Horrayz for puppeyz~! X3

Ralla had never been so furious with her brother as she had been when he attacked one of her friends. She had gone off looking for Kemo shortly thereafter, and all had been settled...somewhat... She had seen her brother back to the territory boundary of Cour des Miracles before returning back to AniWaya; confused of what to do, eager to move around. So she began a journey way north--somewhere, anywhere--away from all the madness. She remembered to steer clear of the new Cercatori d'Arte pack this time, but she kept on to the place where she had first met Talitha. Ethereal Eclipse was the same as always, even in winter; dark, crowded with trees, but as beautiful as its name suggested. She wondered what had become of her one-time drinking companion--the memory of that bottle still tucked in her head--and what she had been doing. Even if Ralla met people ever so briefly, she thought of all pleasant aquaintances as friends.

After a few days of riding on Sugar's back--his high-stepped stride and persistant attitude more than enough to overcome the snow--they arrived at the same place that she had met Talitha earlier that year; the scent trail to the place was long gone, but Ralla remembered. It was places like that, she thought, that bound them all together. It was a bright evening that day, the winter months keeping the sun awake for a few more hours before letting it set. Soon darkness would overpower their lands, and Ralla would enjoy the company of fire all the more.

Dismounting Sugar and bringing him to the spot beside the boulder, the gelding quarter horse settling down on his legs as Ralla leant against him, comfortable in the chilled snow. She knew she was close to the Dahlia de Mai territory markers, but she was not trespassing as of yet. She could reminisce and enjoy the day of quiet as she wished, couldn't she? With almost contradictory intentions, she set to work creating a fire with supplies from a pack to warm her and her mount, humming the same tune that she had been entranced by after hearing it from a gypsy luperci.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

*could die from the cuteness* XD

Ralla had not gone without noticing the slight scuffling of tiny paws and scent of one of Dahlia's. The paw steps were too short and quick, though, to give off an indication of a large wolf. In fact, the beats had the same rythmn as something of much smaller stature. There was no foreboding feeling, though, and since she was near their borders after all, she gave no threatening or suspicious signs. She heard Sugar's short snort of low speech--that of which she could pick up broken bits of--with an amused undertone in his horse talk. He had said something like 'small wolf here.' Small wolf? A pup? From the corner of her eye she saw a pup indeed trot forth fearlessly to stand beside her as she tried to light the tinder. She had to admire this pup--and worry for it and herself--for being out of the territory markers. Were his parents around? It wasn't as if she would harm the pup, she just wondered if any of the Dahlians would take unkindly to her interaction with one of their young ones.

"That big wolfie," he said. Did he mean Sugar? The way he spoke made Ralla's heart melt instantly, reminding her of Desiree back in AniWaya. Ralla had always loved pups, and so she had had no trouble playing and babysitting Desiree back in the tribe when Ralla had once been an Itse. Sadly, the most time she had to spend with her friend's daughter was when she was teaching her about the Great Fire, now that Ralla had been promoted. "That's not a wolf, little one; it's a horse. They're like big prey, but they help us in many tasks instead of us eating them." she explained in a soft tone, kneeling to be closer to his height, putting off the fire-lighting until she figured out what the pup was doing way out there near evening; especially in the cold snow. "What are you doing out here?" She noticed the grasses in his mouth, and smiled. "Are you foraging for your pack? Do they know that you're way out here?" It was not unlike Ralla to worry about a wolf's well-being and safety. There were plenty of predators and other rival packs that would glady hunt a pup in a heartbeat, sad as she was to admit it. The pup was interesting, in more than one aspect. His eyes were two colors--exotic, to say the least--and his naivete was endearing. But his scent... Although it was specifically Dahlian, something piqued a further interest in this cub...something familiar? It must be the tinder bits getting to my nose, she reasoned with herself.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

Awww, he ish forgiven <3 If I'm not careful, puppies are gonna assassinate me one day o.0

Ralla's smile brightened as she watched the tan pup's antics, covering her mouth as a snicker almost broke through when she saw him realize his predicament with the grasses as well as his blunt forwardness. "Gideon?" Ralla had never heard the name. "Well, your father's very confident in you to let you explore outside the borders still so young." "Do you name it?" the young pup asked. It? Oh, 'he', she thought as the pup corrected himself. "The horse? That's Sugar. He's a very good friend of mine and has gotten me places that I've need to have gone ever since I came to Nova Scotia. Would you like to say hello?" Ralla knew that he had already said 'hello' in his own way, but Sugar could be patient and let the pup climb over him, if the pup so desired. Besides, even if she didn't offer, Ralla had a feeling that the pup might've gone on and tried it anyway.

"What's your name, little one? Mine is Ralla," she said as she gently lifted him by the scruff away from the tinder for safety, as were most pups his age. His fur was soft, and she felt a pang of adoration for the cuteness that seemed to endow any and all young ones. "Hold back for a minute; I don't want to burn you." With a few more strikes of the flint stone that had become a part of her tools, some gentle blowing, and a little more dry tinder, the fire took and began to consume the large logs. It was slow to start, what with all the snow, but the warmth was well worth the wait. They were deep into winter now, and Ralla wondered just how long the winters lasted in Nova Scotia; worrying predominantly for the coming of spring.

"So, is there anything you want to be when you grow up?" Ralla would welcome this newcomer to her fire, of course, and she knew how to keep a pup talking and entertained. Discussing their dreams was always a way to get them excited, and if they didn't know, there were always tales to inspire them.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

It's alright; I fail too. Already behind in SSWM :S Also, the story is completely made-up, but the song is: DISCLAIMED- I do not own in any way, shape, or form "Sora" by Yoko Kanno (which is not mentioned in this post >.>).

