Night rests its heavy hand over the land, blanketing the sky black while the stars seem to defy it. Shining like millions of diamonds arranged just so, in the ether.  The bright silvery moon casts her glow over the land, illuminating the trees that huddle together under its light. Meadow cannot see the moon, or the stars for that matter. Right now, the small wolf walks through a grove of trees, their clustered forms blocking out the glow. However, it is not dark here. Everything seems to be full of light! The trees, the foliage, even the water, all of it casting their own brightness into the world. Eyes try to take it all in, to find each and every source of the illumination as her paws move her through the nightscape. Stopping by the edge of creek that cuts tracks through the trees, Meadow looks into the glowing water. She had heard someone mention the beautiful glow that can only be found here but the earthen hued wolf never thought it could be like this. It has been rough since the incident at the river bank and she had finally decided it was time to find the wonder in the world again. Oh, how glad she is that she decided to come! "Meadow"

Outlaw looked at the raft he had come to this land on.  His beautiful little raft he was so proud of.  Various logs and wood had been tied together using vines that had grown around the square cave his family had lived in.  It wasn’t beautiful to probably anyone save its maker.  Some branches still had a few twigs he hadn’t fully removed.  The vine was fraying in areas and would not hold together that much longer.  Outlaw then nudged it back out to the water to let the waves have it.  As he turned to leave the waves pushed it right back to shore.  Well, maybe someone else would want it.  Outlaw liked his little raft but he wouldn’t be needing it again, at least not soon enough for it to be in good shape when he would want it.

He was grey with black markings, and a tan-colored cowboy hat rested on his head.  The young dog had a strong resemblance to a german shepherd he had a proud history of mutt in his veins. Looking up at the dark night sky and its blinking gems of stars he made his way towards the forest.  There was a light beyond the trees he could see but unsure of what caused it.  With no thought of potential dangers, a stranger might run into in a new area Outlaw made his way inside the forest. The deeper he got and the more obvious the glow had his tail wagging frantically back and forth.

Outlaw wasn’t trying to be quiet.  Thank goodness as he would have failed miserably if this had been an attempt.  He leaped over branches, hopped on twigs, splashed in the water.  Taking in every sight until pausing a short way off from the specific spot of water where Meadow stood.

“Hi!” Outlaw called out merrily, automatically assuming the wolf would be a friend. “I’m Outlaw, who are you?” To be honest he had given himself the name outlaw a few days ago.  Very catchy in his mind.  Why use your real name when you can make one up?

The water seems to have Meadow in a trance, the way it sweeps slowly by, catching the light and moving on… suddenly ears flick back as the sound of snapping twigs and paws splashing through water reach the small healer. Head snaps toward the sound and she has a choice to make; run or greet this unknown intruder. Never one to back down from meeting a potential friend, Meadow turns her body so she can see who this newcomer is. A strange, but wonderful looking wolf bursts onto the scene, all wags and happiness. Eyes widen at this new arrival who looks to have the markings of a german shepherd. However, the true oddity, and perhaps thing she absolutely loves about this new wolf, is his hat. He has a freaking cowboy hat. Heart melts a little as he calls out his greeting in a cheerful, friendly tone. He offers his name and asks who she is. It takes her a moment to untie her tongue but Meadow answers him with equally happy tones, “Hello Outlaw! My name is Meadow. What brings you out at this late hour?” A grin has wormed its way onto her lips, exploding into a full smile as she talks. After a short pause she adds, “By the way, I love your hat! Where did you get it?” Curious as to the origin of such an oddity, Meadow’s ears perk up to listen and she moves closer to Outlaw, trying to get a good look at it. She wonders what she would look like with such a hat as his and quickly decides she could not pull off the look as well as he does. "Meadow"

“Well, it just took this long to get here,” Outlaw's first words make of course so much sense. “Nice to meet you Meadow. Oh!” It seemed to dawn on him about how she might have wanted a bit more on his earlier statement. “See there’s an island south of here right?  Farther south there is another Island.  I’m from over there!”

