Tae, technically, was not as alone as Zero. At her side, at almost all times, were two steadily growing black hounds. The hellhound and the timber wolf were like silent sentinels who followed her even more closely than her own shadow seemed to. But their minds were sharp and cunning and almost never playful. She didn't fault them for that, and nor did she necessarily encourage playfulness. As their pack leader, she could show no weakness, could never let them have the advantage. That included in jest. 

Tae had never really minded it much. At least ... until Grusha left. 

It made no sense to Tae, no matter how many times she thought about it. If Grusha was sent away on some secret mission, she would have told Tae. If she was being punished well.. for what? Grusha never did anything that Tae hadn't, and so if one twin was being outcast as a penalty, surely she would be too. That, and there was no way either Mother or Father would do that to them. Family meant to much...


-and

and

- Mother was gone too.

Had they gone together?

Well. That was what the mandible-marked filly was going to find out. And if anyone would know, it would be Zero. He seemed to have Ampere on retainer at all times. There was no way she could go somewhere without him knowing about it. 

And thus her search for her big brother began.

 "Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrroooooooooo" She called, her tiny voice bouncing off the cascading reddish walls of the rock formations around her. Both Mal and Hel bore this patiently, but their canine voices did not raise to accompany hers. What did he normally do during the day? Tae had no idea - she spent all of her days (most of them anyways) with Grusha, getting into trouble, napping, or eating. She had no idea where to even begin to look for her lightning marked sibling, but the Throat wasn't that big, was it?

Yes. Yes it was.

Well, she would just keep going until she found him.

 "Oh Zerrrrrooo-"

@Zekle 

 

Tae! Over here!

Ha. Success. Tae dared a small grin and began to methodically plod towards where she could see the dark streak that was her brother, moving over the sands. He wasn't flying, of course, and so out of some sort of weird respectfulness (because it wasn't as though Zero had ever actually told her to not fly around him..) she remained on the ground.

As their mother's nickname for her slid off of his tongue, she felt her body bristle. As it did, her magic took over and the outer edges of herself seemed to bleed away as she indeed became a little ghost. Quickly she tried to rein in the anxiousness that was suddenly bubbling up in her small developing chest, and she managed a weak smile. However as soon as Zero continued that smile faded and any control she had over her emotions evaporated. Where's Grusha, huh? She became nearly entirely see-through and the strength it took not to cry was almost too much. Her lip trembled and her pale eyes grew large and moon-like.

She said nothing as her brothers teeth gently clamped down on her white forelock, although it did help to steady her appearance slightly.

Tae... we gotta talk

At this, the two black hounds at her side rose and bristled, their hackles raised. They could feel the panic that shot through their bonded like a streak of lightning, and while they aggression wasn't necessarily directed at Zero, they couldn't certainly tell that he was the one who had caused the feeling inside of Tae.

 "Quit." The mandible-marked filly demanded harshly of the canines at her side. Immediately they quieted and sat down.

 "I don't know where Grusha is." The lone-twin replied softly.  "So I guess it's just you and me."

Oh how right she was.


@Zekle 

 
As Zero's tone changed, so did Tae's entire countenance. Her head lifted, her eyes widened and glistened, and something like awe and hopefulness crossed her dark features. The girl's ears perked forward intent on Zero and what he might have to say next, because maybe it was-

(hope)

maybe they weren't-

maybe it would all be alright-

..top secret mission..

Tae had briefly considered that Grusha had been called away for something, but had dismissed it quickly. After all, Gaucho and Ampere knew better than to try and separate the two of them. And besides, Grusha would have broken any secretive protocol for Tae. Surely she would have told her twin what she was up to? But hearing it from Zero was far different from coming up with the idea in her own tiny skull. Now, it seemed to make sense.

Remember when she would disappear, and then surprise you with a bunch of new bones? She thought to herself, nodding silently. That she hadn't said anything about. Maybe wherever she was with Mother ... maybe it was like that? A good sort of secret mission? And that she was with Mother seemed to make more sense to the girl as well.

 "Oh." She almost squeaked, and as Zero mentioned that they were to take extra good care of the herd, the mandible-marked filly nodded enthusiastically.  "Okay!" Warm relief flooded her veins and as it did, it pulled her body back together. She was a whole-girl again, normal(ish) - at least as normal as Tae could ever look.

The black canines are her side relaxed visibly. Mal even lowered himself into a laying-down position and began to lick the bottom of his paws. Hel, much more deligent than his common cousin did not, though he too appeared to relax and his gaze softened and fell away from Zero.

 "So..." Tae began, her excitement waning and giving way to something like slight confusion.  "What do we do now?"

Just you and me, big brother. It's just you and me.
The only difference was, Tae thought that it was only temporary.


@Zekle