The Thanne youth had grown. The turn of her six month of age came with a spurt of growth which included gangly legs, large flappy ears, a long narrow maw and a sprouting winter coat. Her coat was a dingy color of white the only mark came from a prominent black splotch that covered her mouth --probably the only bit of color she received from her father, Dziban. The youth was a growing bud and her weight had increased since having Ash and lady Narime as her protectors, even Silver had pitched in a few times to help feed the lone Thanne pup and she appreciated their efforts to boost her growth. Their guidance and constant feedings had thus far made her quite the healthy beauty and in the right light, it showed. Her appearance hardly mattered though as night covered the Cavern land and moved beneath what remained of the moonlight, thick fog and dark shadows concealed her as she followed the sight of a looming blood red moon. It was beautiful, nothing she had ever seen before and yet it was spooky, and a fear that Rory had never felt before overcame her.


The hoot of an owl paused her stride as she looked around her, studying what her eyes found in the darkness but thick fog made it hard for her to concentrate, and before someone could catch her off guard she continued on with a much quicker pace. Her movements were swift, so much so that she was at the border of her home without realizing it and stopped finally to catch her breath, her salmon hued tongue hung loose at the side of her mouth. She wondered as she stood staring past the border, where they all were, her mother--who's scent was becoming more scarce--she worried over the most although Ash had become her replacement father, and then she wondered where her father was. This date was probably one of the first that she actually stood to think of him, he was apart of her and the smudge on her nose reminded her of this but he had gone without her, without @Athena, and she worried over him...was he okay? The thick fog and red moon tugged at her emotions and without thinking the young Thanne pointed her head upward to emit her impersonation of a howl, it was shaky and high pitched but it was her own and she was proud. Finally, Aurora "Rory" Thanne felt alive.

The fact that fog rolled along her ankles no longer disturbed her, instead her focus remained on the blood moon and she found that her call grew louder, more bolder the longer she stood to stare it at. She paused just once to catch her breath and a beckoning call made her ears fall to her head in surprise--someone else was out there! The masculine voice of Nios was a welcoming sign of company, she'd come to realize that a friendly presence had been harder to come by since her return and she'd begun to appreciate the sparse amount of new faces she'd encountered since her return. The Caverns was her family and yet she had only a few names that she memorized, it was becoming well past time for her to meet more wolves aside from her caregivers and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to do just that.


Without missing a beat she pushed through the fog that attempted to conceal her path and within no time she found the looming figure of the dark male who had called to her, his presence was much larger than her own even through the thick fog. She was cautious, having suddenly become uncertain of the male's intentions, but his bright eyes were like a flashlight in this darkness and she found that she'd become mesmerized by his appearance--she did not recognize him at all and yet she was drawn to him. The Thanne girl was a child of few words, it had been a blessing and curse of hers since birth, therefore as she stood face to face with the dark male the only movement came from her thick tail as it swayed slow at her haunches. What now? she thought as her own pale gaze stared intently at Nios, wanting him to take the lead...

As he approached, she felt herself shrink beneath his looming figure and vibrant gaze, his presence was one that commanded attention and within a span of a few moments, the dark male had stolen her's without fight. She watched him carefully, noting the friendly gaze he gave and the lack of dominance he displayed over her and she mimicked his posture in return, thankful that an elder stranger had given her the opportunity to feel like that of an equal. As the spookiness of the fog no longer plagued her mind, the young Thanne found herself consumed by the strangeness of the moon and listened as her companion mentioned the beauty of it, to which her narrow head shook but she did not comment any further, it was strange and unique but it was nothing compared to the figure that stood before her.


Questions swirled in her head over the dark wolf, she wondered where he came from and how long he had lived in the Caverns, for she had never met him until now and this place had been her birthplace. She wondered what duties he possessed, whether he knew her father Ash as personally as she did, and whether he knew Narime; her scent could be noted in the distance. She knew both leaders well, they had been her protectors and had helped to raise her when her mother had so easily failed, but that was what made her so unique. She valued them both equally and only saw Narime as her leader where Ash was her father, nothing more, his title did not mean much to her because he had never showed her anything but kindness and love that a father would and she loved him because of that. Nios reminded her of a leadership type wolf, one that others would fear because of their position therefore she kept her gaze and eyes low, wondering what he thoughts of her as she stood before him. "Who are you?" she wondered finally, thoughts of the moon overtook her mind once more, "why is the moon red?" she questioned with a cocked head. He was an adult, he should know, right?

The intense feeling of nervousness began to overtake her as she stared at the man, watching his every move and wondering what he thought of this meeting. Were she boring him, and was she truly interested in what she thought of the moon were two thoughts that swirled in her mind as she stared just past him now, much too nervous to stare directly at him any further--she had already become too engulfed in his stare. He gave his name, such a handsome calling, and she found herself grow worried over whether she would be able to remember it later if she ran into him a second time, thus she repeated it three times in her head before she remembered that she hadn't given her own. "Rory, I'm Rory Thanne." she wondered if he knew her mother and whether he was familiar with her lineage, so many in the Caverns were, but than again this wolf seemed different and mysterious-- perhaps he would see her differently than she expected so many to.


He was honest in his answer and bit her lip momentarily in thought, her eyes returned to the moon and remained on the spot for a moment longer as she contemplated its meaning, could it be a positive message or could it mean that there was something horrible brewing for the future. "This moon doesn't seem like a good sign, it's almost like death, a painful death...." the young Thanne knew very little about death aside from the prey that perished at the jaws of their captors and yet she felt that this moon's meaning was deeper than the blood spilled from their prey.