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Rio was happy that there was still snow on the ground. She'd grown out of her fantasy that the falling snow was actually fairies dancing down from the heavens, even though she still fancies tiny, beautiful ladies whenever it snowed. It had been difficult to grasp the concept of seasons, something she now understood completely. The snow would melt, the atmosphere would warm, and flowers would bloom. Though she would miss the pale, chilly magic of a snowy world, she was very excited to see what the new seasons would bring.

Rio understood a lot more now, more than ever before. Aging into adolescence brought a wealth of discovery, and rather than become overwhelmed by it, the girl uncannily embraced it. She was hungry to know how this world she lived in worked, to experience it in all its beauty. Her new freedom had given her the courage to leave Phoenix Valley for the very first time to see what lay beyond the safety of its borders. Mama and Papa had warned her not to venture in the direction of Dahlia de Mai or Inferni, and she had no issue with heeding them. The war was such a frightening concept to the sensitive girl that she had cried at night more than once as violent images spun through her mind. She didn't want to be anywhere near the atrocity of battle.

The little girl tried not to think of the war as she approached a rough wire fence. Beyond it, the scent of the air changed, for it had been marked as a pack's claimed territory. She froze in her spot, even backing away on dainty white paws. What if she'd gone the wrong direction, and happened upon the warring packs? But there was a strange stillness, a beautiful calm about the place that prevented her from fleeing. Of course, she shrunk in on herself, her tail settling between her hind legs. She wanted ever so much to keep going, but she couldn't, and she couldn't run away. So she remained where she was, still and waiting for she didn't know what.

OOC: table code, image, and Filler © James; 511 words

All Lotus knew was the snow. He wasn’t yet old enough to have experienced any of the other seasons. So the sleeping world as the only thing that he had experienced so far. Imagine the surprise he will feel as it gets later in the month and the snow starts to melt away so that sprouts could break through the ground. He wouldn’t be able to blend in with his surroundings so well then. It would make it harder for him to sneak off and away from his Mommy’s care because he would be easily noticed. But then with the coming of spring would be the coming of age. It wouldn’t quite matter so much that he would no longer be able to blend in with his surroundings because he would be coming towards an age where he would be trusted on his own. Not that he wasn’t already taking advantage of that and sneaking around by himself now. He didn’t travel far from AniWaya though, actually he hadn’t crossed the borders just yet. At least not since he had first gotten here. After all he had to be reunited with his Mommy since his Mommy went on ahead to set up life here for him. Or at least that is what he had been told.


Lotus knew nothing about the war. But then again AniWaya wasn’t located near the feud. Honestly it was doubtful that he would get that far before he would be noticed missing and brought right back home. So he didn’t even realize that there were other packs out there. The way that he had come in from the south the tribe was the only thing that he knew. He had no idea about other beings living to the north. That there was more than just the tribe in this area. He didn’t know of their being plenty of other settled places in this area. But then again he was still young so it wasn’t really his fault that he didn’t know any better. He would just have to learn as he got older.


Bounding steps helped him to cover distance as he jumped through the snow. Eventually he came towards the fence and to his surprise there was someone on the other side of it. Someone that couldn’t be much older than himself. “Hi! What are you doing out there?” The words were called out as he approached the fence. He didn’t know there were other pups around but then again he had just recently been reunited with his Mommy. There weren’t many that he had met. But still the idea of a playmate excited him. Enough to have his tail wagging as he reared up to place his front paws against the fence. “You better get back inside before your Mommy starts looking for you.” Like Lotus didn’t already know what that was like. He’d already had his Mommy calling for him before. And no doubt it wouldn’t be the last. But he couldn’t help himself. There was just so much to see and do.

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The stillness was interrupted, and the girl perked up in her facial expression though her body remained low to the ground. She didn't want to make herself conspicuous, because she saw that the noise was caused by a wolf, a little wolf. It was exciting indeed to see him, translucent as he was against the backdrop of snowy ground. His black markings helped her along to certainty that he was not a play of the wind and snow. How wonderful that she should meet a puppy in this strange tribal land, rather than an adult who would likely have a scolding for her. Her rump was more or less stationary, but her front half fairly paced as the strange puppy drew closer; she was excited to meet him, to see what he wanted of her.



