She was balancing on a fine line, the one between her curiosity and her apprehension. This new place was interesting, so different from the dark, damp den that had been her whole world for the first month of her life. But it was also scary, full of strangers, many of them so big and odd-smelling, and also packed with loud sounds and confusing scents. Most of the time she remained in their new den, a little smaller than the one where she was borne, but still plenty big for the three of them; her mother, her father, and Nalda herself. There were days though, when her curiosity outweighed her fear. Days like today. She had been spending more time alone, her parents now busy fulfilling their duty to the pack, safe in the knowledge that she was protected by the wolves around them; it was a weird new thing, this pack life. She wasn't lonely, both Nova and Camio checked in on her often, and there was always at least on adult nearby, though she didn't interact with them much. But she did have a number of hours left to her own devises, and it was at these times that the urge to explore was the strongest. Today she felt particularly brave, wanting to investigate further away from the den site than she had before, and once both her mother and father were gone, she set out on her mission. Before exiting the den, she looked around to check for anyone else in the small clearing, then, once satisfied that she could escape unnoticed, she slinked away. Her large, bright colored ears made it easy to spot her against the vibrant green undergrowth, but once she reached the fallen timbers bordering the den site, she blended much better with the landscape. The brownish grays and deep russets of her short hairs matched perfectly with the towering - and toppled - red cedars, and it was like she was born for living in these woods, her tiny body slipping easily through openings between the piled tree trunks. Every now and then, she would pause and look around, cornflower eyes wide and round as she studied her surroundings. The forest continued to amaze her, every new shape of a leaf or color of a flower making her smile brightly. She loved to explore, to be able to study and learn at her own pace, and pause whenever she wanted to smell a unique plant or pile of dung left by a passing creature; she still didn't understand why these scents in particular fascinated her, but never the less, she found them extremely interesting. Her progress was slow, short legs and many breaks keeping her close to the origin of her little journey. Still, when she finally started to feel tired and turned around to start home, she found that she had no idea where she had ended up, and how to get back. Word count: 491 ”Speech” |
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7WESPO2ueik/VhKIUR8V9iI/AAAAAAAAPGk/m1STv2Fcymo/s0-Ic42/nalda-greypixel01.gif)