, his lithe form closing the gap between the two. “Where did you run off to?”

As quickly as she appeared she was at his side, ramming her forehead into his side rather aggressively. "I've missed you. I was looking for you." her voice trailed off into silence as her bi-colored eyes narrowed against his soft face. "I've been having these intense dreams lately. I wanted to talk to you about them, but when I woke you were gone." the female tilted her head as her flowing tail danced beside her, curling along her back paws as stood beside her mate. "-you should woke me up."

A soft smile crossed her muzzle as she moved to sit beside Aldan, her own wisp floating to land on her shoulder "Could you not sleep?" her mind wandered as she found some peace beside him.

Aldan flashed an apologetic look towards Yorshka as her head butted into his.
“Dreams?” The apologetic look turned to one of concern. “Dreams about what?” He knew Yorshka’s ability, the one that mirrored his own.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I have not been able to sleep the greatest, and these earth shakes aren’t helping.” For days now, the low rumbling of the earth had grew in magnitude. Something was growing. The time they knew of was growing to a close. What would they be ready for? “Besides,” his voice lowered, as his head nuzzled into her cheek. “I couldn’t have wake you. You looked to peaceful, and I did not want to fight that temper,” he joked, giving his mate a sheepish smile.

“So these dreams?” Aldan questioned again, a way of him telling Yorshka to continue.

"I don't know how to explain them, it felt like something... or someone was calling out to me, with heavy breath and a even heavier heart." she spoke as her lean body leapt to get comfortable beside the redhaired male, glancing softly from side to side as she settled herself to still. "It's been really strange, lately my mother comes to me in my dreams, but not in the shape that I recognize her as, she's morphed into this twisted thing, a white raven with wolves' eyes. It's haunting." as she spoke the pale female found herself glancing down at her paws. "I can not find Ymir, my mother has been missing for years. It just feels like the family I have is falling apart all around me." a sadness settled across her masked face as she turned to glance at him. "You are all I have now, it seems."

Aldan made a small hum as he listened. Both beings shared that particular connection, those his manifested more so when Yorshka wasn’t present.

“Did that someone speak anything to you? A calling perhaps. It may be just coincidence, but I feel these dreams and these shakes may be related. Your mother?” Aldan found himself tilting his head at this. Little did Yorshka speak of her. “What makes you think this white raven is her?” He questioned, intrigued by the dream itself.

Aldan made a small snort. “I’m sure Ymir is around. Maybe he has found his own soul mate, just like I have mind mine?” At this, the white male nuzzled at Yorshka.

“Sometimes we are only the family we need.” There was a small sense of forlonging. Aldan had none, they were long gone. Yorshka was it, and he wouldn’t have traded it for anything else.

“Do you want to follow these dreams. See where they lead?”

"I would be telling a lie if I said I wasn't afraid, but maybe this is what needs to happen. Perhaps us finding out what this... calling means could lead us to some answers?" she spoke of them collectively and as a unit, because as the pink female said before - he was her family. Mismatched eyes glanced at him with wonder as he nuzzled into her, the lingering feeling of distress fading into the back of her mind. He could always bring her back down to reality, no matter how far her mind seemed to go. "I think think we should, Aldan. I think I need to." with a soft nod the lean female rolled a bit closer to him, so that her long flowing tail twisted into his, intertwining as she found herself resting against his frame.

"We will go tomorrow?"

Aldan could only nod as Yorshka spoke. Fear was something that was to be expected. Everyone feared the unknown. He’d also be lying if he said he wasn’t. There was a sense of comfort in the little home they made. But, to settle her thoughts, he would agree to this. What was a little adventure after all? Perhaps these dreams were truly nothing. Maybe there was a sense of overacting on the two Ethereals’ parts. They wouldn’t know though until they chanced it.

“We will go,” his ears perked forward as she rested against him. Tomorrow? So soon. But, it was needed. To satiate the dreams, the visions. They would go.

“Tomorrow.” He confirmed with a small smile, relaxing as his mate lay near. “Get some rest today then. I feel we have a long journey ahead of us.”

[End]