Saul gave a chuckling laugh as her silvery head whipped round and she almost came nose to nose with him. Perhaps he should have introduced himself first, coughed or made it obvious he was behind her instead of startling her with a snap to her heels. But he was feeling a little disappointed today and therefore lacked the usual lighthearted tones that he had most days. Uncharacteristicly, Magnolia greeted him with a shy note to her tone, although the young male thought it probably had more to do with uncertainty that anything. Perhaps she was not allowed to venture too far away from home. Still, he gave a soft smile to her 'hi', finding it unnessecary to comment further on her greeting, considering the fact that he had already said hi to her first. She seemed to perk up however and told him what she was doing.


"Frogs? Well, I dont know about that Maggie! Maybe their all hiding from you!"


He teased with a smile and a ruffle to her head with his paw. He was in his lupus form, despite his ability to shift and he preferred this form just fine. Maybe he would warm to his optime form when he was older, but right now four paws seemed like a perfectly right number. And beside, he assumed his height would have freaked the young female out anyway. Being at her level made it much easier to play and talk, definate advantages. She spoke again and Saul gave a laugh. He was pretty sure all the frogs had returned to their brith places to breed, or so he had read about. But Maggie probably wouldn't understand that. So instead, he teased her once again.


"Or maybe their sleeping? We should go to the spring and see if there are any there- they like water"


Came his jovial response. Despite his disappointment at winter killing the grape vines, the energy of the Monroe girl was cheering him up. Tail wagging softly, he moved aside to let Maggie take the lead, a large smile on his face once more.


word count;; 349

"speech"

Green eyes danced softly as Maggie turned and scrunched her face up to try and make herself look annoyed. It didnt really work it it just made the Stormbringer male laugh to see her face all screwed up like that. He tried to mimick her face but just managed to make himself look constipated. Her cute voice made him listen and he could see how their mother would bend to their every wish. She was a very persuasive girl and Saul couldnt help but feel empathy for her as she asked him why the frogs would hide from her. Of course, a wolf a little bit older would understand that he was teasing, but he forgot that young puppies didn't quite understand sarcasm yet. He was about to explain it to her, or take it back either way, before she caught onto his word of water and seemed to be away.


Silvery body whisked away from him and for a moment Saul was gripped by a desire to drag her back to her mother. But puppied would never be contained and her trust in him would be broken if he were a worry guts. So with a laugh Saul took off after her. She was fast for a puppy, but no match for his longer and well muscled legs. He ran every morning and he was very good at it. Still, he didnt want to beat her and he hung back, taking large and slow strides to make it look as thought he were falling behind whilst still keeping her well in his sights. He already knew she was the adventurous type and he didnt fancy having to scoop her out of the river because she ran headlong into it. She stopped and waited for him to catch up, at which point Saul started to pant loudly as though she were too fast for him.


"You're too fast for me you know! Now, where are these frogs?"


He demanded with a crooked grin. He began sniffing around, knowing that there probably wouldnt be any frogs here. But he didnt mind playing this game with her. Tail waving in the air like a banner, Saul began to search by the water, green eys checking on Maggie every few moments to make sure he would be able to stop her if she fell in. That would be a disasterous way to hand her back to her mother- soaking wet from the river.


word count;; 410

"speech"

There was something so young about Magnolia and her sisters that made Saul's heart ache for a moment. It made him realise that he never really had a childhood- his grandmother had made sure that they had no mother and their own father was never cut out for parenthood. He apparently wasnt made of the stuff usual dads were made of and he didnt get along well with young pups. Saul and his siblings, until now, hadnt been in the same place at the same time since they were probably born. Though Shiloh hadn't returned yet Saul always held out hope that, if his father did anything for them, he would return their pristine sister and leave again. Saul didnt hate his father but there was a certain dislike for the man that didnt appear to have a backbone in bringing his children up. So Saul was a touch jealous of the young girls for their youth when he had been robbed of his.


The disappointed look on the silver females face was heartbreaking, but Saul had known all along that there would be no frogs here today. And by the time they came about in the spring Maggie would probably find them uninteresting. An apologetic smile curved his lips along with the strong urge to tell the little girl 'I told you so'. However, Saul recognised that this perhaps wasnt the best response to the girl and so crept forward to have a look for himself- just in case. He lifted rocks with his nose and nuzzled into the reeds around the spring before looking back into her mint green eyes.


"I'm sorry Maggie. Maybe they're sleeping because of the cold?"


He offered with a small lick to the little girls head. She wasnt family, techinically, but Saul felt a certain connection to almost everyone in Dahlia and considered them extended family of some sort. The small like to the girls darker head was a casual lick, nothing meaningful- something meant to comfort. She spoke again and Saul bit back the remark that everything was hibernating. He was pretty certain that the fish, though sluggish, were still active. Green eyes made a quick sweep over the riverbed and was pleased to see a flash of silver as a fat fish moved this way and that. However before he could tell Maggie about the fish before she made a break away from the water. It was obvious what she intended to do.


"Maggie, you'll scare the fish away!"


There was a soft hint of panic in his voice. It was coming into winter and though Saul had gained control of all three forms he didnt know if he would calm down enough to help the little girl out of the freezing water. She didnt have her adult coat and therefore her soft down fuzz was permeable to water. She would surely be freezing. Maybe he could distract her with the fish and she wouldnt hurl herself into freezing water today.



word count;; 410

"speech"