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The Italian boy had taken on a little project. It was nothing big, nothing too serious; just a little something to keep himself amused. He was sprawled out on the floor of the living room in the mansion, amber eyes fixed upon his little creation. Before him sat a half-finished wooden model and a number of tools he had scavenged from the old city. The model was an attempt to create a mini-Haven Manor. Ehno had spent the last few days working on creating a few thin planks of wood to use, and he had finally begun his project that afternoon.
The idea came to him one day when he was taking a break from his usual patrol of the borders. He had been seated beneath an old tree, humming a cheerful tune to himself when he had begun to idly stack a few fallen twigs together. Before he knew it, he had a sloppy little square shape sitting in front of him and he began to wonder if he could make a miniature version of the mansion. Failed attempts at the old stacking method told him it would take more effort and a better technique. Soon the chocolate-hued male was hunting down useful tools for carving and building in the city and committing the design of the manor to memory.
So far, he had the outside walls together and the roof was measured up and recently glued together. While he was waiting for the glue from the roof to dry, he had busied himself by carving the two large doors into the front panel of the wood. Ehno gingerly pressed on the drying roof to test it if was ready. It held, and the male eagerly lifted it and placed it on top. After a little adjustment it fit nicely, and he smiled at his accomplishment.
Amber gaze rested now on the model-in-progress, wondering what to do next. He sat up, stretching and stifling a yawn. He leaned against the old couch and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Di che ha bisogno?" he muttered to himself, staring at the little model and trying to figure out what the missing touch was.
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The little brown pup wasn’t very little anymore. She had grown larger then any of the others. Her legs tall and the rest of her round and bulk; it was how she felt anyways. She hadn’t truly figured out that she had gotten the tall stature that her mother possessed. One day she would as tall as Naniko, maybe even taller. But all Mati felt was uneven with paws that didn’t fit, and ears that flopped when she ran to fast, and a coat the color of dirt.
The self-conscious girl had stuck close to the mansion at late. Her den was quiet while the house always had someone in it. She frequented the porch, greeting those that entered it or could be found hopping up and down the stairs. There had been a time when she had to jump one at a time, but now long legs made it easy for her to climb them.
However fun each was, she had already planned her next adventure. She passed the large door that kept the in inside and the out outside, and pointed her nose towards a place she had never gone before. It was an off limits zone, but that had been when she was really little. Thinking that when you grew rules just automatically changed of completely disappeared. Still it felt wrong, so she walked slowly and quietly.
The cellar door stood before her, calling to her as she looked at its heavy paned front. There was mystery behind it that spoke in a whisper, strait into her ear. Still it made her heart beat quickly, like when she was about to be scolded. Her dark nose stretched out to touch the cold wood, only to be stopped by the sound of an accented voice.
It distracted her enough that she turned her back to the basement and tip-toed towards the sound. Reaching one of the long pieces of furniture that was housed in the living room the young wolf peered around it to find Ehno with what seemed like a toys scattered across the floor. The small pieces caught her eye and lead her to what looked like a small structure.
Hi Ehno. Her greeting said as she walked from behind the couch.
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Ehno was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice. He looked to the right and caught sight of Mati coming around the side of the couch. The young girl was getting bigger—all of the pups were. It almost felt like it was only yesterday that Naniko’s children were born, and now they were all so much bigger, scurrying all over the packlands and surrounding territories. The brown-furred girl seemed to have the advantage of size over her siblings, though. Ehno wouldn’t be surprised if the girl ended up growing to be as large as her mother. He didn’t know if Mati could have inherited her size from her father. He had never met the man, but considering the sort of things he heard about him, he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
He smiled softly at the girl as she approached. “Boun giorno, Mati,” he greeted in return. “How are you doing?” The Italian boy grabbed the small carving tool and old bottle of wood glue from beside him, placing them next to the model and out of the way. He patted the spot on the ground next to him, indicating that she should come join him in front of the couch. Maybe she would find the little model interesting, or have a few ideas of her own for it. Ehno hadn’t been able to spend too much time with any of the pups running around Crimson Dreams lately. Perhaps now they could catch up and have a little fun.
