The sun was beginning to sink down in the sky but it was only early evening. Whitewash clouds graced skies the purest of blues overhead, swirling into slightly mellower colors near the horizon line. It was a beautiful day, with no rain falling at all, and the sky seemed to be as happy about that as Ember was. There had been a little flooding in Aniwaya but not too much. The packmembers were old enough to know to avoid the water, even the youngest members, the Aston children, so she wasn't too worried about them.

She sat out on the beach, looking out over the waves. They kept rolling over and over and over each other...did it ever stop? She liked the pattern and continued to watch the water, though, making little designs in the sand with her fingers. What a great day this had been.

      The pale silver wolf was still engrossed in exploring these lands. They were wonderful—the city was a magical place of so many human implements, even if he'd had to hide on a roof from a crazy-ass painted cow. It had still been a fun adventure, and the cloudy canine was eager to engage in another. He trotted forward quickly, shaking himself off from the quick plunge in the ocean for a moment. It had been a short swim, and though Char had nearly drowned last time, he found he was not such a terrible swimmer after all, at least not when the terrible current was not yanking on his body.



      Upon catching sight of the secluded little island, the Amrithai canine could not help himself. He simply had to check it out, and he had dove into the water with no hesitation. At least it had cooled him off. Now, his indigo eyes roved over the beach, eager to find something exciting in this strange new place. The wolf passed over a shadow on the beach, and then his vision darted back, his azure gaze falling on another canine! That was just great! Excited now, the half-dried Char walked forward quickly, his tail already waving in anticipation as he approached the other canine. "Hey!" he called out excitedly.

    

She didn't often leave Aniwaya, but this territory was close to it. She would probably venture over to Crimson Dreams in a few days to see how things were going for her brother and his mate and to visit her neices and nephew. Little Amata had come to Aniwaya a few weeks before, and she was wondering if the girl was using the information that Ember had passed onto her, the lessons she had taught her about speaking Lowspeech.

This was the place that she usually went to for some thinking-time, and she sat on a rock that was partially submerged in sand, her feet in the shallow water. Occasionally her spirit-guide Utriu would appear here, but it seemed that she was alone for the time being.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a nearby sound and her dark head whipped around, bright green eyes spotting the other quickly. If she had thought of him as a threat at first the thought was now gone, the other wolf's bright and cheerful demeanor chasing away any idea of the sort. The cloaked wolf had placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, but she now removed it. "Eh...hello there. Out exploring?" She asked, relaxing back into a normal posture.

    

This was an area that she knew quite well, actually. She went out here a lot to talk to Utriu...three or four times a week, usually. It was the place where she had taught Dawali how to use a fishing pole and hook and where they had cooked their catch and eaten it together. Sort of where their friendship had begun, she supposed. How had they gotten to this point? With her as his sub-leader and everything? And the feelings that she had for him, the emotions that welled up inside of her every time she came within sight of him. They were ones that she didn't think she could keep hidden for much longer.

She had heard so many odd names over the years that his last name jumped out, as one that she had never heard. Was it foreign? Niiicetuhmechaa. "Odd name. But I kind of like it. You're new, huh? Where'd you come from? I'm Ember, from the Aniwaya Tribe--it's pretty near here. I was trying to see if my whale might show up, but he doesn't seem to want to come out and talk to me today." She pointed out over the water. "He always comes from that direction."

      The pale silver wolf was always happy to make new friends. He loved meeting new people, and he was a truly social creature at heart. Interaction made the gray canine thrive more than anything, and he enjoyed friendly company. He grinned at her as she spoke of his name as odd, and he nodded. "Well, it's really old, actually! My father never really liked it, because it's from a different religion, but my mamma, well, she had her way when it came to naming me," he explained, referring to his parents as if he was still a small child under their care.



      "Charon was the ferryman, the one who took you across the river if you paid him," he explained, hoping she had a vague grasp on ancient mythology. It was a common concept in many of the human books he had read, and it did not take too much searching to encounter that particular myth. He smiled, liking that he knew the secret history of his name—Narke, his mother, had told him to never mention the story to his father. Char certainly knew better than to disobey his mother and betray her to his father; he knew the sting of his father's belt and he did not want his precious mother to experience the same thing.



