The season was changing from the verdant glory of summer to the crisp beginnings of fall. A swift chill had crept into the lands, reminding the wolves and their prey that winter would be upon them. Pups such as Dova would have to grow big and strong before the first frost; a sure indication that the weak would die, and only the strongest would survive the following cruel months of snow and flurries. "C'mon," The pup murmured, gently nosing Sinclair's shoulder to try and rouse them. After a wild game of chase, they had fallen asleep underneath a tree, and now that she was up, Dova was ready to resume their explorations. "Let's go!" Her voice was an excited, hoarse whisper, wrought with the effects of sleep and infrequent use.

With a huff and a shake of her head, she trotted off, her small cotton tail raised in a haughty manner. Whether her friend was ready or not, she was determined to set out. The steppe terrain was tricky to navigate, and with her short legs and small stature, she could use whatever advantage she could get. Even with her head start, she knew that Sinclair would catch up sooner or later.

In the golden glow of the afternoon, she happily occupied herself with combing through a section of a crumbling building. Sandstone and concrete had been reduced to stones, moss covered, jagged edges smoothed by wind and rain. To the young pup, it looked like a piece of a mountain had been strewn about the foothills. Although it's greater purpose went beyond the child, she saw that it provided shelter for small rodents such as mice, and eagerly began to sniff around, seeing what she could flush out with her presence alone.

"Five more minutes, mom..." The boy murmured as he got nudged and pushed on. His ears pressed back in annoyance as he was forced to wake up. Well, he wasn't being forced to do anything, he could just continue sleeping. But some time later, he realized who it was as he slowly came to and found it was in fact Dova pushing on him and not his mother. It had been a while since he had last seen his mother, but the shock as a pup of not seeing her for so long still wore on him. He still dreamed about his parents and family a lot. For now though, he would slowly raise his head, one eye opening then the second. The pup would yawn and stretch, rolling over onto his back to find Dova's behind already trotting off.

"Hey!" He barked, standing up shaking and trotting on after her. Fortunately his larger gait allowing him to close the distance quickly.

"You know, I was quite happy to be asleep..." He grumbled, pouting a touch as he watched Dova now put her nose to the ground and begin sniffing. He blinked a few times, before his ears would pivot forward.

"OOOH I love hunting!" He spoke too much, entirely too much. His entire being was just a bundle of chaos and he too would press dark nose to the ground his tail up in the air with excitement as he bristled and looked around for something to catch.

Deity was on the hunt. Her nose was pressed to the ground, damp and cold with water. The scent trail of a rabbit lay heavy on the grass, despite the silvery dewdrops coating each blade. Deity could barely feel the sun on her fur, it was so weak, and the wind, chill with the promise of frost, blew from before her, ruffling her fur and cutting into her skin like a knife. She chuffed, uncomfortable with the idea of Winter fast approaching. The goddess’s fur was thin, and she was lean— not a good recipe to withstand the cold. She had to start traveling back south soon, she knew— perhaps back to square one, the hot springs. That, or put on some serious weight. You’d think she would have learned by now, by her third year, to do a little extra hunting in the summer; to fatten up a bit. The thought brought her back to the Hjarrandi market she’d visited. The stalls covered with thick, dried hides— maybe she should give that a go. Find a den to hole up in for the season. Line it with plush fur in the hopes that she’d stay warm. What a wild idea: staying in a den for more than a couple nights. A new scent tickled her nostrils, distracting her from her thoughts— it was canine. Deity raised her head, scanning her surroundings. She saw gray rocks— massive stones scattered around as far as she could see, stacked atop each other as though placed there deliberately. And, in the distance, she saw a couple silhouettes headed towards her. They seemed awfully small, but perhaps it was the distance. Deity tilted her head and let out a short, smooth howl, a simple alert to her presence. She didn’t want to surprise the strangers. She sighed— they were coming from the direction that the rabbit trail led towards, which most likely meant her prey was long gone. Her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten in a day and a half. Being a rogue, being without a pack or a band, meant she pretty much had to resort to eating small rodents such as voles or squirrels. A rabbit was a luxury, and a luxury she wouldn’t enjoy today. ”Speech”

Nurturing and doting as she was by nature, Dova was hardly ready to be referred to as 'mom' so soon. Despite being somewhat irritated by the quip, the pup found her worries melting away as Sinclair joined her at the ruins. "Now you're even happier to be awake!" She chirped, glad that her pal had seen things her way: adventuring was far better than napping the whole day away. "Lotsa good smells here." She agreed, trailing behind Sinclair with her nose to the ground as well. Everything was so new and unfamiliar; she was overwhelmed by all the sights and smells, yet determined to make the most of it. A more experienced hunter might have been able to locate a nest, or even a lone mouse, but it was enough for a puppy to be able to identify the prey in the area. Soon enough, she would learn.

