The boy, with his insatiable desire to discover the new and unseen, had wandered away from the chill of the north. The trees and mountains had politely given way to a relatively flat expanse of land and he found himself trotting through an open field. He had not traveled very far to the south, yet the air had grown much warmer. The lack of trees also took away any opportunity for shade, and he could feel the sun weighing atop his dense coat, warming the bony skin beneath. Nevertheless, the thrill of exploration kept him moving without much of a care for the growing heat.

As he made his way through the spring grasses, he began to catch glimpses of odd bits and objects protruding from the dirt below. He came to cross paths with a metal stick of sorts, browned and crumpled with rust. He paused to lower his nose, sniffing curiously at the object. It smelled more reminiscent of stone than wood, yet it carried a peculiar bitterness which he couldn’t explain. He tilted his head and crouched lower to the object, attempting a different angle. While most of the object seemed buried in the dirt, it seemed to have a hole through the exposed side which seemed to run all the way through. It was a long-forgotten barrel of a long-forgotten rifle, the other parts of the firearm likely having broken and decayed and been scattered about over the years. Arató, of course, did not know as much. The boy’s autumn hued tail swayed through the grass behind him as he reached forward and prodded the thing with his paw. He barked playfully as it shifted, bits of its rusted shell crumbling from the touch. It was at least clear that whatever the object was, it was tremendously old. He muttered to himself with a sort of playful growl in his chest, “what stone is this that has burrowed in the grass?”.

She needed a few odds and ends for her latest project, and what better place then the Plateau that held relics of old times past? She had never been disappointed with the things she could find here, so it was, of course, the first place she'd go to look. She had already dug up a few metal bits, a sturdy metal rod from one of the metal boxes, a couple of pieces of pretty glass...but trash wasn't the only thing she'd find. As she crept across the ground, she spotted movement on the other side of one of the large metal tank things, and so she was curious enough to investigate. It seemed she wasn't the only one around here hunting for treasure! Quietly, she jumped up onto the corpse of the tank and crept her way up to the barrel, draping her skeleton marked frame over it like a cat on its perch as she watched him, head tilted with curiosity. "Lotta interesting things around here, hmm?" She quipped with a grin. "Speech"

A feminine voice brought his attention away from the lackluster wonders of his rusty bit of treasure. His ears perked and tail began to sway as he turned towards the large boulder of metal where the sound seemed to have originated. Silvered gaze squinted for a moment before he spotted her. There was a strange protrusion from the object, almost like a branch extending from a tree trunk. It was on this protrusion that she had sprawled herself like a mountain lion on its perch. A perfect position for her to have been watching his antics.

A bark of greeting escaped him as he lurched forward to approach the she-wolf. The boy only made it a few paces before he remembered his find, however, and he turned sharply back. He bent to grasp the old rifle barrel in his teeth and jerked his head back and forth until it was freed from the dirt. A portion of it had broken off underground, but he paid this no mind. With the thing secured in his jaws he proudly trotted over to meet his company. He held his head high, nearly prancing as he went.

Arató dropped his loot upon reaching the tank, his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth as he tried to spit out the bits of dirt and rust which had come with it. He looked up at the lass then, marveling at the illusion of her coat. It was almost as if she were wearing her bones on the outside. The whole of her appeal seemed grim and unearthly. Yet this only fascinated the boy. “Interesting things indeed,” he hummed, “Interesting things and interesting company, baroness of bones”. He stood up to place his forepaws on the side of the tank and stretched his nose to test her scent. She smelled like dirt and hints of old flesh, but unmistakably canine. It was also hard to ignore the other scents lingering on her. She was one of a pack.

She watched the yearling boy as she captured his interest. He began to approach her, but then seemingly remembered the oddity he had initially been checking out and returned for it. She watched him with interest as he played a little game of tug-of-war with the object, finally releasing it from the earths grip, albeit not entirely whole but when did that matter when it came to interesting things. She didn't know what it was, but it was an interesting piece nonetheless. Likely something left behind from those human things she had heard about that no longer walked among them. Her tail gently moved behind her as it dangled over the barrel she had draped herself over, dual-toned eyes watching him with interest as he approached the tank. He agreed that the things here were interesting. And even going as far as calling her Baroness of Bones. Her ears perked at the title, a slow grin spreading her lips. She had never heard that one before! And lucky for him, she rather liked the title. She giggled as she haphazardly turned around to face him. "Medusa likes that name! Does golden boy have a name?" She questioned. He didn't smell like he belonged to a pack, but rather a rogue that roamed the lands. "Medusa"