Since their little event the night before Lior had grown even more respect and admiration for her older sister. Some time was spent with their father, Bane, before the girl had decided she was going to look for the golden-gray fae that she looked up to. Tail would wag behind her as she started off to the den of her older siblings. She hadn?t really spent any time with Nako or Jakhart... But it seemed harder to connect with her brothers than Anais. After all, Anais was another girl and could understand her better.

Black paws would come to a stop as she scented the autumn breeze. It was cooler today than it was yesterday... But at least the sun was shining. Not wanting to anger her brothers by suddenly popping into the den if they were still in there at this time of the afternoon the child would stay standing, calling out. ?Anais, are you in the den?? If not maybe she was somewhere close by... She wanted to go adventuring with her today... Or maybe play a special new game.

Walk | Talk | Think The elder sister had been out and about doing what she could to learn about the pack. She had already devoted the time necessary to learn the lands and where the borders were, but less time had been given to finding a place in it that would suit her nicely. The ranks, she had already learned, were very much different than those of Seracia, and even though she had been young when she lived there and had very little concern for those titles at the time she still recognized a new hierarchy here. The path her thoughts had been taking had been making her think more about what she wanted to do with herself, what she thought her strengths were and how to accentuate them. The Talutah-marked yearling girl was still thinking on it by the time her busy paws brought her back to her den, but she was surprised to note the little grey toned visitor who lingered outside of it. Lemon-gold eyes set on Lior, Anais slipped quickly into a crouching creep, practically crawling in her effort to remain as quiet as possible. Her little sister spoke up, calling to her within the den, and a smile gently began to form upon her lips, a mischievous glint beginning to glimmer in her eyes. As quietly as she could she crept up the last few feet, legs extended to bring her close enough as quickly as possible, and just close enough she leaped forward with a loud, "Nope!" and wrapped her forelegs tightly around the little girl to pull her into a hug as she rolled onto her side. She was still laughing as she eased up her hold on the pup, hoping that she had not spooked her too bad, and followed up with a little chuckle and a question, "What are you up to?"

A little squeal would leave Lior as forelegs wrapped around her body, struggling for a few seconds before she registered who the ?nope? and body that held her belonged to. She would look up, happy giggles leaving her maw. ?Anais!? Faded blue eyes looked excitedly at her older sibling, her right forepaw lightly pawing at her sister?s chest as her tail wagged a mile-a-minute behind her.

?I was coming to see you! You said we could play today.? She was grinning. ?I slept in kinda late though, even when you brought me back to the den this morning... And I spent some time with daddy too. We can still play right? Pleeeeeease?? The little girl gave her best smile, trying to coax her big sister to agree just in case she had changed her mind.

Walk | Talk | Think It was always a fun day when Lior was around. The girl was always quick to smile, fearless, and a bit like Anais herself when it came to her adventurous streak. Though maybe hers ran just a little deeper, if last night's escapades were any indication. But there was still plenty of fun to be had with them both playing safe, and she was always ready to entertain and bond with her siblings. She lay sprawled on her side and listened as her little sister told what she was up to, and Anais nodded her head affirmatively. "I did," she promised, and then nearly lost her nerve entirely when Lior mentioned spending time with their father. Uh oh. Had she told him? Did she give away the terrible scare they had had the night before? Had he maybe figured it out? "You did, did you?" Her question came out a bit nervous, and with a little nudge to her siblings she rolled over and got to her paws, still considering how much her father now knew. And how long before that information would get to her mom. But Lior seemed oblivious to the danger, her mind only capable of focusing on the one thing that had brought her here: play. It took her elder sister a moment to get her worries under control again and beginning to smile again she nodded once more. "Yeah, we can. So long as we stay away from the lake this time," she teased, raising a paw to bat at the younger girl. "What did you want to do?"

Lior would give a nod, not noticing the nervousness in her sister?s question as she asked it. She hadn?t realized it yet, just how bad it was that her father knew of what went on the night before... Or how much trouble she might get in when the poor elder noticed that after a short nap with him she had snuck out of the den again to go play with Anais. No, Lior was still quite innocent all things considered.



At the mention of the lake the gray pup lowered her ears a little. ?I will... Dad wasn?t happy about me going so close to it alone either. He said I needed to be more careful... Especially since winter is coming.? The pup would tilt her head a bit, looking to Anais now. [b]?What?s so bad about winter Anais? Is it dangerous?? Easily distracted as pups could often be, the girl was on another subject, distracted from the moment from play, though knowing her it would be back soon enough.

