ooc; to keep this going if anyone takes more than 5 days to post, just skip them and keep it rolling~

---within Glaciem--- ?Lysis, Athena, Drashiel.. let's go!? Voice was nothing more than a hushed whisper, lost to any prying adult ears that might thwart their plans. They had agreed to leave in the morning, and leave they would. Kyarst, at nearly fully grown and nearly nine months old, was sincerely tired of the same old routine in Glaciem. He missed his father, missed his mother whom was often too busy to give him the time of day anymore, and missed his brother whom was scarcely around. Lysis was perhaps his closest friend, though Drashiel was a very close second. Athena was merely an acquaintance, but as she'd heard their plans and seemed interested he'd invited her along. Now it was time to go, before the morning patrollers set out and before his mother thought to rouse him awake. Emerald eyes flickered to the south as the full-blooded Armada set out to lead his pack of comrades in a direction they'd never traveled before. He had a mind to find somewhere interesting to explore - more interesting than where he'd gone when he'd met Anais. He thought of her from time to time, mostly the way her hips curved, and the way her tail swayed, and the way he'd bumped into her when she'd stopped all the sudden. He wondered if all girls looked like that, but suspected they didn't because he hadn't ever felt that way around Lysis or Athena before. His paws carried him across the threshold of Glaciem and beyond - to the south of Alacritia. ---within Traveler's Lake--- He twisted his neck and head 'round to peer at them, hoping they were all still behind him. They hadn't gone all that far - just a few miles really - but the entire time it had been relatively quiet. He hadn't said much, perhaps because he hadn't had much to say - or else he was mildly afraid his mother might somehow hear him leaving him and drag him back home by his ears. Either way, now that they had arrived he felt remotely safe from the eyes and ears of Glaciem. ?It looks muddy,? he commented idly, striding forth and quickly sinking to his ankles in mud. A wry smile grew on his lips as he took his right front paw and flicked it backward, hoping to hit one of them (preferably Lysis) with a mud-pie. ?speak,?

While spending time within the borders of Glaciem was not terrible, it was certainly time for an adventure. With their father being gone for so long, many of the children had been hesitant to leave their home for long, as though anxiously awaiting his return. But soon enough their restlessness would grow into boredom, and the three siblings decided something very important -- they were going on an adventure. Lysis Armada had never gone far from her home territory, and she couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of such an adventure. Who knew how far they might go, or what they would find? She could hardly sleep that night, kept awake by her eagerness to leave as soon as the sun began to rear up over the horizon, curious as to what they might encounter. Before long, and feeling very much as though she hadn't slept a wink, Lysis pulled herself awake, yawning and blinking sleep from her eyes. Kyarst seemed eager to lead, and she truly didn't care which direction they went in. She was content to follow, something that was rare of her, but relatively more common around her siblings. It was hard to pretend she did not trust her siblings, especially Kyarst and Drashiel. She didn't know Athena well, but figured that another tagging along couldn't hurt. They found their way to a rather flat, muddy area -- it almost looked like a lake had been here once. She tip-toed on her paws, unwilling to become soaked with mud, but it didn't matter. Almost a moment after Kyarst spoke, he lifted his paw and flung mud at her. Lovely. She pouted cutely, though truly was unimpressed as the mud hit her right side, tainting her white fur. He had the advantage here; his own pelt was dark, easily hiding the dirt that might accumulate. But that didn't stop her from returning the favor, rearing up slightly to slap her paws down firmly, hoping to send a spray of mud at Kyarst -- Drashiel and Athena were not the target, but she wasn't sure how fast or far the mud would fly.

Lost in the warm haze of sleep Drashiel stirred lightly as the voice of Kyarst tickled his ears. He'd spent most of his time sleeping as he recovered from infected wounds he'd received during training with D?gmar. Even through his recovery though he sensed the sluggishness of Glaciem. Words were whispered that his father might be recovering but so far they were only rumors and no echoes of his presence arose to confirm his hopes.


