There was something wrong with her. Something nobody else seemingly understood. Everyone was so... happy. Why didn't she feel the same? Why couldn't she summon up the same emotions as everyone else? What did they have to be happy about? The hybrid stared into the lagoon, silent on the outside. On the inside, however, the sound of screaming filled her ears. Ugly. Fat. Stupid. Misshapen. The words repeated, over and over again in her mind. She didn't want to hear them. It was almost as if someone else where telling her that.

She wanted to cry. But Baroque always did that, so it would be pointless. She wondered, only briefly, why he always cried. He seemed happy anyway. Happier than her, at least. The lights in Pisces had dimmed already - from somewhere near by, she knew her family were asleep. Her mother and father lying side-by-side, their love and pride for their perfect children lulling them into peaceful sleep. They're proud of the other two. Not you, said the nagging voice in her head. She mentally told it to shut up, and it went back to it's chanting. Baroque was probably with them, and Cadenza somewhere else where her dignity wouldn't be torn to shreds.

Sonata, however, couldn't sleep. She stared into the water at herself. Hypnotized was a good word for it - she couldn't look away. Her eyes focused on at every imperfection, the uncoloured patched on her fur, her misshapen snout. Her big feet, her scraggly fur. She closed her eyes. Fat. Ugly. Stupid. Misshapen.

Slowly, she turned her head and began to lick and groom at the fur clinging to her already thin body.

Baroque was trying, oh Caves he was trying. It seemed basically impossible for him not to burst into tears about everything-- but the fact of the matter was that everything was simply too overwhelming and his inability to function seemed to only acerbated the problem.

There was only one thing that little boy Barry could do. He clung to his sisters as much as they would let him, often fumbling and bumbling his way after them... But sometimes he just didn't know if it was okay to tag along. For now his eldest sister had got caught up in something-- his blue gaze had lost her in the misty air of the waterfall--

But thankfully, he had found Sonata. She seemed to hate everything he did... Well, they both did. They both seemed to hate it when he cried and he just didn't know how to stop. Even thinking of it as he stumbled over to her, big heavy paws tripping over every inch of stone and slippery moss, he wanted to cry.

Barry hadn't realized it was dimlight time, and therefore bedtime, for if he had he would have ran into his parents den and promptly tried to get them to tell him a No Scaries Bedtime Approved ™ Story. As it was, he got his big chubby rump over to Sonata and sniffled just once as he, for the first time, forced himself to look at her fierce, fiery gaze.

"Um... hey sis..."

Baroque

@Sonata

Sonata didn't move for a moment, perhaps not realising Baroque was there despite him actually speaking. Slowly, however, her head turned towards him. She didn't want company and she sure didn't really want the company of somebody was crying. She was supposed to be the one that was crying, after all. She felt her words escape her throat, involuntarily. "What do you want?" They were sour, dripping with venom. The truth was, she didn't want to hurt her own brother. She felt as if her limbs were being puppeted as her entire body turned to face him. She didn't want to. She just wanted to be alone.

"Are you going to cry?" her own words. For once. She felt half of her own expression soften - pieces of muscle on her face relaxing. There was no scowl or sneer on her face now; she couldn't risk Baroque falling into tears. It was late. They were supposed to be asleep and she'd get into trouble for making him cry.

Besides. Maybe she could do with the company.

@Baroque

It took a moment before his sister responded at all to him, and when she did finally turn to look at him she spat out a vicious hiss that made him recoil. He didn't mean to be bothering her, but there he was, clearly intruding. He thought about running away, maybe trying to go find his other sister. That enough was to bring him to the verge of tears, but then Sonata asked him if he was going to cry.

The cub tightened his lower lip and shook his head, holding back his emotions. He wasn't going to be a big baby-- and she wasn't trying to be mean. He had just bothered her, interrupted whatever she was doing. The grizzly lion stepped over to his sister and settled down next to her. "Is it okay if I hang out with you?" He asked her softly, looking down at his paws all shy like.

Baroque

@Sonata

What a cry-baby. Sonata turned her head back to the water. "Knock yourself out," she said simply. Now in the water, was her and her brother. For a moment, the eternal mantra in her head ceased as she gazed at the golden-brown blur of her brother's reflection in the lagoon. For now, it seemed as though his overwhelming emotions might tear him apart, but the voice in Sonata's head told her he'd grow up to be like their father.

Their father. Big. Strong. Powerful. She loved her father more than anything else, really. Her gaze shifted from the water to Baroque himself. He resembled father a lot. "What do... you and Cadence... do?"" she asked quietly.

Baroque felt quite a bit better when his sister didn't push him away. He loved both of his sisters equally, but he didn't really know if either of them liked him back anywhere near as much. Cadence sure did a lot with him, but she had a way of making him feel weak and small-- and Sonata just outright seemed angry all the time. His ears twitched as Sonata asked him a question.

The bear hybrid stared down at their reflections, admiring his sisters bright white fur. She was so pretty, and she looked just like mom with the mark on her cheek. She had dad's brilliant, bright eyes, and she was tall and graceful-- everything he wished he could be. He closed his eyes as he turned his head to her, staring at her cheek mark, and then he looked away towards the rolling hills of moss. It was about then that he realized how late it had become and he frowned, long tail swishing behind him.

He... He could stay out here until mom and dad came and found them. "I dunno... Cadence talks a lot, and I listen to her... She tries to get me to wrestle but she always wins... You know, you could always come play tag or hide and seek with us." In fact, he wasn't really sure why Sonata often didn't play with them. "What do you... do?"

Baroque

@Sonata