Once again the boy had managed to escape his mother's efforts to corral him. He should have felt bad for possibly ruining freedom for his siblings, but he didn't. He would keep sneaking off and if they wanted to go places they were just going to have to do the same. With a spring in his step and fear nowhere in his heart, Jupiter raced to the beach. The water was painfully cold, but that was perfect for the game he wanted to play. In no time at all the rotund little boy was at the water's edge. He ran at it and then waited as the tide receded further. The moment it began to roll his way he was off like a shot with a shriek. The game was simple. Race the water back to the shore and try not to get wet.

Wandering towards the shore, Iskra took a brief moment to appreciate that this was not the direction she'd been intending on traveling in. Oh well, she had wandered about as far as Boreas would let her, so now she would have no choice but to head south after this, right? Yeah. Probly wouldn't even get distracted. She'd just head on down to Auster. Yeah. Once finished trying to convince herself that she would indeed do what she intended to, Iskra flicked a red ear sideways and gazed up at the Palm tree she stood beside. When she turned her attention to the waves lapping at the black sandy shore, her eyes were drawn to something... blue? For a moment she wondered if it was Arwen, but the child she was looking at didn't seem to be glowing and pulsing with light. No, the way the tresses of striking blue fur seemed to feather and curl across this little one's body- why, the kid looked just like her sister! No WAY! Did Art have kids? Leto was going to die when she found out there were more little ones ready to pester her. The idea made Iskra chuckle softly to herself as she moved to approach the small boy. Sauntering over, she observed this little game the kid was playing. Seemed pretty fun, and Iskra was all about fun! Coming up a few feet away from the little one, Iskra gave him a playful wink and when the water began to recede she trotted after it, moving with jaunty bouncing strides, easy grin on her lips as she moved with fluid motions. Then, when the ocean gave chase, she would run back up the shore, tail flagging out behind her, a cold ocean breeze reaching out it's chilly fingers to play with the fur of both wolves. Standing safe and dry out of reach of the waves, Iskra dropped into her classic bow and smiled at the little one. "That was really fun!" she exclaimed. "Talk""You"

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Jupiter shrieked all the way to the dry sand. He reached it, still dry, and let out one final, victorious whoop before turning on his heel and facing the waves. Like he had many times before, the boy raced in after the retreating water. Just as he reached the point where he had to turn around, Jupiter was startled by the arrival of a grownup. The woman, whose coloring was a startling red, popped up seemingly out of nowhere and without a word, joined his game. The boy was stunned for only a moment, but it was long enough for the water to catch up to his heels. Rats! He shot after the woman, racing her and the waves both. The boy's tiny, chubby legs prevented him from catching up with the older wolf, which made him a little mad, but what could he do besides will himself to grow faster? She reached the dry sand first and then turned around with a playful bow. He was a little sore about losing, but that feeling was dwarfed by how happy he was just to have someone new to play with. Grinning broadly, he too dropped into a play bow. "Uh huh! It's my favorite here. Wanna go again?"

Beaming at the little blue boy, Iskra's tail wagged wildly. There'd been a time when she was uninterested at best when it came to kids, but after taking care of Arwen she'd uncovered a more maternal side of herself and found little ones weren't so bad. Hell, half the time kids were more fun to be around than adults. They just wanted to play and have a good time, something they had in common with the red woman. She grinned as he mirrored her stance, the child looking far cuter when he did it. Gosh he was precious. "Heck yeah!" she cried, preparing to bound towards the water as soon as it began to recede again. When it did, she made sure to pace herself, holding back a little this time. When the waves started coming in again she felt one splash at her heels as she turned to trot away, giving the child a shot at winning their little race this time.   "Talk""You"

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Oh, good! She wanted to keep playing! In his excitement his tail beat against his sides; his whole body wiggling from side to side with the effort. This was great; his favorite game and someone to play it with. Playing by himself was fun, but playing with someone else made it ten times more interesting. This grownup...she had to be the funnest adult he'd ever met! He raced after as she trotted after the water; his little legs working hard to keep him apace with the grownup. He was doing better this time! That knowledge spurred him on; Jupiter put everything he had into the race towards the water. By the time they reached the turn around point he was convinced of his near success. So much so that, even though he'd just about exhausted himself running towards the water, the boy threw himself away from it with all the strength he could muster. The boy ran flat out; chubby legs a blur beneath him. He kicked up sand and shell alike (probably harming his cause more than helping it) in his haste to beat the woman to the dry sand. His efforts weren't in vain, though, because by the time he reached the dry sand Jupiter was convinced he'd hit it first, if only by a paw. Victory, as awesome as it was, was exhausting. Jupiter flopped over, his tongue lolling and his legs shaking slightly. "You're really, really, really fast," he told her seriously. He was unwilling to admit defeat, but he didn't think he could race again. Yet. He just needed to catch his breath. "Jupiter" "Amadeus" "You"

He was so cute when he got excited, oh goodness! Grinning and barking excitedly, Iskra let her own flowery red tail fan the air as she smiled at the boy and prepared to race him again. She should have discovered kids were fun to play with sooner! After all, if no adult could match Iskra's love of fun then a kid could surely do it with ease. And with Arwen getting closer to a year she might have to borrow one from whoever was this kid's parent. Not that Iskra had any real doubts, but still. When they ran and the little guy went zooming across the sand like his ass was on fire she had to keep from letting out a little 'aww' at how funny and cute he looked, little legs a blur as he powered across the beach towards the water, then when they reached it he streaked towards the dry sand as fast as his little legs could go. and when they reached the shore she'd managed to let him win by a hair. Though, now he looked a bit too tired to celebrate so Iskra happily flopped down into the sand beside him and panted beside the blue child. "You are too! Bet when your legs get longer you'll beat me every time!" Gazing at him curiously, she asked, "What's your name, kiddo? I'm Iskra Aeris." "Talk""You"

