Where oh where had her little adventurer run off to this time? The weather was starting to cool, and she found herself searching high and low for her Little Dove. She wanted her safely in the den and nestled up before the sun finished disappearing over the horizon… and she knew the surefire way to get to her settle down for the rest of the night. Stories. Her daughter truly loved them, which was good because Rhae enjoyed telling them. She knew tonight she ought to tell her about her home, An Lùchairt, where she had been born and raised for a much different fate than the one she ended up receiving.

“Enera! Little Dove!” She called out, a healthy distance from the den but not close to the borders of the pack either. “It’s time to come in! I’ve got a story for you.” She hoped the words were enough to entice her daughter to listen to her calls and make herself known lest she have to send a search party out for her.

Where could her daughter have wandered off to this close to bedtime? The question rang through her head as she continued to look around… She caught the rustling of footsteps from the bush just moments before her daughter jumped out at her, and she played along, jumping as though she had been frightened. She started to chuckle right alongside her daughter. “I was shaking in my fur!” She responded back as she nipped lightly at her ears. “I wanted to tell you about your grandparents and aunts and uncles… before they became skywalkers like Sirius did.” She explained as she motioned with her head.

“But in order to hear the story, we have to make our way back to the den. It’s getting late and it’s almost time for bed.” She reminded her as she started to herd her along by nudging at her rump. “And tomorrow I was thinking you and I could go out and work on teaching you how to hunt proper prey, instead of just your mama.” She teased lightly, though she was quite proud of her daughter.

With training, she had no doubt that Enera could do whatever she set her mind to. It was her job to mold her and raise her to have the confidence to seek out what she wanted. The question came and she smiled softly, shaking her head.

“Not this time, sweetheart.” She had an apologetic tone though she had no doubt that her supplement would be equally as appealing. “I wanted to tell you about my home, where I came from, and where your grandparents lived before they became skywalkers.” She explained to her as they arrived back at the den, curling up and pulling her closer with her paws. “I promise it’ll be just as interesting as the skywalkers…” She drawled out because she did not want her daughter to be disappointed learning about her heritage.

And then they could hunt the next day.

Rhaegara quite enjoyed weaving tales together, both retelling those her parents had told her and assembling her own in order to sate her daughter’s curiosity. “It was very beautiful. Just. Like. You.” She reinforced all of the positives in life with her daughter regularly, because she never wanted her to feel like any less than what she was. “I grew up in a pack called An Lùchairt.” The Gaelic tongue fell quickly from her lips and after all this time, it felt almost foreign to her. She had not passed on her language skills to her daughter… there was no point when she was the only one around who spoke it.

“And I did have fun… but I was also very busy. Your grandma and grandpa were alphas… which made me, and you, a Princess of An Lùchairt.” Despite the kingdom having fallen, her daughter would hold that title. Not here, for that role fell to Saga’s children, but in her homeland certainly. “My Mama and Papa trained me from a young age to work with other packs, hunt, and fight… there wasn’t a lot of time for playing.” She wanted her daughter to understand the things she did have, the freedom she had that Rhae herself had not.

“There was this magnificent waterfall near the pack den. When the sun would hit it, it would reflect into many rays of beautiful light. There were always fish in it and lots of food nearby. The forest was beautiful and the trees had tales from long ago, before you and I, and even before Ymir himself came to be.” It had been an olden land.

A soft smile lit her features, reaching her eyes as it so often did when her daughter sweetly offered compliments from the generosity of her heart. “Thank you, Little Dove. I must get it from you.” That was not how biology worked, but Rhaegara was determined to turn the topic around. She saw the way the girl lit up, and it was good for her to know of her heritage. The question she asked was a complicated one, and she was not certain that explain the complex social structures of the pack she came from would benefit Enera at all.

“It’s because I was a Princess, Little Dove. I was older. I had siblings, the Macieo-Tainns… I was not born alone, but I was the oldest… and that meant I was going to be a Queen.” She smiled and chuckled lightly as her awe filled the air. “Yes, it is very old.” She knew her daughter was going to fire a million questions at her.

“As a Princess, your grandparents taught me a lot of things: diplomacy, fighting, hunting, leading… but not everyone was pleased. The wolves near our pack were aggressive. They fought all the time and we had to defend ourselves. Some in the pack thought gramma and grandpa were too soft, that they weren’t aggressive enough… one of the wolves who thought that was my best friend’s father, grandpa’s second in command… he rose up against grandpa, and I was forced to flee. It’s how I came here, and met everyone, how I came about having you, and helping form the Chasm. Gramma and Grandpa went to join the skywalkers when the wolves rose up, because it was their time. I don't know about my brother or sister... but I have not seen or heard from them since.”