Holy cow - it was such a great day! His mom had stepped away from their den, and his dad had given him permission to explore on his own. He had no clue that there was no way Aki would truly let the young boy roam completely freely, without staying somewhere nearby, but it sure felt like he had all the freedom in the world today. Peeking out of the den, his silver gaze swept over the lands. He knew he lived here, for now, but not forever. This place was where his mom lived, not his dad, though he was allowed to stay here for now if he was good. His tail waved behind his form, already quite large for such a young boy, as he crouched and peered into the unknown. He hadn't been out of the den, not really.. but nothing was stopping him now! Scrunching his face up, he took his first step into the world beyond his sleeping quarters.

And was it awesome! The sun shone bright overhead, clear and strong, despite the slight chill that hung in the air. He took a few strides, head held high as the grey-furred pup sniffed at the gentle breeze with interest. There were a lot of wolves here! He didn't know any of them, and couldn't help but feel interested in who else might live here. Boldly he continued onward, prancing through the plains with glee that only a child could possibly contain, engrossed in the simple wonder of everything around him - the grass crunching beneath his paws, and the birds singing overhead. What a cool place!

Asha hadn't been able to accomplish much since her arrival in Abaven. There had been a meeting (the amount of wolves here was pretty impressive) and then she'd met a blind healer with similar colors to her own pelt. The woman's bird was the most interesting thing and at first she had believed that bird companions were a common thing on this strange continent. After Storm though she hadn't seen anyone else with one. Maybe it wasn't so common after all and it was just coincidence she'd ran into two wolves who happened to have one? It was something interesting to think about.

She left her den, eager to find something to do, but was depressed to see that all the snakes seemed to be holed up. Winter was surely on its way if the chill of each morning was anything to go by. She didn't mind it at all and instead embraced the changing of the seasons. Everything still seemed rather brown, dry, and bland. Maybe winter and spring would hold the promise of more precipitation?

With no serpents to terrorize she padded around to see who she could find. She had no friends so far, save for Bass, and she was finding her existence to be rather boring. She needed a new partner in crime! Of course she'd do her best to avoid something over-the-top stupid, like drowning a pup, but it didn't mean she was going to turn into some cautious old bat. She wasn't a complete buzzkill after all.

A scent soon reached her nostrils and she veered to follow it eagerly. She didn't know who it was but she was going to find out! She didn't see him at first, she'd been expecting an adult after all, but her metallic eyes finally rested on the small form of a pup. A kid! A grin tugged at her muzzle as she approached him.

"Hey there." She greeted him with a friendly tail wag. "Getting into any trouble yet?"

"SPEAK"

Kai was blissfully unaware of most things around him. It was all.. overwhelming, to say the least. In the best possible way. While his life before had been a far more quiet, secure one, life outside was much bigger and grander and louder. Everything around him seemed alive, from the very ground he stepped on to the birds singing in the distance. Even the wind made more noise here, whistling somewhere far off in the distance and echoing to where he stood. He nearly gaped at it all, jaw unhinged slightly as he took his surroundings in. He moved slowly, one oversized paw in front of the other, trying to figure it all out.

Only when someone approached him - he'd hardly even heard them coming, he was so engrossed in a tree that he'd made his way too. It towered high overhead, far higher than he could ever reach, and he wondered if he might ever be able to climb it. He could probably see so much stuff from up there! His hindquarters wiggled as his tail waved wildly behind him, turning to grin at the stranger. Kai had no sense of danger, no sense of fear yet - and he was thrilled to meet someone that wasn't his mom or his dad! "Hi lady!" he greeted her, his voice loud but gentle all the same. He got a better look at her as he turned to face her, noting her coat was pretty different, but she had the same eyes as he did. They'd be friends, he decided. Though bigger than him, she was much smaller than his dad. "No trouble," he told her, though he didn't really grasp what she meant by that word anyway. "Are you doing trouble?"

This kid was just too cute! She thought she'd caught him a bit off guard. he'd been so focused on a tree that she got the impression he hadn't been out of the den for very long. He had that look about him that clearly said everything in his tiny little world had expanded. She faintly remembered her first time out of the den and all the things she'd managed to get into. Mud, disturbing birds, running into different creatures. She certainly had been a handful for her parents from the get-go.

He greeted her with that friendly fearless kind of face that only proved how young he was. She offered him a very wide grin and sat down as he asked her if she was doing trouble. Doing trouble. How adorable! She chuckled softly and looked around her. There really wasn't much trouble to be made, unless he was sneaking out. In that case he was the only one that was going to be in trouble. She was good at keeping secrets though and she supposed she counted as a responsible adult if his mom came looking for him. She'd never go so far as to call herself responsible, but she'd never quite admit that out loud.

"No trouble yet!" She laughed. "Though we could totally go on an adventure if you want to."

"SPEAK"

Though he was blissfully ignorant about most things in the world, he was enjoying what he had experienced thus far. This place seemed nice enough, and he enjoyed his parents and the small amount of exploring he'd done so far. He looked up at the woman, who was bigger than himself, wearing a wide grin. If only he knew that he was rather oversized for a pup, and soon would find himself looking down even at most adults. She still seemed so big to him, and he found himself wagging his tail as he watched her.

She seemed entertained at his words, which only pleased him more. "Yes, yes!" He agreed quickly, nodding in agreement. "Where can we go?" His eyes widened at the prospect of an adventure, and he loped forward quickly as though they were about to head in some unknown direction. "Oh! My name is Kai, by the way. What's yours?" Oh, he was so excited!