Outlaw lowered his head a bit so she could get a better view of the top portion of his hat, “really great right? Anyway I put a bunch of logs together to make a raft and floated over, it was pretty neat but it did take a while.  It’s ok though because I brought some food along.  Saltwater isn’t good for you though so I had to bring some of that also.” Of course, he didn’t say what ‘that’ but he assumed she knew it would be freshwater.  Outlaw also apparently hadn’t considered she didn’t need that much detail.

“Anyway, so I landed here on this land, and the first thing I saw was here!” The finale of the story.  “Oh, the hat was from my home.  The forgotten Isle has lots of cool stuff. All sorts of weird stuff can’t even guess how to make like it's just ‘is.’ Ya know?”  Apparently given a chance Outlaw was happy to prattle on.

Outlaw talks and Meadow happily listens to his tale. Dipping her head in greeting, she then turns her full attention to following his story. Smiling the whole time, she nods when he speaks of an island to the south. Personally, she does not know the island but, if someone as kind and cheerful as Outlaw came from there, it must be good. He lowers his head so she can get a better look at his hat and she eagerly takes the opportunity to examine the object. She ooes and awes over it for a moment before stepping back to listen as he continues. Eagerly, she nods her agreement to the hat being really great. Eyes widen in surprise and her mouth forms an ‘O’ as Outlaw talks about how he made a raft to get here. Meadow hangs on his every word and, when he concludes his story, her eyes light up. She says, “Wow! That is awesome! You are really brave to ride a raft all the way here!” He explains about his hat and Meadow wishes she could visit the island and get a cool hat too. Now that his tale has come to an end, Meadow decides it is her turn to talk. She says, “I live near here with a pack called The Hallows. My sister is the leader and I am a healer in the pack. I built my very own healing hut and everything! It was difficult but really fun. We live by some hot springs. I came over here because I heard of the way this place looks at night.” Taking a moment to look around, she turns back to Outlaw to say, “It is really beautiful here. Hey, want to go exploring with me? We can see all that this place has to offer! There might even be some super-secret hidden treasure or something.” While she is half teasing about the treasure, Meadow does want to explore with him and see what else there is. If they don’t find anything special… well, she would make it up to him somehow. "Meadow"

Really brave to ride on his raft? “Oh sure I am brave!” Outlaw seems happy with the concept, but about the same was a puppy, not because its earned but it just sounds neat. “Though you know, it really was a pretty good raft.  None of the important parts broke off, just some of the twigs.  Just enough wind to get us moving.  Oh! I saw some fish in the water and tried to catch one, but then I fell in. The raft was so strong that I was able to climb back on!.” Ok so the raft had almost fallen over when he did that admittedly but it had still worked!  

“That sounds great.  I’d love to see the hut.  Your friendly so I’m guessing its an open place and bright somehow? You let in lot of the sun?” Outlaws words were starting to slow now to a more normal speed.  From super excited he had gone to just happy chatter, “I’ve never seen a hot spring before, so its hot water?”  Then she was pointing out about how she came to see her because of the glow.  Did she realize how amazing it was that water could stay hot? If that’s what a ‘hot spring’ was.  Though this was awfully nice also!

“What makes it glow? Is it magic? My uncles mate said that anything with magic glows.” A moments pause before adding, “but he also says eating fish is dangerous, so gotta take what he says with a bit of skepticism."

Another new topic! Maybe the best one yet! “I was going to explore anyway, so this means I just get company!” Yes, the energy level picked up again and the tail was drumming a decent thump thump thump against a rock. “super-secret?” Outlaw’s ears straightened up a bit but as the hat started to tilt he relaxed them, glancing all about, “do you think its hiding on top of things, like the trees or buried? Do you think there’s a rock cave somewhere in here like back home with stuff in it? Or a shiny box?”  Outlaw had quite the imagination and it was overflowing right now.

