Kismet was rather proud at how well he was getting at navigating around the island, not that he had demonstrated that at all. He'd spoken about his explorations to his mother and to Soren, attempting to get his brother to venture out a little more with him but today it seemed that the young Adravendi male was once more out alone to wander. He didn't mind it so much, though now he was becoming more familiar with the lands, the next natural step was to become better acquainted and spend more time with the members of the pack. In his eyes it seemed that his mother knew everyone in Valhalla and Kismet kept constantly meeting strangers, though they were somehow familiar with who he was. He and Soren weren't the only pups in Valhalla at the moment, admittedly not something he was actually aware of though with Kismet at least it was fairly easy to guess his heritage. Though his colours were not as bold as his mothers, he had clearly been designed with her image strongly in mind, meaning it wasn't too difficult for others in the pack to guess he was Azalea's son. Certainly feeling a little bored, the young boy simply continued along his lonely walk. Truth be told there was little ambition in his step today as he walked, he'd explored many a time now and simply restrained himself from heading to the edge of the island and gazing out at the water. A part of him was still so eager to venture to the land out there and though he was growing rather swiftly, he still wasn't able to follow the adults out there. Until he was big enough and his mother gave him permission, he'd have to stay put but he needed something else to do around the island for now. He needed more friends, a best friend, recalling the terminology that Vahva had taught him, would be very good.

Unbeknownst to the boy, he was being followed. After covering herself in mud and leaves, the small fae had wedged herself between a couple of rocks and a bush, and waited for trespassers. She'd laid very still when he'd passed by, scarcely breathing for fear that she'd be discovered. When he'd moved out of sight she'd wiggled free and chased after him, flinging herself behind nearby objects every time it looked like he might look back.

Warja followed him for some time, content to simple observe the unknown boy until that just wasn't fun anymore. She grew bored with the lack of danger and decided to become less passive in her intelligence gathering.

Sneaking a wide circle around him, Warja then threw herself into the path of her target. Their size difference was grossly obvious to any who observed, but the child was blind to it. She stood before him with her hackles and tail raised, her whole demeanor one of exaggerated authority. The stance would have been perfect had it not been for her one floppy ear and an appearance similar to a dandelion puff. The mud and debris that coated her didn't help any either. She appeared both overly serious and clownish at once. "FREEZE, trespasser!" She stomped her foot to emphasize just how serious she was, ignoring the glob of mud that was flung free in the process. "And..and..tell me your name! Or...else."

On he had continued, hoping that someone from the pack would appear though with no idea that the wish was about to come true so very swiftly, albeit not in a particularly typical manner. The little ball of fur suddenly came flying around him, and Kismet stopped as soon as he caught sight of her moving, quickly coming to a stop in front of him. He had never been considered small, not like the pup before him now and the age difference, although only slight certainly didn't help Warja look all that big. What caught his attention however was the obvious fact that she was also a pup and most certainly not his brother. How had he not known there were other pups before now? "FREEZE, trespasser! And..and..tell me your name! Or...else." Truth be told though Kismet wasn't exactly sure what to make of this pup. The only thing that had really caused any form of fear in the child so far had been the horrific noise of the howler monkeys when he had first come across them. So tiny, the deafening screams of the strange creatures had been a little alarming until his mother had comforted him. Warja however, no matter how fierce she attempted to be, wasn't scaring him at all. "I'm not a trespasser." That of course was the first problem with her tough act. She didn't have the right details, not only was he a member of Valhalla but his great aunt was in charge of the pack, even if he wasn't a Valhallan something told him that Chrysanthe wouldn't mind him being on the island. "I'm Kismet Adravendi. Who are you?" Stating his surname wasn't something he typically did, though for once it seemed necessary to set this confused little girl straight.

She stomped her foot again. He was being difficult! "You are too! I live here and I've never met you before." So there. She was half tempted to stick her tongue out at him, but that was very unwarrior-like and thus, she resisted.

Her ears flattened as he introduced himself, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Was that a lie? That's what bad wolves did, right? Lie about who they were? His last name meant nothing to her. Bluster aside, this was her first time meeting someone without her parents around and only the second or third unrelated wolf she'd ever laid eyes on. She didn't even know who the alpha was in this territory and when she spoke of trespassing she was only referring to the area she was familiar with, which was just a giant circle around the densite. Where she was standing right now? The farthest she'd ever been from the den.