Ralla had laughed at the child's description of his father. His laughter was like tiny bells--as she perceived most pups' laughs to be--but was confused when he said Nova Scotia as if he didn't know what it meant. Perhaps he was still to young to know geography, even though the place was his home? But I remember... Some wolves refer to this place as 'Souls'. I wonder why...? She would ask around on that matter on a later date. For now, she had a seemingly energetic pup who had just introduced himself as Range, and the fire was welcoming as the pup looked inquisitivly to Sugar. "I'm sure he says thank you," she replied for Sugar. "He won't say anything directly back to you, because he doesn't know high speech, which is what we wolves speak," she explained fully, just in case Range didn't know the different speeches yet.

Once she had lifted Range away, she turned to see him looking at the fire with wide eyes. Not the eyes of someone who had never seen it before, but perhaps those of fascination, or of one who had never been so close. She would have to watch to make sure he didn't actually try to touch the flame, as some pups were wont to do. "Yes, burn. Fire is a great and terrible creature. It both gives and takes; helps and hurts. It gives us light and warmth, but do you see the wood in it? It eats the wood, and anything dry or soft." She remembered what her father had first done when she was introduced to fire. Instead of stopping her from touching it, he had allowed her to stick her hand in and get burned. His reasoning had been that she would never learn the lesson unless she did it herself. While she had hated her father for it, holding grudges just didn't seem possible in the white wolfess's heart. "You must be careful to never touch fire directly, Range."

As Range laid on his stomach to watch the fire, Ralla chuckled and sat next to him, leaning on Sugar's side once more. "That's a wide variety of paths to choose from. I'm a teller of sorts myself. I love stories and legends, and they're important to our history. I'm sure your pack history is very wide as well, although I do not know them. I do, however, know a story that sounds like your pack name. I've learned that Dahlia is actually a kind of flower, and it reminded me of this gypsy tale I had once heard." Slowly, Ralla sunk into the folds of the story, engrossed in its majesty that she was sure no other wolf had or would see.

"There used to be a field of tiny, red flowers that seemed to go on forever. Each was delicate, and each belonged to the heart of a creature. In that field lived a dragon--a huge beast with wings and scales that could breathe fire--and he guarded the hearts of the creatures. But after spending so long in the field, he began to hear the desires that each flower whispered; like a soft breeze passing through. He granted every wish he heard, but when a particularily dark wish was said from one of the flowers, the dragon granted it still. When he did, every flower in that field began to wilt and die, and the dragon was thrown into a deep sleep. The creatures of the world--so suddenly filled with sadness--understood what had to be done, and so travelled to the now gray fields." Taking a breath, Ralla took some of the ash from the edge of the fire and scattered it in front of her and Range so that she might trace a picture in it. With a finger now sooty with the dead embers, she drew a crude image of the dragon, a few hills for the fields, and then a heart.

"Every creature tried to wake the dragon, but none could. But when the saddest creature of them all stepped forward--crying not for himself, but for the dragon--did the dragon wake, and so became a part of the creature. The sad creature transformed into a mourning dove, and its cries now harken the birth and death of the flowers that do not survive the cold night." Leaning back, slightly winded, Ralla scratched Range behind the ears, wondering if she had either converted him to the teller profession or scared him away from it with her chattering. "There's actually a song that goes with it, to lull little ones like you asleep. Its words will all sound like nonsense to you though." It was true; the gypsy words to the song were nonsensical--almost made-up! But they made sense to the gypsies, so who was Ralla to judge?

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

With a gentle movement, leaning forward once more, Ralla cleared the ashes and scattered more, making room to draw the dragon only this time. "Dragons come in all sorts of forms, and live for many different purposes. The one in this story was big and powerful, with red scales. His purpose was to protect the red flowers. But dragons are also called drakes, serpents, or dragoons. There are other words for them, but they are in languages I don't know. There are stories saying they are born from fire. Others from the constellation Draco in the sky." There were so many stories that finding the grain of truth in them was difficult. If one common point could be said, it was that most of them could fly and breathe fire. "They are long since gone, though. Just like the Long Gones....er...humans?" Even though she had been brought up calling 'humans' Long Gones, she had to respect that the wolves here would not understand a term that they had never heard--much like she did some of the same, when she had first arrived.

She could see Range's fascination with the fire grow; the orange and gold tongues licking the air, as if from a hungry mouth, reflected in the pup's dual colored eyes. When he then asked her what his name meant, her expression turned blank a moment before laughing a bit. "Range? Well, that has a few meanings as well. If I were to tell your future, little one, it would be that it has a wide choice of paths. Your name could mean ranks; perhaps you were meant to be a soldier. But because you have told me otherwise, I assume we could discard that one..." Very quickly Ralla became immersed in the meaning behind the young one's name, sorting through every definition and symbol she could as she tilted her head in contemplating silence. "If I had to define it directly...I would call it something as 'a variety of'. I think it's both your eyes and personality. You may grow up to be a fine wolf, but one who could master anything he wishes." Yes, that sounds about right. It suits my impression of him, and doesn't seem far from what he's told me about his wishes. Ralla may not have known much beyond what Range had told her that night, but she had a very strong inkling to the pup's constellation just from his actions and words. Maybe a Virgo? He displays observant and straightforward tendancies, as well as the characteristics of one who switches subjects frequently. Then again, maybe that's just because he's a pup, she thought, sharing a private laugh with herself, much as Range had done a few moments ago.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.