Having sought out a quiet place, Sirius wandered among the fruit trees of the orchard with her duckling held firmly in her mouth. She settled on a small clearing and after laying down, released her captive. With a frown she noted that he was getting a bit tame. That, or the constant jostling and improper care was getting to him. Who knew? She still wasn't sure what to do with him. He was too scrawny to be good eating, but she didn't feel like letting him go either. Lifting a paw, the girl placed it on the duckling's head and watched with mild amusement as he ducked out from under it and indignantly fluffed his feathers at her. His little tail started to wag and she bopped him again before nudging him away. She wanted to see what he'd do. Would he try to flee or like her, was he resigned to his fate? "Talk" "You" Think

He'd been spending an unusual amount of time in the orchard, for him especially since he didn't honestly like the place all that much. Still, he felt it was a good part of his job to learn every inch of it so that he could better protect it. He was the type that had to be doing something, which he’d learned after nearly a day or two of doing nothing. In his time spent here he’d gotten used to the scents, and had learned to pick out how a wolf smelled on top of the strong over ripe fruit scent. One would think that would be easy, but it wasn’t. It was equally not an easy task to learn to navigate this godforsaken place, but after his encounter with Rhythm he found it much, much easier. He was going over a new path when her scent drifted toward him. Sirius. His tail flickered and he froze mid-motion, wondering what on earth he should do. She’d been perfectly clear about not wanting to be related to him in any way, so why should he bother associating with her? But she was still family, no matter how annoying he found that fact at the particular moment. He adjusted his steps toward her, approaching slowly but with purpose. He was put out, but certainly not afraid. “Hey there,” he spoke calmly, though it was clear he wasn’t altogether comfortable yet. He dipped his head down low, examining her prize from a few feet away. ”Where’d you catch it.. the lake in the range?” How she’d managed to carry it this far without killing it was beyond him and positively amazing. He rocked onto his haunches, head rising back to full height. “speak,”

The voice that made her head snap around also made her stiffen. It wasn't fear that made her tense, but wariness. She'd only heard that voice once but it was one she was unlikely to forget quickly. Last time she'd seen this brute, this supposed uncle, she'd told him she wanted to pretend they weren't related. That was still true. It was just safer that way. That way no one would get hurt. "Hey," she returned his greeting in a similarly uncertain tone, her eyes studying him for a motive. When his gaze dropped to the young drake hers remained riveted on his face. The bedraggled duckling wasn't taking the presence of a second wolf too well. Unlike Sirius it wore its uncertainty openly and stood tall halfway between the two wolves with its mouth agape and its unkempt feathers ruffling. "Mmhm, there's a bunch of them there." This one had just been too..what? Slow? Stupid? Her attempts to catch him had been halfhearted at best and yet here he was. Siri wasn't entirely sure how to handle her uncle's presence. She didn't really have an opinion of Kyarst one way or the other, but his sister had made it very clear what she thought. The young Armada could only assume this brute felt the same way and if that were the case she didn't know why he bothered. Unless he wished to drive his sister's point home. Unsure of what to say next, Sirius lapsed into silence. He'd approached her so it was only fair that he took charge of the conversation. "Talk" "You" Think

He could feel her gaze upon him like a white hot flame, burning and seeping into the confines of his facial features. He wouldn't shrink under it, though, and continued to focus upon her catch. The duckling was amusedly flustered as his presence doubled the number of wolves in its presence. He couldn't imagine the fear that ran through prey. She would confirm where she'd stolen the drake from, and he nodded in affirmation. There was water elsewhere but he recalled seeing several ducklings at the lake. “Have you decided yet what you plan on doing with him?” Tone remained even-kiltered, though there was still an uncertain note somewhere in his phrase. He felt as if he were walking on nails with this child, and despite his frustration at their previous meeting he still felt the pang of desire for his family to remain intact. His gaze returned to her, but wouldn't linger there long. He didn't feel the need to study the child any more than necessary. After all, she didn't seem to want much of anything to do with him so he knew he couldn't push that subject at all. He returned his gaze to the duckling, who still seemed as flustered and uncertain as Kyarst himself felt on the inside. He felt as though he were doing a halfway decent job of masking most of that, but there was an undeniable sense of awkwardness as he stood before his.. prodigal niece? “speak,”

The duckling started to nonchalantly inch away from the wolves. His movements drew Siri's attention away from Kyarst. She let the young bird get several steps before she rose and lazily moved to grab it around the middle. The bird of course put up a fight, but was recaptured with ease. Once her prize was snagged Sirius moved back to her original spot and flopped down. After pinning the duckling between her forepaws, the young fae let her gaze drift back to the brute. Catching the bird had be the perfect way to stall, although what exactly she was putting off, she wasn't sure. "Um," she paused to lick at a stray feather on her lips. "I don't know. He's too small and skinny to make a meal, but..." Sirius hesitated, then admitted, "I don't really want to let him go." She kind of liked having something to take care of, something that depended on her and needed her to survive. Although she knew it wasn't quite true, it felt good to be wanted. "It's silly, I know." "Talk" "You" Think

