Loa

It had been simple, really. Her life. Their lives. A family of three, and all of them girls. Their father was never around -- he left them, you see. But it didn't matter, not to Loa. Not when she was in the warm embrace of her family.

The Songbird learned early on in her life. Sparrow was her sister, her older sister, the one who watched over them, over Loa and Wren, as they played in the fields, as they tumbled together, as they grew. Wren was her littermate, the one who drew breath right next to her, the one pushed to play, and laugh and live! Sometimes Sparrow would play as well..! But the older sister always had a more distant air to her, a coldness that shielded her from the world. It was okay. Loa was warm enough for the both of them. Loa was warm enough for all of them.

Life was good. She felt loved. Even their mother loved her, she could feel it. Starling did love her children after all… in her own way. Their mother tried, she really did, she just… wasn't always there. Loa would look into her eyes and see - she was sad. "Why is mamma sad?" she would ask. Wren didn’t know. Sparrow couldn’t explain. But it made no difference — Sparrow was the one who looked after them either way, more so than Mother ever did.

Everything seemed to be going well. Until it didn’t.

She wasn’t what exactly happened. Something came to the land, something dangerous and foul, but Loa didn’t look. Her mother told her to stay put, to stay safe, and so she did. There was fear inside her, there was fear all around, as wolves would whisper and rush to see the something that had come onto the shores. There was a panic, and growls and screams… And then there was quiet. Loa waited inside the den. Mother was here, and so was Wren… But where was Sparrow?

. . .

Her sister never came back. Loa was distraught. She couldn’t stop crying for days. It took all of Wren’s energy to get her sister to just suck it up. Mother was just as hurt as well! Loa sniffed and sobbed, but eventually, she complied. For the sake of Mother and Wren, Loa would put on a brave face, a smile, and pray that Sparrow was well wherever she was. But she was hurt. Hurt that her sister would leave without so much as a 'goodbye.' Did they really mean that little to her?

The emotional pain broke Loa. The carefree smiles withdrew from her face, replaced with a somber, tired expression that seemed to follow her around no matter what she or her family did. Seeing her daughter so distraught seemed to wake up something in Starlight, though, and the mother finally started taking on a more prominent role as a parent. And slowly, but surely, life returned to normal.

Seasons passed in a blur. So many things happened. Death, sickness, even ghosts..! Loa faced them all with a shaking heart, hoping each time that, more than anything, everything will turn out just fine.

She really should have known better.

The Alpha was dead. The pack, the Tundes pack, writhed in tension — there was yet another split. This time, when everyone was deciding on who to pledge their allegiance with, when all the confusion had yet to settle, Loa was prepared. She looked for Mother and Wren, and together they would head to some place where there would be no tension to seep into their lives, no apparent one any way. They would head to Taika.

For a long time, Loa told herself she was content. She made friends, few but valued, she met Elfie, there, a wolf who owned her heart in more ways than the Songbird could fathom, she met Kai, a boy as sweet as spring's breeze. Life was... not idylic, but she made it work. Mother and Wren were by her side, and all her friends too.

All of that were about to change when the flood hit Taika. The great wave that swallowed the land and seperated friends, families, and lovers. Death came to greet them that day; Loa can still feel the wet, chilly shivers running up her spine.

Running in groups, the Taikans did their best to escape and live another day.

Her little group of survivers managed to reach Stonehaven. The wolves there were kind, kinder and warmer than she had thought them to be. The air felt nicer here, easier to breath in, and for the first time in a long time, Loa could feel herself relax. She was calmer in the trecherous landscape of the moutains than she had ever been in the soft grasslands of Taika...

And so, when the Vajda informed the southern refugess that preperations were being made to escort them back and reunite with their packmates... Loa made the difficult, unexpected, yet liberating decision.

She chose to stay.