      The cloudy canine was rather impressed with the idea of owning a whale; his indigo eyes widened and his mouth opened a little, his jaw dropping open in awe. "What kind of whale? How do you own a whale? Oh, man, I really hope he comes out today," the wolf rambled excitedly, rapid-firing questions at Ember and seeming generally elated at the idea of seeing a whale up-close. He'd read about them in books, he'd seen pictures, and yes, he'd tasted whale flesh, but he'd never seen a live one up close before.

    

She wished that she could have Utriu with her all the time. The whale was silent sometimes, but other times he was the most talkative creature that she'd ever met. He didn't ever try to influence her or judge her for the things that she said, which she really liked. She couldn't say that about many others. Usually one was automatically judged from the first time the other person laid eyes on them. She was even judging this wolf, watching his friendly demeanor and wondering about his past.

"Ah, I see. My father named me after some dead wolf. As a namesake, I guess. I didn't really think the name fit me growing up, but I like it better now that I'm an adult." She had no idea what he was talking about when he mentioned the mythology. She'd never even heard of mythology or religion before, and simply nodded, not speaking. She didn't want to say something stupid that wouldn't make sense to someone who actually knew what they were talking about.

"I don't own him, exactly...we're just friends. I fish sometimes and give him the fish, and he gives me really good advice. In Aniwaya we have spirit-guides...I think he's mine. He only started showing up once I joined the tribe and got my life back on track." She explained. Ember looked back at the friendly wolf, considering. "You seem like the type who would have an interesting guide. Maybe another sea animal, like me. They're really helpful. I guess some people don't always take their guide's advice, but Utriu has never steered me wrong before."

         Char was a rather open-minded creature when it came to others, and he was fascinated by differing beliefs. He had never known there were options other than his parents' god—some wolves believed in many gods, and others held no god at all! These concepts were absolutely wonderful to the silvery wolf, who had been raised exclusively on his parents' brand of semi-Christian monotheism. There were elements of Native American beliefs smattered here and there, but the majority of their religion came directly from the Christian bible, and it had been part of the Amrithai tradition to read passages from it on a daily basis. They blessed their meals and prayed, but Char had left all of that behind him now, though the fear of god was certainly still in him.



         He sympathized with Ember, then—Charon wasn't a really fitting name for him, then, since he surely wasn't paid anything and he didn't know a damn thing about boats. If he had a ferry, he wouldn't be able to transport anyone anywhere. "Aww, at least you grew into yours. I don't think I'll ever really be like Charon," he said with a snort, shaking his ash-colored head slowly. It didn't bother him too much—aside from the meaning not fitting him too well, he really liked his name. It was his, after all. He couldn't imagine disliking one's name.



         With the added talk of the whale, the silvery wolf's face showed interest, his ears pricking as he intently listened to what the sable woman had to say. Some of her concepts were strange—a spirit guide? Aniwaya?—but it was still so cool that she had a whale for a friend. "That's still really cool! Maybe if you needed to cross the ocean, he would let you ride on his back," Char blurted, before thinking about how uncomfortable and wet that ride would be. "I dunno, I've never had an animal follow me around, or anything like that, really," he said, looking confused. "How do you get a spirit guide? Does Aniwaya give them to you?" he questioned relentlessly, too intrigued by this whole idea to drop it.

-kicks Char in the face- At least I can write for him when I make him out to be a complete idiot. XD This is fun, I wish I had done this all along. My mistake was trying to make him likable and smart. :B



      Charon was an idiot. He nodded at the sable wolf with wide indigo eyes, trying to keep the rather dumbfounded expression from his face as she explained what a spirit guide was and how went about obtaining one. The silvery wolf smiled, trying to remain as attentive and inconspicuous in his lack of understanding as possible. For all his learnings, he was not a spiritual creature, and he lacked common sense above all else. He was lucky his face remained composed, and he nodded several times throughout Ember's words, though the meaning of the spirit guide rather escaped him.



      The moron still thought it was rather like a pet, and he could not grasp the concept in his feeble mind. "I guess... I just don't understand... hm. It's cool, though," he commented, rather at a loss for words. There was still admiration on his face, the idiot simply didn't grasp the deeper meaning behind the spirit guides, and he had never been able to communicate with animals anyway, so he didn't see how that would work for him. "I don't know if I could ever have that kind of a connection with someone I couldn't talk to," he said rather glumly, his ears drooping and sadness showing on his face.