Gossamer raced along the edge of the beach, kicking up water and sand as she ran. Ásta was right behind her but for once in her life Gossamer was winning. It was great to be two seasons old! She was lanky and awkward but her size had almost doubled and now she could finally keep up with her fox companion, for the most part. She didn't know Ásta was starting to let up and so when she bent her head and grabbed the elk bone in her teeth that signified the finish line she whipped around and dropped it before howling her victory. "I win! I win! You have to clean up now." They'd been working on more crafting projects and as per usual Gossamer had made something of a mess.

Mortis had been trotting lightly down the sandy territory when a streak of black and white had flashed across his vision up ahead. A streak of orange not far behind. When she turned around to face her fox, Mortis wasn’t far behind. He had picked up his pace, and changed his angle to come up to her.

“Bet you won't win against me so easily, Gos!” he boosted, grinning at his small sister. Running had always been a favourite game for Mortis, and he had grinned at seeing the young girl take to it now. His tail wiggled behind him, and his wing tip reached forward to give her a welcoming nudge against her muzzle.

Ásta groaned and flopped down in the sand. "If I hadn't tripped… but fair's fair. I'll take care of the clean up." The fox got to her feet, shaking the sand out of her pelt as she headed back to where they'd been crafting. Gossamer was just about to go with her when she noticed her older brother Mortis, headed her way, challenging her to a race. Yay! She puffed herself up. "You're on! Where should we race to?" She glanced about then spied a gnarled tree a ways up the beach. "Hey, we can race to that tree. Just a minute, I need to catch my breath." She flopped down, panting. "Whatcha been up to, Mort?"

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Of course Goss was eager to take him up on that challenge. Already looking about her for a good marker to use. He bunched up his muscles, looking over towards the tree before she threw herself to the ground to catch her breath. Right, fair was fair, of course. She needed a break after her first race.

“Your on” he agreed, before flopping down beside her. Grinning at the smaller girl, he unfurled one wing and began to teasingly fan her with it, making little billowing motions to create a draft.

“The usual… patrols, hunting, and so on.” He explained and flirting with Hika… but that was neither here nor there, and too new to whisper out loud.

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Gossamer grinned as Mortis fanned her with one of his wings. "Ahhh… much better!" It was amazing how hot one could get running around all the time, even though it was cold outside. She flipped back onto her paws. "We should go patrolling some time. I'm really tough!" She could help scare off intruders! Gossamer stretched a little. "Ok, I'm ready now, start us Ásta." The fox nodded and stepped away, giving Mortis a chance to get ready before starting the race.

"Ready, set…. go!" yelled the fox.

Gossmer let out a whoop and took off across the beach, kicking up sand and snow as she raced along toward the tree. Halfway there she realized she should've made a bet or something to keep it interesting but perhaps this was just as well. It would give her a chance to size up her brother's speed.

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In no time Gossy was back on her paws, and seemed eager to spend more time with her brother. Mortis grinned at the young girl, he loved to see his siblings out and about with energy and cheer. His own litter had been a rather… broody lot.

He glanced at the Fox as the creature was called up to start the race. Mortis tucked his wings to his side, and placed himself beside his smaller sister. He rolled his weight on his back hunches, and waited. When the fox yelled the ‘go’ he took off like a rocket, letting out an excited huff as fell into a comfortable stride.

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Gossamer's long legs moved rapidly, eating up the distance between herself and the tree. After practicing several times with Ásta she was getting familiar with the terrain and found herself instinctively adjusting to the softer surface of sand and then to the grass. It was a crazy tight race and for a moment she thought she was going to lose but then with a surging leap she tagged the tree and let out a triumphant cheer.

Gossy then flopped down on her side panting. Whew! "I win!" She had enough breath for those two words before she needed a moment to catch her breath. "You're really fast, Morty! I'll have to see if I can get Azure to do a race some time. Or maybe Asla." She laughed. Both those older siblings seemed pretty serious and withdrawn. Aslatiel might eat her for the suggestion. "Speaking of, when is Indigo coming back? Natha said he's with the Hallows now?"