She had found a random cave later that night. It had been a nice place to stay out of the weather and warm up, too. And what a nice night it had been. She was now part of a new family; her real family were either gone or dead. She had had no one left, but the elements had decided to bring her here. And how fortunate that was; right in the middle of a place for coyotes. She was a coyote, too. She had even dreamt well. She couldn’t quite remember what it had all been about, but she did remember bright sunlight, flowers, and running about. That alone was a happy thing. The young coyote stirred from her sleep, her bright blue eyes opening to greet the new day and a new life. Her maw opened to release an obnoxious yawn. Yawn. Merilin stood and shook herself, another part of her daily ritual to wake herself up. This was all very necessary.

Although the coyote was nearing her first year, she still acted as if she were in her first couple months. It seemed that she had never grown up. Perhaps she was afraid to; perhaps there was something wrong with her. Whatever it was, she always seemed cheerful and unaffected by life. Only time could tell whether or not she would mature more. She seemed quite content acting the way she was, as if it were normal.

Her ears suddenly perked up as she remembered. “Kaena is going to show me around!” she exclaimed boisterously to herself. The russet coyote laughed, a sound like a bubbling stream. With that, the young creature bounded out of the cave, her paws and claws tearing at the ground, throwing up random things about her as she went. She wasn’t sure where to find Kaena; she had forgot to ask her where she was going to meet her, but at the moment, it did not really matter. Merilin Ethuil was just happy to be up and about. This terrain was a bit different from her previous home, but not that much. There was just more flatlands, more rocks, and definitely more open space. She had never experienced such open space before. The young coyote figured that more space went with more coyotes. There must be a lot of coyotes here, she thought to herself. More than four! This thought pleased her greatly.

Her strides became light and boucy, and she picked up her paws and lifted them a great deal. She looked more like a prancing antelope than anything else, and on top of that her head was rocking left and right. She just gave an air of an overly giddy pup. But perhaps she was. Around and about she ran: in lines, zigzags, and circles. All the while, she was making strange barking noises as well, trying to find Kaena. She continuously called for the one-eyed female wondering where in the world she could be.

To herself, she began to sing a song in a loud and cheerful voice. “Kaena, Kaena, Kaena Lykoi! Where are you! Where could you be! I am running and running and running!” It was a song with no rhythm and no point, eventually just turning into an annoying set of “Lalalalalalala lala la laaaaaaaas” She did not know where she was going, she just knew what her goal was.

Eventually, she could make out the form of Kaena. It was not hard to miss at all, especially since she was the only one of the Inferni that she had met. She tried to remember her appearance to the best of her abilities, since she would no doubt be needing help. “Miss Kaena!” Merilin called as she approached. “Good Morning! I’m ready for today, to learn about the lands.” She seemed very pleased with herself, and of course, very excited. Even as she stopped before the one-eyed female, she stilled moved her head from side to side as if listening to some interesting song of hers.

Merilin pranced about the old female, her eyes gazing up at the scared face. It still frightened her, especially since all the features were much clearer even in what dull light penetrated the clouds, but the young coyote could only remind herself of how kind Kaena had been to her. Nothing to Fear. Of course not. The russet coyote came to a stop in front of the old female, her tail wagging as well. “I had a good dream,” she offered as an explanation about why she might have looked better this day. It was a wonder, though, since the blood was still on her head, slowly washing away with the constant drizzle, and she did not look much better physically. Whatever made her feel better, the emotion only touched her spirit.

“Eat?” she asked, and then suddenly noticed the large fish still dying on the ground. Her blue eyes almost popped out of her face. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Food!” Her ears were perked and seemed to want to tear away from her skull and fly into the skies. “Thankyouthankyou!” She was so excited to see food again, and her stomach was too, apparently. The stomach made a strange growling sound, and Merilin started down at herself in surprise, but then laughed. Her stomach always made funny noises. Yes. The creature smiled up at Kaena.