Eyes shot to the bird as it inched away. Now, what would Sirius do? She lazily snatched the bird back up, bringing it to herself and holding it betwixt her paws like a jungle cat. It was an amusing sight, but his features wouldn't show it. He rocked onto his haunches, admiring the pair for a moment as the child deliberated on what she intended to do with the little creature. If she'd meant to kill it he imagined she'd have done so already instead of carrying it out here. His assumptions were correct as she mentioned she didn't want to eat it, but she didn't want to let it go either. Well, that made sense. Why would she have bothered to catch it if she didn't want to keep it? He wondered, idly, what had drawn her to the little frail creature, but he wouldn't let his mind linger there for long. His tail batted the earth lazily as he cast his emerald eye upon the girl. “It's not that silly,” he noted genuinely. He'd heard a lot sillier things than what she'd just said. “He's fairly brave, for a duckling. I imagine others might've died just from the shock.” This one, though wary of the wolves, seemed stronger-willed than others might be. “You could keep him, if you wanted. I've seen wolves have all sorts of companions.” He himself had a grackle. “Hell, I've got Bryn and I still can't decide if I want to keep her or eat her..” he jested, thankful the grackle wasn't there to flutter about as he said it. His tail tapped the earth twice more and then stilled, curling around his hips so that the tip could drape over his forepaws. An ear flicked idly at some faraway sound as he mused about whether or not the child might actually be able to keep the little thing alive. “speak,”

'That silly' meant 'a little bit silly' but at least he was honest. Shock, huh? She hadn't considered that as a possibility. It hadn't even crossed her mind. Of course she knew that fear could kill. More than once she'd pounced on a rabbit and had it die before a killing blow was made. Her duckling had put up with very rough treatment from the moment it had been captured. That it was still alive was unusual indeed. At Kyarst's suggestion that she keep the duckling as a pet, Siri's gaze dropped to the bird once more. What good was a duck, though? It didn't do anything useful. Couldn't hunt or fight or anything, really. The only thing a duck had going for it was that it funny-looking and amusing to watch, and being a comedian had never stopped one from getting eat, had it? But... Sirius frowned. Usefulness wasn't quite everything. His attempt at humor drew the girl's gaze from the duckling. A ghost of a smile teased her lips, but afraid that he'd take it as a sign that he had a chance at forming a relationship, she reined it in. "Bryn? Who is that?" "Talk" "You" Think

He could sense her uncertainty about keeping the little thing. He could understand how it might seem an unusual concept, particularly since a duck was not exactly the coolest of creatures to claim as your own. A grackle wasn't much better in his book, but she was amusing at times and was one hell of a lookout. A half-smile graced his lips when she looked up at him, but it was nothing more than the one he wore on a regular basis (when he was in a good mood). He was just happy to hear more than a few words come out of her mouth, and though he still didn't expect much - it was nice to hear her talk. Her query fell upon Bryn, and he glanced to the skies. Of all the days for the bird to not be following his every move... “She's a small black bird, a little smaller than a crow. She's kind of.. my lookout I guess. She flies above me and sometimes ahead of me to let me know where prey animals or wolves are.” He glanced up again, as if expecting to see her above him now that he'd talked about her. “She'll probably find me soon enough,” he tagged on, probably more to himself than to the girl. Bryn was much more of a nuisance than Atlas had once been, but Kyarst and the penguin had separated ways a long time ago and there was no way the black wolf would ever ask Atlas to face the heat of the south for him. “speak,”

A lookout? That wasn't a bad idea. The duck could fly ahead and then come back and tell her what to expect. Oh! Maybe he could even help her hunt. He could tell her exactly where the game was and she wouldn't have to wander around looking for it anymore. Bet that would make her siblings jealous. The duckling wasn't exactly a cool pet, but at least she had a pet. "That's cool." It really was. Sirius did kind of want to question his choice of companions, but she had a duck, so who was she to criticize? "What do you want, Kyarst?" she asked suddenly, but not unkindly. The wording could have been better, sure, but it had popped out before she had time to process and refine it. Why? Why did he want to talk to her? Shouldn't he be avoiding her? It was better if they just went their separate ways. Really, it was. "Talk" "You" Think

Despite the awkwardness, things seemed to be going moderately well. The girl seemed truly interested in his companion - something he wouldn't have guessed - and seemed to be more willing to keep the duckling for herself. She responded to his explanation of Bryn's 'job' in his life with a simple and quite aloof 'that's cool', to which he would nod - finding no real reason to add on to that part of the conversation. After a short moment, another question filtered from her lips - one he hadn't expected and truthfully didn't know how to answer. What did he want? What did she mean? Was she referring to their relationship, to a want for food, companionship, what have you? Brow furrowed in thought as he surmised a truthful and true-to-self response for the girl. “I want to know, and to be known.” Cryptic, perhaps, but true. He wanted to know this girl, even if it wasn't as family, and he equally wanted her to know him. If she wanted to toss out the titles and familial relationships, so be it, but all he honestly wanted was for her to know who Kyarst was, period. “And what do you want, Sirius?” He had found quite often that when someone posed a question they usually didn't expect it to be turned on them so directly, which was precisely why he had chosen to ask the very same of her. What was it that she wanted? His brow softened and he allowed his gaze to wander as it willed, genuinely interested in the girl's response. “speak,”