Rhian wandered over sand on a sunny day, weaving between greenish cacti taller than two of her standing on each other's backs. She was alone, but that was nothing new. She didn't mind it. Someday she'd have her pack around her; sometimes she even imagined them around her now. Right now, they'd be spread out, looking for food, maybe, or good places to sleep. Maybe Rhian's closest allies would stay by her, and they'd talk, brushing fur against fur, about what they wanted home to look like. They'd all obey her every command, cloy for her entertainment, live and die at her side. And if that wasn't love, what was it? Her nose twitched at the scent of a wolf who was strangely familiar, though she couldn't quite place who it was, and she glanced around, looking for whoever it was. "Speak"

Something about sand between his toes brought the leggy boy a great deal of joy. It was the only real reason he kept wandering deserts. There was a bit more added danger here in the form of tall cacti, which he wasn't interested in bumping head-first into any time soon. His shrike companion was having an excellent time using the sturdy spines to impale whatever unlucky bugs happened to cross his path, but otherwise it was a rather unremarkable adventure thus far. The air was hot against his face, drying out the sensitive skin of his nose. Already the dark fur of his back was beginning to grow unbearably hot, but the male paid it little mind. Scuffling sounds of small animals in the sand let him know when hares crossed his path, but he wasn't particularly interested in chasing them through the maze of sharp greenery.

Lanky, graceless physique swayed from side to side with each lackadaisical step. Even when the familiar scent of one of his littermates caught his attention, he didn't break stride. Instead, the dark male swung his body towards the source of the scent. Despite not seeing any of his siblings for months at a time, he remembered a scent better than anyone. They all bore a distinct undertone that tied them all together, and allowed him to remember who they were. While he wasn't entirely certain which of his littermates was on the horizon, there wasn't exactly a risk in going in half-cocked. With Luxe in tow to keep him from walking into a cactus, or breaking his ankle in a rattlesnake burrow, he set off.

The breeze shifted, and the scent came in a bit stronger. One of his sisters. Narrowing the scope of his guessing just a little more. He would know her by her voice, no doubt. Even as time passed and their pitchy puppy whines had faded, the familiar speech patterns would hold true. "Long time no see!" he crooned as he approached, musical vocals ringing out over the shifting sands.

"Speech!"

Art & Code © Skelle 2022

Finally Rhian spotted the dark, skinny form of her brother, heading over the sand towards her. He called out to her first, although she wasn't close behind, yelling, "RAVEN!" and rushing towards him at full speed. She pulled up and stopped only a few feet from tackling right into him, sand scattering from her paws. Though it was a tempting impulse, she decided otherwise given the fact that there were so many spiky cacti all around them; with their luck, they'd probably end up tumbling right into one and have to spend an unreasonable amount of time pulling spines out of each other's noses. She gave him a few friendly sniffs, grinning widely despite -- or perhaps because of -- the fact that he couldn't see her. "So, what's up with you lately?" They had been mere puppies the last time they'd seen each other, before all of the littermates split up to go wherever they would. In Rhian's desire to make more than just an ordinary girl of herself, had she forgotten her past? She didn't focus on her childhood much, but she now wondered where the rest of her family had ended up. "Speak"

Within just a few seconds, he could hear her shriek his name with delight. Gold dipped banner sweeping across his heels, he stopped short as he heard her strides across the ground get louder and faster. Grinning from ear to ear, the dark wraith lowered his dainty head in order to greet his smaller sibling better. As she skidded to a halt, flinging a wave of sand into his face, he hacked and coughed for a moment or two. It was up his nose! If his eyes had worked properly, the amount of sand that got stuck in them might have been a problem just now. "Rhiaaaan!" he cried in response, raising the octave to mimic the tone of her vocals. Shaking the sand from the fine fur of his face, he tipped his snout towards her and aimed to nuzzle his snout against her cheek.

"I've been exploring!" he informed her in a gleeful croon. "What about you? I haven't seen any of our siblings since Fireside went under." the warm sand beneath his dark paws billowed out with a soft poof as he dropped onto his haunches to play catch up with his sister.

"Speech!"

Art & Code © Skelle 2022

Raven had to cough for a while before being able to answer, which almost put aside Rhian's smile. Almost. She didn't want to cause him any pain, but he didn't seem to care, given that he greeted her with just as much enthusiasm as she had him right after and nuzzled his snout against her cheek. He only said that he'd been exploring, not anything he'd found or any plans he had. That seemed kind of sad to Rhian, who never found so much joy in anything as she would if it furthered her goals. She was practical. She didn't have time for wandering around if she wasn't looking for prey or wolves to spar or ally herself with. "I haven't seen any of them either," she said, her chirpy tone not flickering for even a second. Her head was then raised proudly. "I'm going to make a pack. A home of my own." "Speak"