Legs brought him back to his selected hiding place for the nights. Philly he had stashed here this morning after he had her cleaned up and everything. He did a lap around the area first to ensure that no one was close enough to his new sidekick. He rather enjoyed her company. He had a plump rabbit for her as he made his way in. His voice came with a muffled bark. He didn't see a need to make her hide too much. In fact he had taken her all over to explore and stuff, this was just his perfered sleeping place. It was sheltered and had a vast expanse for Philly to roam.

He would of taken her with him but had thought better of it since it was likely he had gained attention and the ire of a whole pack already. Oh well, can't look this good and be this awesome with out stirring up a little trouble here and there. he gave a smirk as he came into the brightest part of the cave. His eye scanned for signs of Philly. She could of left and he would of probably waited for her here and just let her enthuse to him about her day and adventure. He was growing quite fond of her. Even if she shared the freaks mutations she didn't share his hate of all things fun. He set the rabbit down and sat then. His head tilted back as he howled for her to come. She wasn't required immediately but she was required to check in eventually. He lowered himself to wait. His eye was on the entrance. He smirked, figuring she would likely try jumping him and chewing on him. She was a handful but he did love her. She was well cared for and even more so spoiled. She wanted it and he got it for her. This was something he was sure even ganta couldn't get mad at him for. So what he had stole her but did ganta ever think for a second about how lonely he was without another Hellstrom by his side faithfully. Whatever the case Philly would grow up a Hellstrom and be proud to be one.

The child was enjoying her time away from Dragoste. There was a lot to explore… and uncle Rikeros was a lot of fun! The little one’s butt wiggled in the air as she stalked after a cave cricket. Her smile was still playful, but there was a bit of a darker look in her eyes as she aimed for the unfortunate critter. In a flash she pounced, crunching the unfortunate cricket up in her jaws. But, upon finding it’s taste dissatisfactory she spat it out, wrinkling her nose. “Gross!” She furrowed her brow, ears flicking back against her skull.

She wasn’t used to this sort of freedom at home with Ulric, her mama and papa… she missed her brother, but she was also having so much fun it was hard to think of home. Riker was showing her so many neat things, and she was learning fast. She was going to be the strongest wolf in all of Boreas someday, she was certain! Her uncle was going to help her become a powerful wolf, even more powerful than her papa!

Hearing the muffled bark Philly turned her head towards the sound, wiggling again. A mixture of darkness and innocence resided in the girl. While she still believed in some things a bit naively there was  a part of her that craved blood, craved to be strong. She was already learning defenses and some attack techniques from the male… and there was no denying her interest. She wanted to meet the rest of the Hellstrom side of her family too… and find out from her papa why he hid them from her.

The girl crouched down lower, careful not to trip on her mane as she stalked towards her uncle in the light of the caverns. It seemed that Riker’s gaze was on the entrance, as it often was, and the girl gave another eager wiggle before moving a bit faster, breaking into a full run before pouncing towards the male with a ‘mighty’ puppy roar. Her fangs sought to grab onto his left ear, on his blinded side, and wrap her forelegs around his neck in a little bear-hug.

His ear twitched at the sound of clumsy puppy steps. He gave a quiet chuckle. She still was working on the silent part and he was loathe to hear anyone tell her she wasn't doing good. She only gave enough warning through such means right then. Until she leaped, to which he purposely aimed to lift his ear away and have her land between his legs where he would gently aim to trap her with a leg and give her a low growl. Not meant to scare her, rather to give sound to the "monster" he was that she battled.

His teeth aimed to snap close to her but not close enough to touch her. He didn't want her harmed after all. In fact he figured if Ganta ever found them, which was likely to happen one day, he'd challenge for custody of her. He was on his side in seconds after the snap, his leg no longer trapping her. His blinded eye to the ground as he pawed towards her gently. Enigma would be having a field day making fun of him for this foolish behavior if he could see him. He could care less though. He gave a smirk as he eyed Philly.

"Your dinners gonna get cold you know." He'd hate for a good hare to go to waste. He sat up and his attention snapped to the mouth of the cave for a second as a deer ran past. He was on guard all the time to keep her safe but he was also jumpy from the thought of some angry pack member coming in here and getting into a fight with him. Scenarios had played out in his mind and he hadn't liked them. Most had been dreamed up that they would jump him and not even realize where Philly was usually at. It could get her hurt and he would kill any that even tried just because words were not what they wanted to have before they tried to take her back.

He looked back to her when he was sure it was just a deer and gave her a gentle smile.

Philly let out a squeal of delight as her Riker played along, pinning her with one leg before giving the ‘monster’ growl. Her body wiggled and writhed, laughter spilling from her maw as the child looked back to her uncle. “Hehehe~ Got me~” The little girl flicked her mane away from her eyes, grinning widely at the wolf whom she was quickly catching up to in height. She wasn’t likely to be as bulky as her brother as she aged, but no doubt Philomena was going to be tall. Her tail wiggled back and forth as she canted her head to the side, her blue eyes lingering on Rikeros for a moment longer before switching to the hare.

She’d been having a lot of fun. She’d been exploring and playing, but there was definitely a good part of her life that was missing. As Philomena settled down with the hare she began to gnaw on it, pausing once she’d taken a few mouthfuls to ask her uncle a question. “Hey uncle Riker? When are we going back to Dragoste?” The words were soft, though not entirely sad. “I think Mama’s probably gonna be worried by now. I… uh… wasn’t really supposed to go outside the borders you know.” As if she’d been caught in the act by her parents themselves the girl looked down at the hare, flicking her ears back.

“...I miss Ulric too. I bet he’d love to play with us.” She looked back up at Rikeros, innocence shining in her eyes as she smiled again. “...Though I am having a lot of fun! I didn’t know there were so many places outside of Dragoste… the world is so big…! It feels like it could stretch on forever.” Just like that her ears perked up again. “Maybe we can convince Mama and Papa to let Ulric come with us on a trip! You’d keep us safe, right?”