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She watched with curious eyes. The things that sat before him were intriguing, but she kept a weary distance, unsure if they were playthings or something adult and serious. At time she had confused toys with things of general importance, though those things had been mainly in paper form. still she was hesitant, and as he spoke using words that made no sense to her she wanted to recede into herself or just run away. It was is pleasant tone and welcoming gesture that kept her standing in place, and even gave her enough confidence to take a step closer.
Boun giorno? Mimicking his words almost exactly she put them in question form. Was he making fun of her? She was almost sure that he would poke fun at her large paws and lanky legs, but there was no concrete answer. What does that mean? Her question was a little less demanding, though she still wanted him to explain himself. Moving to the spot he had indicated she watched him and waited for his answer... It better not be a joke about her.
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Ehno raised an eyebrow as Mati remained silent for a time, not moving more than a single step forward. He had seen the curious look in her eyes moments before, but now she seemed hesitant to approach closer. For a second, Ehno wondered if she was afraid to get in the way of his little project, but there was plenty of room for them to both sit. And then the shy girl repeated his foreign greeting, and her hesitance began to make a little more sense to him. Half the time Ehno never noticed when he used a few words from his native tongue. He hadn’t even realized that he slipped it into his greeting just now until the girl pointed it out.
“‘Boun giorno’ means ‘good morning’ in Italian. That’s the language I grew up speaking.” Now he would mostly speak English, as Savina was the only other one he knew of the understood the language from overseas. “You’ve never heard Savina speak any Italian before?” he asked when the girl came closer. Judging from her confusion, she most likely had not. But Savina had spent more time around the pups than he had, so if Mati had heard any of the foreign language before, it would have been from his sister.
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She wasn’t sure where her suspicions came from, but they quickly passed when he translated for her. Oh. She whispered thinking on it for a moment. No, she hasn’t It was odd that they all just didn’t speak the same language, and found it intriguing that if she went far enough away she probably wouldn’t understand a word they said. And, his words had been beautiful sounding, rolling off the tongue easily and fluidly.
Finally she took up his invitation and walked closely around the model to sit beside him. Looking down at it she noticed how closely it looked like the house they sat within, or at least the framing of it. Her eyes lowered, getting level with the structure as her interest grew. You make this? Her question was full of the excitement that she held. Looking at the tools scattered on the floor she gently touched one of them, wondering how it would feel in her hand, if she had fingers.
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He was glad to see that she relaxed some after he explained the foreign words to her. He wasn’t altogether too surprised to hear that his sister hadn’t spoken Italian around the pup. There wasn’t any reason she would need to; the little ones wouldn’t understand her, and they would more than likely become confused just as Mati had now. He couldn’t quite figure out why the girl seemed so suspicious of the foreign greeting, but that was likely due to the fact that he was so used to the idea of knowing two languages.
Ehno smiled as the girl finally took a seat beside him. She seemed to take an interest in the little model quickly, peering at it with her soft purple gaze. “Yep,” came his quick reply. “I’ve been working on it all afternoon. What do you think of it so far?” Maybe the girl would have some idea of where he should start next. She had done her own share of wandering within the mansion, so perhaps she could point out any inconsistencies in his miniature version.
The Marino noticed Mati pawing curiously at the tool he had just moved aside. The tool was a small carving blade, one that was ideal for adding in little details. “I used that one to carve the front in over here.” Ehno leaned forward a little, pointing at the doors on the front of the structure. It was rough, but that was to be expected considering this was his first attempt at a model such as this.
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He brought her attention back to the model house. Listening intently, her eyes widened as she spoke. Just this afternoon? The question rang between her ears and before she could speak it she was looking at the place he pointed to. They looked so much like the doors that she pushed to get inside. She couldn’t believe it was possible to replicate such real life things. She mouthed a silent, wow. Feeling that if she was to loud so close to it that entire structure would collapse.
