Briar and Artorias had their litter. As far as she knew the kids had been meeting with their family from the Armada but Memento Mori was admittedly curious about the little ones as well. She hadn’t grown up with siblings, or anyone her age really, and a part of her longed for those days to be relieved here in the Hallows. She had set aside a blanket she had been working on putting together and left Rein and Jacques behind as she slipped into the Adravendi wing of the castle. Something had stirred with the arrival of the pups… a feeling that Meme wasn’t sure how to process just yet. She had decided to ignore it for now and walk the halls to clear her head. Maybe, if she was lucky she would run into one of the kids. Her pale, ghostly gaze traveled to the windows as she walked, taking in the autumn-touched world outside the castle. The phenomenon had been strange… She drew in a breath, ears flicking back as she lowered her gaze to the tile she was walking on. Something was definitely bothering her. Maybe she could talk to Laeta later to figure out what it was. Hearing pawsteps Memento Mori looked up suddenly and managed a smile as she saw a kid. “Oh… Well hello there!” She greeted warmly. "Talk, 'Think.'

Thorn wasn’t done working on his map-making and, he was actually getting better at it.  With a roll of paper in his mouth he jogged along the hallway, eyes shifting from one end to another.  Thorn had it in his mind to map out this floor but the farther he went down it the more Thorn realized it looked an awful lot like the third floor.  Was the only difference going to be who was in each room?  

Thorn looked about the doors now as he moved curiously.  Was he going to need to figure out who stayed in which rooms?  There were various scents that were stronger here but not of wolves he knew well enough to recognize.  The one scent he knew best was Ezra’s so the boy thought of following it but discarded the notion when he spotted another wolf.
Who was she? She greeted Thorn and he was about to reply but a moment of realization flashed across his face and he put the map down first. “Hi,” a friendly tail wag given, “I’m Thorn” The boy said it not knowing if it was necessary or not.  There were certainly more wolves who knew his name than he knew of theirs.

“Which room do you live in?” It might seem a strange question out of nowhere but Thorn imagined he might as well start figuring out who lived where now.  Maybe she knew who was in all the rooms?  Hmm.  What did she do here?  Everyone had a job.  Did she have one of the cool jobs?

"Thorn Carpathius"

The pup greeted her warmly and with his blue, there was no doubt in her mind that this was Artorias’ son. Memento Mori’s gaze softened as the pup greeted her, his tail wagging behind him as he introduced himself as Thorn. “It’s nice to meet you, Thorn. My name is Memento Mori.” She lowered down toward his level, offering the boy a smile. She had never been around a puppy before… were they always so tiny? He had a paper with him, and Meme was curious as to what the boy was doing with it, but before she could ask he posed a question to her as well. “Oh, my room?” She motioned with her muzzle down the hall. “If you count this room my door is two more down on this side. I live there with my companions. They’re jackals, and are kind of like my brothers.” Meme glanced back at the pup. “What are you up to, Thorn? What is the paper for?” The woman was curious. He had intended to bring it all the way here, after all. Was he working on some sort of craft with it? "Talk, 'Think.'

Thorn liked it when Memento got down a bit more to be on his height.  It just meant not having to tilt his own head up so much.  There was a bit of charcoal inside the rolled-up paper and if he wasn’t careful with his head and neck it would slide out at points. “Memento then! Hi! Uh, or do you prefer Mori?”

Even as Memento ask she’d get to learn what his paper was for as he unrolled his map.  A large square framed the paper.  It was made up of lots of little lines connected together.  It certainly wasn’t a perfectly straight line yet his skills were definitely getting better with the charcoal.  He had to carefully pick it up in his teeth to place it between two paws, then one paw was used to help cradle it in place against the one paw.  It took a bit of work but Thorn was getting faster at it.
“Ok, so if these are the stairs,” Thorn made two diagonal slashes on one of the lines to indicate the stairs.  “And we are here,” Thorn didn’t draw this time, merely pointing to a spot on the map that was further down the same border.  “Then your room is,” and the charcoal made two little boxes, placing the charcoal over the latter, “this one then?”  Even if he got it right though, how would he mark it as one wolf versus another? It’s not like he could be that detailed on the map at this point.  