Outlaw latches onto the word brave, appearing to be proud of being praised. Smile grows as he talks about his raft and how he saw fish. Meadow longs for the days of being a carefree youth with nothing to do but explore. It is true that she still acts like a pup most of the time but she has matured enough to take on responsibilities and help others. Listening to his story, she looks fearful for a moment when he falls in the water in his tale but relieved when he climbs back on the raft. When Meadow talks of the hot springs and her hut, Outlaw seems to be very excited about it. His questions slow to a more normal rate and with a bright smile she says, “Oh you would love it! There is a lot of sun outside and, in my hut, I have lanterns that light everything up. They hang from the ceiling and cast their light through the whole hut. Yes, hot springs are pools of water that bubble up and are hot enough to be relaxing but not enough to burn. You should come visit me sometime!” Outlaw looks around and asks what makes it glow and Meadow honestly has no idea. He mentions magic and how his uncle’s mate ate fish. With a shrug, she tells him, “I don’t know what makes them glow. I just know they are beautiful. Sometimes, a little mystery makes things more… wonderful. Maybe that is the magic.” Her talk of finding something super-secret or even treasure has Outlaw wagging hard and she immediately regrets her words. Damn. Looks like one of the trinkets in her bag will have to be buried so that he can find some treasure. His questions make Meadow hem and haw for moment before she says, “I bet they are buried. There might be a cave, I have never been here before. I don’t know about a shiny box but I bet whatever we find will be shiny.” Quickly she thinks over what she has that is shiny to bury. Moving to Outlaw’s side, Meadow allows her friend to lead the way as they explore. "Meadow"

Outlaw looks very impressed about the lantern concept, “How do they work? The lanterns that is?" After all he had waited to ask about the lanterns until after she was done talking about hot springs.  One had to be sharp to keep up with his questions. “Do you have a sun catcher that collects the light and beams it onto sticks?” The ‘suncatcher’ was just glass they had back home that was the right type to help start fires from light.  With no known name for it, the dogs had labeled it ‘sun catcher.’ “I’d love to visit, I want to see the lanterns and the hot springs.”

Outlaw nodded understandingly about mysteries, “Sure, I get that.  It’s like some of the stuff from home.  The stuff doesn’t grow, and we don’t know how to make them but there is the stuff that’s just there.  The cave itself is apparently different than anything the wolves who came to visit have seen!  So, I guess our island is maybe magical too.  It just doesn’t glow all pretty like this place.” Yup, happily prattling on assuming, of course, she would want to know all these things

Buried meant digging, but where to dig? Outlaw looked at the ground below him with a perplexed look.  “It would take forever to dig everything up.  I guess we have to look for stuff that looks special somehow.” Outlaw started walking, slowly looking around with a scrunched up thoughtful look, “I wonder what special thing marks treasure? Extra bright glowing things? Or darker to hide the glowing treasure, if the treasure glows? I wonder what the super-secret treasure is?  If whoever left it here is use to glowing then maybe it would be something that doesn’t glow?” Outlaw rattles off these random thoughts as he moves along looking thoughtfully.  Finding a spot where the glowing seemed dim he went and started digging, “I bet its somewhere that glows less!” The spot likely had a few dead plants or maybe just moss that had dimmed the glow of that spot, but of course to Outlaw it was ‘something special.’ “I wonder how deep its buried! We might have to make a lot of holes!  What do you think Meadow? Any better ideas?”