He was cheerful, and bit smaller than her. Rio was undersized for her age, a runt in every aspect, so the difference in their sizes was small despite his younger age. "Well, I'm exploreen, Signore! My name is Rio." she responded as the distance between them was comprised only of the rails of the fence, against which he rested his little white paws. Rio mimicked him, placing her own frosted feet alongside his, grinning when she saw that they were the same exact color. She cocked her head quizzically at him before realizing that he thought she was part of his pack, which was why he'd questioned her in such ways. She giggled a little, ears flipping backward as the laughter faded into a curious, energetic smile. "I don't live here. My Mama is at home, in Phoenix Valley." The child didn't know where her mother spent her time, so it was easiest to just say she was "at home." It made her sad to think of Naniko being unavailable to take her home after a long day of exploring, but Rio wasn't resentful of this. She understood that her mother had grown-up lady things to do. Besides, there was always Papa and Xeris.



"Why are you here, and not inside? Won't your Mama miss you?"

OOC: table code, image, and Filler © James; 510 words; I am so bad. Sorry this took forever, life just took over.

Why shouldn’t he be cheerful? He didn’t realize there was anything bad in the world yet. And well, the snow was fun. But then again the snow was the only thing that he knew, just as was the cold. To him the world could quite possibly be like this all year long. He didn’t know a thing about season changes. But then being three months old there wasn’t really much he knew about life since he hadn’t experienced much yet. But at least he could tell a puppy from an adult even if he couldn’t distinguish the scent of one pack from another. Actually he didn’t know much about other packs either. This pup being the first he met outside of AniWaya. Even before he came to be reunited with his mother he only knew of AniWaya, having come from the old tribe. So honestly AniWaya was his entire life.


Head tilted to the side with the funny name that was said. He quickly laughed it off though. “No, that’s not my name. My name is Lotus.” He had no idea that she had used a term to call him a boy. He just figured it was a name. A name of someone that possibly looked similar to him. So along that line of thought he spoke up again. “I don’t know where Signore is. Does Signore live here?” It was possible that there was someone named Signore living in the tribe. It wasn’t like Lotus knew everyone that was living in AniWaya. He didn’t mind helping to look for this missing Signore though. He didn’t have any other plans for the day at least. “We can go look for Signore. It’ll be fun.”


The smaller pup was also amused by their paws being the same color. Though, unlike Rio, he chose to comment on it. “Hey look! Our feet are the same!” He grinned and wagged his tail happily as he stared down at their paws placed next to each other. It only took such a small thing to make him excited. But that was generally the way it was with children. They never needed a lot to keep them entertained. The same went for Lotus. He had been spending his days entertaining himself by exploring the lands of the tribe. And with that exploring he had been meeting others.


“My Mommy is busy doing leader things. I can stay out and play if I am home when it gets dark.” At least that is the schedule that he had been keeping and his Mommy didn’t say anything about him having to change it. Sure, she probably worried about him but she hadn’t scolded him so far. He was staying out of trouble for the most part. Sure, he never mentioned that he was heading out or anything like that but he didn’t see it being a big deal either. It wasn’t like anyone was getting hurt or anything. He wasn’t leaving the tribe’s lands either. So he really saw nothing wrong with just heading off on his own.

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It hadn't occured to her that someone else would not know what "Signore" meant. He puzzled her with his correction, giving his name as Lotus as if she thought the word she'd uttered was his name. A light giggle trickled into the air, and the girl spoke to explain herself, still wondering why he had not understood. "'S just what I calls some boys. And I ladies, they're 'Signora.' No one calls you 'signore' here? " She was young, so Rio didn't grasp that different wolves and their families had different ways of speaking. It was a lesson she still had to learn: not everyone did the same things she did.

