Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

He was thoroughly enjoying the snow part of winter. The cold, not so much. But his new armor, with tweaks and help from his father, Aurielle, and Cairo, helped block the bite of the wind, especially with the thick cloak layered beneath it, hood raised to block the wind. He was on patrol, padding along the top of the wall like a fire tinged black wraith, cloak flapping in the wind, tail, now very noticeably long-haired like his mothers, and mane buffeting in an almost constant fire show with all the friction. He wasn’t alone. He wasn’t a yearling yet, after all, so Loshir, Aurielle taking a nap, was shadowing him, occasionally hidden behind sheets of snow. He was grumbling something about “Bloody unseasonable weather”, but Ardyn didn’t mind. He knew his mother adored this weather. The more snow the better. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

You couldn't kill me if you tried She had woken up this morning to find the world had suddenly turned very cold, and very white! When she first saw it, she wasn't sure what to make of it. The girl just peering out of her makeshift den for a long while before finally testing the ground. She thought it cold at first, but she quickly got used to it and was now eagerly running around and bounding in the snow. She wondered if the pup she met at the battlefield was out playing in the snow, too...while she hadn't had the guts to follow them directly home and had left shortly after their spar, she had tried her best to be sneaky and sort of follow them to their pack lands...but she was hesitant to go any further. Instead, she had remained nearby in an abandoned den just outside the wall that made up the border of the pack (though she didn't know anything about packs and borders, it just looked like a strange alien rock structure to her). She bounded along the wall which helped shelter her from the wind, her fur now a little less scraggly looking as the snow helped slick it down. While she probably didn't appear too eye-catching now, she certainly would when she got older. As she wandered along, right shoulder touching the wall as she trotted alongside it. She paused to give it a sniff here and there, but she didn't recognize any of the scents or smells that came from it. It wasn't until she was maybe a good distance from her makeshift den that she spotted movement in the form of a dark, billowy shadow on the top of that wall that she stopped and perked her ears. Dual toned gaze watched it for a moment, and she recognized it right away as Ardyn! Tail set to wagging as she hurriedly bounded towards where he was as she kept her eyes on his position on top of the wall. "Ardy! Ardy! Hi! How'd you get up there!? Did you see all the white stuff! I thought it was cold at first but I gots used to it! Aren't you scared being that high? Oh! Can you see my den from up there!? Can I come up?! I bet you can see everything!" Okay, maybe she was a little too excited at seeing him again. "Speak"

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Ardyn had made it another fifty feet before he froze, fur fluttering in the wind, eyes squinting as one paw lifted in a slight point, fingers curling loosely as he studied the movement he’d been certain he’d spotted. Out of the snow popped a familiar pup, and his posture relaxed into an easy wag as he recognized her. She seemed quite excited to see him, and yet, still, she was alone. At nine months, he was well aware that there was something majorly off about that, but for the time being he greeted cheerfully back, “Hey, Tel!” He paused, wondering where to start in on answering the rest. He’d probably exploded into just as much of a babble when he was younger, too. After a beat he grinned, gesturing at the weather around them, “This is snow! It’s pretty fun stuff, but yeah, it is pretty cold. You can get sick if it gets you wet and you stay out in it. And it’s not too scary, I can see pretty far, too.” He considered her; his head cocked. Were she his littlest sister, with her similar paws, he could just lean down and lock hands, hoisting her up. This girl, while larger, also had normal paws, barring the cat-like qualities. “Sure, here. I’ll have to pick you up by the scruff though.” He leaned way down, brisket pressed to the wall, foreleg reaching down and aimed to wrap his long toes around her scruff if she accepted the offer, with his other paw braced and ready to push up to lift the younger pup. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

You couldn't kill me if you tried "Hey, Tel!" Her tail set to wagging a mile a minute as he greeted her, her smile spreading wider. “This is snow! It’s pretty fun stuff, but yeah, it is pretty cold. You can get sick if it gets you wet and you stay out in it. And it’s not too scary, I can see pretty far, too.” "Snow? She murmured to herself as she glanced around her. So that's what it was called? It was pretty neat stuff in her book! Though she didn't like the sound of possibly getting too wet or sick. Maybe she'd have to be careful while playing in it. After all, she didn't exactly want to go back to her den and end up getting sick to where she couldn't leave...or worse. But when he said she could join him, that thought was all but forgotten as she stood on her hind legs so he could reach her. She didn't think anything of his strange looking paws to be honest. After all, she was born with feline-like paws of her own so to her, it was normal. As he leaned way down to pick her up by the scruff, she used her paws to claw and scrabble her way up until she was up on top of the wall beside him. She shook the snow from her coat, tail wagging immediately as she looked over the side of the wall she was just on, and then towards the other side. "Wow! Thank you Ardy! You can see everything from up here!" She walked the ledge a few tail lengths ahead of him before abruptly stopping and looking out towards the lands on the opposite side from where she had come from. "Do you live on this side? Is it different from the side I live on?" She dropped to her belly, forepaws hanging over the Valhalla side of the wall as she curiously glanced at him. "Speak"

