little discoveries,

The moon was high in the sky, and for one child she could not sleep. There was a reason, of course, she thought about it long and hard as she looked at the sleeping form of @Tiberius and awaited until it looked he was in a deep slumber. At least, that was what she thought, and it wasn't really sure if he was or not and watching her.. But she removed herself from the pile and made a swift-look around. Silence, was surrounding the group, and Euphemia grinned as she approached @Aurelia with a rather mischievous look.

She tended to be the good child, energetic as any and but a follower. She liked comforting and playing with her sisters, but never did too much that seemed out of line ; however she did hold a tantrum realizing one sister was taken to the so-called court and rest were left behind. Euphemia was awfully sour about it and still was, so she wanted her own adventures..

Prodding her twin, "hey, hey, let's go explore!" she whispered with an excited tail wag.

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Aurelia's eyes snapped open as if she hadn't even been slumbering at all.

She was a light sleeper by nature, quick to rouse at the slightest noise, but she was also growing very adept at putting herself down for a nap when necessary. Sleeping was a chore - it took time away from general business, but it was unfortunately a necessary evil. She had tried many times to stay awake for days on end, wondering why food and water alone wasn't enough to sustain herself, growing quickly frustrated at how the body broke down without adequate rest.

In the end, she had slept, but not without bitching about it first. If she had designed these things, they wouldn't need rest. What a waste of time.

Euphemia wasn't alone in her bitterness at being left behind, either. Aurelia struggled with feelings of inadequacy since Olive's departure with Dalmatia, wondering why she, the most (allegedly) responsible and level-headed of her siblings, didn't get to go to a council meeting for a trial. The event had her name all over it, and of course the girl who cried over loud noises got to go.

“Where to? Let's go!” she said, bouncing up to her paws. There wasn't even a question of why - she was just as anxious and frustrated as her twin.

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"Maybe we could go up the mountains? I want to see something we haven't before! I don't think we'd get far if we tried to leave the vale.." Euphemia was practical as she was whispering to her sister to devise a plan. She honestly didn't think that far, simply wanting to have a get-away in a fit of rebellion against the dad who wouldn't take them out, and the mom who only took one with. When she returned, she was surely going to get a fit from them in a tantrum of why's and pleadings they too want to go out. She even tried to beg her dad to no avail, he refused to let them.. And knowing so, the child could only imagine the adults guarding the borders, like Torben! The night guy ; but what if instead of out, they went up?

Their tiny paws didn't let them go very far upwards, it was difficult, but they could.. They could take the chance while he was alseep to explore, and explore the caves! She saw quite a few owl nests too and was curious about them. High on the peaks some were, and occasionally the spotting of a goat was there too. The elk even tried, but Euphemia doesn't remember a time they were able to try and strive toward the peaks. She was smiling with a wagging tail, a quiet stepping out of the den..

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Aurelia's tail shot up like a flag, waving enthusiastically as the idea grew from a pleasant diversion to a whole adventure within her head. She herself wasn't usually up at this hour, finding everyone else either asleep (boring) or everything was too dark to see properly (inconvenient), but the moon was high and the stars sparkled above them to illuminate their path.

It was meant to be.

Mother would've said something like that, anyway. She was very mystical and ascribed to the notion that all things happened for a reason.

It was time for the twins to spread their wings.

“You're right...” she said pensively, shooting a glance up toward the jagged mountains that ringed their home. A determined glint came into her eyes. “We can't get out, but we can go up and further in. Goats do it all the time! They don't even have claws like we do, and we can see at night.”

Aurelia flexed her paws, scraping her blunted talons against the earth as a new excitement flooded her veins. It was so unlike Euphemia to initiate this kind of journey, but it was a welcome change of pace.

Mother needed to leave more often, she mused.

“C'mon! Let's see how high we can get, and then go from there.”

Aurelia took off like a shot, scrabbling up the rock-face using whatever jutting stones she could gain purchase against. Tiny pebbles rolled down in her wake, and she glanced down to ensure her sister was alright. “You're not getting hit, are you?” she called worriedly. “I think I see a ledge up ahead!”

Cresting the edge, she heaved herself up against a level surface at last. A small, shadowed crevice had been carved into the mountain's face, dark and foreboding as it yawned like a vortex, swallowing all light.

She shot Euphemia a sly look, heart pounding in her chest.

“Wanna check it out?”

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