69 AU 515 AV
When Syna's drowsy hands reached over Endrykas and set the frost of the night before alight in glittering starshine, Ruari was ready for it; she was perched in the entrance to the Pavilion shared by much of the family, watching the star-patterns that sparkled under the dawn light before they were trampled by the feet of the Darkwind family.
She admired the cold light of the sun, the way it seemed so distant and unkind, but with the knowledge that Syna, as with any goddess with her own time and her own likes, had chosen to give her attention to climes deemed prettier. They may disagree on that, but Ruari could forgive the goddess of joy and sun. After all, it was said that defying Syna had a way of earning a person blindness.
Behind her, Ruari could hear the cooking of the previous night's food being warmed up on coals from the fire brought inside. The smell of sizzling goat, seasoned the way she liked it, had her stomach rumbling and she slowly retreated from the door, signing affection for Rhoswen as she retreated.
"Daughter," Cidhna Darkwind, with his red hair in a tangled knot and a blanket tied around his body like a toga, pressed a rough kiss to the crown of his daughter's head. She huffed at him, playfully put out, and slipped away, allowing a previously unseen Wynda to leap at her father with a loud shriek. Ruari evaded both child and man as she sought out food, settling down upon a pillow and watching with the ferocity of a hungering cub for her birth mother, Elise, to finish her work.
Cidhna joined soon after, Wynda curiously not clinging to his shoulders and instead carried by her own mother. Other family joined, roused by delighted giggles Wynda exclaimed when Ailsa tickled her, and sat in a loose group, either to await their turn to reheat their food or in expectation of Elise making enough for them all. Cidhna made the effort to greet them all, loud and affectionate.