Her smiled didn’t fade as she looked towards him, This is really cool Ehno. They were the only words she knew to express her amazement. Wishing that there were something that she could add to it, she looked back at the mini house. What did you use? the questions she had were numerous, but she was able to ask them one, or two at a time. Where are we right now? Wheres the cellar? Or three.
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He couldn’t help but smile a bit at Mati’s excitement. He was honestly a bit worried about how the project would turn out. But judging from the girl’s reaction, he wasn’t doing too bad a job so far. The girl’s smile, coupled with her comment, was enough to widen that ever-present smile of his own. “Heh. Thanks, Mati. I’m glad you like it.”
Then the questions came, one after another. He was a little surprised at her interest in his silly little project, but he was more than happy to answer her questions. “It’s pretty much all made of wood.” He grabbed the small, old bottle of wood glue from beside his carving blade and showed it to her. “This is glue. It’s kinda sticky, and when it dries it holds things together. That’s how I got it to stay together without falling apart.”
He placed the bottle back on the ground and then carefully lifted the roof from the model to address her next question, placing it next to little house. “We’re right… here.” He pointed inside the building to the general area of the large living room. He hadn’t done much with the insides of the model yet. All there was so far were lines he had drawn in to designate where the walls were. As for the cellar? He hadn’t really thought about it before. “And the cellar…” He searched his memory for the location of the cellar door so that he could determine where it would belong in his model. “It would probably be right about here.” He pointed to another spot not too far from their current location.
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Her eyes grew, large and round as she watched him. The little fey was one for creativity, with the games she made up along with the snow sculptures that her clumsy paws had attempted to create. Her favorite were colors, the bright pictures that they created and the ones that hid among the more obvious. She had found them in her new brother Lannen’s coat, all the blue and pinks that were hard to see in his white-silver pelt.
Ehno was turning into a mentor as he explained all the tools of the trade.
The roof rose, and he eyes followed. They returned to see where they were, as well as the off limits cellar. Never been in the cellar. Mati admitted, a little low about the fact. But as any pup would, she recovered in an instant. Maybe, there could be a little Ehno, and Mati to fit inside. The violet eyes pup looked to him, wondering what he thought of the idea.
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Ehno was glad to see that interested and excited light in Mati’s eyes as she looked at the small structure and the tools surrounding it. But then that excitement of hers was muted for a moment as she admitted to never having ventured into the cellar before. The Italian boy thought for a moment, head tilting to the side just slightly. Now that he thought about it, he had never wandered down there himself. “That makes two of us. I haven’t had the chance to go down there yet either,” he commented. Idly, he wondered what might be down there waiting for them.
It seemed that not a moment later the girl was chipper again, violet eyes staring intently at the little mansion. At Mati’s suggestion, Ehno couldn’t help but smile. The image of miniature Crimson Dreams wolves inside the tiny model was a charming one. “I think that’s just what this little manor needs to be complete.” His amber gaze moved from the wooden structure and back to the girl beside him. That’s when he got an idea. “Hey, what do you say we paint the little Ehno and Mati together, once you’re a little older and you can shift? Sound like fun?” There was no hurry to complete the project before the girl could reach her optime form. Ehno would still busy himself making the miniature figures and hunting down paint for them.
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For most of her young life it had been her mother that cared for her. They were mainly all she knew, but now that she had ventured into the manor more and for longer stays, even over night, the rest of the pack was starting to become her family. A fondness grew in her heart for the Italian boy, even if he spoke funny words at times. His sister was very much an aunt to her, and as she started to look to him more as an artistic mentor he was growing strongly as an uncle.
She couldn’t believe that he had never been passed the cellar door. Mati had always assumed that there was some grand secret hidden there, only knowable when passed a certain age. But, it seemed that Ehno was being kept out of the loop as well. ”Yeah, maybe we can make a Haven too.” she spoke excitedly.Mati thought of her brother in a miniature form, with the smallest white ear on an orange base. It had never really been much of a reason to eagerly await the ability to shift, but now there was something to look forward to.
