small eyes,

By the point they were growing — and subtle changes happened. Specifically ; their eyes at this point were quite observant, changes well. She would look at her sister, her twin-set @Aurelia. When she would look at her own form, this sister too had the same thing, a strange-bond was formed, two halfs from a whole.. But today was the day she would notice this sister had a different eye color, "you green!" Euphemia chirped, "like mamas!"

---

@Dalmatia and @Tiberii for eye-color discovery.

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She'd been lounging, settling herself for a well-earned nap, when something excited one of her sister's. Dalmatia lifted her spotted snout from atop her forelimbs and blinked sleepily toward the greyscale duo, her jaws parted in a brief yawn.

Euphemia mentioned something: the word "green". She liked that colour! Intrigued, suddenly, Dalmatia gathered to her oversized paws and padded toward the pair to investigate whatever it was on Aurelia's face that had their littermate so fascinated.

She saw how the other girl's eyes had changed, how the stormy grey-blue they'd all once shared now splintered with the very same shade of their mother's soft green. “Wooow,” Dalmatia said softly under her own breath, and turned to Euphemia with sudden amazement as she studied the difference in her gaze, “and you like... like the sun!”


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A chirping of happiness, for the yellow reminded her of their daddy! When she swung to look at Dalmatia, Euphemia tilted her head curiously. She wasn't a green like Olive, or a yellow like Tiberius, but much like the hue's they took as cubs, but far more clear, "Your's is clearer," something that would draw the soul, "like the sky!" she would saw, excitingly pointing toward outside the den to the height of the current day, a blue sky shinning down toward them.

"We should find water to look!"

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Euphemia shifted toward her, yipping excitedly at her comment regarding their most recent changes, and Dalmatia's little tail gave a happy wave. She enjoyed seeing her sisters happy, for their glee was infectious. She drew energy from her littermates whenever she felt it, and it often helped her locate her confidence. She waited, eager to hear how her own eyes might've developed, and fully expected to find her own comparable to Aurelia's soft emerald or Euphemia's sunshine hue.

Instead, her sister declared that her own were like the sky. Dalmatia blinked up, as though she'd never seen it before, and immediately located the bright sphere that brought daylight to their vale. Surrounding it was a sea of cobalt, though the spotted child did not feel any delight to see this colour. She didn't want to be different, and found herself hoping that her eyes would simply be late in matching with her sisters'.

Euphemia, unsurprisingly, wanted to see her own features for herself, and announced that they should look for some water so they could see their own reflections. The spotted youngster hesitated, uncertain, and regarded her sister fearfully. “What if it's too far?” Dalmatia asked, too anxious to venture far from their guardians.


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Aurelia leaned away from her twin warily, uncomfortable with even her siblings being up so close to her face. She had found herself more desiring of personal space than the others as she grew older - she didn't particularly like to cuddle, as one example - but that didn't mean she loved them any less.

Just differently. In her own way.

Regardless, she indulged Euphemia just the same, and she squinted back in return to have a gander at her sister's eyes. She had never really paid attention before, but she was right - everyone had seemingly settled into their own hues over time, casting aside their baby-blues in favor of more unique coloring.

So she was green - just like mama.

Euphemia's were golden-orange, taking more after their father, while Dalmatia held the most peculiar shade of dusky lavender. Aurelia had to admit it was fascinating, and she wondered briefly how genetics worked.

“Don't worry, Dalmatia,” she said dismissively, approaching the mouth of the den with confidence. “S'not far! Plus we have each other.”

Also, Dalmatia cried loudly enough that any possible threat would be deterred by the sound alone.

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"Yeah! We'll be fine!" There was a fine order of how the children worked. By most parts, Aurelia was the more adventerous and brave one. She was the first to usually want to go out and do something, and many times Euphemia tended to the follower efforts, more or less agreeing with the other and finding she was the 'tamer' of the mixture. Tiberii was a rugrat who wanted to wrestle and play, but she was less on the adventures and messings with others besides their littermates. Dalmatia was the shyest of the mixture, more reluctant to leave then any of them.

The sisters though would always assure her, especially the twins — that they had her back. They would vow to protect the lil' sissy, for they were family, and family stood together through thick and thin. She was awfully curious about her eyes and wanted to assure more that they'd be find, and surely she thought that her sister felt the same. It'd be cool to see! 

Euphemia ran to the entrance of their den, she looked out to see the forests of their home. The smell of their parents and guardians, as well as others among the family. She could see the owls swarming above ; regulars as some had taken a fondness over the Duskguard wolves. She didn't know if they were the same though, only grinned when she looked up, "see? safe!"