Her talk of lanterns in her healing hut seems to impress Outlaw and her smile only grows. His questions are answered quickly when she explains, “Each of the lanterns have a candle made of beeswax. Each one is made to burn for several hours. All I have to do is light them. Actually, Rigel is the one that lights all the candles for me. He is a great helper.” At the mention of his name a great horned owl swoops down, out of the shadows and lands on a rock near Outlaw. Orange eyes scrutinize the wolf for a moment before his wings unfold from his side and he bows. Dipping low, the owl straightens after a moment, tucking his wings back in and hooting a greeting to Outlaw. The owl’s eyes seem to be drawn to the cowboy hat that is perched on Outlaw’s head. Hopping closer to the wolf, he hoots at the young wolf, seeming to ask what is on his head. Wise, inquisitive eyes look intently at the foreign object before Meadow tells her companion, “Rigel, that is a cowboy hat. Leave it on Outlaw’s head.” The owl hoots his disappointment before taking off and circling close to the pair. His question about a sun catcher has her head tilting slightly in confusion before she says, “I do not have one but that sounds beautiful.” Nodding her head in agreement to his statement about visiting, Meadow says, “You could meet my sister, Resin, too!” As she suggests buried treasure, Outlaw looks around a puzzled look on his features. Listening to him speculate about what they might find and how to find it, Meadow feels guilt in the pit of her stomach. Well, looks like she might lose more than just one of her trinkets. When he bounds away to dig in a spot that glows less, Meadow slips away, moving behind a bush to retrieve a small silver spoon from her bag. Quickly, so that her friend won’t miss her, she digs a hole big enough to hide the spoon. It is not too deep and she quickly places the dirt back over the object before taking a paw and drawing an ‘X’ in the dirt over where it lays. Quietly she reappears and tells him, “Well, I hear that treasure is usually hidden under a big ‘X’. Maybe we should look for that?” Pretending to look around, she ‘discovers’ the spot where she had buried the spoon. “Look Outlaw! An X!” Stepping away to allow him to dig, she prepares to slip away and bury something else while her friend digs. While she might lose all her trinkets and shiny things tonight, at least she knows they will go to someone who will enjoy them. "Meadow"

Oh, Candles! Outlaw could picture it better now to at least.  Candles hanging from the ceiling?  Candles were used in their cave in the darker areas frequently but they rested on the ground or on top of things.  Outlaw was about to ask who Rigel was when the big ol’ owl appeared!  Outlaw’s eyes widened some at the large owl sitting close by on the rock. “Woah.  Hi!” Outlaw tilts his head down to give the owl a better loo, “It’s my hat. I got it for completing a quest to prove I wasn’t a kid anymore.” Yup, talking to the owl just as surely as he did to Meadow with a new fun fact.

Meadow’s talk to the owl and then its reaction seemed to make Outlaw realize the danger his hat had been in. “Oh thanks, I really like my hat.” It was a sincere thanks as if it was something that took true effort of her to make Rigel not take his hat. “That’s great that you have such a big owl to stay with you! I had a few seagull friends at home.  Kaw liked to help me find fun stuff to use when making stuff.”  

The distractable dog that he was he always did eventually pull back to the subject, “You have a sister? Is she super friendly like you are? I’d love to meet her.  Would she enjoy treasure hunting later?” Even as Outlaw chatters on he’s digging, his head staring at dirt and flying dirt.  Unaware of Meadow’s trickiness.  When she informs him of this wisdom about an X he stops his digging, “hm, I didn’t see an X where I started digging.”

Imagine that! Meadow found one super fast! He spun about not questioning the validity of her finding it, just happy they found it.  She was letting him do the digging also? Outlaw’s tongue was lolling out with joy as he dug where the x-was, perhaps a bit too fast.  The little spoon went flying out to land near his back paw. Outlaw turned to look at it, tail wagging, “hey look!  It’s a hm, a funny stick! I’ve seen some shaped like this sorta, but not the same size, and this one looks in better condition.  I bet its special for sure.” Was that a super-secret though? If it wasn’t that meant there were definitely ore good things to find!

He started to step away as if to look but stalled.  “Hey Meadow, does your sister like treasure hunting? We could stop for now so she can join us if you think she’d want to?” It would be bad if they found all the treasure if someone else wanted to join in.  I hope she’s as friendly as you are.”