"Hey! You don't get to ask the questions, I do." She hesitated, then, "But if you must know, my name is Warja." The pup huffed, getting impatient. This was the part where he was supposed to confess to his crimes. Didn't he know how to play this game?

"You are too! I live here and I've never met you before." Try as she might, Kismet was still far from worried about his current situation. It was somewhat amusing he supposed, though his expression remained serious. "Lots of wolves live here." He declared bluntly. There was no other way to put it really. She was a Valhallan, he assumed though who her parents were the boy had no idea. She was younger than he though he guessed, and could still recall the number of times Azalea had told him off for wandering off when he was smaller. It made sense that this young girl was still early on in her adventuring period. "I'm sure you'll meet some of them soon enough." His own tone was significantly less hostile than the furball before him and his words definitely not lies. "Hey! You don't get to ask the questions, I do. But if you must know, my name is Warja." To be honest Kismet didn't understand much about hierarchy yet, all he knew was that his great aunt was in charge of the pack. All the same, he didn't think that Warja really had any power over him, and not just because of her tiny size. "I can ask questions if I want to." He informed her of this fact.

OOC: Sorry it's a little scattered, I need sleep.

He kept talking and none of what he had to say was what she was hoping to hear. Warja just stared at him. Was he dense? He was supposed to be the bad guy! Why wasn't he being the bad guy? She dropped the guard act and looked down her nose at him. If he didn't know how to play this game she was going to have to explain it to him. "Okay, boy, you're just not getting it. I want you to play with me, not be a fuddy duddy." The pup composed herself, becoming the little dandelion warrior once again. Okay, now, where was she?

She was so, so, so tired of playing with her siblings. They always did the same things, played the same roles. Sure, she maybe should have told the boy she wanted to play sooner, since he was new and all, but the thought had never crossed her mind. To Warja, everyone was part of the game. There wasn't a reason to ask; everyone she knew simply fell into their role. She could walk up to her dad, growl at him and tell him to surrender, and he'd cry 'never!' and they'd play. Wasn't that how everyone played?

With a sigh, she dropped the act once more. She'd forgotten her place, but the game was messed up anyway. "Let's start over, Kismet. If you want to play too, I'm a warrior princess and you can whatever you want...so long as you're the bad guy."

Kismet was certainly not aware of the fact that this was meant to be some sort of game. Certainly an odd pair of boys really, Kismet and Soren weren't the most playful a little on the serious side really. His imagination tended to run with far more realistic ideas than most his age, dreaming of the lands beyond the island than of games quite like these. "Okay, boy, you're just not getting it. I want you to play with me, not be a fuddy duddy." As such, Warja's explanation that this was all meant to be some sort of game didn't really help clear things up all that much for him. "Let's start over, Kismet. If you want to play too, I'm a warrior princess and you can whatever you want...so long as you're the bad guy." Perhaps the whole fuddy duddy comment hadn't made him feel any better about the scenario though for some reason her comment about being a warrior princess was something that the Adravendi boy couldn't help but question. "A warrior princess? He spoke, tone questioning 'really?' rather than actual confusion over what a warrior princess could possibly be. The idea seemed... odd. The other problem was of course this demand that he was a bad guy. As it stood Kismet hadn't ever met anyone who could be considered bad in his life, which meant that good and evil hadn't really had much consideration by the boy. Even so, he would have certainly thought himself to be good, he had never done anything to hurt anyone, though he had of course scared his mother a few times as he left on his adventures. "And I'm not a bad guy." Perhaps he was a little too serious for his age.

Yeah. Duh. Warrior princess. A princess who was also a warrior. Wasn't that obvious? More than anything else, Warja wanted to take on the bad guys. She wanted to be the good guy that stood in the way of those that hurt others. She also wanted to be a princess that everybody dipped their head to and called 'my Lady' but that was beside the point. Warrior first, princess second. That's why she played a warrior princess and not a princess warrior. "Yeaaah, a warrior princess."

