Ooooh he was gonna be in so much trouble when he got back. He knew his mom didn't like for him to leave the willows, but he wanted to explore! He wanted to see what else was out there! Buuut maybe he shouldn't have traveled quite so far from home. He was gonna be really tired when he got back and he could only imagine how upset Shi was going to be with him. He was almost more concerned about Shikoba's reaction reaction to him being gone all day than he was momma's. Almost. But, when he looked up and saw all the white trees he completely forgot about any of the scolding he might get when he got back. His jaw dropped open and his head turned upward to look up at the pale branches. They sure did look like trees, but they weren't the right color. His head tipped to the side curiously and he sat back on his haunches, his two-toned eyes following the strange branches down the trunk they were connected to and back up again. What made them like that? Oh he couldn't wait to get back and tell Shi and Ardal about these! Speech Thought Others

She didn't really understand the concept of borders just yet, and was much too young to be wandering so far away from Guin. But all her momma wanted to do was sleep all day, and Charm wasn't into that any more. She wanted to explore and play, and explore some more! No more being stuck in that little cave, she had been trapped in it for far too long. So the masked girl trotted on, following the line of trees as they grew paler and paler in colour. It wasn't strange for here, there were pale trees not to far from outside her den. So it didn't faze her, it was the smells that had her with her nose towards the sky. So many things to learn! It was then that another smell came across her snout, one that she knew was another wolf. She closed her teal eyes and tried to focus on it, trying to pinpoint where the new wolf was. She couldn't do it very well, but she could follow it closer to the stranger. Soon she saw the black pup, sitting looking up at the tree's like he was all confused. Giggling, her tail wagged as she bounded up to the stranger. Letting out a playful yip she skidded to a stop beside him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling the strange pup in for a hug.

Charmeine let the poor boy go, sitting on her rump beside him. "Hey 'here! Who are you? My name is Charmeine." She said happily, her tail thumping on the landscape. Even though she was getting older, the letter T was still hard for her to pronounce. It was unsure if this would always be a problem or not, only time could tell. Head tilting to the side she waited for the diamond marked boy to speak. He was older than she was, and bigger too. That was no concern for her, in Charm's mind everyone was friendly.

Laoch caught a stranger's scent and heard her giggle just a moment before there was suddenly someone flinging their arms around him. He yelped softly in surprise, and turned his gaze down to look at the pale girl that was currently hugging him. His ears flicked back with confusion until she finally let go and took a step back so she could sit down. After she introduced herself Laoch smiled, his tail thumping against the ground as well. It really didn't take much for him to make a new friend and she seemed extra friendly. "I'm Laoch! Your name is really pretty, Charmeine." He hopped up, his tail still wagging. "Do you wanna play? We can wrestle!" He gave a little hop and his upper half flattened to the ground, his forelegs laying flat while his rump wiggled playfully in the air, ready to pounce if she said yes. A bird in the tree above them caught his attention when it sang, his ear twitching toward it and his gaze suddenly turning away from his new friend and finding the bird above them. He grinned and looked back at her, his eyes daring her. "I have a better idea! I bet we can catch that bird. Wanna try?" He looked back at the tree, trying to look for some way to climb it so they could reach his new target. Speech Thought Others

Oh her first friend! Charm's tail never stopped hitting the ground as he introduced himself, telling her that her name was pretty. "'hanks! You can call me Charm if i's easier, i's a pre'y long name." She said, not aware that her speech sounded almost slurred with her inability to say 'T'. Laoch dropped into a play bow and she followed, although hers was a bit sloppier. Her tail twirled over her raised rump like a helicopter, about to jump as well until his ears twitched. Confused the girl righted herself, following her new friends gaze. Her head tilted to the side, teal eyes narrowing slightly. It was just a bird, what was so special about that? But when he turned back to her, she didn't miss that little look in his eyes. Oh fun, catching something! She had never tried that on anything but her own tail, and spinning in circles made her head hurt. She was still quite young and clumsy, but she wanted to do what Laoch was doing! Letting out a happy yip, bounding over to the tree and raising on her back legs to press her paws against the bark. Pounding those tiny paws on the tree made little difference, but she wanted to impress her first friend ever. Looking over her shoulder she met the two-toned gaze of Laoch, her tail wagging behind her again. "I'm 'oo small 'o ge' all 'he way up 'here!" She said with a giggle, dropping down to all four paws as she danced her way around the darker boy. "How do you 'hink we can ge's i'?" ""

Maybe it was because he got so used to piecing together his sister's broken sentences together when they were younger, but it only took Laoch a moment to figure out what Charmeine was saying with her missing 'T's. His eyes would find her every time she spoke, focusing on her a little harder to figure it out, but it was nothing that was a real problem for him and he definitely wasn't going to ask about it. Instead he looked up at the bird that neither of them could really reach, but his eyes narrowed thoughtfully and his head tipped to the side while Charm danced around him. Finally he thought of an idea and a wide grin appeared on his muzzle, his head turning to look at her. "I have an idea!" He bounded over to a fallen tree that was laying near the base of the tree in question. The storms that had been keeping him inside recently probably knocked it down, but he didn't much care about that. All he cared about was that it could be a step to get him closer to the bird! It was a thick tree and he climbed up to the top of it, using his claws to dig into the bark and pull himself up. With a huff he finally stood on top of it, peering down at Charm with a chuckle. "Hello down there!" he called jokingly before looking up at the branches again. His ears fell back against his head and he frowned. The bird had flown off while he was busy climbing up the side of the tree trunk. "Aww..." Speech Thought Others