Down and Out

[Iskata Sadira]

Thought they needed a thread...

Iskata had been enjoying the time away from their large family. She couldn't help but worry though. Firefly had disappeared the past day and she'd seen not a scrap of hide or hair of her small shadow. She was uneasy because she'd caught the scent of DaVinci along the borders and yet he hadn't crossed over into Storm. It had been a few days since he'd visited last and she had noticed that he seemed a little stranger than normal and quiet. Firefly and he had spent quite a bit of time walking along the river and talking together before he'd departed, but nothing had given her cause to believe that something was wrong.. until now. She was stalking back and forth before the entrance to their den as she kept scanning the horizon for sight of the small creamy silver form of her daughter. She didn't want to believe it.. but deep inside a cold chill had laid itself on her soul.

She paused and stared towards Clouded Tears, wondering just what was going on. She hadn't seen Laruku since the runin with the children over a moon ago, but perhaps he would know. She wanted to know now, but she couldn't do this alone. Atleast, she couldn't just go throwing accusations around just yet. She sighed and settled down outside the den and stared at the dying grass before her. She knew Phoenix would be back soon, maybe he knew where Firefly had been off to. She hoped he did.

[Phoenix]

OoC: Indeed. Though not what I had in mind.

IC:
Though Phoenix had not been happy with the situation, he knew he could not prevent their demented half-brother from his childrens' lives. It was a shame he had to feel that way. He would have loved to have a stepson he could trust, but DaVinci was such a shifty character with a vendetta against his mother. It worried Phoenix that his children could be caught up in the crossfire--or worse yet, becoming direct victims of DaVinci's hatred in an attempt to hurt Iskata through them. If it had been up to Phoenix the hybrid spawn wouldn't have had a minute alone with the pups. But Iskata had insisted, and he'd had no course but to respect his mate's wishes in this manner.

There was a chill in the air, and it was not just the weather. He was psychically attuned to his mate's emotions, something that was not always pleasant. He could tell she was irritated and worried. Truth be told he had assumed Firefly had gone to sleep with her big sister Deirdre. The pup was her mother's daughter, and just as fiercely independent as her. The normally overprotective father had slipped, and it would come to haunt him in the future.

Coming up on his mate he leaned in to kiss her on the side of her muzzle, as he usually did when greeting her. he didn't like to see her stressed out like this but with four pups to look after it was becoming a normal site. he was running rather ragged himself. "Is something' wrong?" he asked.

[Iskata Sadira]

She hadn't even heard her mate approach and with the sudden touch of his muzzle to her own she startled beore coming to herself and realizing who it was. The question was almost lost on her as she tried to fit the words together and process an answer. Shaking her head a moment she sighed and gazed off across the lands. "Firefly is missing..." she said quietly. Like her mate normally she wouldn't have thought anything of it, but as much as she tried to do the right thing and love her wayward child she still couldn't trust him, and she knew the feeling was mutual. She lowered her head and gazed down at her paws as she tried to explain to him what she thought. Allthis time defending him.. and everything seemed to point towards him as the guilty now.

She closed her eyes and was quiet before she finally gave in. "DaVinci was talking with her last time he came and I really didn't think nothing of it.. but... she's gone now.." She couldnt' really admit that she had found her older child's scent mixed with that of their missing princess, but she wasn't about to admit how wrong she had been, or even if she had the right to admit that. She was a Sadira after all, and she was proud. Looking back to her mate she was just quiet, already she knew what he thought of DaVinci, she probably hadn't needed to admit who Firefly had spoken to last.. he wouldn't would have already assumed and placed the blame.

[Phoenix]

Three little words. It took just three words—four syllables—and Phoenix felt his world beginning to collapse. Instantly his stomach seemed to implode into a knot of fear. This was how it always started. He never lost his families all at once; it was always one at a time. Phoenix had just begun to dare hoping that maybe that was all behind him, that he finally had a family that would be there for him to the end of his days. But no, now his daughter was missing and Phoenix couldn’t help but wonder if the fates would content themselves with her or move on to the rest of his loved ones.

Perhaps he was overreacting though. It was possible that Firefly, being the little scamp that she was, had just gone off someone and they just had to find her. For everyone’s sake he hoped that his mate was merely jumping to conclusions. That did little to abate the panic though. “Oh no…” came out shakily, “Are… are you sure ‘bout this? Have y’gone to Clouded Tears t’look?” He knew it, he knew he should never have trusted that horrible miscreant with any of his children. He wanted to say something but now wasn’t the best time. Right now he needed to get all the facts before jumping to any conclusions or panicking about his daughter.