Outlaw’s reaction to Rigel has Meadow giggling and she watches the way he shows the owl his hat. Rigel makes small clucking sounds as the wolf tells the owl about his hat. Closer and closer Rigel inches until she tells him to leave it. An annoyed, disappointed hoot at her and the owl is circling over them again. Outlaw’s thanks is unnecessary, Meadow would not have allowed Rigel to do anything to her friend’s hat, but she smiles warmly and acknowledges it with a dip of her head. His talk of seagull friends has Meadow saying, “Oh that is great! Maybe you will make more seagull friends here.” His questions about Resin has the small healer chuckling and she tells him, “Yes I have an older sister and, while she is friendly to those that need help, she is not like me. Resin has had some sad things happen in her life and they have stuck with her. But, when you meet her, don’t be afraid. She really just wants to help those who need it.” The scarred wolf’s face floats in her mind’s eye for a moment as she speaks of her. Meadow knows just how much Resin has been through but the older woman seems to be happier lately. Resin has found love, started a pack and is taking care of all those that come to seek her help. Meadow is extremely proud of her sister. She slips away and buries the spoon, marking the spot with an X. Outlaw takes the bait, hook, line and sinker. Once more, guilt fills her stomach but she wags happily as he digs up the shiny spoon. Nodding at his assessment that the spoon must be special, she tells him, “I have heard that those are very special. They come from a time long ago. Before wolves ruled the land. I wonder what strange and wonderful things it was used for…” She allows her voice to trail off, trying to spark Outlaw’s imagination. While it is true she has no idea what it was used for, Meadow has come up with her own idea of what it is. It is a thingamabob that was presented to royalty as a gift. Yep, that is totally what it is. Meadow gets ready to slip away again and bury something else when Outlaw stalls as he steps away from the hole. His question has her eyes widening and heart melting. This guy is so stinkin’ sweet. Outlaw has thought to include Resin in their treasure hunting and Meadow just wants to hug the wolf. How can someone so pure be in this world? A wide, bright smile appears and she tells him, “Well, I don’t know if Resin is much a treasure hunter but we can stop for now and return after we have asked her.” Moving to Outlaw’s side, Meadow nudges her friend and tells him, “Hey, no one could ever be mean to you. You are too kind. And, if someone is, you come see me. Okay?” She might not be a fighter but damnit, she would hurt anyone that made Outlaw feel bad. "Meadow"

Outlaw nodded agreeably at her suggestion of more seagull friends, “maybe! Though I guess it depends on how much time I spend near the water.” Outlaw looked towards Rigel, “but I guess there are a lot of friendly birds wherever you go? Rigel seems really nice.  I’m glad he likes my hat.  If Rigel wants I can keep an eye out for something that he may like, not that I’m sure what that would be.” True enough, he even wanted to be nice to the bird. Outlaw wasn’t sure why it would be funny to ask her sister but there must have been some reason. “That sounds like a good idea,” Outlaw wagged his tail a bit at that, “If she says she doesn’t want to come at least she knows we offered, right?  Maybe we can find something she might like to bring back also.” What point was there in trying to keep a lot of stuff anyway? If he had nowhere to put it might as well give it to others who would appreciate it. “She sounds like a good wolf if her main purpose is wanting to help others.” Then there was talk of the spoon and pondered her words, tail slowing not by less happy but just more focus, “I wonder if the different sort we had at home were very special then?” Yup, gotta consider this, “It could be they were more common versions and this one was the extra special one though, that would make sense.” At least in Outlaw’s mind, it made sense because there were extra special things so what other explanation was there? At the notion of being mean Outlaw nodded looking amused at the thought, “No reason for anyone to be angry at me, and if I do make a mistake I’d apologize.” Simplicity at its best. “Thanks though, if someone ever was upset at me I’ll let you know.  I don’t know much about fighting, but I wouldn’t want you getting hurt either.”  Outlaw grinned a bit more, “but I wouldn't be overly worried, I don’t see any problem occurring.” Apparently, he hadn’t met any of the crueler wolves thus far in his life. Speech:"Life is but a game " Think

