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[/html]She was developing her personality without even realizing it. This pride in her accomplishments and even simply the "claiming" of her mouse were markers of a youth with dominant tendencies. The girl had also shown this when she play wrestled with her sisters. She was a forceful pup that did her best to aggressively let her position be known. The little dark D'Angelo refused to let herself be dominated by any of her littermates. Even if she lost a wrestling match, the headstrong girl would find some way to assert her position again. Though there were those she had to respect as dominant wolves - all adults at this point - she was determined to someday be something of importance herself. Maybe she would be an Auxiliary like her mother or an Arbiter like her father. Her thought process hadn't really progressed beyond that simple desire: to be like her parents.
Her parading around was at an end before she was really finished with it, though. Someone had come out of the shadows with a smile on his face and words that fell into her ears and coated them with syrupy goodness. The sounds appealed to her, attempted to draw her in to him. The small dark cub was not so easily swayed as just that. Though she had faith in the safety that she had within Salsola, there was still a caution toward strangers that was both instinctive and taught to her. At first when he had appeared out of the darkness, she stood very still and watched him; then her boldness overrode her concerns and she walked closer to him. The mouse had not been forgotten, though it still currently dangled from her mouth. This wolf was far more interesting than her mouse, though. Who was he? What was he doing here? Would he play with her?
Ataxia twitched her nose, her baby blue eyes darting closely across the much larger male. He had dark fur but it was not as dark as hers. She had caught the color of his eyes briefly, but she hadn't looked into his gaze. That was disrespectful and she would not let her gaze rest on the eyes of anyone who was not beneath her in rank. He had somehow melted into the shadows as if he was one of them. She had not even noticed him until he had wanted her to notice. This didn't make her afraid, though. Even in the darkest shadows of Salsola, none lived here that would wish ill upon her. She was the daughter of the Auxiliary and an Arbiter; who would dare raise one claw to harm her? Little did she know that here stood the one wolf with more position than her mother. In her mind, her mother was the highest point of the pack. So far she hadn't met someone that was higher. Though Eris had told them of Sirius, it was almost more of a myth or an idea to Ataxia than a real wolf at that point. After all, Eris was the sun of Ataxia's world; what else could there be higher than the sun?
"Erissssss." she intoned, always liking the rolling "sssss" sound at the end of her mother's name. "Mama. Who you?" she asked, stepping forward boldly. Her tail was still behind her, waiting to see whether it should wag or tuck beneath her to show respect.