Golden eyes focused on the horizon. The sun was rising above the treetops, brilliantly illuminating Phoenix Valley. A couple of rain clouds lingered in the distance, but it seemed for now that the sunshine would stick around. Xeris was standing by the shoreline, her feet warmed by the sparkling white sand. A small boat was moored in the shallow water, awaiting its occupants. Xeris kept her gaze steadfastly toward the distance, watching and waiting for Pendzez to arrive. The two of them had volunteered to help the pack out by checking on the supplies in Sanctuary Mansion. The white wolfess was excited; this would be like a thrilling adventure to her.


The children were at home and had been told not to leave the cabin. Xeris had made sure that they had plenty of food and supplies with them and assured them that their parents would arrive home before the end of the day. Though it was rather difficult, the ivory-furred wolfess was coming to terms with the fact that her children were becoming more and more independent and growing up. She still worried about them, and always would, but trusted them with following their parents' orders today.

It was not long before Xeris' golden eyes caught sight of her mate approaching, and she smiled, embracing him. "Hello, love." She smiled again at his compliment. He had always been so kind and she appreciated it. "Are you ready to go?" she asked, gesturing toward the boat. "I don't know much about navigation or where exactly this mansion is, but I think I'm ready."


Thankfully the sea was fairly calm today, the water clear and smooth. Xeris hoped that the trip to the small island wouldn't be too rough or long; this was the first time she would ever be on a boat and she wasn't sure what it would be like. She had already loaded the boat with the supplies that Jefferson wanted them to add to the mansion's stock: some wood, dried food and herbs. Looking out into the distance, she could barely see the outline of the island on the horizon. She wondered what kind of things they'd find there.

Xeris was happy to hear that her mate had been to this place before, for she certainly hadn't. In fact, she had never been on a boat before at all. She walked closer to the boat, looking it over. There would be plenty of room for both of them. The sail gently flapped in the wind, despite being closed for the moment. The reflection of the swaying boat and the gently moving fabric rippled in the water. It would be a good day. She thought to herself that she'd have to ask Pendzez about his earlier trip to the mansion. She wondered what it was like.


She smiled at Pendzez's comment about the children. "They're growing up," she replied. "And besides, if they take after you, they'll be fine on their own. I'm not too worried." The white wolfess walked over toward the boat. "Well, shall we get going?" Carefully, she set one foot in the wooden structure, balancing herself as it wobbled a little, and then climbed in rather awkwardly. She would let Pendzez take the lead here; he knew much more about this sort of thing.

Xeris watched her mate climb into the boat with her, before shifting her golden eyes to the sail that unfurled in the breeze. He seemed to be fairly skilled with this sort of thing, and for that she was happy. The boat would arrive at the island in about ten minutes, he said. That wasn't very long. Xeris moved over toward the mast, placing a hand against it and leaning on it gently. She looked over into the water, which was clear and beautiful, sparkling in the sunlight. Her thoughts were interrupted by Pendzez's question.


"Not lately," she replied. "But I'd quite like to learn some more." Xeris had always thought it interesting that Pendzez knew two languages; she didn't think anyone would be able to put in that kind of time and effort. But the foreign tongue was fascinating to her, and beautiful. She sat down beside Pendzez and looked to him, waiting to see what he had to tell her.

Xeris listened to Pendzez's Japanese lesson. It was such an odd language--then again, it was an odd thought that there were so many languages and so many ways to say the same things. Someday maybe she'd go to a place where a different language was spoken. It would be an interesting experience. "Kon-nich-iwa," the woman repeated. "Konn-ichi-wa." She played with the word for a moment, testing it. "Kon'nichiwa, Pendzez!" Xeris smiled, happy that the lesson was going well so far. Of course, it would probably get much more complicated soon, but for now she would focus on the basics.


The white wolfess' golden eyes strayed from her mate for a moment to look out on the horizon. She could see the outline of the mansion in the distance, getting closer with every moment. They would be there soon. Her heartbeat quickened a little bit at the thought of what awaited them inside. It would be an adventure. The kids would probably be jealous. Perhaps they could go out to the island as a family someday.

He seemed happy that she was learning, and this made Xeris even more pleased than she already was. Pendzez spoke a phrase, a bit more complicated and longer this time. "O gen-ki desu ka?" she sounded it out like he had. It seemed simple now, but surely the more complex words and phrases would up the difficulty of learning. She decided now to combine what she had learned. "Kon'nichiwa, Pendzez! O genki desu ka?" she spoke, the syllables sounding a little strange due to her still rather poor knowledge of the language. But the white wolfess smiled, knowing that she was making progress.


