there's a part of me in the chaos that's quiet
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The sky was gray and gloomy. It looked as if rain was about to fall. Perhaps Xion hadn't picked the best time to wander off on her own. But for now, the clouds seemed to be holding in their precipitation, and the white wolf pup bounded through the grass toward the shimmering lake that she could see in the distance. Her parents had become more lax with Xion and her brothers, and for that she was happy; Delwyn's tales of the world outside their cabin and away from their parents had captivated her. The curiosity she'd inherited from her mother compelled her to discover all of the Phoenix Valley territory that she hadn't seen before--but for now, she would stick with just exploring the lake area.


As she got closer to the water's edge, Xion slowed her pace, until she stopped before a jagged boulder half-embedded in the ground. She crouched down for a moment, then sprung upward, scrambling with all four limbs in an attempt to pull herself up onto the rock. This didn't work too well, and the ivory-furred pup found herself slipping back down and landing on the ground with a thump. But she wouldn't give up that easily. The girl took a few steps back to get a running start, then charged at the rock and leaped up and forward, digging her little claws into the stone as much as she could. She grinned as her little legs finally managed to pull her up onto the top, and she looked around, pleased with the view atop the boulder and satisfied that she had succeeded in climbing it. Maybe today wasn't going to be such a bad day after all.


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#2
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Thank you for starting this up! <3 And many sorries for my delay. wc:406



The house felt so empty these days. Her siblings seldom stuck around the cabin, usually either out and about or lingering around auntie’s place. At least that’s how it seemed to Lucia. Everything felt so different without Momma around. There were no more stories, no huddling close to her huge, comforting form for a midday nap when she wore herself out. Just like that, everything had changed. Still the girl struggled to understand why her mother had left them so easily. Why couldn’t she have taken her children with her? Or not even leave them at all? Lucia desperately wanted to be happy for her mother and the choices she had made, but every time she thought about it, bitterness and sadness tainted all of those thoughts.



And being alone in their little cabin only provoked those confusing feelings to hang around her mind further. So the sandy-coated girl instead chose to spend her day outside, not far from one of the pack’s twin lakes. She rested quietly on the grass, head placed upon her front paws as she watched the grey-skied day go by through jade eyes. It was getting boring, sitting there by herself, but it was preferable to sulking around the currently empty cabin. Lucia started to wonder where her siblings might have run off to when she spotted another youngster prance around near the lakeside. Gem-like eyes watched as the somewhat familiar puppy attempted to leap up the boulder, only to slide right back down. The sight provoked a small smile to slither to her lips, a short, light laugh accompanying it.



When the younger girl made her second, and successful, attempt at scaling the boulder, Lucia stood, shook off the little stalks of grass that clung to her pelt, and sauntered over to the other. She stopped next to the large stone, close to where the younger girl had leapt from. As she looked from the calm lake to the white-furred puppy’s lofty position, her eyes glittered with an idea and a childish grin broke out onto her features. “Now you gotta jump into the water!” It probably wasn’t the smartest idea, considering that the boulder was lingering rather near to the shallower shores of the lake, but that didn’t occur to the Marino girl. All she could focus her thoughts on now were the adventures, games, and excitement. Anything that could keep that lonely dejection from eating away at her.
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#3
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ooc: short post is short, sorry, it's 2 am x_x *goes to bed*


From here, she could see why they were called the Mirror Lakes. The water was calm and serene, and in looking down Xion could indeed see her reflection, like a mirror. She took a moment to stare at herself in the water--she didn't really get to see herself a lot. The girl blinked her mismatched eyes at herself, and was highly amused when the image staring back at her did the same. She took turns closing one eye and then the other, watching her reflection close its eyes too. It was a childish game, perhaps, but Xion was still a child. She didn't particularly have anything else to do anyway.


She was so caught up in doing this that she didn't even hear the slightly older girl approach, and was startled to hear a voice she didn't recognize. Xion turned around to look at the stranger, taking in the sight of the tan-furred female. It struck her that this must be one of Rio's siblings. She had only met Rio once but knew that there were more in the litter. After thinking this out, Xion then turned her focus to the other's question. "Why should I jump in the water?" she asked. "I'll get all wet. I don't really want to get wet today." Pausing for a moment, she got an idea and a tiny smirk appeared on her face. "I'll jump in the water if you'll jump in with me!"


