The brothers of shadow and flame stalked the endless night in a synchrony none could match. With a keenness few others could boast of, they explored their home, as they had many times before, memorising the terrain, following the strange glowing sprites through the woods, breathing in the salty air. Their thoughts were with their friends, their family, those they had pledged to protect and defend against harm, to lay their lives on the line in the name of their cause. The brothers were fit, healthy, and experienced. It would take a great force to make them bend their knees to any whom they did not otherwise respect.

Protecting one's family was more than just being prepared to die for them, to fight off the evil that would infiltrate their borders. The brothers knew this - how many times had they and their sisters argued, both parties knowing that the arguing was the fuel of their passion, their only way of expressing one another when the pressure within grew too great? It was safer for them to vent at each other, to those who understood, then to those who did not know them well enough to accept the good and the bad hand in hand. They were what some would call a strange family in how they worked, and yet here they were, all of them leading, in their own way, this Qian their beloved sister had created. And so they had learned to open their hearts to those who called themselves Qian.

It was not always that simple. They did not know many of them as well as they knew their sisters, though they tried. Sage had become much like a sister, her sass and wit allowed her to blend in with them with smooth ease. Others seemed to fall under their protective shield in another way - a more paternal sort of way. Tandavi received their attentions whenever they could give it, in the eyes of the herd she was their niece, in their hearts she was their daughter, the result of a union between themselves and one whom they had called sister all their lives, who was now their lover. Kiara was one who had returned recently - and pregnant. They longed to hunt down the fiend who had dared harm their friend, but their duty was here, within the lands - and they could at least help her more while she was here. Help her to heal.

They came across the sleeping child and the young cub. Keeping their distance, they acknowledged the cub with a nod, running their eyes over the sleeping child who grew with each passing minute into the likeness of , they could only assume, the father. They could never understand the depths of grief and turmoil she would be going through, not truly, not the way a mother feels. With a glance to each other, Madyrn consented to stand by the colt and the kitten, while Maskan pushed on, following the trail of the young mare with the ease many years of practise lent him. Even in the moonlight, her outline was dark against the stretch of ocean behind her. Maskan called out with a deep rumble, friendly and warm despite the chill that this everlasting night cast over them all.

"Kiara," he spoke as his athletic form inserted itself between the mare's body and the sheer drop the edge of their home offered. "Why do you walk while your son sleeps?" He had his suspicions as to the reasons, but he needed to hear her say them, confirm them, in order to be able to help at all.