Resting at the densite he'd taken to chatting with his sister Lysis and his brother Kyarst. All of the them, the youth of Glaciem, were restless. And so a plan was formed and Athena joined in as well. It was time to stretch their legs beyond the border and despite having ventured several times outside the border Drashiel still found himself excited to go. He'd always journeyed with a specific purpose in mind, to visit either Roman or D?gmar. To traipse unknowingly into the wilds? Now that was thrilling! Though if he were honest with himself he was nervous as well. Drashiel felt a stirring sense of responsibility to look after his sister and his younger brother. He would have to keep them as safe as he was able. Athena was a virtual unknown to him but his concern would stretch to her as well.


-----------------


Drashiel's nose was nearly in the dirt as he sniffed around at the coating of mud that covered the ground. "Yea? it's very muddy? must've rained not to long ago?" He was musing softly to himself as he padded through this bizarre terra, tail wagging as he walked. A breeze was beginning to pick up quite strongly, bringing with it the scent of more rain. Drashiel's ears twitched at the sound of flying mud and he glanced at his siblings mud fight with a grin.


"AHHH!" Drashiel yelped and skittered sideways suddenly as something touched his back legs. Skittering to the side he stared in horror as the rock that had bumped him continued sliding on it's way. Fur and hackles up he stared at it like a startled cat. "Ok? that's?that's really weird."


"Speech"
'thoughts'

Athena opened one eye at Kyarst's call for her and two more of her half-siblings, pulling herself up with a groan and stretching before trotting out to follow him. She had been trying her best to get to know more of the pack, especially her siblings, and when she overheard Kyarst talking to Drashiel and Lysis about going on an adventure she couldn't help but ask to tag along. Now that she was awake in the middle of the night and following her similarly-aged siblings to who knows where she wondered if maybe she was intruding on their time since they were obviously close friends already. Well, even if she was, it was too late now. She was surprised at how far they went from Glaciem territory, but she wasn't displeased. She had traveled a good bit farther in her time away from home and it felt good to get some distance under her paws. She had ended up at the back of the group so she was the last one to step into the mud. One forepaw sank into the soft soil and she immediately pulled it back with a twitch of her ear. It wasn't that Athena minded getting dirty, she just didn't see much point in it if there wasn't prey to be had or an opponent to chase. Her brows pulled together in confusion as she looked at her paw, opening her muzzle to voice her opinion, but then a splattering of mud hit her. She yelped softly with surprise, looking up to see where it had come from. Her jaw dropped open at the sight of Drashiel flinging mud, Lysis splashing it everywhere, and Drashiel apparently terrified of... a rock? She blinked, her head tipping to the side, a chuckle bubbling up in her chest. Oh how she wished they could see themselves. But, when in Rome, right? She padded further into the muddy former lake before scooping up a small glob of the mud and flinging it at Kyarst with a giggle. Her gaze went back to Drashiel, calling over to him, "Are you doing okay over there?" Speech Thought Others

It never occurred to him to be perturbed by the mud, or that anyone else might be bothered by it either. In his mind, if something didn't bother him - it shouldn't bother anyone else. Lysis tried her best to look flustered by his antics, but he knew her better than that. If he hadn't initiated the mud fight she certainly would have done so. He smirked and quipped a growl as she splashed mud back at him, feeling it cake onto his hindquarters and tail. At least it wouldn't show up that much on his blackened figure. Drashiel seemed to be having some sort of conniption, and so Kyarst would turn to admire his elder half-siblings' predicament. It seemed the rocks moved on their own, which was curious but not altogether very enthralling for the almost-yearling. Athena seemed to have noticed Drashiel's uncertainty and posed a question, to which Kyarst would quickly tag on a completely unnecessary comment. ?It's not like they're gonna bite you.? Words came out with a lilting tenor laugh as emerald eyes gazed mischievously at Drashiel. ?speak,?