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#4
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wc:300 Short is fine. :] And sorry for delay. Should be much quicker with my replies now.



The sandy-furred youth had played by the lakeside plenty of times before, but it had usually been with her siblings, or her parents, or her auntie. As she and her littermates started to grow, they each seemed to grow more independent, wandering off for solitary feats of adventure. She could hardly recall every playing with any of the other puppies living in the Valley, but she did know of their presence. It pleased her to have stumbled upon one of the other puppies, feeling a bit mischievous and playful after her rather dull morning. Passing the time with a new face would be so much more fun than lazing about by herself. She watched as the other girl turned suddenly at the sound of her voice, and her gaze met the girl’s mismatched eyes as she stared down at her.



The younger girl protested that she didn’t want to get wet, and a snappy retort was quick to come to Lucia’s mind. Who was afraid of getting their fur a little wet? Yet before the Marino girl could vocalize such thoughts, her snowy-furred companion had come up with a suggestion of her own. She was taken aback for a moment, unsure of what to say. She certainly hadn’t intended to leap into the water, but she couldn’t back out now without revealing that she didn’t want to get wet either. So instead she peered at the other girl almost accusingly and said, “What? Too scared to do it by yourself?” A small grin of her own was quick to leap to her features. “You’re on the rock, so you gotta jump. It’s the rule,” she said matter-of-factly. She doubted that there was any such rule, but as far as Lucia was concerned, her word was as good as law anyway.
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#5
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Xion had never met anyone else in Phoenix Valley besides her parents' friends, so this was a very new experience for her. She was a bit confused as to what to do in this situation. The other girl's talk of rules was strange to her. Who would set a rule for jumping off of a rock? She'd have to ask her mother about it sometime, maybe she knew. Xeris seemed to always be concerned with staying out of trouble and following the rules. She had often told Xion and her brothers that if they didn't follow the rules they could get hurt, and she'd always turn to her side and show the long scar there that she had apparently gotten for breaking some rule involving coyotes. Xion most certainly did not want to get a big scar.


"I'm not scared," she replied. "And I'll show you that I'm not scared!" A new-found courage struck her now, and she stared back at her reflection in the water for a moment with determination on her face. Maybe her reflection would catch her. There was only one way to find out. And with that, she leaped into the water with a splash, surfacing a moment later. "See?" she said to the other girl in between gasps for air, "I'm not scared!" After a short while of flailing about in the water, the white-furred girl managed to get to shore, where she stood dripping wet in front of her packmate. "Now it's your turn!"

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#6
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Lucia was uncertain exactly about what she expected to happen next, but the surprise that struck her as the younger girl threw caution to the wind and leapt into the water told her that she definitely wasn’t expecting that. She watched with a touch of awe on her features as the water splashed up and swallowed the girl beneath the surface for a moment. It didn’t take long for Xion to flounder her way back to the shore, and by then Lucia had managed to remove all traces of her previous shock and awe from her features. Truly, the girl no longer appeared uncertain or scared, but completely and utterly wet. The Marino girl didn’t envy her that, but the white-furred pup’s next declaration made it clear that she wouldn’t be quite so lucky.



Her emerald gaze shifted from the sopping wet pup to the boulder she had previously stood on, regarding it silently for a moment. She didn’t know why she had assumed she could pull off such a brave and taunting act without having to face the same task herself, but now she had no choice but to go through the motions of wallowing around in the lake water, lest she make herself look like the coward here. Perhaps she had thought the girl wouldn’t go through with it, but nevertheless she had her own brilliant plan coming back to bite her. With a huff she leapt easily onto the boulder, her larger size making it a much easier task than it had for the younger Valley member. Lucia glanced down at her with a defiant grin before making her own dive into the lake. The cool water enveloped her easily, but she was quick to pull up to the surface. “Easy,” she said with a laugh as she made her way back to the shore.
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#7
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ooc: forgive me for making this really short and late; family emergencies etc. have been keeping me crazily busy and stressed...