Walk | Talk | Think Lior did not answer the question Anais had asked but instead seemed to pick up on the one her elder sister had kept to herself instead. She had wanted to ask, to find out just how this conversation with Bane had gone, but admittedly she had been nervous and scared about that answer. Her mother's anger was frightening but the quiet disappointment of her father was in its own way worse. And it sounded as if he had been upset. Though it was cowardly, the grey-gold girl was glad she had not been there to witness the meeting, or get dragged into it for having known and saying nothing of it. And her father's words did hold merit. She may have been nothing more than a wobbly pup when she had experienced her first winter, younger even than Kailos and Lior, but she remembered the snow, the cold, and how nice it had been to get back to the den where it was warm beside her parents and brothers. "I guess it can be," she answered with a shrug of her shoulders. In her one year of life, she had never really been in danger of winter's reach, and vaguely remembered the details of it. "Everything freezes. The lake would probably be way colder than normal." No, a swim in that did not sound fun at all. She shivered a little at the thought. "He's got good reason to worry." she added, recalling all too well just how worried she had been the night before too.

Lior would settle down, listening to her sister as she spoke. Freezes? Like standing still? And the lake even colder... She would shiver a bit. ?It?s already kind of cold though...? She would remark. She would glance back in the direction of the lake, flicking her ears back some. ?Well... I?m not going to go into the lake again... Especially not on my own, so you guys won?t need to worry about that.? She would look back to Anais again, smiling again.

?Hey Anais... You know that place with the tall, weird grass close to here? Is that part of a pack territory?? She would ask, tilting her head to the side as she started to take a few steps forward. ?I think I?ve smelled wolves from that direction before... Is that bad?? The girl was slowly getting back to the sense of wandering again, getting her mind back in adventure mode.

Walk | Talk | Think Anais could see the little shiver that passed through Lior, as if it had traveled from her body to the pup's. Apparently she seemed to be putting things together as well, the dawning realization of what winter would mean for them beginning to take form and hold depth in her mind. "It is," the elder sister answered with a nod of her head, confirming what her young sibling had noted about the lake's temperature. She followed the girl's gaze to the lake, seeming so unassuming there, as if it had not tried to drown the pup the night before. They had come so close to tragedy; it really was a miracle she had gotten to Lior in time. It was a great relief to hear the pup yet again promise not to take anymore unscheduled dips in the lake, and Anais smiled approvingly at her with a little wag of her tail. At the same time that she did not want to be the one protecting her sibling from the dangers of the water, she knew the girl needed to be exposed to them, to learn exactly how to swim and maneuver through the water so there would be no next time. And she knew just who could do that. "Maybe we can talk mom into taking you and Kailos on a swimming lesson," Anais suggested, and added quietly, "without telling her the whole story." If their father told her, there was nothing to be done about it. But just in case he kept it to himself...Anais did not want to go blabbing about it. And just like that, Lior was already thinking beyond the unpleasant thoughts and warnings regarding winter and the lake and the dangers that they faced in the world around them and was instead voicing a new curiosity for Anais to handle. It took her a little while to figure out just where the mottled grey pup was talking about - tall, weird grass? - but eventually she got it and her confused expression smoothed into one of recognition. "Oh! The Thicket? No, I don't think so," she said with a little shake of her head, rising to her paws as her sister stepped ahead. "And I dunno if that's bad, but it does make sense. Everyone is free to go through that place since it's not home to a pack, so there might have been someone walking through." She seemed to consider her answer for a moment and found it satisfactory, adding only, "It depends on what kind of wolves were going through there whether it was bad or not."

The thought of having a swimming lesson, one that was planned, brought her spirits up. Lior still liked the water, though she did understand it was dangerous now. It would likely need to wait until the following year, however, when the world began getting warm once more. Not telling their mother the full story was an idea for the best as well. Already the woman worried for her children, surely and truly, though Lior did not mean to worry her mother so. Of course she was not the only one, but her adventurous nature surely wouldn?t be earning her any points in favor.

It would take Anais a moment to understand what she meant, but then the other girl would realize what she meant. The thicket, the area with so much tall grass that hide others from view. It wasn?t one of Ebony?s lands and so the girl knew not to go within. Besides... Strangers could hide so easily there... And other things as well. She didn?t want to get hurt, or involved in something she wouldn?t be able to get out of. Anais? words hinted at that sometimes wolves with intent that was less than pure would go through those lands as well. Those who were... dark.

