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Sindri had to hurry, or she was going to be late for the party she'd been trying so hard to spread the word of! Of all the worries she had ever given her Father(s) and was like to continue to proffer each potentially heart-attack-risking event with the same apologetic, sweet smile that had always gotten her out of trouble before.... this should not be one of them. He was trying so hard to carry on, especially after each and nearly each one of his children were drifting on the wind or back within the embrace of their ancestors - it would be cruel, now, to not be home when she promised she would. To make him fear something had happened to his last daughter. His last child, the only one of the litter not assumed dead or personally buried.
She would never forget the way she thought her heart would tear from her chest, the day she found Bragi had gone. She blamed herself - if she'd been more attentive of Apollo, perhaps, he would've pulled through his infection. He would've lived. Her sister wouldn't have lost him, and she wouldn't have lost her sister. Then again, Bragi always had seemed tortured by something Sindri couldn't see nor soothe, and however much she'd tried, she'd never been able to feel as though her littermate had really assimilated into this life of theirs. Maybe out there... she had found something else. Maybe the sea had taken her back as it had Trygve, and she was with Apollo again.

Or maybe she was right here on this fucking MOUNTAIN?

Sindri thought she was dreaming, at first, or simply wishing for a life she didn't have anymore. Her hormones were running rampant, her thoughts were swarmed with Fenglan and returning home, and she was lost in nostalgia. The first faint wisp of a scent went merely sighed at, and the dappled Cupiddottir carried on forward. Was over the mountain quicker than around? She wasn't sure anymore, but she was still trying to see as much as possible on her way home! The cliffs would afford her some distant glances at lands still yet untouched by her paws, and she told herself she would go further, next time.

Whenever that would be.

When Bragi's scent drifted to her again, stronger, more solid, Sindri nearly tripped off the cliff. It couldn't be, she thought, but couldn't it? She knew the chances of her littermate being dead were as equal to her chances of finally having snapped and run off. Why did it surprise her, the idea that she might've been hiding here watching over the island all the time?
Well. It didn't smell so strongly of her, but still.

Where had she been?

What had she been doing?

Why wasn't she home, with them? If she couldn't stand it there anymore without her son, then why not at least a goodbye?

Sindri, all too well aware that she stank to high hell and back, pulled herself onto level land and picked up into a trot, ears on a swivel. A single bark left her; curious, summoning, disbelieving. Astraios soared high above, gravely silent save for a single who-hoot as if calling with her, his shadow dancing on the stony path just ahead of her nose. The sun had fled from the sky, leaving a bit of a chill to the summer night, but it wasn't entirely dark yet either. Twilight wrapped the world in pastel purples, and at the very edge of the far horizon, navy began to bleed onto the vast canvass.

Somewhere out there, her sister. Sindri wouldn't let her hide, not now. Not this time. Even if she didn't want to come home, Sin deserved the goodbye she never got in the first place. Bragi deserved an apology she'd never allowed her sister to offer.

She doesn't look the same.
This was Sindri's first thought, but then followed: that's ridiculous. Just look at her! It's Bragi! But she was not folded into herself, cowering, waiting for a strike from some invisible hand. She looked, perhaps, a bit unsure - but in the way Sindri felt when she wasn't sure what way to follow the island's crest to mark the borders or which bit of prey to choose from the cache for a midnight snack, not... the way that made her want to lord her tiny little frame close to her sister and glare at anyone else who might've approached Bragi like some angry mother hen.

She broke into a run when that pelt of star-speckled midnight came into view, and cantered with glee to meet her littermate, heartache placed aside. For now, all that mattered was that she was here, and she was okay!

Bragi, she called back, voice cracking, and tossed her heels in wild joy; Astraios hoot'ed again and dipped to claw playfully at one of her ears before soaring up, up, up, in a spiral to enjoy the night sky. Sindri had to veer to the side to avoid collision, putting on the breaks hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust with the gravel scattered in her wake. Sister! She reared as she twisted to face the other girl, but was careful to avoid contact, knowing that Bragi wasn't one for being jumped on and wrestled with.

She fell to her paws, a grin splitting her maw and tail wagging wildly. I have missed you so.

Now there was some small amount of surprise when Bragi bowed to meet her, but it was easily swept away in the heat of the moment. They were both excited! It had been some time! For goodness sakes, Sindri had thought her DEAD. Then Bragi surged forward and grabbed her, drew her in, and hugged her. No hesitation, no shaking limbs, no muscles quaking against the urge to pull away!

Bragi just hugged her.

Sindri's already glassy gaze welled with tears that spilled into her fur, and she grasped her littermate back with a fervor she'd restrained for so, so long, searching for that sisterly connection they both had lost at every other turn in their short lives.

What am I doing here? Sindri's voice pealed with laughter. You're the one everyone's been missing!

She rubbed her head along Bragi's shoulder lovingly.

I'm out telling people about Skjǫldrheim, she flicked an ear, glad, at least, to hear that Bragi had been trying to return. Didn't she remember the way back from here? Fate's Respite was right there, and they had visited! A tiny, quiet red flag fluttered in the back of her mind, but out of reach.

WHAT did she roll in? Sindri laughed again. It's my heat, Bragi. She must never have noticed the smell of it before. Come to think of it, had she ever noted it? Perhaps her own hadn't struck her yet. Sin stuck out her tongue, cheeky.

'How'd you get an owl?'

This banner was not out of sight nor tinted by the rosy glasses of their reunion. Sindri blinked, head tipping and tail stilling.

'How long have I been gone?'

Months, she breathed quietly, I've been worried about you. We all have, Bragi. We thought you were dead.

A frown creased her features, however slightly.

You don't remember Astraios? He would be quite offended, were he close enough to hear! He had helped dig Bragi's son from his rubble, flown above them on many walks, spent moons growing alongside them. Bragi, did you hit your head? Tyr and she had saved the young bird over a year ago!