Lotus drew her attention to their feet, noticing what she had. She nodded vigorously, her tail picking up speed; for she was just as excited about this as he was. "'Yes they are! I like our feets," She lifted a paw and placed it gently atop his, then removed it quickly with a ringing bell of a laugh. In the midst of youth Rio was one to be easily enthralled, and this little boy was especially endearing and exciting to her. She had only ever played with Xeris' puppies other than her own siblings. The adventure of meeting a child from a back besides Phoenix Valley was fresh and new.

He spoke of his mother, and Rio's eyes widened with understanding; she was sympathetic to having a busy mother. "'Me's too. My mama will let me stays away until dark, then I must go home. She does important things too!" Rio was not so much trying to boast as to inform him of her understanding. She ducked beneath the rails of the fence to join his side, more comfortable now that there weren't bars between them. "'You wants to play with me, Lotus?" she grinned, ears erect, and sunk her chest to the grass with her rump in the air.

OOC: table code, image, and Filler © James; 504 words

No, he didn’t have the grasp on language or that there were different ones. Just like Rio he figured that the way that he spoke and the way that things were done in AniWaya was the way that things were done everywhere. Was the way that everyone did things. He didn’t realize that each pack and family had their own traditions. And with her explanation it made him start to realize that some had their own way of talking. He shook his head at her question. “No. I’m not a boy.” Though most here hadn’t seemed to have gotten that memo yet. There were still those that seemed to think he was male when that was far from the truth. Or it was in his mind at least. He thought of himself as a girl and didn’t see why others didn’t come to that conclusion as well. He didn’t understand what it was that made everyone automatically assume that he was a boy. Language wasn’t the only thing he wasn’t experienced in for anatomy would be another one of those things he didn’t know everything about.


He looked down at her paw as it was placed on top of his own. “We have pretty feet!” He chimed in with a cheer, tail wagging happily. It didn’t take much to entertain him. Didn’t take much to make him happy and excited. But why should it? He was young and so everything was new and exciting to him. Everything was an adventure still since he was experiencing it all for the first time. Just like this was his first time meeting another pup. He hadn’t seen any others in AniWaya. All he had to play with was himself and whatever else that he could find to entertain him. Such as jumping into piles of snow. So meeting someone else near his age was a great feat. It made him wish that she lived close so that they could spend lots of time together.


Rio had the same restrictions that he did. They both had to be back to their Mommy’s before it got dark. That meant that they had all day to play and have fun! Finally! He had someone to play with! It really was a great day. He grinned and pranced in place as Rio came onto his side of the fence. “Okay! What do you want to play?” He asked with a laugh as he mimicked what she was doing. He wasn’t sure about what games there were to play. Not since he was usually off playing by himself or exploring. And exploring was the exact way that his day had started out. He hadn’t expected to find another but it was an excellent surprise. “We can play whatever you want.” He easily gave in to whatever his whim may be. But then again he was just glad to have a friend close to his own age. At least he assumed that she was his friend. He didn’t see why she wouldn’t be.

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Rio's brow furrowed, drawing a comical expression upon the gaunt features of her face. He simply yet adamantly explained that he was not a boy; then what was he? Perhaps he didn't want to be called a youngster. Sometimes Rio felt belittled because of her age and wished to be an older wolf, to obtain the privileges that adults had. She decided to keep this in mind about him for now, as his attention was again upon their matching paws. The girl's tail waved continuously. She'd never thought of any part of herself beautiful before. He called attention to this feature of hers, her white paws, and she wondered if they really were pretty. His paws were so, after all.




"'Pretty feet!" she said in a singsong voice, dancing in a circle around the boy with those paws mere flashes of white upon the green of the grass. She was feeling more wonderful as the moments passed. New experiences never failed to awaken a carefree side of her, and she felt as bright as the sun. Pausing her dance, she thought of activities they could enjoy together, games she played among her siblings and Xeris's children. All this talk of paws gave her an idea. "We should have a race," she suggested, smiling encouragingly toward the pale boy. Though he had left the decision up to her, Rio knew subconsciously that she would undoubtedly have fun with Lotus no matter what. He was a kindhearted youth, much as she was. They would get along well. "If you want to." Her nose brushed the fur of his cheek, but she pulled back to see what he thought.