The autumn season was the peak time for wolves to start hunting. It was only natural that she an Sinclair were drawn to the sport, instinct encouraging them to pack on the pounds before winter's arrival, when prey would be scarce. The pair were on the right track by starting to hunt, but their plans were momentarily disrupted when a short howl sounded nearby.

Dova stopped, her head rising and ears pert, looking around to try and locate where the sound was coming from. In the last place she looked, dead ahead, she could see a canine-shaped figure in the distance. With a sense of self-preservation currently the only thing Dova had going for her, she froze, before alerting Sinclair with a little, worried yip. "Someone's there!" She warned the ivory furred boy, who probably already came to that conclusion well before she had announced it. "What should we do?" Dova asked, inching towards her friend for comfort.

Sinclair had to agree, there were a lot of good smells here. One particularly strong one drew him, and he was able to discern its distinct trail, before it seemed to melt into another trail. Confusing the pup who would stop momentarily to try and pick up another scent. Nothing there, or here. Well, there was plenty but not enough for him to discern anything in particular. Not after he had lost the initial trail. A little bit frustrated, he would find a root of a plant to yank on playfully - easily distracted as he was. Once he yanked the root out some of the rock of the stone steppe crumbled. The boy jumped back, stiffening his tail in slight irritation at the events, but it taught him cause and effect a little more.

Looking up he discovered that it wasn't just a circling enclosure, but a rather tall one too made of beautiful grey stone. He had never seen structures like this before. Strange, he wondered how it was that rocks formed like this so easily. Mouth and tongue idly chewed on root before spitting it out with haphazard bleps. Finally his nose begging him to go back to the ground. He caved and did so.

Wiggling about as he did he went back to find a trail - that was until the howl sounded. His head shot up immediately and his ears pivoted forward to find the sound. It didn't take long, there was an auburn looking outline in the distance. Dova was quick to come closer. Unlike Dova, Sinclair did not shy away from a challenge.. Although he wasn't about to go looking for a fight either. Seemed stupid to do such a thing. Especially if the stranger was bigger... There was only so much he could do as a pup.. But he did know he was going to protect Dova, and give her a head start to run if things came down to it.

"I-I dunno.. Let's ignore it? Maybe it'll go away..? If not, we stand our ground. And if things get bad I'll give you the cue to run, okay? I'll make a cool distraction." Sinclair whispered his plan, looking down to the ground momentarily.

"You know I smelled a mouse a second ago, maybe we should follow? Or try to follow the trail?" He suggested, that would distract them from the new individual! Probably!

The more Deity watched the silhouettes in the distance, the more they seemed... off, somehow. Their actions were lurch-y, and they didn’t seem to follow any set route, scattering haphazardly in each direction, distractedly moving from place to place... and they did seem small. After she’d howled her presence, they’d frozen briefly before gathering together like magnets. Now they clustered before her, watching closely. The goddess squinted, trying to figure out what exactly two tiny rogues could be doing out here, all alone. Perhaps they were rabid— it would explain their erratic motions. Something nagged at Deity though, some part of her told her this wasn’t the case. That and the fact that she was terribly curious about the situation prodded her to move forward. She did so tentatively, hesitantly placing one paw in front of the other. She kept her head lowered, muscles tensed in case something went wrong and they were indeed rabid. The funny thing was that they didn’t seem to grow any larger despite the distance she crossed. As she slunk forward, she let her tail fall, trying to don an aura of friendliness, to communicate that she meant no harm. She was close now, just close enough to reveal what she hadn’t even considered a possibility: the figures were mere pups. Deity furrowed her brow, confused and concerned, and stopped in her tracks. She straightened up, raising her nose to the sky— she could smell their two scents intertwined, but no hint of a parent nearby. There wasn’t a lingering scent of any adult at all, not in the air and not left on their fur, that she could tell. The goddess was still too far away for her voice to be heard clearly without having to shout. She didn’t want to scare them away, so she decided to just wait and see if they’d approach her. Deity remained standing, but tried to posture herself to seem as friendly as possible. She wanted to find out who their guardian was, and why they weren’t present now. Who would leave their pups alone like this? With a slight pang, she recalled her own parents. Well, what she remembered of them, which wasn’t much. Warm air. A firm tongue running down her back. And the seasons of loneliness. She wasn’t sure what had happened with her parents. There was a wall in her memory, a blurred area that she couldn’t see. It was like a part of her life had been stolen from her, and she was left with only shreds of the past and the present. So, though she wouldn’t admit it, not even to herself, perhaps Deity saw a part of herself in these pups. Perhaps that was what drew her to stop and hope for their approach, instead of turning to leave. ”Speech”