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She was anxious, and it showed in the tucking of her speckled tail as it pressed tight to the tufted backs of her thighs. Dalmatia looked between her two sisters, who'd been near identical until their most recent development that Euphemia had noticed, a horrible feeling of reluctance settling in the pit of her belly. They'd never been confined children, not truly, yet to go beyond the threshold of their family cave felt wrong. What if something tried to eat them? What if they fell down a great hole in the ground? What if they got lost?

There was so many possibilities, and her fear heightened as Aurelia and Euphemia turned toward the den's entrance to venture out into the clearing beyond. The spotted girl hung back for a few more moments, hesitant, and glanced around the dim hollow before making a brave but tentative stride after them at their encouragement.

She blinked against the sunlight and reminded herself that they did, indeed, have each other. They would not go far. They would be fine. There was safety in numbers. A shadow swept over her and she gritted her teeth, crouching a little as she glimpsed skyward to spot an owl swoop overhead. The girls were grown now, no longer little enough to be carried away by such a bird, but the thought of it remained. Inhaling deeply, Dalmatia placed her trust in her siblings and prepared to follow.


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Aurelia forged the path ahead, striding confidently through tall grasses and patchy bits of frost alike with an air of confidence. This was their home - nothing could hurt them here, not with so many Duskguardians around to keep the peace. Besides, father would want them to learn to be independent. It was high time they started pulling their weight as the daughters of a great lord (or whatever his title was besides 'dad' - maybe 'King Dad'?) and begin to show their faces more regularly around the territory.

“C'mon, girls - it can't be far!” she called back merrily, tail held high as her excitement grew. The ashen maiden was thrilled at the chance to go exploring, ever-curious of her surroundings and the strange, colorful, weird things that lived within it. Like how were there so many different flowers and leaf shapes?!

Aurelia bounced along with a skip in her step, displaying the most emotion her family had seen to date. She would, at least, look back occasionally to check and see how Dalmatia and Euphemia were doing - well, mostly Dalmatia - until the sound of gentle lapping could be heard close by, and she broke through the underbrush to find a small pond.

“'Kay, so let's see what we look like!” she said - the statement was perhaps redundant in her case, being an identical twin, but Aurelia still wanted to look at her eyes.

She peered over the water's edge, grateful for the stillness of the water and how clear the sky was.

Green.

Like mother.

“Euphemia, look at us - that's so weird!” she said, then beckoned Dalmatia over to participate as well. “Yours are so cool, Dalmatia. Nobody's got yours, not even father.”

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When they arrived out, the first notice was the abundance of pine trees. She was awfully curious, looking around with 'oo's and 'aw's', catching the same swooping owl of Dalmatia. She flashed her spotted sister a grin, both a reassurance that everything was fine and almost a 'you see? exciting!' Because for the children who were strictly watched, their adventures would often be caught short. They adored and loved their parents, but they were often dotting and careful, making sure each milestone was a preparation to venture out.. Today was just a bit of luck where neither seemed to be close around, but who knew if they were watching in the shadows? She couldn't see them. Euphemia only saw the pines that stood tall, and the mountains that surrounded beyond those peaks.

"Yeah!" Euphemia pipped up for a moment as she lagged behind to observe. Her head almost touched her back trying to glimpse the flying birds that were above.. The vale was strange that way, not that they knew — but owls were constant visitors and even made a few friends along the way that were so. She was happy to let Aurelia, the strongest of the litter, to take the lead. She always was the one who tended be the leader among them all, some packs would call that the Alpha pup! The other twin was more then happy to simply follow along, "there's so much!" she said in awe.

Before finally they arrived to the water. Large in body that she couldn't help but.. Stick a paw in it and shiver lightly in the coldness ; but that moment was swiftly taken away by the calling of Aurelia, "yeah!" she nodded in agreement, "maybe now they wont mix us up?" although.. In truth that was a rare moment. The personalities between were different enough to realize it, but something felt a bit saddening to know she wasn't the same as her sister. She liked the closeness..

"Oh! Your right sissy," such thoughts were tossed away and looked at Dalmatia, "you're special!" Euphemia's tail wagged high at the point-out of her rather unique place among the shakti kin.

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Off they went! Aurelia stepped forward at the lead, followed closely by Euphemia. Dalmatia trailed after them, crystal eyes darting anxiously at their surroundings. She looked from side to side, at the evergreen foliage that grew tall at the outskirts of the vale and the remnants of Summertime flowers, made dull by Autumn's approach.

She felt a shiver, and couldn't tell if it was because she was cold or because she was scared.

