The Harvest Ball was going well, she thought! Looking around at all the wolves from all over Auster and Boreas come to meet and socialize, Ember couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at her older sister's efforts. Yes, she'd helped make this a reality, but really the whole inspiration for the idea came from Bramble's brilliant mind. Excusing herself from Erik's company so he could go handle some situation with his siblings, Ember returned over to the buffet tables to help herself to another goblet of that delicious spiced cider.

Snatching a little raspberry cake from the platter of sweets her mother had baked for the party, Ember nibbled at her snack and sipped the sweet mulled beverage, the tart and crisp taste of the apples harvested fresh from the northern grove a familiar and homely taste. Bright blue eyes glided across the room, watching the wolves dancing, listening to the band playing in the corner of the hall, just taking in this moment as it was with a smile on her face. Even her parents were getting a little flirty off in the corner by the doors while they chaperoned (ugh, gross!). Yeah, tonight had turned out to be a success in her book.

"Ember"

After she introduced herself to Artorias and made her way into the party, Rebel started scoping out the room and mingling through the crowd a bit. There wasn't really any familiar faces for her to gravitate toward, but there was plenty of pretty faces and that was enough to keep her moving through all the various wolves. Most of them were about her age, some a little younger. The music had her swaying in time to the tune and for a little while she found a group of other yearlings that were more just dancing than they were talking and stuck with them for a while. Okay, maybe small talk wasn't really her strong suit, but enjoying the music and making slightly flirty, slightly awkward grins at some of the girls that looked her way definitely was.

After a while she looked toward the table of snacks and drink and decided that she was ready for a bit of refreshment. All this subtle not-flirting and dancing was thirsty work. While she was examining the offerings, she noticed a younger girl a little ways down the table who seemed to be eating some kind of little cake and watching the other wolves on the dance floor. It was hard to tell just how much younger she was than her, but she obviously wasn't like a little puppy, but not quite a yearling either. She was cute in a kind of chubby puppy kind of way. Well, she wasn't already engaged in some kind of conversation or dance with someone else already which was more than Rebel could get from most of the other girls here so...

She walked down the length of the table toward the other girl, keeping her magenta gaze on the various treats and food laid out across the table as if she was just taking inventory of what she had available to her. Once she got close enough to the midnight coated girl to talk comfortably, she glanced over at her curiously while the gears turned in her head to find something to strike up a conversation about. Gods, why was it so hard to talk to girls?! "Hey, what're you eating?" she asked, glancing between the cake in the girl's paws and the table as she tried to identify where that kind of treat came from. "There's so many options I hardly know what to pick and you look like you might have good taste."

"Rebel Klein"

Ember continued her casual people watching until it was briefly interrupted by a stranger coming up to the table she was at, catching her attention with a quick flick of her oceanic gaze to the taller girl. The other girl was older, taller, and wore a coat of white and speckled blue. She had never seen this wolf before, which meant she was likely from one of the northern packs. Ashen or the Armada or Elysium. The stranger gave her a simple greeting and asked what she was eating. Ember, her mouth still full of the little teacake, gave a muffled sort of mumble in response, raising a paw to indicate to give her a moment. She chewed, chewed, and swallowed down the cake, then pointed to the tray of assorted fruit-filled teacakes on one of the many platters that lined the expansive table. "It was one of those. My mom makes these little cakes with fruit jams in them. They're really good! My favorite are the raspberry ones." The stranger asked for her opinion on the food and boy howdy, did Ember love being asked her opinion on things! Turning back around to face the buffet table, Ember began to point out each and every dish to the other girl.

"Well, if you like sweets, those cakes are the best. There's also honeyed fruits which are really good too. They come from our fruit groves so they're all super fresh! Any of the meats and fishes are good. I helped make the venison roast so I can personally vouch for that. That one's also my favorite. If you're thirsty, don't even bother going for the water. Sure, it's refreshing and all, but the cider is to die for! It's also made from the apples from our grove too!" With her brief tour of the buffet tables completed, Ember now took the time to do the expected social things her parents had told her to do. "Mingling" and "getting to know new wolves" and all that good stuff. "So which pack are you from?" she asked the girl, leaning a bit closer and taking a tentative sniff of her coat. "You're not from Ethne or Tojo-Kai or Heiðinn." A statement, not a question. The girl didn't smell like Erik or Maki or Gavroche, so she clearly wasn't from any of those packs.

"Ember"

Rebel raised a brow with a little smirk as the Hallows girl hurried to finish the cake that had been in her mouth since her first attempt at speaking ended up being a muffled mess. It was already pretty obvious from her scent that she was a member of the Hallows and not from one of the other surrounding packs like herself, but now that she was getting a better look at her–while she waited for her to be able to speak–Rebel picked up on a few of the markings and colors that pointed toward this being one of Artorias and Briar's kids. The same kind of black and blue coloring and the eye markings that she had seen on Artorias and if the woman that had been with Artorias out front was indeed Briar then the stripes across her back and the turquoise-ish markings would make sense. Well, as long as her assumptions were correct, she'd not only be able to tell her mom when she get back that she'd met some new wolves at the party, but that she'd even met one of Art's kids. She had no doubt that her mom would like hearing that.

Eventually her acquaintance was able to point out the plate of jam filled cakes where she had gotten hers from, even telling her that the raspberry ones were her favorite. "I don't think I've ever had a cake like that before... Or a raspberry," she admitted with a chuckle. She figured that might be it besides maybe introducing herself so she could get the girl's name, but then she went on to give her a whole tour of the buffet table, listing off all of the options from the various meats to the fresh apple cider. Rebel blinked with surprise as she took it all in and couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm for the food that had been prepared for the ball. It made her wonder if she was this enthusiastic about everything or if this was a particular interest in cooking that got her so talkative like this.

She looked back to the younger girl when she asked what pack she was from just in time to see her lean closer to get a better sniff of her scent. It was hard to tell just how much of a difference there was in their ages, but Rebel still couldn't help but think how weird kids were–even though she was not quite an adult herself. "You're right about that," she agreed as the girl listed off a few packs that she must be more familiar with, stating that those weren't the ones she was from. "I'm from Ashen. Rebel Klein is my name," she replied as she reached for one of the cakes that had originally been pointed out to her. She'd probably make her way toward the venison roast eventually, but her parents weren't around to make sure she had dinner before dessert so who was she to pass up that kind of opportunity?

"Rebel Klein"

The stranger girl made a comment about never having a cake like these before, which didn’t surprise Ember since these cakes were her mother’s specialty, but the following comment about her never having a raspberry before nearly floored her. Ember’s eyes went wide and snapped up to the taller girl, staring at her incredulously. "What? How have you never had a raspberry before? They grow, like, everywhere!" she remarked, immediately sliding the tray of tea cakes closer to the white and navy girl so she could have one.

Aha! So her suspicions had been correct! The girl introduced herself as Rebel Klein from Ashen, and suddenly that all made a lot of sense to her. She knew of the Kleins from her pack history lessons; they were family friends to the Carpathians. Ember turned a sweet little smile up at Rebel and a tip of her head. "Nice to meet you, Rebel. I’m Ember Carpathius." The almost-yearling reached for another raspberry cake and took a few nibbles of it, enjoying the sweet and slightly tart taste she loved. "Are you enjoying the party so far?" Ember had spent a lot of time preparing things with her sister and mother. She hoped all of their guests were having a good time.

"Ember"