Warja sat down hard, bits of grit dripping off her underside. "You don't have to be a bad guy to play a bad guy. It's just pretend." And just pretending you were something didn't make you that thing. The other day she pretended to be a bird but you didn't see any feathers on her, did you? And at no point did she gain the ability to fly. She'd even jumped off a big rock to be sure. That being said, she'd never played a bad guy and wasn't about to start. "I don't want to be a bad guy either," she admitted.

"Maybe we could play something else? Or go exploring?" She didn't have to be a warrior princess or be a good guy. They could play something else. Any game would do. Or they could explore, she knew very little about the island and its inhabitants. Maybe he could even help her identify what creatures made all those weird sounds at night!

"Yeaaah, a warrior princess." Perhaps the main oddity of the whole warrior princess idea was mostly down to the fact that Kismet was most certainly not a princess and nor did he have a single aspiration to be one, or a prince for that matter as that was the more gender appropriate option for him. He didn't really know anything about them, the entire hierarchy of a pack was still relatively lost to his mind, so far all he really understood was that Chrysanthe was the alpha. So young he currently had no aspirations as to what he actually wanted to do, content for now to enjoy his simple little life just learning whatever he could from the adults. "You don't have to be a bad guy to play a bad guy. It's just pretend." She explained the concept of the game to Kismet but he still wasn't overly sure. Why would anyone want to be bad, even if it was just pretend. The whole pretending thing would be overlooked for now. "I don't want to be a bad guy either." She was a little calmer with that comment, had Kismet been less serious he could have suggested they go find a bad guy together then and both be heroes but the issue of pretend wouldn't be ignored for that long. "Maybe we could play something else? Or go exploring?" Now the exploring suggestion certainly had his attention. He'd explored plenty on his own, though sharing some of his findings with someone else was exactly what he had hoped for. There was always the possibility that he would find something new as well, certainly a thought that appealed to him. "I like exploring" The boy admitted. "Where do you want to go?"

YES! Exploring!! Inside, she was ecstatic, but because she didn't want to scare off the serious boy, on the outside she remained calm. Er, somewhat calm. Warja's face lit up and the corners of her mouth twitched in barely concealed happiness. There was so much they could do! They could find out what made those noises, and they could go to the beach and play in the water and maybe, if he wanted, they could play pretend along the way. Oh! Oh! Maybe they could be good guys together!

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, and Warja's tail slowed to a gentle waggle. Hm. Where did she want to go? Honestly, she didn't really have a destination in mind. "Um...I don't know! Where would you like to take me?" She shrugged. It didn't matter where, really. Having traveled so little, any place would be an adventure.

By now all traces of hostility had left her. It had been an act anyway, but he didn't know that. Now she was the embodiment of happy energy. Each second that ticked away was one second closer to her giving up and hitting him with the full force of her enthusiasm. If he didn't act fast, soon she'd be jumping up and down and running in place. The warrior princess was moved to the back of her mind and nearly forgotten. Now she was an explorer! In her mind, Warja pictured her and Kismet crossing rivers and facing stranger creatures. They could be a team, standing back to back and ringed in by dangerous adversaries, or they could be daredevils, climbing trees and scaling rock faces.

They were going to have SO. MUCH. FUN.

Come on, Kismet! Pick yer poison!

Warja was definitely a new experience for Kismet. For starters the only other pup he'd ever met had been his brother Soren, the main thing that stood out was her energy and excitement, she contained far more of it than anyone he had ever met. It certainly could be more than a little overwhelming for the far more serious pup if she should lose her control and reveal just how much excitement was contained within her as he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the girl just yet. "Um...I don't know! Where would you like to take me?" Kismet had often thought about sharing his adventures with someone else, though those plans had often formed immediately after finding something new. He'd return back to the den in hopes of persuading his brother to come with him either that same day or perhaps leave the exploration until the next day. More often than not the request was denied and the plan would wither away and die until something else interesting captured his attention and ideas. It seemed to Kismet that he'd gone so long without sharing his findings with anyone that he had given up on these plans and ideas and now wasn't entirely sure where he could take Warja. "Lets just go this way." He stated simply, choosing a different direction to the one that they had travelled in. To be fair simply walking around was his general way of exploring the island anyway, he didn't usually have a specific destination set in mind. Maybe they would find something new and exciting together, though certainly happy for the company, the boy was certainly far calmer than Warja as he began to walk, observing whatever pace Warja wanted to walk at so as to walk alongside her rather than leading her across the island.