Soon they arrived at a water source, and the speckled cub hung back to observe her littermates as they moved in to paddle in the shallows. Dalmatia didn't fancy getting her feet wet, and was content to watch as her lookalike sisters explored the recent development that set them apart. She listened quietly, feeling rather sad that she was so different, and when Euphemia and Aurelia attempted to include her she just felt worse. "Special" was the last thing a kid wanted to be when all she wanted was to be "normal".

Still, she moved carefully forward and blinked down at her reflection, frowning solemnly at the imperfect face that stared back at her.


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Euphemia was the curious one of the bunch, even equaling her twin in that regard; the latter simply preferred to be curious in more practical ways, ways she could put any new knowledge to immediate use to better herself and everyone around her. While her sister might gaze up at the night sky and marvel at its twinkling brilliance, Aurelia would squint, trying to understand what those glittering dots meant or what purpose they served - why did the sun go down every day? Why did they have daytime, or nighttime, and what governed their necessity?

Such things were beyond the understanding of most wolves, much less a child, and it infuriated her. She wanted to know why. How.

“Maybe now they won't mix us up!” came the high voice of her twin nearby, little tail wagging excitably. In truth, she wasn't the only one who didn't really relish their impending identity split - Aurelia liked being able to sneak off unawares, her parents wrongly assuming her to still be asleep at their side when in reality it was Euphemia, or vice versa. It was fun tormenting mother and father; although their parents could tell them apart by scent with ease, at a distance, they could give them a run for their money playing games and little tricks to get them to agree to their plots, not always knowing who was who.

Growing up was bittersweet.

“Yeah, guess you're right,” she said apathetically, giving Euphemia a cursory glance. It was kind of a shame, really.

Dalmatia crept up, then, much less certain than her siblings, almost as if she felt fear coming up toward the water and what it might show her. She peered over the edge and took a long look at herself, and several moments passed in silence as the little spotted pup processed what she saw.

Not a word escape her lips - and Aurelia could see that she was frowning.

Now, Aurelia was not the nurturing type. She wasn't the comforting type. She didn't know how to soothe hurt hearts or mend anything beyond a scratch to the paw, and she was about as florid and eloquent with her speech as Tiberius talking about shapes with weird priestesses. She was stubborn, single-minded and focused in her approach to everything, 'suck it up' being a mantra she would one day live by...

... But she wasn't cruel, either.

“Dalmatia,” she began quietly, stepping over toward her despondent sister. “Y'know, there's nothing wrong with you being different. Everybody else in all of Duskguard is different! Euphemia and I are the only identical ones. You're more normal than we are, if you think about it.”

She nudged Dalmatia's shoulder gently, playfully.

“I like your spots. They're cool.”

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"Tiberii kinda looks like dad. That means you take more after mom!" Euphemia chirped up, unaware whether this would do harm or good. When thinking and looking, "I think Archon is probably the most stand-out though. He's like.. Brown. Why do you think he's brown when our parents aren't?" As they were unaware there was no blood ties between them, Euphemia questioned how such a strong-color and in eyes alike was so different from the rest of them. They all looked pretty similar, the twins mimicked a perfect combo between the two lovers, while the tomboy sister was a mimicry of their father. Dalmatia was in a unique position where she truly was different then within the litter, but the child also didn't think it was too strange with their more.. Vibrant brother.

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She stared at herself on the water's glimmering surface. It was weird to see her face looking back at her, and even more difficult to understand that this was what everybody else saw. Dalmatia blinked as she recognised the threat of emotion that bloomed within her chest, swelled in her throat, began to tighten its hold - there was absolutely nothing lovely to see in the flaws features that gazed back at her.

The spotted girl thought back on all those times her mother had looked at her with half-lidded affection, how her father would smile with warmth when their eyes met. Had it all been a lie? A ruse, designed to fool her into believing her imperfect appearance was likeable? Tears threatened, pricking uncomfortably behind her eyelids as she squeezed them shut, though the sensation disappeared on noticing Aurelia had noticed how her mood had shifted.

Her sister stepped up alongside her, reaching with comfort. Dalmatia did not glance her way, not immediately, though when she did her smile was forced and watery. Euphemia also tried to make her feel better by mentioning their big brother, Archon, whose colours differed from their little family entirely. Her mind's eye conjured @Eileithyia's face to complete the image, though while the fifth of the brood was unlike the duo alongside her, she held ashen and alabaster shades similar to their own.

“Th-thanks,” she uttered, genuinely grateful for their support of while she battled with herself, but did not say much else. Dalmatia was afraid of embarrassing herself further by crying.


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