Dova had to agree with her companion's logic. They had hardly lost their milk teeth, and in the face of danger, there was not much they could do in terms of self defense. While Sinclair's plan to provide a distraction while Dova escaped, if worse came to worst, she could not imagine simply abandoning her friend, even if a larger part knew that it would be no good if they were both dead. In similar fashion, she could not help but wonder what if it had been her who happened upon a pair of puppies. Looking around, she could see no other wolves hiding behind the weathered slabs of stone, and smell nothing more interesting aside from the pup she stood alongside.

"But Sinclair," She began anew in that same, worried tone. "What if they're lost? Or lonely?" She lowered her head, her whole body seeming to droop downwards in a pout, as if to make up for the lack of expression she could manage with her stunted tail; a gesture as if to say, 'Remember when we were lost and lonely?' It was not so long ago that someone had helped them find their way out from a similar situation.

And perhaps where the growing boy was cautious, Dova was bold—maybe oblivious, more often than not. Resurfacing from her thoughts fraught with worry, she turned her attention back to the mahogany silhouette, her afflicted gaze staring evenly for several heartbeats. "It would be rude not to say hello first, and then we can go back to hunting." She mused decidedly, manners like a princess. With a gentle smile tugging at her maw, she took a step forward, before suddenly turning back. "Remember, if things get bad, I'll run while you make a cool distraction." Offering a playful wink from her star-struck eye, Dova skipped off, barking a friendly greeting at the stranger.

If one thing was certain: Death himself could come to collect, and Dova would greet him with the serene wholeheartedness she did with anyone else.

Sinclair didn't quite like the idea so when he had turned to go back to doing their thing, Dova did the exact opposite. His hackles bristled briefly with frustration before he would turn to follow after Dova. Cool distraction, she runs. He kept close quarters with his best friend...

Then again, second inspection of the mahogany figure showed that they were not posturing to attack. It was rather odd, but it could very well be a trick! Sinclair knew all about tricks, his siblings had played plenty on him when he was younger! The girl barked at the figure to call a greeting. Meanwhile, Sinclair would snort and plop down once Dova would stop walking with his rump against the cool ground. Annoyed that she was making him go through with such a dangerous thing.

He was brave when necessary, but this.. This he didn't feel a necessity for and yet still he felt a strong need to protect Dova.

"Are you gonna eat us?" He shouted, voice carrying throughout the area no doubt causing some of the prey they had been previously hunting to scatter.. But the white-ish pup had already forgotten that he needed to remain quiet when hunting.

Deity watched as the two romped in their puppyish fashion, seeming to talk to each other a bit before flopping down. After a moment, one wolf barked to her, and started to skip towards her. Deity raised her ears, concerned for the motherless pup. She hoped she could help somehow. The second pup stayed back, but called out a question. Eat them? No, of course she wouldn’t eat them. Minor irritation flickered in her chest at the noise; what prey was left around here had certainly been scared off. ”No, I am certainly not going to eat you,” she called back. ”I just want to make sure you two are all right— do you have a parent around or something?” Deity hoped the question wouldn’t provoke any hostility. She knew that if someone had asked her the question in her own puphood, she wouldn’t have stuck around. She would have raised her hackles, defensive, before getting away as fast as possible. Parents had been a sensitive topic for her, back then. They still were, actually. ”Speech”

Sinclair continued to follow Dova until she stopped and he would linger behind her, not because he was scared - although he was certainly not all gun-hoe to see a stranger out here - but because he wanted to have the element of an upper hand if things did go sour. Although it seemed that the other creature was nowhere near attempting to attack them or anything of that sort. The boy was still cautious, his tail fairly stiff as they approached. He wasn't exactly very threatening with his hackles up but it was the best he could do... For now though, he didn't bristle, he just tried to remain calm.

When asked about parents Sinclair shook his head, "No. We got lost a while ago... Adonis... Well I don't know where he went off but he's our caretaker for now." Supposedly. Although, Sinclair had very few interactions with the tiger outside of him bringing them food on occasion. The two pups were becoming rather independent far beyond what their age dictated and it was mostly out of the desire to explore, adventure and of course... Survive.

Today was one of those days, and he couldn't quite tell anyone where their guardian had gone off to.