This way! Awesome!! Now, where exactly did this way lead? Warja took a moment to try and orient herself. Okay, so the way behind Kismet was the way home which meant that to the left somewhere was the things that barked a lot but weren't wolves and the right...the right she didn't really associate with any one sound or smell.

She followed him to the left (the left!!) and immediately set about questioning everything that was new to her. "Have you ever been this way before?" Their pace was brisk and Warja's whole head moved constantly as she tried to take in everything. If it weren't for Kismet walking right next to her and serving as a fixed point with his presence, it was likely that Warja would have walked into something. "Do you know what animal makes a 'RRRRRah RRRRRahwr' sound?" Whatever it was, the creature was loud and the sound it made sounded like came from the very bottom of its belly, like a burp mixed with a growl.

Her eyes caught the glint from the shell of a shiny beetle and she ran to investigate. "Have you ever seen one so shiny?" She brought it back to him, carrying the squirming insect between her teeth. "I ate one once - it wasn't shiny - and it scratched alllll the way down. I was afraid it might crawl back up while I slept." She shrugged, dropping the insect. "But I was asleep so I don't know if it did or not. Hey, if you eat it can I watch and see if it crawls out of your belly? Oh, whoa, look!" Warja lifted a paw. Climbing up it was the oddest creature she'd ever seen. It was long and skinny, and looked a lot like a twig. She got her face as close to it as she could to investigate. "Do you think it bites?"

A lot of the sights Kismet had seen before, or seen similar things and so it wasn't all quite so exciting and new to him. It certainly had been once though, and then the young boy had been very eager to share it all with someone and so, despite having a vague idea of how to get around the island, he was quite upbeat, certainly more so than he had been as they first met. Exploring was something he enjoyed, something that he regularly did, these games of pretend were rather strange to his odd little mind. At his side Warja wasn't quiet for too long, questions quickly starting, firing off in such a quick succession that Kismet didn't have much time between each one. "Have you ever been this way before? Do you know what animal makes a 'RRRRRah RRRRRahwr' sound?" "I can't remember, I might have done." Nothing particularly unique had caught his attention to signify whether or not it was a new path. As for the roaring noise she attempted to mimic, he was a little confused. "I'm not sure" He responded, little slowly as he attempted to recall any recognition of the sound. He had barely a second though as she scampered off suddenly "Have you ever seen one so shiny?" She questioned. Kismet frowned slightly and began to follow her. She was already on her way back though and dropped a beetle on the floor between them. "I ate one once - it wasn't shiny - and it scratched alllll the way down. I was afraid it might crawl back up while I slept. But I was asleep so I don't know if it did or not. Hey, if you eat it can I watch and see if it crawls out of your belly? Oh, whoa, look!" "No!" He responded quickly. Kismet was rather appalled by her suggestion, why on earth did she think he would possibly want to eat this insect that would scratch his insides and possibly crawl back out? Plus the idea of her staring at him whilst he slept was a little off-putting as well, he wasn't sure he'd sleep very well if at all. Fortunately this strange second insect was a distraction from the beetle that had begun to crawl away from between them. He let it go and moved his attention to the weird twig bug. "Do you think it bites?" He was a little worried she'd ask him to be a test subject once more. "I don't know, maybe you should shake it off just in case." He didn't particularly want her getting bitten either.

Fascinated, Warja was momentarily awed into silence by the small alien creature. Its movements were jerky and slow, and she could feel each deliberate stride as it climbed through her fur. If she watched really, really closely, she could see its little buggy paws grabbing strands of the stuff. "Its a little explorer!" The strange insect reminded her of her and Kismet. It was a little adventurer, pushing its way through tall grass in an oddly wolfy jungle.