“Let’s eat together,” she offered, jumping slightly and wiggling her rump as a pleading gesture. What little light there was on the cloudy day still played with the russet tones of her fur, glinting off each strange, letting them dance with the bits of cream furs. So excited for food, she still obliged and jumped for the fish, biting down and tearing at soft flesh of the fish. She had only eaten fish once, but it had been very small. This tasted nothing like that one had either. A sigh escaped between her tears; such a wonderful thing food was. Her head moved two and fro as she mimicked what she had seen her mother do when trying to rip a large chuck of flesh off. It seemed to work, for a large slab came off; she had to drop it and eat parts of it because it was too big for her to swallow the entire thing at once. The young coyote made a noise of contentment, apparently done with the meal. She had always lived in near starvation, eating well only a couple days out of the month, and so her stomach did not hold very much; and she was also quite small.

While she allowed Kaena to finish eating, the young coyote fell back on her haunches and gazed about her. It was quite flat for a while, with the lands maybe rolling in some areas, like a plains. In the distance, near the horizon, she could make out a dark line, perhaps a forest. She had never actually been in one, but she had seen one from afar like she was now. Her mother had told her what it was. It sounded fun and interesting. Trees were such a weird thing. There were lots of rocks and caves much like the one she had just slept in. Overall, there was so much to see here that Merilin was curious and excited to find out where they would start. She looked at Kaena.

“How big is the Inferni’s lands?” she asked. “Is everything I see now a part of it? Is that forest over there a part of it?” She jerked her small nose in the direction of the horizon in the west. “I’ve never been in one,” she said thoughtfully. Her tail wagged absently as she thought to herself. Then she looked at Kaena again. “What is in a forest? My mother told me it was dark and smelled good, that lots of animals we could eat lived there. But she also said that a forest could hid scary things too…” she thought on that. What kind of monsters? She shuddered, remembering the one that had kill her mother. She hoped she did not see any of those again. “Are there monsters here, Kaena?”

500+

“The waste?” Merilin thought to herself. What was there? It did not sound too pleasant to her. Her nose scrunched up a bit. For once, though, she decided to remain silent and continue to listen to everything that Kaena had to say. After all, some of her questions were bound to be answered at one point, right? Thus, uncharacteristically, the russet coyote remained still, obedient, watching the other female finish the fishy meal and listening to her explanations all the while. She was eager to know as much as she could about this place. That way, perhaps she could more easily fit in with the others. She hoped so. She was extremely pleased to hear that the forest was a part of their lands. She would want to go see it sometime, especially since Kaena had said that there was food in there. Food was good. Yes. Apparently there was also something called a ‘mansion’ in this forest, and apparently, you lived in it. She had never heard of it. The only things she knew that you could sleep on or in were things like dens, holes, caves, the ground, and ditches. Another new word. But she refrained from saying in it. It was enough, she decided, that she understood the function of this ‘mansion’ thing. She could always go see it later.

She was glad to find out that she would easily know where the borders were, even from afar. The post that she had seen yesterday night before she fainted was part of the border it seemed. She wondered why they put skulls on the tops, and also wondered to whom the skulls belonged. She found out that the posts were there to warn off the other intruders who did not respect their borderlines. So far, it was all making sense to her. It was a bit of a scary thing, these poles topped with skulls, but she realized their function. Merilin wondered if trespassing occurred often. She hoped not. That was rude. Even she knew that. They were always protecting their territory back home from other coyotes. She hoped that she could help the Inferni protect their borders, not realizing that her small structure might not be the best for such a task.

“Thirteen!” she breathed almost inaudibly. That was a lot to her. She had never heard of so many coyotes coming together in a single area. And these ones were doing it for long periods of time. Perhaps is was even more the big family that she had thought. This made her excited once more, and her serious expression began to transform into her normal bright and silly one. Kaena also mentioned no monsters. She was so relieved. No more terrible incidents, she hoped. And she also said that she could rely on the other Inferni to help her if she needed it, for instance from unwelcome, hostile intruders. She sighed gently. What a relief.