Xion watched as the slightly older girl made her way over to the rock and hit the water soon after. She noted that her companion seemed to be a better swimmer than she herself was; however, she still managed to get just as wet. Xion couldn't help but smile a little as her packmate approached from the water. "That was kinda fun, wasn't it?" she said cheerfully, her mismatched eyes lighting up. She then realized that she had forgotten one of the most important things that her mother taught her: her manners. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "I didn't tell you my name! It's Xion. What's yours?"


The idea of making a new friend was thrilling to young, naive Xion; even if her tan-furred acquaintance didn't seem to be immensely fond of her. Perhaps now that she was allowed to go about the lands on her own, Xion would have someone else to explore with! She figured that the other girl probably knew more about the packlands than she did, and could tell her all about the coolest places in the territory.


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#8
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<333 Mine's short and late too. Also, I'm gonna go ahead and assume Nani would have brought Lucia to meet Xeris at some point, which would be how she knows of her. if you want me to change, lemme know!



Lucia was quick to paddle her way back to the lake’s shore, eager to be back on dry land despite the refreshing coolness of the water. She had played in the lakes with her siblings and her parents a number of times before and had gotten a fairly solid handle on swimming, but it was far from her favorite pastime. She could think of plenty of things to do that were more fun and less wet. The pale furred girl seemed quite excited about it, asking Lucia whether she thought it was fun. Her stubbornness refused to let her completely agree with the younger girl, but she would be kidding herself if she said she didn’t enjoy it at least a little bit. “Yeah, I guess,” she answered almost dismissively, as if she was above admitting such a simple little game was fun.



She shook loose the excess water clinging to her coat, frowning the teeniest bit at the way it made her fur stick up in practically every direction. She dismissed it without much more thought and returned her full attention to her younger companion. The girl introduced herself, eliciting a nod from the older girl. “I’m Lucia,” she said in turn, a certain bit of pride there in her simple introduction. She lowered her head slightly so that she was closer to eye level with Xion, gazing at her levelly. “You’re one of Miss Xeris’s kids, right?”
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#9
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ooc: yeah, that's fine!


Xion didn't particularly pay attention to the rather uncaring tone with which her companion replied; naïve as she was, she was unaware that the things that were extremely exciting to one wolf may not be so exciting to another. But if she had someone who would be willing to play with her she supposed that didn't matter too much. She cast her gaze over the older wolfess, noticing her wet and dripping fur. It looked a little bit silly. Xion would have laughed, but she knew that she was also wet and therefore probably also rather silly-looking. There was no time to comment on this, however, as Lucia introduced herself and then posed a question about Xion's family.


She recalled having seen Rio and her siblings before, as her mother was given the duty of watching over them due to their own mother's absence; though Rio was the only one she had previously met. "Yes, I am! My brothers are Delwyn and Carwyn." The bit of extra information was added in almost pridefully; she loved her family. "And you have a sister named Rio, don't you? I think I've seen you before." She was excited at the prospect of making a new friend. After all, she had to have someone other than her brothers to spend time with, particularly since Delwyn was wandering off half the time.


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#10
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Xion was quick to confirm the Marino girl’s little question, throwing in the names of her siblings as well. Lucia had been aware that there had been a few more puppies belonging to Xeris running around, but she couldn’t recall how many or any of their names. The sandy furred girl nodded as each of the names was given, filing away these names for future reference. Idly she began to wonder whether she would be running into any of her new companion’s siblings any time soon. It wasn’t impossible, considering that they all lived within the same pack. It would only be a matter of time before they met face to face, she supposed.



Her ear flicked slightly at the familiar name of her sister, a smile slipping onto her lips to accompany the minute motion. She nodded with more enthusiasm than she had previously shown at the beginning of this little meeting of theirs, eager to dive into the subject of her siblings. “Yup,” she confirmed. “And I have another sister named Caprica, and a brother named Harlowe.” Lucia always loved being with her siblings, whether they were playing a little game or if she was trying to pick on them for the fun of it.



The thought of going out and making new friends had hardly crossed the Marino girl’s mind until now. When she was young and the world hadn’t been revealed to be such a vast and overwhelming place, she had somehow fallen under the impression that she wouldn’t need anything more than Momma, Papa, and her siblings. But Momma was gone now, and little by little her siblings seemed to be drifting of more and more to do her own thing. While Lucia wasn’t necessarily adverse to spending time on her own, it could get rather boring, so meeting new people to spend time with, like Xion here, was a step in the right direction.
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#11
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ooc: guess we should finish this up soon?