Meadow listens with great interest to everything Outlaw has to say. Mentioning how he could keep an eye out for something that Rigel might like, Meadow feels all warm and fuzzy inside. Gah! Outlaw is so pure that the small healer’s heart melts and she decides, right then and there, that she will do anything to make him happy. Rigel hoots his appreciation and, with a bright smile she says, “Oh Rigel would love that! If you find any hats that might fit him, I am sure Rigel would love it.” Another excited hoot and Meadow’s smile only grows. Something about Outlaw makes her happier than she has been in such a long time. Maybe she can convince Resin or Tamsyn to accept him into the pack. He could be their official greeter or moral booster. Feeling sad? Here is Outlaw to brighten your day! Okay, so maybe they had only just met but Meadow knows a good soul when she sees one and Outlaw has the kindest one she has seen in a long time. Even as Meadow listens to him agree to her idea, his tail wagging, she feels her heart lifting. Nodding as he says at least Resin would know they had offered and then offers to bring her back something she might like, Meadow melts a little more. Dang it. So pure! Then Outlaw says Resin is a good wolf and Meadow nods eagerly, saying, “Oh yes. Resin is a good wolf.  She cares about others, a lot.” Okay so maybe she doesn’t always show it but Resin does care. About everyone. Meadow knows her sister and the big wolf has a heart of gold; even if it slightly buried and tarnished. There is no hiding from Meadow the kindness that is in her sister’s heart. Talk of the spoon has Outlaw’s tail slowing and he talks again of his home. Meadow’s own tail wags slowly as she nods and shrugs, saying, “Maybe it is extra special. This looks like pure silver so it could be very special. Look how shiny it is!” Eyes look at her former trinket before being drawn back to Outlaw. As she walks over and nudges him, telling him about mean wolves, his words have her heart melting even more and the need to protect him raising. His kind, gentle heart doesn’t want her to get hurt either but Meadow knows she would lay down her life for this pure wolf. She doesn’t tell him that, instead saying, “Well, if anything ever happens that makes you sad, let me know. Okay?” Aiming to gently nudge him again, Meadow says, “Why don’t we go for a walk? I will take to my pack and you can rest there. You must be very tired after your journey. I can put your treasure in my bag if you would like.” Moving to place the spoon in her bag, she then turns her body in the direction of the hot springs before asking, “So Outlaw, do you any more stories of your home?” Meadow wants to hear every story he has and she listens with rapt attention as she starts to walk toward home. "Meadow"

Outlaw glances up thoughtfully at Rigel, “I’ll try to find something nearby, if I can’t then I guess at some point I can sail back home for a visit and find something for you.  All sorts of strange but neat things there like my hat.”   The words are offered sincerely, if the owl really wanted something then they might as well find it for him. Outlaw just gives a wag of an extra wag of his tail at the nudge, along with a happy smile, nodding and offering over the spoon, “oh thanks, and that sounds good.  Oh sure, some resting on land instead of the raft sounds real good.  If you want I can make another probably if you wanted a ride on the water at some point.”  He turned thoughtful about that, “But we’d have to figure out some way to make sure you could turn it back instead of just letting the waves take you out.”   Yup back to his thoughts just traveling as they would. Her next question helped put his mind back in order, “Oh sure, I got lots of stories.  I could tell you about Quivers and I explored the dead-wood cave, and how strange it was.  Like, made of trees but a lot of trees that were sliced into a bunch of thin pieces.  Not just that though, lots of shiny-rock.  All manner of bizarre fun things there.  Or I can tell you about the singing fish that came by from time to time.  They talked with us, though couldn’t ever understand what they were saying.  Their music was pretty.  Oh and Karn would sing songs at night on occasion.”   Right now it was just options of a variety of things he had done on the island.  “You tell me what sort of story you want and I probably have one!” Yes, he would talk as long as it took for their walk so long as she wanted him to. Speech:"Life is but a game " Think