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Oh, good. She was tired too. That made him feel a bit better about needing a break. Jupiter kicked his back legs out behind him and in doing so scattered fistfuls of dry sand behind him. Laying all stretched out like that was way more comfortable than laying with his legs curled under him. If he was a little braver he'd lay on his back, but he'd just met the woman. It was hard to say either or not she'd tickle him and he wasn't willing to take that chance. Pouting a little, he looked down at his forelegs. Stupid little things. "I wish they'd grow faster. I don't like being littler than everybody," he told her. In an instant his mood changed; his cloudy face brightening as Iskra introduced herself. "Hey, that's my momma's last name! Are we family? I bet that's why you're so pretty. My momma's really pretty too." In his excitement he almost forgot to introduce himself. "Oh, my name's Jupiter." "Jupiter" "Amadeus" "You"

It was probably a good thing she had arrived after the child had begun to tire himself out. If she had to run like that too many times pretty soon she'd be just as worn out at the little blue boy. And kids revocered quickly, a fact Iskra learned the hard way playing with Arwen. As soon as you think they'll chill out and go to sleep at last they bounce up ready to do just as much playing as before. The cuteness was a defence mechinism so you didn't just throw up your paws and quit when you played games for the fifth time in the same day. "Takes as long as it takes," she shrugged, "Well, I bet you'll be vvery tall when you're older, just gotta be patient. It sucks but luckily time usually goes by fast when you're little." Iskra smiled at the child, hoping she was somewhat helpful. Of course he'd probably still impatiently fret over when he'd be adult sized, such was the way of pups. She grinned when he recognized the name, her suspicions now confirmed. Of course this was Art's kid, who else would have little blue kids? Well, come to think of it, someone had because Iskra had a little adopted blue kid hanging out somewhere south of here. But that was a line of thinking she'd finish exploring another day. "Haha, your momma's Artemis, right? I'm her sister, so that makes me your aunt!" Now that she'd had a chance to be forgetful, Iskra suddenly found herself recalling her meeting with Angel, who had asked about Artemis. Did that mean maybe... No. Right? Well... She could certainly see it now that she looked but- ah, what did it matter to her anyways. "You certainly inherited much of her looks yourself! You'll be awful handsome one day, I bet. It's nice to meet you Jupiter." Cocking her head to the side a bit, she asked, "Do you happen to have siblings, too? Where do you guys live now? I haven't seen your mom in a while." "Talk""You"

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"...but luckily time usually goes by fast when you're little." Well, that simply wasn't true. It had been ages since breakfast and it would be ages more before his next meal. And he was gonna have to go through hundreds and hundreds of meals before he was big like his mom. Growing up was going to take an eternity. By the time he was as big as he wanted to be, he would be old just like his mom. He wanted to be tall now. That way he could be tall and young. "Yeah," he said glumly, "I guess I do." His eyes got huge as Iskra successfully guessed his mother's name. Iskra was his aunt? How cool was that? She was so much fun! He wanted more aunts like her. Lots of them all around so they could play all day. "That is my mom's name! I'm glad you're my aunt. You're fun." His aunt's comment about how he was gonna be handsome someday caused the boy's ego to swell. He puffed out his chest proudly. "Tall and handsome," he promised. In response to her other questions he nodded his head vigorously. "Yep, I got a brother named Orion and a sister named Aerndis. We live in Dauntless which is just," he lazily rolled over onto his back and kicked his hind legs in the direction of the pack. "Right over there." Jupiter tipped his head to the side so he could look at Iskra. "It's kinda boring," he said frankly. "Jupiter" "Amadeus" "You"

Oh, goodness, her heart was melting the more she talked to this kid. He was just so darn precious! So hasty to grow up and get big, something Iskra could relate to though she was still a bit bitter that she didn’t inherit a terribly impressive amount of height. Jupiter looked like he would though, like his mother. Suppressing a laugh as his little eyes went wide, she smiled, replying cheerily, ”I’m glad you think so! If you ever wanna go on fun adventures I’d be happy to go with. I’ll probably be living pretty far south soon though, so it might be a while before I come back. I bet you’ll be much taller then!” Gosh, children were adorable. Yeah, they were work, but they also liked playing and having fun as much as she did so Iskra found it hard to relate to Leto’s distaste for them.

”Well, waddya know, I have two siblings too. Your mother, and we have another sister named Leto. But between you and me,” Iskra leaned in closer, giving him a conspiratorial look as though sharing a very important secret, ”Leto’s not that much fun, she doesn’t even like kids.” Somehow she doubted that her trapper sister would give a crap about Iskra saying that, but, at least maaaybe if Jupiter met her he wouldn’t bounce all around and annoy her too much. Maybe. He seemed pretty energetic and outgoing, though, so she couldn’t be sure. Glancing towards the direction he pointed, she made note of it and nodded slowly. Letting her tail thump against the sand a few times as she looked back at him she shrugged, ”Well, you’ll probably have to get creative and make your own fun sometimes. Maybe if you like things like fighting and hunting you could start practicing those sorts of things now, then when you’re older you could spar other wolves, hunt prey with your packmates, go on adventures really far or whatever you want once you can take care of yourself.”