Xion was interested to learn the names of the rest of Naniko's children, not that she had seen them around very much. But they were the closest members of the Valley in age to her, so they were important to know. It felt nice just to be able to talk to someone new, to share and gain information about families and personalities. Maybe this was why her mother was so friendly to seemingly everyone she met. Xion, with her somewhat lacking social skills, didn't realize how much she could learn from her parents, or even her brother Carwyn. Carwyn was much less outgoing and cautious than she was. Delwyn, on the other hand, was at the other extreme: adventurous and unafraid. Xion was somewhere in the middle, personality wise.


The weather had gone relatively unnoticed to the white-furred girl and, as far as she could tell, to Lucia as well. But now the thunderclouds were prominent in the sky, gray and billowing. A slight rumble of thunder sounded over the land, making Xion jump a little, startled. She cast her gaze upward at the clouds and the trees blowing in the wind. "Oh..." she said softly, "It must be about to storm." Of course, the two young wolfesses were already rather wet, but the idea of being outside in thunder, wind and lightning did not please Xion one bit. She looked to Lucia to see what kind of response she might have.

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#12
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Sounds good to me. Maybe we can say they went to Luci's cabin and amused themselves for the rest of the afteroon?



When Lucia had initially approached the other young Valley member, she had done so in the hopes of distracting herself from the boredom that had hovered over her all afternoon. And while this little meeting had succeeded in doing just that, it had also distracted her from the stormy weather that had been brewing above them all day. The low rumble that came from the clouds reminded her of the gloomy weather. A slight grin touched the corner of her lips at the sight of Xion's slight jump in surprise at the sound.



"Guess so," she said, offering the storm clouds a brief flicker of her gaze. Sure, she wasn't all that eager to be caught outside when the sky finally unleashed its burden, but considering how wet she was already, she wasn't going to worry too much about it. Thunder roared across the skies again and Lucia turned her attention back toward Xion. The younger girl certainly didn't seem too happy with the idea of being caught out in the storm either. It would probably be best for them to head to shelter then. Part of Lucia dreaded the idea of returning to the empty cabin, though, and as she watched her new companion, an idea struck her. "We can go to my house, if you want. I bet we can come up with something to do until the storm's gone," she offered, secretly hoping that the white furred pup would accept, while still trying to maintain her aloof, uncaring appearance.
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#13
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ooc: sounds good to me. aaand short post is short. maybe you can post once more and then we can get it finished up?


Xion continued looking up at the sky. It seemed to get gradually darker as the seconds passed, and the rumbles of thunder increased in volume slowly but steadily. She became interested when Lucia offered to take Xion back to her house to hang out. That sounded like fun. And she hadn't really been around to any of the other cabins. She couldn't help but smile; this was turning out to be a fairly good day after all.


"Okay!" she replied cheerfully. "But you'll have to show me where it is. I haven't really done much exploring, and I don't know my way around too well." A part of her worried that she wouldn't be able to find her way back to her own house, but if she could find the southern Mirror Lake it would be fairly easy to do.


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#14
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Annnd finito. :]



A happy, bubbling feeling of inner relief hit Lucia when the younger girl cheerfully accepted her offer, and the sandy-furred girl found it hard to keep the smile from slinking to her lips. What a turn her day had taken from the lonely boredom she had previously been languishing in. Making a new friend wasn’t something she was exactly skilled in through the clumsiness of youth, but it was turning out to be a rather simple and rewarding experience.



Thunder rumbled across the sky after another moment, the incoming storm’s none-to-subtle hint to the duo to get moving. Lucia offered the darkening clouds one last glance before nodding quickly to the white pup. “Follow me,” she said, turning and beginning to step away from the lake. “The cabin ain’t too far from here.” It would only be a quick walk for the two girls to make to get back to Lucia’s home. If they hurried they would be sure to beat the quickly brewing storm and could hopefully arrive without getting any wetter than they already were after their little impromptu diving session in the lake. As she trotted easily across the grass to the cabin in the distance, Lucia felt the stirrings of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a while.
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