Throwing around mud pies wasn't exactly the Armada child's idea of fun -- or so she thought -- but she could not help but let a pretty smile take over her features. She enjoyed spending time with her siblings, even though her side was dripping with mud, tainting her flawless white pelt. She supposed they could find somewhere to bathe later. Though it was autumn now and the air was frigid, and the water even colder, the Armadas were accustomed to the northern lands and cold did not phase them as much as the wolves of the south. The sun was still low in the sky, casting lovely colors across the sky. The morning was lovely, and the day had so much in store for them. Lysis turned and watched as Drashiel jumped, suddenly startled by something. A moving rock? She tilted her head to the side, curiosity brimming in her sea-green gaze. It was certainly one of the stranger things she had heard of, but not enough to make the children run and leave. Athena quickly fell into line with the small game they had begun, flinging mud at Kyrast -- a giggle escaped her own lips at the ridiculousness of it all. 'It's not like they're gonna bite you,' Kyarst offered conversationally. Her eyes narrowed, and she gingerly padded deeper into the mud. She was dirty enough already, why not go a bit further? "How do you know?" she asked Kyarst teasingly, turning and letting her tail bat at his face. "They might..."

Drashiel nodded. "Yea I'm fine. I'm not the first wolf to be startled." Was he the only one that wasn't expecting the rocks to move of their own accord? He wondered what father would say about them all wandering off like this, not that he could care that much. The youth had been spending just as much time out of Glaciem as he'd been spending in it lately. Padding over to his sister he moved to lightly bump her shoulder. Just? a gesture of reassurance, more for him than her. His mind had been on edge lately. Twisting and jumping around in his skull in ways he couldn't describe. An overwhelming sense of forboding had settled on him and it just would not leave him. He also worried for S'alkrie. Shaking his head he moved a short ways off continuing to sniff around hoping the little outting would relieve his growing anxiety. "So what exactly is the plan Kyarst?" Were they just wandering aimlessly for the hell of it or did the youth have a plan? "Speech"

Athena simply stood back and watched the trio's interactions with each other. Kyarst would contribute a slightly rude comment, though equally as amusing, while Lysis batted him in the face with her tail for it. She thought Lysis might be more interested in comforting her littermate, but instead it looked more like flirting with Kyarst was closer to the top of her list. Athena was glad to hear Drashiel was fine, though the male did sound a bit irritated at their questions. Free floating rocks were strange, she could agree with that much, but he did seem a bit overly jumpy. Her ruby and emerald gaze would drift back to Kyarst at Darashiel's question. She was just as curious as to what the plan was for their venture out here. She hoped that there was some sort of reason for them to come all this way besides to fling mud at each other. She liked an adventure as much as the next wolf, but she did like a little bit of purpose or reason behind it. She would wait patiently for the leader of their little renegade mission to speak. Speech Thought Others

Leave it to Lysis to give him grief over a simple and completely true statement. He snapped his jaws shut audibly an inch or two away from her waving tail, chastising her for her sarcasm. Drashiel seemed fine, and so Kyarst would push a bit farther into the mud, to a point in which - if it were thicker in substance - he would not be able to free himself. But alas, the rains of late autumn kept the mud at a viscosity in which they could maneuver with little trouble. The blackened prince (as he saw himself) cocked an ear as Drashiel asked him the plan, and the majority of the attention turned to him. He smiled slightly. ?That is the beauty of being an Armada. We can do whatever we want.? Of course that wasn't the case, but arrogance forbade him from believing the alternative. ?Out here there are no prying eyes, there are no mothers treating us like children, warriors treating us like weaklings. Here - we are our own Kings and Queens. Here, we are free.? It sounded marvelous as it rang in his ears, resonating like trumpets on a silent morning. Tail flickered high, the tip caked in mud. ?Now, we should find something fun to do.? ?speak,?

What Kyarst said was true. More and more Drashiel was finding himself at peace outside Glaciem's borders and more and more he was tempted to just simply not return and make his home either in Tortuga or Arcanum. He nodded. They should find something fun to do but? what? Drashiel frowned. He was feeling a little old to be out here playing these games but maybe they could find something fun to do. Certainly not tag or hide and seek they were far to old for that. Suddenly a shift in the wind brought the scent to ease their boredom. Drashiel turned to see a pair of coyotes staring fearfully at them. Lips peeled from ivory fangs as the young male grinned. "I know? lets wrangle some coyotes." He casually started walking parallel to the wary pair, hoping to get their attention while his fellows better positioned themselves. "Speech"