“Everything seems so wonderful already!” she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and jumping about. “I can’t wait to see it all. Will you show me around, now? I very much want to see everything!” She was being somewhat redundant, but this was due to her excitement. The sun seemed a little less bright as the rain clouds threatened to continue to bring the wet weather, but the earth remained dry still. Merilin’s blue eyes gazed up at Kaena, hoping that since the morning meal was eaten, they could go and observe and explore. She even trotted a bit ahead as if to get the motions started, looking back at the one eyed, scarred female.

Merilin was slightly disappointed that it was only called the Wastes because it was a particularly plain-like area. In her mind, it had been something more ominous and exciting. Someplace where she could get into trouble… oh wait; she did not want to get into trouble, especially not now. She needed to make a good impression. Not that she could get into much trouble; she was curious, not malicious. Excited that they were going, she waited until Kaena caught up until she continued to bound about. She never strayed very far; in fact, she mostly made annoying circles as the older coyote lead the way. She made some observations as she went. Shrub. Pebble. Bug. The russet coy liked to think that she could take in everything at once. Of course, that was not necessarily the case.

“So where are we off to?” she asked to fill in the space of silence. It was always nice to know ahead of time. The young creature watched Kaena walk as she bounded about, then took her place next to the older coy, matching her pace. “Do you have an ouch on your leg?” she asked worriedly, the brow of the coyote wrinkling, the blue eyes changing shape in order to match the wrinkles.

She listened some more to what Kaena had to say. She was talking about ranks now. “I wonder what I’ll be good at…” she wondered aloud. “I want to be something amazing!” she exclaimed suddenly, her pace quickening, her paws lifting more in a playful trot at her thoughts of grandeur. She was like any young one; the russet coyote had great dreams. Of course, in this case, the dreams weren’t necessarily specific. Her dream was merely that she had a dream. “What is a historian?” she asked after a while. Then she thought that perhaps it had to do something with the past; yes, she remembered now. She gazed up, her blue eyes brightening. “Oh wait. Never mind. I remember now. What kind of a historian are you?”

Merilin’s mind was suddenly clear, and many random questions began to pour in as she was lead about. “Do you get to see your son often? Are you guys friends? My mother was my best friend,” she added as an afterthought. She wondered what her son looked like. Did he look like Kaena? She wondered if more of Kaena’s family was here. That would be fun. “Do a lot of your family live here?” As they passed through the shallow part of the creek, Merilin took great care to jump and splash as much as possible, laughing to herself all the while. She made sure she was not so close to Kaena that she splashed the elder, though. She still wanted to be polite. She stomped her feet in the water, enjoying the great sheets of liquid that glided up to meet her, only to fall back again to return to its body. With a great leap, she jumped out of the river and ran after Kaena.

The young coyote looked ahead. The rocks on the ground seemed to be getting more plentiful. She moved her paws in strange ways, liking the way it felt when her paws rolled around on the ground with the help of small rocks. It hurt her feet as well, but she still liked it anyway. She laughed. “Look at the rocks!” she exclaimed, perhaps to herself.

“Oh!” she said delightedly, bounding over to the stream to share the drink with Kaena. Oh, that tasted so good… nice and clear. “Mmmmm!” The yummy sound emphasized her pleasure at the cold water. The blue eyes smiled as the pink tongue came out to lap and draw the water into her throat. She was being quite noisy about it, and the water was flying about in response to the crazy movements of her tongue. The russet coyote jumped up and started to run and make more circles around the older femme, realizing that Kaena had already finished drinking and had started on.

“The Ravine!” Merilin exclaimed as if she knew all about it and that was the source of her excitement. “Ooooo! Where is the ravine? Is that over there?” she asked, gesturing toward the darker area that they were approaching with a flick of her maw. Her blue eyes continued to stare at it. What a weird word, ravine. It sounded like raven, but different. Maybe it was like the girl version of raven. It sounded much girlier to the young coyote. She giggled to herself. Yes, that was it. It was a girl. Girl, girl, girl. The coyote’s russet fur moved and danced about as she ran. Her fur always seemed to be moving, never still, even when sleeping.