She noticed Pendzez looking toward the mansion as well, and he again mentioned that he had gone there before. He also mentioned DaVinci. It had been a while since Xeris had heard that name and even longer since she'd seen the wolf it belonged to. "Yes, I remember him. He was the first one I met here," she replied, thinking back to almost a year ago when she had first arrived in Phoenix Valley. "What exactly were the two of you doing out here?"

Xeris smiled at her mate's compliment, and listened to what he said about DaVinci. Pendzez didn't give a lot of detail about his and the former subleader's trip to the island--perhaps he didn't remember. But that quickly went out of her mind as she realized that the boat was getting very close to the little island. She could see the mansion much more clearly now. Xeris turned to Pendzez and pointed at the island. "Look, we're almost there," she commented. "Wow, I wonder how long that mansion has been out here..." It was odd, seeing such large buildings. Back at her birthplace there were hardly any buildings, and if they did still exist they were dilapidated and overgrown with plants.


"Right, so we're going to make sure there is enough stock for the pack," Xeris said, more to herself than to Pendzez; she was thinking aloud. She wondered what kind of things they would find inside. As the little boat came closer and closer to the shore, the white wolfess felt her heartbeat speed up a little in excitement.

Xeris was fascinated by the concept of architecture. How could someone create something as elegant and complex as this building? And furthermore, how could it withstand the test of time for so long? Humans were such an interesting thing to think about. If only she could read, Xeris would try to find out as much about the former dominant species as she could. Her father would have punished her heavily for thinking such thoughts, but she dismissed this notion. That was the past, and this was now. She could be whoever she wanted to be. And right now, she wanted to be the one to explore this mansion. According to Pendzez, it had probably been around since the 1800s. Xeris wasn't sure exactly how long ago that was, but she figured it must have been quite a while from the wear on the building's walls.


She took her mate's hand as he helped her out of the small boat, and stepped forward onto the island. It wasn't far to the entrance of the great building, and Xeris' curiosity had soon led her to its doors. It was so much fancier than the family's own little cabin in the Valley. Whoever lived here must have been important. "C'mon," she said to Pendzez excitedly, as she pulled gently on the door. It gave a creaking sound as it opened, its hinges rusted and worn from the years gone by. Her golden eyes peered inside; there wasn't much lighting but she could make out a hallway and several rooms. "Where should we go first?"

From Pendzez's description, it sounded like there was quite a lot of space to explore. He seemed to have a good idea of how to go about their mission, however, and she was thankful for that. Xeris nodded, and looked over toward the right side of the hall. "Sounds good to me," she replied, taking a few steps toward the closest room. There was no door in the frame there, and so Xeris walked right through it, eager to see what she could find.


The room was some sort of old parlor. Fancy furniture stood still in place on all sides, covered in a thick layer of dust. Xeris studied these human items carefully, amazed by their peculiar nature. While they were somewhat similar to the simple furniture back in the cabin, these things were, under the dust, more colorful and elegant. The white wolfess poked and prodded at fluffy cushions and throw pillows, marveling that the humans had been able to create such a wide variety of objects.


On the opposite wall was a door. Xeris turned the handle gingerly and it creaked open, revealing a room full of boxes and crates. Was this part of Phoenix Valley's emergency supply? She peered cautiously into one of the old wooden boxes, and found it full of large bottles. The bottles themselves contained some kind of dark-colored liquid. Xeris' father had told her, when she was young, of the "spirit drinks" that made humans into angry monsters and came in big glass bottles. She decided that this was obviously a human storeroom and not one of the Valley's, so she left, closing the door behind her. She then returned to the hallway and moved toward the next room. Perhaps she would find something in there...?

Xeris continued to wander about the empty house, and continued to find most of the same sorts of things as she had found before. She wondered where the Valley's storage was. Admittedly, Xeris wasn't searching particularly hard, being more fascinated by the human artifacts that remained. She soon came upon another closet, and opened it up. It still did not have the storage she was looking for. Instead, it contained clothing--very fancy clothing. Xeris looked through it briefly, but didn't see anything particularly exciting. She closed the old, squeaky door again and continued to the next room.


This next room, she found, was bigger than the others. It, too, was filled with boxes. The white wolfess leaned over and looked into one of them. Inside, she found more bottles, but these contained water. The next box contained what seemed to be meat, with a salty smell and very dry-looking. This had to be it. "Pendzez!" Xeris called out, hoping her mate could hear her. "I think I found it!"