Fall had firmly set in which meant that summer had ended and along with it so had her first... heat. That's what it was called, right? She had kept herself hidden away in her den almost all summer, just leaving to get the necessities. She assumed it was normal, but she still had no idea how to handle it all... For the first time in a long time she was actually wishing her mother was here. Wren had never been a major staple in her life, but it was moments like this that she wondered how different her life would be if her mother was around. She had thought about asking her father, but the thought made her sick with embarrassment. Now that her scent was back to normal again though she was out wandering through the pack lands again. She noticed her older sister's scent and paused for a moment, looking in the direction she guessed Finch had gone a short time ago. She had never really talked one-on-one to her sister, or to any of her older siblings really, but she knew Finch was supposed to be her mentor and well... she was a girl. But the mentor part was the important part! She hadn't gotten to train really yet besides her little lessons and stuff with dad so maybe she should go see about that. She turned so she could follow Finch's scent and track her older sister down. She hoped Finch didn't mind too much. "Talk" "You" Think

*Home Turf, Serpent Plains

She had been trying to stay in Abaven lands as much as possible now, considering that she was away a lot more. The pale woman felt bad, she had hardly even trained Piper and she was almost two now. Regret made her stomach twist into a tight knot, but she had spent her whole live being so closed off and worried all the time. Now that she had gotten over it she wanted to explore and see the world... most of all she wanted to spend more time with Tib. A flush rose to her face just at the thought of the slate blue man, causing her to shake her head back and forth with vigor. This was not the time! She needed to find Sandpiper and actually train the poor girl. Absentminded in her wanderings, she had no idea that her apprentice was hot on her trail, not until Civetta came and whispered in her ear. With a flick of her tail she smirked, letting out a challenging growl that hopefully she would be able to hear. It would seem that the training would start now. Sending the double-barred finch off to hide, Finch dropped closer to the ground and took off at an easy lope. To throw off her sister she jumped on top of their old family den, quickly flopping over and heavily rubbing her scent on it. Getting off, she made a few circles around it before hopping back on. Looking towards the lake, the woman bunched her hind legs under her and jumped as far as she possibly could, hopefully confusing the younger girl. Taking off once more, Finch was hoping that her strong scent on the rock would keep away from her leaving trail. Making a beeline for the lake, she ran as fast as she could before dipping her paws in in, dropping down to roll in the mud and water and make it look like she had entered. Snickering, she carefully stepped her way off the bank. She only took a few more bounds away before a thick cover of reeds was seen. The once white wolf, now coated in mud, hunkered down in her hiding spot. She eyed the ducks on the bank, hoping that they wouldn't see her and startle. That would for sure blow her cover. "SPEAK" -- "SPEAK ITALIAN" -- "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Art by Shelby

Piper followed Finch's scent, making a turn toward the old family den all of the sudden. Hm, maybe that's where she was then. She didn't think too much of it as she trotted along. She padded up to the den and looked around, her brow furrowing a bit when she didn't see her sister there. She sniffed around the den and even peaked inside for a moment. Finch's scent was all over it! She hopped on top and noticed that the dust and dirt on it was disturbed and wolf sized spot was rubbed in it. Her head tipped to the side from curiosity before her gaze lifted to the ground around the den again. Piper hummed thoughtfully to herself and her bright blue eyes squinted as she carefully examined the ground. Her ears perked when she suddenly spotted some paw prints in the dirt, just far enough for a wolf, specifically a Finch sized wolf, to jump from where she was standing. Piper was starting to piece it together, but she couldn't quite figure out why Finch was acting so strangely. But she sure was curious to find out why! She hopped down, landing just behind Finch's paw prints. She sniffed at the ground again till she caught the trail again and went after her at a lope. It led her to the edge of the lake, but that's where the trail ended. Throwing her off with water, hm? There was some pretty obvious paw prints in the mud leading up to the water, but she didn't notice any leaving right away. Her gaze scanned back and forth for any sign of her elusive sister, but just then a flurry of duck quacks and the sound of feathers fluttering caught her attention and she looked down the shore line where she saw the ducks flying away from a stand of reeds. She hummed and smirked before running down the shore line and skidding to a halt right in front of the reeds, poking her head in and finding her sister hiding out in them. She grinned and her tail wagged behind her as she exclaimed, "Ha! Found you!" "Talk" "You" Think

It was all going well before one of the ducks neared the bush, seeing Finch and letting out a loud quack. It took off, startling the others as they all took to the sky. Muttering under her breath, she pushed herself closer to the bank. She couldn’t see out of the reeds, but was holding her breath when she picked up Piper’s scent on the wind. Crap, she had found her really fast! She as a clever girl, a thought that brought a smile to her lips. Before she knew it, the tan girl was sticking her head into her hiding spot, exclaiming that she had found her. Finch leapt to her paws, letting out a chuckle as she reached up to try and brush her muddy paw across the girl's’ cheek. "You’re too clever for me!" she said with a laugh, walking into the chilly water to wash off her coat. She had to dunk her whole body in, seeing as she had rolled quite well in it. As soon as she was clean, she trotted up off the bank and where it was dry, shaking out her clean fur. Turning her head towards her sister, she inclined her head for the younger girl to join her. "I don’t think you need much training from me, you were able to see right through my tricks pretty easily," Finch said with a giggle, her gold leaf charm bouncing against her chest. "But let’s see if you can hide yourself as well. I am going to go back to the family den, and you try to hide your trail. I will give you a few moments before I try to find you, okay?" Before waiting to hear what Sandpiper had to say, she turned and bounded towards the old family den, their father’s scent pretty strong. She was hit with nostalgia as she slipped into the den, remembering how long it had taken her to leave this very place, showing pretty flowers to her mother. A shuttering breath left her as she curled up where her father slept, closing her eyes to count her heartbeats. "SPEAK" -- "SPEAK ITALIAN" -- "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Art by Shelby

