Just like that, in a rush of moments, her family was back and young Vastra still had not riddled out how she should feel about it - every time she saw her mother and brother she felt a rush of confusion. They were back, yes, but they had still left. Or, in Castor’s case, been trapped in an endless cycle of accidentally missing each other while they were both on the hunt. And then there was the whole father thing which she just didn’t even want to think about right now because it was a lot to take in. She knew of her father - Megaera would hardly raise them on the knowledge that she was their only parent - but he had been a ghostly figure for her for so long. And now he was flesh and blood.

But while her emotions regarding her parents were unsettled, she couldn’t remain annoyed with her brother for very long.

Partly because he was still her only friend, and she had a lot that she wanted to share with him that she had discovered during their preparation, but mostly because he wouldn’t leave her alone anyway.

“C’mon Cas.” She reached out to tug on his downy wings with her muzzle before moving off. “I wanna show you something!!” Unlike the last time they went exploring, she had learned (eventually) to keep her muzzle out of things she wasn’t sure about. Took the spines of a sea urchin and the prickles of a thistle for her to finally understand, sure, but it was all part of her exploring.

Lately, she had been keeping a safe distance. But while she had been exploring, she had discovered a den. In the rocky parts of the Throat to the south, she had stumbled across them - the manticore and her family. So far as she had seen, there was just the one and two… kits? Cubs? What were they even called when they were that small?

But she wasn’t taking Castor to see them because hey, what were the chances Castor would keep quiet and not spook them? She didn't want to find out the hard way why the manticores hunted using their long stinger tails.

So instead they travelled east toward the sea, where the soft sand that nearly matched Vastra’s coat. She didn’t stop once she reached the surf but trampled in a few feet until the water swelled around her knees, the sunlight shining on the surface around them. Her dark eyes look for her twin and her voice was quiet as she spoke. “You gotta be quiet for a moment but they’ll come.” They always did, those brightly coloured hippocamps that seemed to like to play just as much as their larger cousins.