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Tel seemed thrilled at the view, and his tail tapped the stones under their paws in bursts of fiery light until her question sent his head tilting. He hadn’t thought that loners would let their pups g on not knowing about pack borders, but he was happy to fill in on the lessons. He pointed in at Valhalla’s lands, explaining, “On this side, is my mom’s pack, Valhalla. We own the land, so loners and other packs can’t enter without permission or joining the pack. That side,” He pointed out at the plains and general outer area beyond the wall, “is the loner side. Anyone can be there, and not get in trouble. You should always be careful. Valhalla’s nice, but some packs will force-claim or take a trespasser prisoner.” He suddenly remembered that his mother had said Valhalla was likely unique in that they had a visual indicator as well as a scent marker to warn loners, and most other packs just had the scent line. So, he added, quickly, pointing at the stones, “Take a sniff? When you find scents on the ground and on trees and grasses with lots of wolves, that’s probably a pack border and you should not step over it.” He studied her to see if she got the lesson, smiling hopefully. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

You couldn't kill me if you tried He started to explain to her the difference between pack lands and the side where she lived. It was simple and easy enough to understand, and she glanced at him with eyes in awe when he said it was his mom's pack. Though her awed look faltered for a moment as she turned away. His mom owned the pack...he had a mom. She didn't. But he didn't know that. She wasn't sure how to feel about not having one. After all, she had been left behind and she didn't know what happened to her mother. Whether she was abandoned or if something happened to her mom. She could still remember her face from the memories she had, though it was more a blur of colors and not exactly a clear picture..."Force claiming and being a prisoner doesn't sound like much fun..." She mused. Would they have taken her prisoner if she had decided to just walk into their pack lands before knowing all of this? They seemed nice, and she was still too young and naive to the fact that not everyone would be nice to her. "Take a sniff?" She glanced at him again as he pointed to the stones, and as he explained pack scent, she did as he instructed. She turned her attention to the wall and towards the ground below as she carefully sniffed both the structure she was on as well as the scents that wafted up from the ground. Oh! "You're right! I can smell your pack! It's a nice smell, I think." It smelled like a hint of Ardyn, but the pack smell itself felt almost...comforting. Safe even. She turned to look at him then, "What's your pack like?" "Speak"

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

Ardyn hadn’t missed how she’d reacted to what he’d said, and he wasn’t sure what had affected her at first. But to her words, he shook his head, agreeing, “It doesn’t. We haven’t had to do it in a long time, that I know of.” His lesson clicked for the girl, and he nodded, grinning at the younger girl’s remark. At her question, his head cocked, ear swiveling. “Valhalla is honorable, and we put a lot of emphasis in working your way up in rank. We’re family. Everyone’s required to learn how to fight, and how to heal, even if they don’t specialize in either, so that they have some measure of skill in either to defend themselves, or treat an injury when they aren’t home.” It was mostly-remembered speech from his mother’s lessons about Valhalla and what it was. Valhalla didn’t often start fights, but they defended and finished fights when pressed. He ticked his tongue in thought. “I’m the next in line to lead someday, but I don’t think that’s for a long time.” And that was fine with him. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

You couldn't kill me if you tried She looked at him with wide, curious eyes as she soaked up the information that he explained. While she didn't know a thing about packs, he was willing to teach her. He seemed patient enough for all her questions and explained things in a way that she understood. Her tail set to wagging a bit as she turned her attention to gaze into the Valhallan lands. "You're real lucky, Ardyn. You have a real nice home, and your momma is real pretty too!" She smiled as she glanced at him. She meant it when she said that, and she wondered if the rest of his family looked like him and his mom. Or how big the rest of his family was in the first place. Did he have a lot of other puppies to play with? From what it sounded like, the pack sounded like one big family and she wasn't sure if it was all family related to him, or if it was a mix of wolves. Whatever the case, it all sounded wonderful in her mind. "I bet you'd make a great leader someday!" Sure they barely knew each other, but she was already considering him her friend and being the optimistic child she was, she was already rooting for him! "Speak"