”You wanna see what’s down there?” her tail began to crack against the floor, just thinking about the different things that might be waiting for them. It wouldn't be breaking the rules if he went with her, and if there were anything frightening Mati would have a protector.
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I'm so sorry this ended up being ridiculously late. ]:
He nodded as the girl added a little Haven to her suggestion. “Sure. We can make a whole little Crimson Dreams family for the little house.” The small model would be just as busy as the real Haven Manor. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of seeing all of the little figures placed about the finished mansion. Ehno had no idea that his would turn into such an extensive project when he first began, but he knew it would be a lot of fun. And with Mati willing to help out it would be even more enjoyable. Working with others was always more fun than working alone.
He grinned at the girl’s obvious excitement at the thought of taking a look into the cellar. “Alright, let’s go take a look then.” The enticing call of the unknown along with Mati’s tail-thumping excitement spurred him into quickly agreeing. Little adventures like this never ceased to be entertaining. The chocolate-hued male neatly pushed his stray tools beside the unfinished model. He was at a good stopping point now and taking a break from the project sounded like a good idea. Pulling himself up from the ground, he smiled down at Mati. “Lead the way?”
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No worries :]
Standing the little fey circled the model Haven Manor, purple eyes filled with a quiet excitement. Just as eager as she was, the Church girl felt an equal amount of nervousness. Large paws kept her planted as Ehno made the suggestion that she lead. Thinking deeply on the idea, Mati gathered what courage she had and paired it with her curiosity. Giving a tentative Sure. the littler wolf bounded through the living room until her nose met the door of the cellar. Looking upwards to the doorknob she paused.
Turning to the male that followed, a smile wrapped around her face. Her large stature for her age made the door a simple task. Two large paws handle the round lock easily, and with a nudge of her nose the large door opened with a creaking sound. Darkness met her gaze, and she stared down the stairs that sat at her feet. Staring into the abyss Mati placed a hesitant paw of the first step.
She hadn’t thought that it would be so dark…
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Ehno followed silently behind the girl as she scampered along through the living room and was faced with the door. Even without being in her optime form, Mati had no trouble opening the old door herself. She was apparently used to such a maneuver after coming in and out of the mansion by herself all this time. Amber eyes peered into the darkness of the cellar, curious to see what might lie at the bottom of the steps.
He moved to the doorway as Mati took a tentative step forward, giving the door an extra little push to make sure it was as far as it would go. It appeared almost pitch black down in the cellar, so it would benefit them to have as much light pour in through the doorway as they could get. The Italian boy fell into step beside Mati, giving her an encouraging smile while she could still see it. Each step taken brought out a small creak of protest from the old wooden stairs. They were nearly to the bottom, and as his eyes adjusted, Ehno could make out some faint shapes along the nearest wall. It seemed to be a stack of boxes of some sort.
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Step by step they made it further and further into the darkness. The Church pup blinked, hoping that her eyes would get used to the darkness like they did at night. Paws were met by the cold hard floor as she hopped from the last step. Taking in the dingy scent that filled the basement, Mati strained her neck to see the deep reaches of the cavernous room. Curiosity overcoming any sort of hesitation that she was feeling, Mati let her nose lead her to the packed boxes that sat in front of the two explorers.
Little black nose poked at the things that sat stale and degrading before her. She prepared to step backwards in fright, unsure if they would poke back or not. It swayed ever so slightly under her touch, and Mati walked hastily backward. Finding little room to move the chocolate adolescent stood ever so still in hopes of calming the beast within the box. When nothing happened she breathed again. Her eyes scanned the wall, and with the smallest of steps she managed to move forward.
A single object caught her eye as it leaned against the wall, tall pieces of wood that formed what her tutor Kansas would call an A. The thing sat behind a few framed an dust covered portraits. Looking at the thing that stood above her she questioned the older and far more experienced male, What is that?
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