The boy stared at Memento, not just to get the answer but to decide what trait he’d use to try and draw some symbol to match for her.  “I’m working on making a map.  See I decided I’m gonna be a great fighter and travel all the land making maps and slaying,” a pause, “anything that needs slaying.”  Puppy insight.  He’d become a great fighter but he wasn’t sure who all the enemies were just yet.  He’d win though!

"Thorn Carpathius"

The woman chuckled at his question. “Memento, usually, though Meme works just as well. It’s easier to say.” The she-wold told him. In that next moment, he was unrolling the large square of paper, revealing the project the boy was working on. He’d been using charcoal to mark it. She watched as he added more to it, marking where the stairs were before figuring out where her room was. She gave an approving nod. “That’s right. I live in that room with my companions, Jacques and Rein.” The woman spoke of her companions fondly. They weren’t wolves, but she couldn’t ask to share a room with a better pair. She thoughtfully looked over the map as the boy spoke again. “Map making is a tricky art. You’ll have to think about the symbols you use carefully, maybe even carry around something so you can use different colors to see what each thing is, or who lives where.” Memento told him. “You’re more ambitious than I am. I can fight, but I don’t really like to unless I have to.” She swished her tail back and forth. “Is this the first map you’ve worked on, Thorn? Or are there others floating around?” "Talk, 'Think.'

“Meme then!”  That was nice and short and had a nice ring to it.  Thorn was proud of this map so far, looking up cheerily as Meme looked it over.  So Meme had companions also, it seemed a lot of wolves did.  Thorn had a lot of fun with his siblings, the Fatalis pups, family in general, and other adults.  Right now he didn’t see a need for other animals to be with him.  Someday maybe?

Symbols?  The blue pup looked confused for a moment then a slow light of understanding and wonder showed in his eyes.  “Symbols!” The boy had tried drawing doors and such for basics but how to show whose room someone belonged to?  How to show more detailed marks on the map where items in a room or trees specifically placed when that could make it hard to see other details on the map?  Symbols on the side of the paper to make an idea of what some things were with a simpler image could work!  That way more complex items could be made larger aside from the main map yet set in place in the real map.  “Hey, that’s great!” Excitement was in his voice and squirming body.

“I love fighting.  I want to be as great as dad is.” He looked up curiously at Meme, “why don’t you like fighting? It’s super fun.” Fighting was fun, the pup hadn’t seen the darker side of it so far.  The boy shook his head at her question, “Not my first map.  My first map was hard to read anything.  I’ve already made maps of lots of things.  Not much special and a lot of them aren’t very good.  Just trying to practice on lots of stuff.”

"Thorn Carpathius"

The pup seemed to light up at her suggestion of adding symbols, a realization seeming to spark in his mind about what could be done. The she-wolf smiled at this, happy to help the enthusiastic youngster with his map however she could. She had never dabbled in map-making herself, but she was sure it was a fun process. Hmm, maybe she would have to give it a go herself. Meme was curious about what other things could be done with map making, or even art in general. Her gaze slipped over the map and then to Thorn, as the boy said that he loved fighting. He seemed ambitious, wanting to be as good at it as his father was. “I’ve… never really seen fighting as fun. I’ve been in a fight that caused me a good amount of pain." Meme motioned to the scar across her back if the pup could even see it. “Some fights are really hard, and you can get lasting hurts later. The scar on my back aches when it is cold, and it starts to feel like my back is locking up, making me move slower.” The femme frowned thoughtfully. Her fight back then had not been worth it at all. “But it’s still good to learn. Sometimes knowing to fight is how you prevent others from getting scars like this one and keeping them safe. That’s why even if I don’t like fighting, I will if I have to. I don’t want anyone else to feel the same way I do.” The she-wolf’s gaze softened. “You’re practicing, working to get them better! That’s a good thing. I think working with symbols will help a lot, and start making them seem more readable. Maybe for now start with a symbol that means a room is occupied. You can worry about how to tell who lives in each room later.” Meme tilted her head to the side. “But you know what? You say fighting is fun… maybe I’m just doing it wrong. Would you like to have a spar with me, Thorn? Maybe you can show me that side of it.” "Talk, 'Think.'

Memento Mori vs Thorn for Friendly Spar
Round 0/?
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Light
Offensive Battle Accessory: Bone dagger
Companion 1: Black-backed jackal, Male - Battle [Not Present]
Companion 2: Black-backed jackal, Male - Battle [Not Present]
Skills: Expert Intellectual & Advanced Fighter