Wait... Which end had a face? She squinted. Unless it was walking backwards, the end that was leading the way had to be the front, right? And the twitchy whisker things on that end were probably like her whiskers. That would make more sense than it having butt whiskers, but then again, it also looked a whole lot like a stick, so their bodies probably weren't made following the same rules. Maybe it did have butt whiskers or maybe, its face was just so teeny tiny she couldn't see it properly. "I'm gonna name it-"

A deafening hoot from the treetops cut her off and Warja jumped, gasping at the sudden sound. The hooting came again, this time embodying the sound she'd tried to imitate only much, much more authentic. Never before had she been so close to a howler monkey and now, standing so close to one, the sound shook her insides. "Oh..." At once she was conflicted. The desire to investigate this loud creature was strong, but at the same time her senses were thrown into chaos, every inch of her feeling the danger.

There was another growling hoot - this time from a different tree - and the original hooter responded. Turning her head a little towards the boy but keeping her eyes fixed in the trees, Warja whispered, "Uh, Kismet..."

Warja didn't seem so concerned about the possibility of being bitten by the weird bug anymore. She continued to stare quite intently at it as it continued to crawl over her. He found his own mis-matched gaze watching it too though with a little more caution, just in case it did bite his new found friend. It'd be a bit of an unfair fight really though, two wolves against one little bug, but did the insect know that? "Its a little explorer!" He wasn't quite so excited about the title for the insect, though didn't voice the comment aloud. If he'd ended up exploring on a wolf then it must have gone a little wrong somewhere down the line, he ought to stick with the trees he thought, though it might be hard to find his friends they at least wouldn't run the risk of being trampled by wolves. For the first time it occurred to him how easily they could have squashed the bug, or maybe snapped it seeing as twigs snapped. "I'm gonna name it-" She was going to name it? The thought didn't linger for long in his mind and even the name itself was forgotten about as a loud noise suddenly began to ring through the air. "Oh..." Kismet heard Warja say softly as he found his gaze lifting up to the trees, recalling his first meeting with the noisy creatures. They'd made their awful sounds as he and his mother had passed through and then had ascended out of their way. This wasn't the same though, this time the howler monkeys were moving closer to he and Warja. "Uh, Kismet..." The quiet voice beside him was barely audible above the sound of the monkey's, two of them now descending from the treetops. He stepped a little close, pressing up protectively against his smaller friend. He tried to be confident, but honestly he wasn't sure what to do or say. Without his mother he found himself feeling rather nervous about the noisy primates again, especially with them descending. "Let's carry on, not too quickly. Try to ignore them" Maybe they'd get bored if he and Warja didn't pay them any attention. With a little nudge he encouraged Warja to turn away and follow him.

Kismet bumped her and she jumped, frizzing up once more like a dandelion. Turning her eyes away from the monkeys was hard; they were dangerous and instinct told her she needed to keep an eye on them. Still, Kismet's suggestion was more than reasonable and it made sense. If they didn't do anything then the monkeys didn't have a reason to chase them. ...right? With much effort, Warja began to follow Kismet. Keeping her gaze pointed straight ahead, the pup could feel the eyes of the monkeys. Behind her, they continued to hoot and she could hear them getting closer, following the pair. She stated the obvious, "They're following us." Somewhere on her leg, the stick bug continued to crawl, but Warja was now numb, far beyond the ability to feel the insect's light movements. Every inch of her was devoted to feeling the presence of the howlers; each sense helping to paint a picture of what was going on behind her. A hard rustling behind them caused Warja's ears to flick back. Her head almost turned, but at the last second, she remembered to resist. It sounded like one of the monkeys had jumped into the tree behind them, but without turning her head, Warja couldn't be sure. "It's not working." OOC: Feel free to control the monkeys as you see fit. "Speech"

