Early mornings in Rekes were peaceful, especially during Kerah. The thick snow running down the outside of the Obsidian Mountain muffled the sounds of various wildlife and even the few members of Xione who were up early for patrols. With the dual suns still hidden under the horizon, one might think it would be dark, but the three moons hung gently in that endless void above, setting visual fire to the whiteness below.

The stark black of the rough stone where snow fell away made strange shapes in the shadows. One might even think a tiny stranger or two was approaching with intent to cause harm, but Cepheus was not afraid. As Prime Minister of his own colony, he could rest peacefully with the knowledge that his rest would not be intruded upon.

"Papa?"

Cepheus's eyes flashed open at the sudden intrusion. He lifted his head from his pillow, squinting at the two small shapes that were in fact two young tsabhua whelps. "Cygnus? Ara? What do you two want?" he groaned as he stretched his neck around, tensing his muscles until joints cracked satisfactorily.

Cygnus, the paler of the two, grinned. They were both cloaked in white, with holes breaking through to show their base coats and markings. From different mothers but his all the same, the two were inseparable. Cygnus was born to a mother in a colony that Cepheus had visited during one of his various travels, while Ara was the sole child (so far) of Delphinus, Xione's second in command. As Cygnus's mother was far separated, Delphinus had taken Cygnus in as her own.

Speaking of Delphinus, the brick tsabhua entered the room beside the blue and white form of Scorpius, one of their junior Archivists. Delphinus spotted the children right away and stormed over, ready to scold them. "Ara, Cygnus. It is well after your bedtime and well before your time to rise!" As Commander, Delphinus had the honor of having an awful sleep schedule, which left her more often than not in a worse mood than an awoken bear's. Scorpius followed behind quietly, picking up the scattered papers Delphinus had dropped in her haste.

"Delphinus..." He sighed. "it's fine." Cepheus said with a very wide yawn. He stayed lying down to meet the children's eyes, for they were still very shy of their full height. Of the original Three, he was neither the shortest nor the tallest. The title of tallest went to Delphinus, who blinked at him in surprise. The title of shortest went to Cassiopeia, who was gratefully asleep in a different dwelling. "What's the matter, little ones?"

Ara looked at Cygnus awkwardly, then stepped forward. "Papa, one of the other whelps was calling Ursa names, saying real mean things." As she said this, the tiny dark form of Ursa appeared. Scorpius looked on in concern as Ursa, his son, shuffled about. The two could not look further apart - Scorpius had blues masked with white that wrapped up around his midsection while Ursa's neck starkly lit against the rest of his black coat, dotted with pale stars and a soft wash of roan.

"Sir," Ursa muttered, avoiding eye contact with his own father and the Prime Minister.

"Ursa, what have they been saying?" Cepheus asked gently, patting the ground before him with an outstretched hand. The boy approached meekly, peering back at Cygnus and Ara, both of whom nodded in encouragement before shuffling over to Delphinus, where they nuzzled up against her to soothe her frayed wits.

"They said my mama and my papa were siblings... and it's real," he sniffed hard, trying to clear his weeping nose enough to speak, "Real weird that papa and me ain't the same color, must mean he ain't my real pa." Ursa was avoiding eye contact with his father hard now.

"Ursa, that's ridiculous," Scorpius said, stepping out of Delphinus's shadow to approach the boy. Ara gave a thumbs up from under her mother's belly mane. "Of course I'm your father. There's no question about that. Her colony and ours are nearly neighbors, and besides your brother, she's the only tsabhua even close." Scorpius's voice was clear and sincere and he placed a hand gently on his son's shoulder.

Ursa gazed up at his father, tears in his little eyes, then nodded and looked at Scorpius, who had a somewhat awkward look on his face that he hurried to mask. "Mister Cepheus Sir?" The boy looked at him in confusion, keenly picking up on the expression.

Cepheus said, clearing his throat and attempting to distract. "See, nothing to-"

"What about the siblings thing?" Cygnus blurted out while Ara gasped and Delphinus gave her a light smack on the back of her head.

"Ah, yes. About that." Cepheus frowned at Scorpius, who shuffled away with an abashed look. "They are not siblings but there is some shared blood. Your mother, Terris, her mother was Scorpius's grandmother, though through a different father."

Ara blinked in confusion, looking over at Scorpius. "So, what, you're... cousins?"

"Terris is Scorpius's half aunt," Delphinus said without emotion, checking her nails. "Though from my understanding, the common relative - Dreggi - is mother or grandmother to almost all tsabhua with roan in this continent, before she joined Tagovoa." The natives were... very prolific before they moved into colonies. It was almost inevitable that at some point, the abandoned children and grandchildren of the natives would find themselves seeking comfort in their unknown relatives, only to find out down the line that they were in fact related. Sometimes, those unions led to unfortunate ends - thankfully, Ursa and his brother had avoided any such fates.

"That's... interesting," Cygnus said, statement obviously changign when Ara elbowed her mid sentence. "Hey! Maybe one day we can go meet Dreggi so you can know who she is!"

"So you can see the reason for all the rumors," Ara agreed thoughtfully.

"Can we?!" Ursa asked, eyes lit up. "I mean, it's weird. Dad, that's weird. Kinda gross." But it is what is is. "Maybe if we meet her we can tell everybody she's a badass!"

"Language!" Scorpius yelped, "Especially in front of the Prime Minister and Commander!" he looked apologetically to the older two. "Sir, Commander, I'm so sorry for my son's lack of tact.. he's young and doesn't know what he's saying!"

"Ah, perhaps when you're older," Cepheus said, patting Scorpius's foreleg with the back of his hand gently as a platitude. "For now... don't worry about what other whelps say. They're full of shit." He grinned and the whelps burst into wild giggles.

By now, the sunlight was starting to lift over the horizon, taunting those who had limited sleep with the approach of daylight. Cepheus eyed the horizon mournfully and turned to the children again. "For now, go back to your quarters and play quietly until the suns are above the sea." He shoo'd them and they ran off, chattering excitedly. He smiled after them until they'd clearly gone far enough, and then his smile fell.

"Delphinus, find out which whelps are running their mouths," he said, voice taking on a cold edge. "Infighting within the colony will not stand."

Delphinus gave a sharp nod and trotted away, leaving the two males alone in the cave.

"You should have been more careful," Cepheus stated evenly, staring out after Delphinus. "Things like this can ruin a colony."

Scorpius looked down, picking at his claws. "I know, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

Cepheus waved him off and turned back to his pillow, a scowl on his face. The blue male sighed a breath of relief and scampered off to begin the tasks of the day.