Koray should have known better. He should have been better. He had left the den because he smelled something unfamiliar; but it didn?t smell like a wolf, he had only meant to leave for a moment to check on weather or not it was a danger. The clouds had moved by quickly and way the shadows and beams of moonlight danced had diverted his attention as he chased the smell.

Koray?s young nose eventually lost thte trail, not well versed in hunting yet, and he had tried to find it himself, eventually he had forgotten why he was wandering, exhilarated by the thrill of the rolling clouds overhead and the way the moonlight danced through it. It was a full moon tonight and that was his favorite time of night. Koray felt so alive and free being away from the den in the dead of night. Everything was so quiet, so open, before he realized what he was doing he was off and running in the night. Eventually he had come to a place where he no longer knew where he was.

A vast expanse of water lapped against a pitch black shore. Koray had walked down to the water, to taste it and had been surprised to taste that it was salty. The watter then rolled towards the soft black ground and lapped at him. In surprise, Koray barked at it and scampered back further up the shore. It was then that the clouds parted and his tiny blue eyes were filled with awe and wonder. The entire beach changed from black, to a glowing white beneath the light of the moon. It shone and dazzled like magic, and everything was beautiful and wonderful. Koray ran through the brilliant glowing shore reveling in the magic that was only for him to share on this night. As he ran, however, the clouds soon followed and the moon was hidden? until the rain began.

Thunder split the sky, lighting flashed and Koray had never encountered any of these before. He ran, terrified, but didn?t know which way TO run except away from the water. The beach glowed and darkend in rapid succession with each bolt of fire from the heavens. The frightened pup fled up the beach and up a dune until he came across a large fallen log. Cralwing under it he whimpered and howled in fright, but his tiny voice could not carry far in the deafening noise of the surrounding storm.

The ebony dame had taken a break from the pack and just be by herself for a little while. Her emerald orbs could sense that a storm was approaching, and due to the sound of thunder, and the flash of lightning, it was close to reaching the island. She flicked one ear as she could faintly hear a frightened howl, but by a pup. Soon, rain began to pour down and drench her coat. She was used to the cold of rain and snow, so it didn't bother her. But, the pup should be having a heart attack from the storm.

She could sniff the pup close by, and soon stopped when the scent of the pup was the strongest. She gave a gentle smile when she met his crystal gaze. "May I join you, young one?" She asked as a gentle smile stayed on her maw and lied down, waiting to see if she would be accepted to join the male pup. She had not known this pack so much, but had heard that a new pack Covari arrived, and she guessed that was where he was from.

Koray was terrified. He alternated between whimpering and barking at the claps of thunder as they menaced him. He was mostly shielded from the rain under the wood where he was; but was still mostly soaked from the rain and shivering with every gust of wind. Koray was afraid for himself, certianly; but more importantly to him, he grew more and more frightened by the fact that he did not know how to get home now. Everything was different, dark, wet, and loud! He was going to make his mother worry if she woke up and he was gone, Ammy too. Koray wanted to run home; but he could not face the storm, and did not know the way. Sick to his stomach and filled with fear, he barked when he saw motion in the raging dark of night. A flash of lightning illuminated the shape of a wolf and Koray barked again; but when it drew closer and he saw green eyes, for an instant he thought it might be his mother, come to save him. Koray was so happy and shocked that he fell quiet as they drew closer.

Koray realized his mistake when they drew nearer. The wolf did not smell or look like mom at all. His bright blue eyes brimmed with tears amidst the reddish patches of fur on his face. "Please don't eat me" he whimpered "My mama will be sad, my brother too. I'm not very big or tasty. Please." Koray knew other wolves were dangerous, especially for little pups like him. Even though her question had seemed harmless, Koray had been at the big pack meeting and seen how some wolves could act like friends and then not be.

He cowered at the back of his covering and shivered both from cold and fear. Just hoping to survive this encounter.

Esperanza smiled and looked to the young pup with kindness in her eyes. She didn't like to see someone afraid of her, emerald optics meeting blue orbs as she smiled once more. The young pup asked her not to eat him and a sma chuckle escaped her maw. "No need to be afraid of me, little one. I will not hurt someone unless I have a reason, and believe me, I don't bite, " she smiled and moved closer.

"May I come in?" She asked with a slight tilt of her crown. The sound of thunder echoed in her lobes and she knew that this pup would be cold and lonely. "My name is Esperanza, may I ask your name?"

Koray was still suspicious, it was in his nature; but he was also a little pup on his own in a terrifying storm. While he might have doubted the wolf that promised she was not dangerous, he was more scared of the thunder and lightning, and the fact that she still asked permission to come in, even though he knew she could barge in if she wanted seemed like proof of character enough.

Koray moved further back as if silently allowing her passage into his small piece of shelter as he introduced himself "I-i'm K-K-Koray." he stammered out, the stammer caused by equal parts fear and cold.

"I-i-is the sk-sky f-f-falling?" he asked naievely of the other wolf. "D-d-do you know m-my M-mama? You h-have eyes l-like h-her."

Esperanza would hear the young pup speak his name. Koray. That was a unique name for a young pup like himself. A smile came across her maw, emerald eyes shimmering from the lightning that flashed from the heavens. She couldn't help but smile at the young pup. "My name is Esperanza. No, I'm sorry, but I do not know your mother. Then again, I'm five years old and I'm already losing my memory," she would grin to try and make the pup laugh.



"No little Koray, the sky isn't falling. It's only just a bad storm is all, you'll be safe," she implied, emerald optics looked into those of the child that laid down inside of the den with her. The pouring rain poured down heaver, thunder crashing louder and longer bursts as if someone were yelling from above.
She placed her crown upon her paws, but kept her eyes locked upon the young pup.

Koray was momentarily distracted from the raging storm when the wolf told him how old she was. He didn't laugh at the thought of someone loosing their memory, that sounded frightening and sad. Instead his mouth opened a little bit in awe of her age. "Five whole years?" he questioned almost rhetorically. "Are you an ancient magic wolf?" he asked having heard of such things in a story or two.

A particularly loud burst of thunder then followed a particularly close burst of lightning and Koray helped, resuming his frightened trembling. He wanted to dart for the nearest thing to safety, which for the moment was rapidly becoming the other wolf; but he was almost to scared to move, so instead he asked with a whimper "Are we going to die?" a pretty big question for such small wolf.

Clearly Koray was a worrier already, and only time would tell if he would ever grow out of it.

Esperanza looked to the young pup and chuckled, "Ancient yes, but magical, far from it." She would explain to the young pup. Her emerald optics would look to the young male with a smile upon her maw, one she always had. The smell of the water from the storm almost made her gag, but the dame still kept a straight face. Then, the young pup asked her a big question. Were they going to die?

"Of course not little one, these storms are nothing to be afraid of. In fact, I used to be afraid of storms when I was your age as well. And my dad used to tell me to stop me from being scared and worried, he said that thunder was caused by clouds bumping heads," she grinned, trying to make the pup less scared about the idea.

"Perhaps I could even tell you a story, one my grandmother used to tell me. Would you like that?" Esperanza asked Koray, a small smile on her face.