Secluded Spring on a steel horse i ride.

For Miss @Arwyn! Set late afternoon, patchy rain afoot. Warm.

Now, Namir was by no means a proficient fisher – shit, she wouldn’t even call herself a decent one – but she’d caught one little trout a day or so back, and that seemed to be enough to inspire the wolf to continue trekking along water ways to try her luck again. It was like the most bizarre form of gambling the youngster had ever gotten involved in; the dangers inherent to things like chasing deer didn’t apply here, but she still found a certain thrill that came with holding until just the right moment and lashing after the slippery little shiners. Shoot, she almost felt like the snake she was telling that other loner about!

Perhaps that was why the desert dweller hadn’t realized just how close she’d gotten to pack territory. She’d never cross – not intentionally, anyways – not after what she’d witness the wolves of Crow’s Crossing do to an unwelcome stranger, but the water wasn’t theirs exclusively, and as long as the fish were on this side, Little Crow didn’t see why they couldn’t be fair game. Standing a few lengths into the shallow edges of the Secluded Spring, the rest of the world was lost on the dusty wolf as she stared into the clear pool, watching, willing the rock bass to come closer.

Finally, Arwyn had slipped away without notice. She knew it wouldn't be long until her parents and the pack started looking for her, and so her stubby little limbs moved as quickly as she could to gain as much distance as she could. It was kind of a game to her, hide and seek was so much more fun when you had the advantage! How far could she get each time, how long would it take. Each time she slipped off she seemed to be able to gain more and more ground, her quickly growing body able to go just a bit further each day. Her parents seemed to have caught onto her antics, and as much as they tried to keep her under reign, it was only a matter of time before Arwyn found her chance.

Arwyn toddled a different direction this time than she usually did, tiny white tail waggling behind her as set off into the great wide unknown. A splashing sound met her ears, a sound that reminded her of jumping in rainpuddles, or the little stream that went by the den. But this sound was much louder than those other sounds, and she scurried along faster spurred by the sense of discovery. Arwyn pushed through the tall reeds to find a pool that sprawled out infront of her, spotted by lilypads. A big smile breaking across her narrow little face as shining blue eyes met the water. She laughed joyously, skipping forwards to dip her toes into the water and splashing with great gusto, not noticing the stranger just a short ways down the bank.

She had finally gained psychic powers! The stripped fish were finally responding to her will – or she’d just been standing in the water for so long, they’d already forgotten it was a pair of legs in the shallows, and not some fallen branches. Namir rather hoped for the first one, drawing backwards as energy started to coil in her shoulders like a loading spring. Just a liiiittle bit closer and—

Moments before the loner could lunge, something pale went splashing and shrieking into the water nearby. And, okay, maybe not actually screaming, but they may as well be, given the way all the fish shot out of the area like someone had launched them from a cannon.

Little Crow scowled, kicking at the water with one foot before turning to face the intruder. Her ears laid back until golden eyes fell upon a puppy, and-- Whoa. That cub was awful small to be playing around in the water. She’d known there was a pack nearby, would be a damn fool not to be able to smell it, but it seemed awful weird for a child to be out on her lonesome like this. Given that the kid didn’t seem to be drowning, Little Crow made her way over carefully, black nose tipped into the wind as she sniffed the air. “Y’out here alone, kiddo?” she asked warily, looking this way and that. The last thing she wanted was to be sprung by an angry mom. “Water ain’t that safe.”

Arwyn was having the time of her life kicking up a storm. This big water was much better than any puddle or puny little stream. It was deep, reaching up to her chest and the feeling of the cold water was a great relief from the summer's heat. And more than anything, it reinforced the fact that the most interesting things could be found away from the boring old den everyone tried to keep her and her brother trapped near. Out here was where the real excitement was.

Arwyn's splashing immediately stopped and her overly large puppy-sized head swiveled towards the sound of another voice. Another strange voice, for it belonged to no one she knew. And as she looked, she found this wolf did not fit into the little bubble of wolves that made up her pack and family. There was a passing resemblance to her mother, with the brown fur and yellow eyes, but the resemblance was only fleetingly superficial.

She silently stared for a few moments, her mouth gaped open as her little brain grappled with her first sighting of a stranger. The stranger asked her a question, then informed her that it wasn't safe. "Mmmm..." She hummed. "I got here all by myself!" She proudly declared, tail wagging. The would be so impressed with her!

“All by yerself, huh?”

Idly, she wondered if the kid had a mom like her own. Kinda there, kinda not – it wasn’t that hard for Little Crow to weasel her way to freedom if she put her mind to it, but at that age? She was pretty sure her ma still kept her close by, ‘cos of Orin (and Orin’s actual mate, really, and that whole infanticide business), so this girl was either really wily, or her parents really just didn’t give a fuck. Either way, the loner shrugged and trotted closer through the shallows, feet splashing until she stood next to the pup. As far as she could see, the kid looked okay. That was good.

“Well, ain’t you somethin’. Y’come here a lot?” It never occurred to the youth that a child of that age might not be talkative – it was hard to relate when her own rearing had been kind of bizarre. The girl hadn’t balked yet, though, so Little Crow really couldn’t see the harm, especially if there wasn’t an adult hanging around to rip half her face off. She’d seen an angry mother before, and had absolutely no interest in poking that kind of bear. “What’s yer name, anyhow?”

@Namir

Arwyn nodded with great enthusiasm at the strangers question, her round little head bobbing fiercely up and down. Yep! All by herself. The little girl was quite proud at the feat, after all, this was the farthest she had gone so far on her own, with the power of her own four paws. Arwyn shook her head as the stranger asked if she came here a lot. "Nuh uh. Jus' today." She stared as the tawny female came closer. Truly, the two weren't all that far apart in age, but to Arwyn there were only two kinds of wolves in the world. Kids and adults. And this lady was far too big to be a kid, so that placed her in the adult category.

"I'm Arwyn!" She introduced herself with a big smile, her stubby little white tail wagging. Her little chin pointed upwards as she continued to stare at the other wolf, eyes slightly narrowing as she examined her up close. To be honest, she hadn't even considered that other wolves existed outside of her pack. She blinked, the tip of her little pink tongue poking out of her lips as she thought. Where did this lady come from, anyways? Or was she here all the time? Did she live in the springs? Arwyn hoped that she did, as it meant she would have her own secret playmate. Arwyn's tail started wagging even faster. "Do you wanna play with me?" She asked hopefully.

Just today, huh? Little Crow wasn’t sure if she was very lucky, or about to get her ass kicked. But she still didn’t scent anything that smelled anything like that telltale ‘pissed off mama’ aroma, so… The young loner shrugged and turned her full attention back to the little white pup, pleased the kid could at least talk. Did she wanna play? Eh, she’d been looking for fish, but that whole plan hadn’t been panning out. Maybe if she played with the puppy, something better would come along.

She couldn’t see the harm, anyways.

“‘m Lil’ Crow,” she told the cub, lanky tail swinging behind her. “Butcha can call me Crow. ‘er Lil’? Whatever works.” All in all, Arwyn did seem to have a pretty good grasp on language. Maybe she shouldn’t worry too much about it. “I can play, though. You know any good games, ‘er somethin’? Never did had water growin’ up. Not like this.”

Like she was so old and wise and grown at this point. The desert dweller had barely made it past four seasons in her own right. But it was the oldest she’d ever been, and she really couldn’t imagine being that small again. Not after everything that happened. So the wizened old loner waited for instructions, ears pricked as Arwyn splashed.