Piper giggled as Finch hopped up and smeared some mud on her cheek. She still wasn't entirely sure what this whole game was for, but she was having fun and that's all she cared about. Her tail wagged behind her when Finch called her clever and Piper backed up a bit so she wasn't in the reeds any more and so Finch could get out of her hiding spot. She turned toward the water and sat while her sister waded into the water so she could get cleaned up. It looked like Finch had tried really hard to hide from her and really if it hadn't been for the ducks Piper might not have found her! Once Finch was all done getting clean again and motioned for Piper to come over she was quick to hop to her paws and trotted over to where Finch was standing. She listened closely to her sister's instructions and nodded in understanding, her wait wagging with excitement. Oh this was fun! She watched Finch trot away and she grinned as she glanced around to decide where to start. She knew she wouldn't have that long to hide so she didn't want to waste any time! She turned toward the reeds that Finch had been hiding in and ducked into them, rubbing her sides along the reeds as she slipped through them and made her way to the lakes' edge through the reeds, hoping maybe the reeds might hide her paw prints a bit as she waded out into the water. She waited till her paws weren't touching the lake bed any more before she turned to her left and started swimming down the length of the shore. She went maybe a dozen feet before she finally paddled back to shore and pulled herself out of the water, pausing for a moment to shake some of the water out of her fur. Glancing down, she saw all the mud around her paws and she grinned as an idea popped in her head. She flopped down and rolled around in the mud like her sister had and once she was happy with how covered she was she was she turned toward a grouping of trees where a bunch of dried leaves had fallen. She took big, leaping steps toward the pile and as soon as she got to the leaves she started rolling around so the leaves got all stuck to the mud, turning her into some kind of leaf monster. She giggled at herself and shuffled some of the leaves into a pile and she nestled down in them then laid very, very still, making sure to tuck her tail into the pile and flatten her ears down to her head. Luckily she was already mostly tan colored so she blended in pretty well. Now she just had to wait for Finch! "Talk" "You" Think

After she thought enough time had passed, Finch rose out of her fathers den and took one last look around. There was a touch of sadness in her blue gaze, but she didn't linger on it long before padding back to where she had hidden. Putting her nose to the ground, she sniffed around the nest of reeds. It wasn't hard to pick up on their scents from before, and she quickly found Piper's smell within her own. Following it, she could only follow her to the waters edge. Ah, clever girl. A smile spread across her lips as she lifted her head, scanning the area around the lake for any signs of her. With narrowed eyes, she moved along the shore until she spotted a flattened down part of the mud, in what looked like was a spot where the girl had rolled around in it. Sure enough there were some paw prints around it, as well as a slight hint of her scent. Grinning, Finch followed it until it faded into nothing, it had been too much of a wisp of smell to linger too long. She didn't lose her smile though, there had to be something around to give her away. It took her a little bit, and she had to make her way around until she saw a conspicuous pile of leaves. A quick glance up told her that there was no way it would have fallen like that naturally, it must have been done by something. Or someone. Letting out a soft giggle, she took slow steps over to it before letting out a loud sigh. "I wonder where Piper has gone, she's just too good at hiding!" Finch said, just a little too loudly to ensure that her sister heard her. She then slid her paws across the earth and made it sound like she was leaving to go search elsewhere. Instead she hunkered down behind the pile of leaves that hid the tan woman. Finch was sure to wait for awhile before she let out a playful growl, leaping on top of Piper. She heard the crunch of leaves under her belly as she aimed to sprawl across the girl, but since she was well hidden she wasn't sure if her aim was true. "SPEAK" -- "SPEAK ITALIAN" -- "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Art by Shelby

Piper tried her best to keep her breathing gentle and shallow so she wouldn't disturb the leaves around her too much with it. The waiting felt like it was taking forever, but the longer she waited the more excited she got. She must have hidden pretty well if Finch didn't find her right away! She barely opened her eyes so she could peek out through the gaps in the leaves, spotting her sister's pale form in the distance. Oh there she was!! Piper quickly closed her eyes again and bit back a giggle. Oh this was too much fun. She wished she got to play games like this more often! She listened as Finch's paw steps got closer, biting her cheek to keep herself from laughing at Finch's words. Finch had to know where she was by now, but Piper wouldn't move just in case she didn't! After a few moments it got quiet again and Piper thought for a second she had gotten away with it, but nope! She squealed with laughter when her sister pounced on top of her, almost landing square on her back. A huge grin crossed her muzzle and she wriggled out from under Finch and all the leaves she had covered herself in, hopping out into the open and spinning around to drop down into a play bow in front of Finch, her tail wagging wildly in the air. "You got me!" she called with another bout of giggles. She was still a mess with her fur clumped and sticking in all directions from the mud and the pieces of dried leaves stuck all over her. She didn't care though, she was having too much fun. "Did I do good? Did I, did I, did I?!" she questioned excitedly, hopping up onto all fours again and spinning in a circle before she stopped and grinned at Finch again. She knew she probably looked like a crazy wolf, but that was okay! "Talk" "You" Think