So she had a babysitter. It wasn't the first time and it likely wouldn't be the last. The girl did have a bad habit of getting into trouble as the healing wounds on her face proved. That caiman had it...caiman. Haha... Internally, the girl snickered at her own joke. She really was very funny. The world wasn't ready for her, she was sure.

The small obsidian puffball padded along beside Aunt Ash, her nose sniffing out this and that. It smelled a lot different out here than in the castle. The grasses were golden and they whispered drily in the gentle breeze. Here and there, the rare tree had shifted from green to gold and crimson. "Do you think it smells nice?" The girl's nose wiggled as she sniffed the air yet again. The slowly decaying leaves and undergrowth emitted an earthy, somewhat sweet smell. "I wish it smelled like this all the time," she commented before tilting her head and looking up to the larger wolf. "Why does it smell so good?"

"Dusk Carpathius"

Asheila was coming around as time went on. She was still nowhere near getting outside the pack borders but this was farther than she had been since she was returned to The Hallows. As she stepped outside the gates, she looked at those on their balconies and another glance towards the patrollers in the far distance. It was still hard to get used to.

She looked down at Dusk as her little niece asked, smiling as she observed their surroundings. She loved seeing her nieces and nephews interacting with the world. They inspired her more everyday to better herself, she wanted to explore with them more. "Yes, I love the fall. And the spring when the flowers bloom." She walked along the path that her and Artorias had taken just a few nights ago. It was almost second nature now that she had done it once. She walked over to a cluster of the different colored leaves, shuffling through them a bit to separate them. "How many colors do you think there are?" That was a wide opening for answers, it depended on how Dusk would see the different shades to classify if all the shades counted as one color. Or if she saw more red or more orange in one.

"Ashelia Carpathius"

Aunt Ash was quiet, but she was nice to be around. Dusk didn't think that her aunt would try to stop her from having fun, but she had yet to find out. After her trouble with the caiman, well... the girl was at least trying to be good. Trouble found her wherever she went though, so she couldn't promise it would stay that way.

Ash asked how many colors Dusk thought there were and the girl blinked. Her head tilted and she looked at the plethora of leaves that were scattered across the plains. How many colors? Dusk suddenly turned her face towards Ash, plastered a huge, toothy grin on her dark little face and spoke, "All of them!" That was better than thinking of a number.

A big leaf blew and smacked into the side of her head. The biggest leaf she'd ever seen. With a cry of indignation, the girl grabbed the leaf in her little cat claws and shredded it, growling menacingly all the while. She then made a face and spat leaf chunks from her mouth. "They smell nice but they don't taste nice. Bleh."

"Dusk Carpathius"

Asheila was more than impressed with Dusk's answer, maybe not exactly correct but how could she say what the right answer was. There wasn't one. She smiled with a silent chuckle to herself, "That's a good thought." Was all she could say in the most friendly tone.

As they walked on a large leaf flung up from the ground and smacked Dusk right in the face, making Ash show a quick sign of worry but that easily melted away as Dusk took hold of it and shredded it into pieces. Now that was a little bit alarming but Asheila wasn't one to judge especially towards her little niece. Her eyes widened with a little snort from a laugh she tried to hold in, a bit of a nervous laugh. After Dusk spat out the remnants of the leaf she nearly ingested, Ashe chuckled a little more, "No, I don't recommend eating them. They would look pretty cool on some crafts though." Other than just being pretty, the leaves didn't really have much of a purpose or at least that Asheila knew. She was still happy to watch as Dusk discovered the world.

"Ashelia Carpathius"

Aunt Ash agreed that leaves weren't worth eating and the little pup growled at a pile of them, hopping forward stiff legged with an arched back like a fluffy black cat. She was going to be a big, tough fighter some day so those leaves had better just watch out!

"Crafts?" Her head tilted. "That's a Tal and Bramble thing. I just want to fight things and run fast!" Again she hopped at the leaves, pretending like they were some great foe. A rabbit popped out of the pile and it was half brown and half white. Dusks orange eyes widened. "Why is the rabbit different colors?!" She didn't know anything about rabbits other than they tasted good. It never would have crossed her mind that their coats would change with the seasons. As she watched, the rabbit disappeared into a hole in the ground.

Another breeze kicked up more leaves on the plain and the brown grasses hissed together somewhat ominously. Dusk continued down the pathway, however, braver than a pup should be. She was determined to walk the whole way, or at least until Aunt Ash decided that they should go back.

"Dusk Carpathius"

It seemed the warmer weather of the Auster autumn had made a change on the prey here as well when Dusk pointed out a shedding rabbit a little ways away. Ash did wonder if that could be a problem... With the grove not experiencing the same autumn changes that the castle and the plains had, it was hard to grasp exactly what that meant for the changes and the rest of the world. It was the first time she really recognized that something wasn't quite right.

She almost forgot to respond to Dusk while she got lost in that thought, but she did tell her, "It's shedding it's coat from the winter. Even you might feel a change to your fur when the seasons change and it gets warmer or colder." It was maybe too much for her to fully understand, she was already bounding out on the path some more. But there was plenty of time for Dusk to learn everything. She was much braver than Asheila, that's what Ash could say to herself. A big insecurity she carried as they walked on, but she wouldn't let it taint her time with her niece.

"Ashelia Carpathius"