The rain was a welcome element to Ichika, although it made it impossible to tell what time of day it was. The young Stormbringer was sourly glad he'd finished the roof just over a week ago- Apartment Eight would have been completely flooded had the tiles not been properly in place. So much had happened in a week it was unreal, as had the first month of Saul's life as an Ichikan. Like a wirlwind the male had accomplished a lot in the short while they had been here and it only looked to be increasing. He still had a lot to do, like fixing the stairs for one and finding the various holes in the windows of each apartment and fixing those too. Eclipse had done a wonderful job of hacking up the garden so that it was more dirt than weeds at the moment. Saul knew his cousin had planted some wonderful flowers in the fertile soil and it was just going to take some sun and rain to get it there. Luckily, today was a rainy day and Eclipse's flowers would get the boost they needed to send their plush green shoots up into the world.


Much the same as his niece, Saul enjoyed the rain. Despite knowing that inadequate drying and prolongued dampness would give you a cold, he enjoyed being out in the elements. It was coming down so hard today that it was very hard to distinguish where he was, but the rain whipping through his body was refreshing. Saul was always a water baby and the rain didnt phase him. After checking on Wretch to see if she was okay- she had the run of Apartment Four for the moment so that she could get out and about without Saul having to carry her everywhere. She was bored as per usual, but there was really nothing he could do. She had two weeks and one day left before he could even think about taking the cast off and so she would have to suffer for the moment inside. He had plunged himself into the rain, allowing it to whip painfully about him as he took off at a running sprint.


Sights, scents and sounds were blurred as the ran onwards, mud and water saturating his pelt as he made his way, well anywhere away from Cerne Rise. It was for this reason that the male almost tripped over his growing niece from where she sat on the ground. He gave a grunt, pulling himself away at the last moment to skid and land in a heap on the floor. Chuckling softly, he thought about how he hadnt had that much clumsiness in a long time. "Why hello, niece of mine. You appear to be sat in the rain" Saul commented cheekily as he moved closer, not even bothering to shake the water and the mud from him. He was going to stay like this, although soon they would have to go back to the house to get dry again.

He hated being dirty. It was an intergral part of who he was, the obsessive way in which he cleaned his coat. It was in this way that he was similar to Shiloh, who also hated to see her coat filthy. However, there were times in which the males wasnt particularly bothered about the condition of his coat. Despite being saturated with mud and rain, he remained at ease with the mess. Soon enough, the rain would wash away all traces of the mud on which his mind would usually have dwelled painfully on. Seeing his niece sitting so peacefully in the rain, her mind seemingly at ease, was a beautiful sight for the male. He remembered her wayward habits, metting Scorpius who lived all the way over the other side of Nova Scotia. How the little puppy had managed to get all the way out there he could never fathom, but Gideon never knew his daughter had been all over the country looking for her friend.


His niece's curious gaze made him smile softly. She and Range looked very similar, although one could always tell them apart by their eyes- they were opposite to one another. Add in the fact that Melee's right paw was completely messed up and they were easy to tell apart. It didnt stop her leaning forward to nip happily at his cheek in greeting, to which he swiped a kiss across her own cheek in return. Out of the two of them, he would say that Melee was his favourite, although he never would have said that aloud. Her comment made him chuckle softly, the pointed reminder of the past tense. Well, it wasnt his fault that she was sat there, in the way. There was a perfectly good garden at Cerne Rise in which she would have been out of the way. But that was never Melee, and it never would be. "Well, I was taking a run through the rain, as I like to do sometimes. But there appears to be a rather large obsticale in my path that deigned to trip me up. Now why would someone do that?"


He questioned with a grin. His niece was always one to joke around and Saul was pleased to see that she had recovered somewhat from her misgivings about the wedding. He had yet to speak to her about it, but felt the need to give her space. She would tell him what was wrong if there was something seriously wrong about it. Coming to sit next to her so that they were side by side, Saul crossed his legs softly, green eyes squinting through the rain to see her own mismatched eyes, a sparkle in them that had always belonged to her.

There seemed to be a moment of concentration that made his niece silent and the agouti male was loathe to interupt her. He instead turned out to the rain, still unsure of where they were. It might have been the valley, but he couldnt see the ranch. He briefly wondered whether Arete was fooling around in the rain before he realised Adonia would have locked the horses away from a rainstorm like this. It wasnt usual for people to be out here and the young male wondered if everyone had a dry roof over their heads. It would have been disasterous for their own building had they not fixed the apartment roof as they had done, now that the late summer rains were beginning to pound down. Contemplatively, he thought back to what he had been doing a year ago and with a shock, he realised he would have just been separated from his father and siblings. He would have been lost, alone, terribly frightened. With a smile, he looked back at the year he'd had since then. So much had happened it was hard to believe.