Perhaps they had only been wary because an adult was with them. Those older wolves had often warned him of dangers, that he was too young to do certain things and only now was he actually starting to see that he could possibly get into trouble. A part of him certainly wished for his mother now, she would know what to do after all, though as Warja began to move with him he could only hope that this plan was going to work. Sadly it didn't seem to be the case, he was difficult to hear the rustling of the trees over the awful howling noise but even without Warja's confirmation the young boy knew that the monkey's weren't giving up quite so easily this time. The next rustle was louder, accented by the brief pause in the howling noises as one monkey leapt to the next tree along, clearly following them. Kismet tried to remain calm, though he really had no idea what to do. His hackles were raising slightly now, rather unnerved by the situation no matter how much he tried to hide it from his friend. He cast a glance over the top of her head, looking round to see that the monkey was still descending down the tree, it's movements quicker than the calmer ones he'd advised Warja to take. The second monkey was moving now as well, following it's friend to close the distance. As the first one grew closer and closer to the ground, Kismet's hackles rose even more, the hair standing right on end. He had no idea what he was doing really, certainly had no fighting experience though it didn't stop the growl sounding from his throat as he showed his teeth to the monkey. Kismet was actually a little larger than the noisy creature, the monkeys were rather young as well and perhaps just as curious by the wolf pups as Warja had originally been by their strange sounds. Of course though, he had no idea of this and simply knew he wanted them to leave he and Warja alone, their presence certainly wasn't comforting in the slightest.

The monkey crept closer, jumping down from the tree and padding towards them slowly. It neither stopped nor slowed, moving towards the pups with an idle confidence that Warja wished she possessed. Instinctively she didn't move as it approached and in a matter of heartbeats the two were face to face. The howler paused in front of her, extending its nose in her direction as its nostrils twitched, breathing her in. Warja did not know what to make of this. Should she sniff it too? Was this how monkeys greeted each other? Like wolves? Tentatively, Warja leaned forward and sniffed at the air around the creature. It smelled odd. Gamely and unfamiliar. It smelled like prey and the pup would have evaluated the monkey's scent further, but it decided that they'd sniffed enough and barked in her face before flinging itself into the tree. Ears ringing, Warja didn't hear the noisy retreat of the odd creature, but her eyes tracked its movements until it and its companion were out of sight. Wearing a stunned expression, the pup turned to Kismet. "I think...I might be done exploring for today." "Speech"

The monkey had either lived through tougher or was strong not to bother being troubled by such things or Kismet's attempt to defend the pair of them had been a rather feeble one that simply couldn't be perceived as threatening either way it wasn't daunted by the wolf pups and continued closer to investigate. Ignoring Kismet, it decided that Warja was the more intriguing of the pair and ventured closer to the smaller pup. Kismet watched tensely, hackles still raised though fearful of what might happen next. After a small sniff, and yet another thunderous noise it took of swiftly back to the treetops. Once he had recovered from his brief flinch at the horrendous noise Kismet too lifted his gaze to the monkey, trailing it's path as it rejoined it's friend in the trees and they clambered higher and away from them, soon slipping out of sight. For some time the two wolves were silent, either that or Kismet had gone deaf from the monkey's noise, though Warja soon proved that theory wrong. "I think...I might be done exploring for today." His mismatched gaze now flicked once more to his friend and he gave a steady nod of his head. Though they had survived and come out of this adventure unscathed, some of the fun had certainly disappeared with the fear. "I'll walk you back to your den." He offered, though in his mind he was insisting upon doing so. It'd be nice to know where her den was as well, then he could go and find her for some better exploring once they'd both recovered from this ordeal.

The forest returned to its normal noisy self. Either that or Warja's ears finally stopped ringing. Whatever the reason, the pup became aware of the sounds around her. A host of insects chirped and sang, and the trees were filled with birds and their various calls. A breeze wafted through the trees creating a soft rustling. Even with all the glaring signs of life Warja felt kind of alone and very, very small. She was beginning to realize that it had been awhile since she'd seen her parents. Kismet offered to walk her home and Warja accepted. "I'd like that very much." But who would walk him home? He wasn't going to go by himself, was he? A tickling sensation on her leg drew Warja's gaze down. The stick bug was still there, climbing the wolf mountain without a care. It appeared unfazed by the loud monkeys. She decided to let it stay there; it was something she could take back and show off. Her siblings would love it, she was sure. Turning back towards home, Warja eyed the path ahead. It probably wasn't as long as she thought, but the trip home felt immeasurable long. It would be okay, though, because Kismet was with her. "It's this way." With that she set off, keeping an eye on Kismet to gauge his pace as he'd done to her earlier. The only time she paused was when a large feather caught her eye and Warja couldn't resist picking it up. She wanted it so she could better remember this trip; not to have a token of her encounter with the monkeys, but as a way to keep a piece of the day she made her first friend. OOC: Warja's last post unless you'd like to continue. "Speech"