Sourness and Sunshine

"Amilla, this is Myranda - she's our Luna, and my friend. We wanted to come and help down here and see if you needed more hands...or paws...whichever is more needed" Lara greeted a strawberry blonde coated female whose eyes were as beautiful as the shining sea.

"Oh, hello Lara," Amilla greeted with a smile on her mouth, and then she turned to Myranda and merely bowed as though someone had tugged her down like a puppet.

"Oh- please, don't bow to me. I'm just here to see where I am most useful. I used to make pastries, so I figured I could use my practice of layering sheets of dough delicately," Myranda offered a smile in her eyes, but the young wolf before here merely nodded and slid her eyes away as if avoiding having to look into Myranda's.

Luckily, she was used to that. Others had avoided her mismatched orbs her entire life. Plus, her spotty and blotchy coat didn't help. It wasn't seen often in their kind, and never in the upper classes. These refugees weren't from the inside of the mountain, either - they knew other practices and cultural norms, ones that Myranda was entirely alien to, and was possibly teetering into the unknown taboos.

Introducing herself to the female core of their pack was more awkward that she thought it would be. She felt instant discomfort and fear- and right on cue, she could feel Metas trying to suck the feelings away from her, and replace them with his calm and collected nature.

It helped a lot, and she swore she could feel her bones forcing herself to sit upright as thought she was meant to be there, and not some shy intruder.

"Well, if you truly want to help, we could use some weavers, or at least someone who knows how to layer cloth or sheets...." Amilla spoke as though she were rolling through an invisible list in her mind.

"Oh, I can do that. I used to make pastries - and layering dough can't be much different than sheets, can it?" Myranda replied with a smile, but the expression from Amilla was returned with indifference.

"Sure, come this way. You can help the other kids..." Amilla said and sighed.

Lara frowned, but Myranda seemed pleased. As soon as Myranda walked forward, Lara followed and kept an eye on Amilla as she led the way to where the younger kids were sitting in their mortal forms braiding, weaving, and layering strips of linens in a small circle.

Myranda's presence caused them to gasp and look at her with wonder.

"Hello, I'm Myranda. Would you mind if I helped you?"

"Aren't you a adult? You should be there," a small sandy-haired boy pointed over to a group of females about Myranda's age who were working on much larger swaths of cloths.

"Let's not ask our Luna to do too much hard work, Aegis" Amilla corrected with a smile - but one of those snide ones that meant something sinister rather than kind.

"Ah, well - maybe you just need someone to come and join you so you don't feel so lonely?" Myranda said as though she hadn't heard a word Amilla had said.

"Aegis, right? I'm Myranda - you can call me Myri if you'd like," she added and took a seat next to them and shifted into her mortal form so that she, too could use her fingers to braid the edges of what looked like hand-woven bandages.

"Are we doing something wrong?" A young red-head asked with wide grey eyes that looked terrified as she gazed upon her Luna.

"Not at all, little one. I just wanted to help where it was needed, and I was pointed here. In fact, you can teach me how to do the edges if you'd like to. I don't want to mess up your hard work," the Luna replied with a softness she reserved for her niece - who she was sorely missing right now.

In a way - it was cathartic to be able to sit around souls that had not yet been marred by life's harsher lessons. Somehow, these kids were able to push past their traumas and were smiling and giggling at one another.

So Myranda followed their example, and she took gave them reassured smiles and compliments.

Amilla merely let off a, "I'll leave you be, then." Just as she finished one sentence, the reddish gold haired beauty turned to the white furred Lara and put back on a smile, "you could be used in the female's group over there. Plus. Ishta wanted to talk to you about something, but I forgot what..."

"I think it would be wise our Luna came with me....She has yet to meet any of them," Lara replied in hopes she could get her friend a more suitable situation, but before she could argue more on behalf of Myranda, she was preemptively cut off.

"It's alright, Lara. No task is too small, and it helps me feel a little closer to Syri....I miss her a lot, so this is good for me," the dignified Luna looked up to her closest friend and gave her an honest smile.

"Alright, but let me know if you need me," the Lady-in-waiting offered and then turned with Amilla to head towards the gaggle of females who were chatting and bonding.

Lara's respect for the blondie at her side had diminished, and Myranda had none for the rude young lady who had so rudely given her a back-handed compliment and purposefully assigned her a 'low' task.

There was something up with that one...and if she was stupid, she would have written off the young wolf - but the Luna had been betrayed one too many times to rest on her laurels. No, that one was a red flag four miles wide.

"Miss Myri - how did you become our Luna?"

"Do you like being the Luna?"

"Oh oh - can I be Luna one day?"

The questions were popped off towards her like budding husks of corn in hot oil. At first, she was overwhelmed - but that immediately subsided as the collection of innocent gazes fell upon her with wonder.

"Well - I met Metas when he came to my bakery and we discovered we were mates..." she started

"I love being the Luna because I get to be by the wolf I love, and I can sit here with you pups and have some fun instead of having to be the strong wolf that Alpha Metas has to be....and yes, anyone can be Luna someday. I mean, I never thought I would. I was just a baker - and Metas changed all of that," Myranda finished with a smile and some warm cheeks.

"Ooooh, I want the Alpha to change my life forever~" a coal-haired boy trilled as he appeared to finish up braiding the edge of the patch he was on.

"I think you are going to get your wish, young one. He's going to change all of our lives for the better. He's fighting so hard so that what Silas did will never happen again. So if this is where we need to be to help him, then here we will be."

The children seemed to be instantly in love with the Luna, as they felt at ease, and comfortable with her warmth. In truth, Myranda hadn't lied to Lara - this truly was helping her with the pang of longing she had over Syri.

It was nice to bring sunshine to those who enjoyed it the most - and who needed to be reminded it was still around.

At least one group of their pack was on her side immediately, and just as Metas had said to her once - the smallest of anyone could make the biggest impact.