His niece's words bought him back from thinking on what had already gone and he was pleased to see she had broken the silence. Her jesting words were enough to get her only slightly older uncle to growl playfully towards her. "Alright, alright. You were here first, but that still doesnt take away the fact that you were a brilliant obstacle!" He conceeded, throwing his hands in the air to instigate a surrender. They lowered softly as Melee continued, a playful grin playing across her lips. It was always a dangerous ground to play, despite her uncle being one of the most gentle and kindly males out there. Goading him as she was, Saul was blind to her manipulations. Mock anger and threat made their way onto his face, although the tug at the corner of his lips told Melee that it was a playful emotion that coursed through the elder male. "Is that so? do you really think you could beat me?"


He asked, disbelief turning into motion. It wasnt fair of him to instigate play in his optime form- he towered over Melee when he stood on two legs. Of course, he wasnt much fairer on four, but it was a more even playing ground. He shifted down into his lupus form, giving her the option to take the same form as him, or stay in the slightly bigger form of her secui cloak. Either way, he waited only a moment before the friendly growl echoed in his jaws and he launched himself forward towards his niece. His arc through the air was lit as the first of what he thought to be many lightening charges crashed across the sky. Momentarily blind however, he had no idea whether his downward fall was going to be broken by the softer form of his niece, his eyes closed in momentary reflex against the lightening that was beginning to build on the horizon.

He should have known that Melee would not allow him to taunt her without answering back. It was an old rivalry between the two, in the days when it had been just Gideon, Saul, Melee and Range. Of course, there were a few more factors to include, like Bris who had nursed the two of them. He was aware that Gideon had spent a lot of time around Nayru when they were very young, playing with them and generally entertaining them. But as they grew older, both of them grew into independent spirits that made it difficult to track them down, let alone keep them in one place. Melee had been the bolder of the two and even now, her taunts were something he was used to. He laughed softly at her jibe, knowing they would never hear the end of it from each other if he answered back to her. It was easier to let her get away with it, even if it was just this once. And besides, he was already in the air by the time she'd opened her mouth, silver smoothe tongue lashing out at him.


She began shifting a split second after her words and Saul only had time to register her croon of delight and excitement before he crashed in to her. He hadnt seen her change of tactic at the very last second, rising on her hindlegs to meet him head on instead of being forced beneath him, which was what would have happened if she'd remained on all fours. His chest hit hers and the force of his blow sent her backwards. He was never concerned about their play matches- Saul was always gentle enough not to hurt her and Melee always threw herself into every strike and claw that she had. It was a good balance he thought. He watched as she pitched backwards, hitting the drenched ground with a dull thud. It was perhaps better than being thrown into the dusty, hard ground. Mud splashed up and to the side, one splashing Saul hard across the face so that he had a slash of mud across his muzzle and eye. Blinking rapidly to make sure his eye was completely mud free it caused him to lapse in concentration.


He felt her hind claws against his belly for a split second before powerful back legs shifted his back end. While she may have had a deformed front right paw and an overcompensating left front paw, her back legs were perfectly normal and incredibly strong. His paws had landed either side of her shoulders, his face looming above hers. She'd managed to shift his back end, which inevitably was his downfall. His back right leg hit a patch of slippery mud and with a yelp he slipped backwards, front legs coming out from beneath him. If Melee was quick enough, she would be able to roll out from underneath him before he hit her, or the floor if she were no longer there to break his fall. He had no way of knowing whether she would move or not- instinct had his head turned back towards his back legs, trying to see where the foe had come from.

Gravity tipped him forward and he sourly wished his paws were off the ground so he could windmill them wildly in an attempt to regain his balance. The deceptive patch of sodden grass had turned into something much more slippery than he'd mistaken for a solid footing and he was falling forward. His head seemed to turn in slow motion, watching as Wretch wriggled her body backwards, trying her best to get out of the way before he hit her. It was a doomed attempt- he was already halfway down as she started moving. But perhaps her tactic had been to get him to land on a place were she wanted instead of throwing his full weight on her head or chest. There was nothing he could do as her pale belly came into veiw before his face felt her sodden fur against his own soaking face. It happened in a split second and he barely had any time to analyse what had happened before he face planted his nieces stomach, most likely pushing all the air out of her. Or perhaps not quite, because she spoke, teasing him once again.


"Shurrup you!"