?Oh...? Lior would pad on a bit, swishing her tail in thought a bit before looking back to Anais. ?You?ve had some training in stuff, right Anais? Can you teach me some things?? Her eyes were shining. ?We could make it part of our game... Like a... School sort of game. With lessons and you can be the teacher and I?ll be your student... And we can have a scavenger hunt or something too! Fun school events!? Mind was back on play, though with purpose. ?...and you can teach me how to know if wolves aren?t good too...?

Walk | Talk | Think Being a big sister was proving to be more complicated than she had originally thought. While she was not entirely responsible for her younger sibling, there was still enough responsibility inherent there for her to feel the weight of it, to realize why it was her mother often acted as she did. Because she was older she was supposed to know more, to be able to teach and hand down her lessons to those younger than her, but speaking and hanging around with Lior was proving to her just how little she actually knew, how much she had yet to learn. It was funny how the curiosity of a pup looking to you for guidance brought all of that into focus. The young grey girl continued pad forward with Anais walking along beside her, watching as she let the words sink in. It was kind of a tough concept that she had tried to explain to her, and Anais hoped she had done a good enough job of it so that she did not make her sister confused instead. Not altogether surprisingly, Lior was not finished with her questions and asked next for actual lessons, a request that had Anais's yellow-gold eyes widening. Teach things? Where did she even begin! Lior went on as if Anais had not gotten hung up on the initial question, giving details about how it could go, lessons and training and games. And another suggestion for a lesson that helped in grounding the flustered older sibling with something to focus on. Her ears turned back and she sighed quietly, a little frown of uncertainty forming upon her brow as she gave her head a little shake. "It's hard, Lior," Anais answered truthfully, "I'm still learning how to tell. I mean, I haven't met anyone who's bad yet, but I know they're out there." But how was she supposed to know? How did someone know whether someone was safe or bad or dangerous? Afraid of giving the wrong advice, she was hesitant. "I'm not sure how you know, really. But I think you would feel it, right? Somehow."

The girl would tilt her head to the side as Anais spoke, frowning deeply. It was hard to tell? That fact was hardly comforting, though the fact that her sister had yet to meet anyone who was evil or dark was certainly good. The young girl would give a quiet nod, thinking the answer over. Perhaps it wasn?t the easiest thing to figure out... But she was sure that over time they would both be able to tell the difference between good wolves and bad wolves. Hopefully before it was too late and one of them ended up getting hurt. The thought actually made the girl?s body bristle some, though not exactly in anger.

?I hope that we never come across such wolves, Anais...? She would say softly. Faded blue eyes would look back towards the dens where her family lay at night, ears tilting back. ?I don?t want to think of such dark wolves... Of those that would hurt our families. I want our lands... And our family to find peace...?[/color] She would look back to Anais, lifting her ears again. ?But... In case things get hard... I?ve decided what I want to be when I grow up... I was thinking about it while I was laying down with dad... I?m going to study to be a healer. Maybe not the greatest... But someone who will definitely be ready to treat their friends and family should the need arise.?

Walk | Talk | Think The subject was a bit of a tricky one for Anais, and she hoped she was doing a decent enough job at explaining it to her sister. It was no easy thing that she had wished to know, especially since the older girl herself had yet to be tested on her ability to determine "bad" from "good," but being the older sister she felt a responsibility to give her best answer in the hopes that it might help Lior. And she certainly hoped it would. The small grey pup was young still, innocent in every respect. The last thing Anais wanted was to hear that something bad had happened to her, no matter the reasoning for it. It seemed Lior felt the same as well, and Anais answered quietly, hopefully, "I hope so too." No bad wolves, no dangerous wolves, no scary wolves. Nothing that would harm them in any way. For being so young, she seemed to have a lot on her mind, which became obvious as she glanced toward the dens and then spoke of peace. Her elder sister smiled, agreeing though she did not say so aloud. Peace would have been wonderful, and for the time being they did seem to have it. Things in Ebony appeared stable, comfortable though busy, and that did not appear to be ready to change any time soon. They were free to live in their relative peace, to do what they wished within their pack and see where it took them. And again Lior had a new thought that she voiced which caught Anais's attention and turned her gentle smile into an all out grin. She had chosen her path, the rank for which she was going to train and work toward achieving, and her sister beamed down at her. Whatever reservations she had about her decision, whatever doubts she might have harbored, Anais was convinced the little playful, adventurous girl would do well once she set her mind toward her goal. "You'll do wonderful, Lior," she stated with confidence, reassuring her sibling with a quick nuzzle to her cheek. "You'll be the best little healer out there. And you can patch up the boys after Dad's done with their lessons," she teased, sure that with the way their brothers had been training lately there would be plenty of minor things to begin practicing on there.