TAKE LIFE BY THE HORNS

She knew she wasn't allowed to step across the borders. That much was certain, she'd be a fool to disobey her mother. However in her hazy mind she teetered over that line. Her paws in and out, but they kept backing up as she stared at that invisible scent marker. Charm sighed mildly, trying to get a hold on her feelings. She didn't know what to do with herself at the moment. She hadn't cried, though she wanted to. She didn't want to make her family upset and yet she had tried to isolate herself from them.

Charm sat down as she stared at her paws, not even realizing she had seated herself just outside of the marker. That being said it was as far as she would go. Tiny tail curling around her haunches. She just wanted her dad to come talk to her, she wanted her mom to be happy too. Charm blinked at she looked at her little paws.... little.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

She was heading home, walking alongside the outer rim of the border as she slowly picked her way across the unfamiliar terrain. She was going to make a beeline right for the east, but the sight of a sad little pale girl caught her attention. It wasn't hard to see that she was from Ivalice, a quick sniff was all it took to confirm it. She was sitting just outside of the boundaries, looking rather melancholy as she looked at her paws. A pang went off in her chest and she slowed her steps, turning to look at the young one. From what she could tell she wasn't part of Vadim's litter mates, she didn't have the same family scent that he did. The tiny healer hesitated, turning her russet head towards her while her ears slicked back. She couldn't just walk away from her like this, not with that sad look on her precious face. So she took a few steps towards her, ever mindful of the border that was to her right. "I hate to see anyone sad like that," she said, breaking the silence and letting the other know that she was here. "I'm Amalia, I'm a healer from another pack in the East. I just came up here to check on one of your members that I patched up, but I couldn't walk passed without saying hello and trying to cheer you up!" Amalia said with a chuckle, her tail swinging behind her. Taking a seat near the young one, if she allowed, she tried to bump her right shoulder gently against her left. "So why the long face, princess?" "Speech"

TAKE LIFE BY THE HORNS

Charm was nearly startled by the woman. Green eyes brightening a bit though when she realized that this woman was around her height. Heck maybe a bit smaller. Her head felt like it had been crudely sucked back into reality though. A headache coming on as her head pounded for a second. "You look so small, are you sure you're an adult?" she asked for a moment. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude about that. It's just.... all my family is bigger than me and I'm supposed to be at my full height." Charm welcomed the bump to her shoulder. A healer! Oh gosh!

"I'm Charm Ancora.... I didn't even know I was sad but I guess I am..... my dad passed away recently. I'm still.... wrapping my head around it." Charm wrapped herself in Amalia's scent for a moment. "You said you're a healer. My gosh! You smell like my aunt Athena too." her tail wagged a little by that thought. "I want to be a healer, but at the moment there's no one in the pack anymore to teach me." she cracked a soft smile.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

She wasn't offended at all by the girls question, it only made her grin at her and nod her head up and down. "I promise I am! Maybe if you listen close enough you can hear my joints squeaking," she said with a giggle. It was nice to see that the little one was so inviting, it wasn't often that she met other wolves her size! But then she said that she didn't want to be small, everyone was bigger than her and she was at the point where she should be done growing. "Being small isn't all that bad. We can snuggle up to the big wolves to steal their heat, and we are really fast! No one thinks we are good fighters but we are far too quick for the big, heavy wolves. Dodging moves is easy, you can pounce, bite, and then get right out!" At least that's what Athena told her, Amalia hated fighting herself. "You shouldn't be sad about being small, that's just who you are! I bet they all still love you for it. Height shouldn't matter, it's all inside that counts," she said softly, leaning to touch her nose to her heart. She said that she was Charm Ancora, which made her ears perk. Who was it that had that last name? She couldn't put her paw on it before the girl went on, saying that her dad passed away. Letting out a soft whimper, she tried to comfort the girl with a soft lick to the top of her head. "I am so sorry to hear that Charm, it can be very hard..." She didn't know her own father too well, he vanished before they had grown up much. The darker marked girl went on to talk about Aunty Athena, which made her perk right back up. "Oh! You are Avalon's little girl! Athena is my mate, which makes me your auntie too!" Amalia's little rabbit tail patted on the cold ground behind her, a big smile on her maw. It didn't stop when she said that there were no healers in Ivalice, and she took it all in stride. "I bet if we talk to your momma I could come up here for a few lessons. I am the head healer back in Fiori, and I would just love to show you the ropes," There was obvious excitement in her voice, all the aspiring healers in Fiori were rather quiet. Maybe she needed to drag their butts up here and teach them all. "Speech"

TAKE LIFE BY THE HORNS

Her spirits lifted a little, though she laughed a bit at the squeaking part. Ama couldn't be that old, just tiny! Charm was just happy she wasn't abnormal, after all everyone was just so big. Amachi was a tower even compared to her sister and mother! Charm smiled a bit as she shivered with the warmth that the other gave off. Who would of thought a complete stranger was someone she could warm up to almost instantly. When Amalia licked the top of her head Charm smiled softly. "It's okay, just I don't exactly know what death means. I know it means I won't see or hear him anymore and that makes me sad. But it also means he's happier right?" he wasn't here being all sick.

When she heard Ama was Athena's mate, she sprung up to her feet. "You're mated to a girl?!" she was filled with sudden bewilderment. "You can do that?" her tail wagged a little bit. "Well that means your aunty Ama! And yeah maybe I'll talk to my mommy and big brother. My sister who is HUGE wants to learn as well. Daddy was supposed to teach us but with him gone we need a mentor." she didn't know yet if they had another healer again - but from what she knew there weren't any.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

She said that she didn't really know what death meant, which made the woman frown. She may be a child, and it was no doubt hard to understand that someone wasn't around anymore, but she should still understand it. But then again... it wasn't like it was a topic that came around often. Amalia sighed softly, trying to lick the girls cheek to comfort her. "But I don't doubt that he is out there watching you, proud of the young lady you are growing up to be. I've heard that they can visit you in dreams as well, I'm just waiting for my sister to come to mine," she said with a soft, sad laugh. She missed her adoptive sister dearly, still angry at the man who had taken her life. "And yes, there is no more pain, no more sickness or sadness. He will always be right here," Amalia said tenderly, lifting a paw to brush against the girls heart and across her chest. It was so hard to see a girl so young without a father, but she couldn't fix that for her. She jumped a bit when the child jumped to her paws and asked if you could be mates with a girl, a grin taking over her features. Oh dear, was she going to get into trouble with this? "Love is love, no matter the gender my dear. If you fall in love with a boy, that's good, and if you fall in love with a girl, that's good too!" a toothy grin cracked open her black lips, and she couldn't help but smile at her sudden enthusiasm. "I think it would be wonderful to come up here and have a few lessons, or you could even come down to me if your mother allows it. I would adore to teach you, Charm, and your sister as well!" Giving lessons to children was probably one of her favorite things to do, and even if she had to trek all the way up here that was fine. Maybe she could bring Diana and Jayne along too, take them on a little adventure. "I could bring your cousins as well, we could camp out under the stars and talk about anything!" "Speech"