He tried to speak but his face still pressed against her stomach and his tones were muffled by her fur and the rainstorm crashing around them. Her body shifted beneath him and she twisted out from underneath him. Luckily he'd regained control of his paws and managed to support himself while she wriggled from beneath him. As soon as she was on her paws, Saul pounced again. Assuming she was facing away from him, as he expected her to be after having wriggled away, he intended his paws to aim for her back legs. His right paw came round, trying to hook her paws out from under her. He couldnt see where she was properly, the rain was coming harder now. But green eyes could just see the end of a sodden tail and he moved his face forward, opening his jaws to see if he could catch her tail as well as tripping her up. It was all about luck, especially since the male was having a hard time seeing in front of him, the rain was coming so thick and fast. With a laugh he launched forward, hoping beyound anything that he'd aimed for the right places.

He pale jaws closed around the end of her tail and Saul was surprised he didnt hear a yelp from his niece. She'd been so upset recently that he was glad she was regaining some of the fun and playful side that had been with her all her life. His pale paw came round to try and hook both of her back legs from underneath her, but his victory with her tail was not to be repeated with her legs. While his right paw clipped her right hind leg, she had a firm enough hold on the ground that it did little to trip her over as he'd intended. No matter, he still had her tail. He tugged backwards, careful not to pull any fur out or damage it in any way. If he did, it would be he who cleaned it up and bandage her tail so that it healed nicely. It would be aweful if he knew he'd inflicted pain on his niece. He kept his grip firm but was conscious of the fact that tails were delicate and should not be pulled on too hard.


He didnt have to worry too much about it though as Melee came crashing backwards. Her tail still in his mouth but limp and loose now she was close to him, she turn and attempted to catch his shoulder with nips and bites. Her left shoulder was parrallel to his left shoulder and as she reached over to sink her teeth into his own joint, he allowed his teeth to unclamp from her tail and quickly tried to latch onto her shoulder. Neither of them would bite hard enough to draw blood, but the connection would have been made and both of them would have been locked together like that. Of course, there was every chance his lightening strike would miss and he would catch her neck or her leg, but he didnt think so.


"Give up yet Mele's?"


He asked, using a shortened version of her name that was easier to communicate at the moment. His own tail lashed back and forward while rain drenched the both of them. Melee was always more of a physical wolf anyway and preferred to do something about a problem than talk about it. In a way, this play wrestling was Melee talking about her problems, which Saul had picked up on recently. He hoped perhaps she would open up about them, but he was never going to push her into talking. She'd already admitted what was wrong at the harvest festival which was a deep improvement on months gone by. But still, he hadn't had the chance to properly speak to her about exactly what was bothering her and maybe she would open up after they ceased their playing. He had no way of knowing.

His teeth sunk into her shoulder as he'd expected, her own fangs grasping hold of his own shoulder in return. Neither of them bit the other hard enough to draw blood or puncture the skin- it was the simple gripping of the muscles that was enough to say that they had each other in a stalemate. They were equal it seemed, neither willing to take this further into a proper fight that would have a clear victor. It was clear Saul was bigger and stronger than his niece and would have been able to use sheer power to pin her to the ground. But this was not a real fight and neither of them were putting any pressure behind the bites. Plus the fact that both of them were drenched to the bone, it made it pretty impossible to see each other let alone get a good enough grip. Melee shifted her weight, moving her body around so that it wasnt so convulted in a strange shape.


He didnt know what he expected when he'd asked the question to his niece but as she answered he realised he should have known. Neither of them were the type to give up, the scales were balanced. Of course she wasn't ready to give up- despite the fact that a slight tremor was racing through Saul's body from the coldness that had gotten past his guard hairs and had drenched the downy fur that usually kept him warm. He would soon be full on shivering and Melee was bound to be getting cold. But there was a flash in her mis matched eyes and she abruptly let go of his own shoulder, causing his grip to loosen on hers. She charged forward, her other shoulder connected with his breast bone and causing him to yelp. Their drenched bodies, with so little to cushion thier blows, had connected with her shoulder bone digging into his breast bone. It sent him skidding backwards as well, where he hung his head for a moment.


"Enough, enough! You win Melee." He conceeded, and he would have held up his hands in surrendor. Instead he dropped his head, twisting it sideways to reveal his throat in the universal sign of submission. This had been a play fight and the gesture was not needed, a grin still slipped over his muzzle. He shuffled forward, the tremor broken into full shivering. "I think it might be time to go and get dried off, don't you?" He asked, green eyes looking back the way he'd come. They would drench the lobby of Cerne Rise when they returned home, but he was suitably pleased to have renewed the bond with his niece that he felt he'd been missing out on since they'd arrived in Ichika.