She thought for a moment on Kaena’s response about the leg with the ouch. “A mean wolf? I’ve never actually met one, but I used to hear them talking. Sometimes they are very loud, especially when they are yelling at each other from afar. But we can be loud too,” she said happily. She slowed her pace a bit so that she was next to the injured leg. Merilin’s pink tongue came out to lick it. “There. All better now,” she said, trying to be helpful. She smiled up at the old female. “You know everything about the Inferni?” the russet coyote asked, completely awestruck. “You must be a good story teller then! How long have the Inferni been here?” the young coyote wondered aloud.

“Wow! You have a lot of family here! You’re so lucky,” she said with mock envy. She laughed a little. “Maybe soon I will meet some of them,” the russet coy added hopefully. “I wonder what they are all like… Are they much like you? Do they look like you?”

As Merilin continued to play on the rocks, she moved over with Kaena. She didn’t play much anymore, but instead looked down at the steep drop. “Whoa…” she said with awe. “The water moves underground? That’s weird. Do you ever go down there?” She kept close to the older female, somewhat afraid to fall down. She was not afraid of heights, but considering this ravine an what could happen if you weren’t careful, it was definitely worth being extra cautious. “Pretty!” It was still very beautiful. Those russet ears perked. What was that sound. “Ooo, more water! ” They swiveled about some more, trying to catch more details of the sound. Crunchy. Watery. Big. “Waterfall!” she shouted with glee.

“Ok, I will. I can remember that; be careful of wolves. Got it. I will; you don’t have to worry.” Merilin went on like this for a couple seconds more, having been made to feel nervous about the wolves. She didn’t understand. “Why do some of them have to be mean, though? We didn’t do anything wrong anyway, right? ” She looked up worriedly at the old female. What a scary story. She hoped she never encounted a mean wolf. She would not know what to do, she thought. If she ever did meet a wolf, she hoped that someone she knew would be with her. That would make her feel much safer. “I hope I only meet nice ones.” she added as a concluding statement.

“Six years?” the young coyote repeated. “We’re old, then!” The russet coyote giggled gently, feeling quite cheerful still. “I am glad that Gabriel brought the Inferni here. If he hadn’t, maybe I would not have found you, and then I would be dead.” The young coyote said this in a matter-of-fact way. “Did other coyotes die in the fire?” she asked, curious to know more about her new clan. There seemed to be a lot to know about it. She wondered if she could remember it. She began to skip about, excited for new information. All this was taking her mind off of the terrible memories she had of the past. Perhaps here, she could forget, start anew. Merilin hoped so. She didn’t want to remember anymore; it was too upsetting. Every time she did happen to come upon that thought, her bright blue eyes would well with tears, and she didn’t want to cry. She had done that plenty in the salty sea, adding her own salty recipe to the great body of water.

“I hope I get to meet some more of your family. Maybe they are nice like you,” she thought aloud. “I would like to meet them sometime, yes, I would,” she decided with a short nod of her small head. “Maybe they can be my friend, too; like you!” She smiled hugely up at Kaena. She liked Kaena very much. She considered the old coyote to be her friend already, even though she had just met. Back at ‘home’ she had never met many others, and so this meeting with Kaena was very exciting to her. She hoped that the grizzled female would agree with her. Merilin was much younger, she knew, but friendship transcended age, she thought. “Friends, friendsfriends! Friends, friendsfriends,” she sang, rocking her head to an apparent beat that she was making up. The young coyote looked at the red thing on Kaena’s chest. It was pretty, this star of hers. “Pretty!” she exclaimed, admiring it for a moment.

The next thing the young coyote knew, she was standing at a great river delta, the rocks beneath her paws digging into her pads in a delightful way. She looked down at it. “Whoa! That’s so cool! I’ve never seen a ravine before, but this is the best one.” She kept close to Kaena. “But I think that I will stay up here. I don’t want to fall and die,” she said jokingly. “I don’t want any broken bones either,” she agreed with a final nod. “Nope; not part of the plan.”

Merilin looked back down into the ravine. “Maybe,” she began with a determined tone, “maybe I will go down there one day. I think that I would like to explore it. It looks super fun!” She laughed excitedly, a bubbly sound, at the prospect of going down there to explore. Some other time, of course.