*Home Turf -- Serpent Plains

The girl had not opened up at all during their trip, but had grown even more clung onto her mother and less and less willing to leave the den. It was far too long for the shy girl to be away from Abaven, her Dad had hoped that it was going to bring her out of her shell more, but nope. She just clung to it even more desperately, hardly wandering away from the den at all. Today was no excuse, she was walking around the den in wider and wider circles, eyes out for pretty things that she could collect and gather. so far she had found a rather nice looking purple flower, clutching it in her jaws very gently so not to ruin it. She would hate to bruise the wonderful petals! That would wreck its pretty factor, and then she would have to start the hunt all over again. But she wasn't done yet, when they had been gone all the flowers that Wren had put around their den had withered and rotted. Finch was dead set on putting back all the nice things that her mother had done for them when they were younger. Even though they were a year old now, it didn't mean that she couldn't spend the day looking for the flowers she needed.

After a few more circles, Finch had collected a pawful of brightly coloured flowers, and headed back to the den with a sway in her hips. She was excited to get them all set up like Wren used to. But oh... how had her mother gotten them woven together so nicely? Brows knitting together she flopped on her rump and eyed her collection. Pushing them around with her paw carefully she grasped one stem in her mouth and tried to wiggle it under another, but to no avail. Letting out a frustrated huff she tried again and again, determined to get this done right.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Serpent Plains She was moving past a den, when color and a wolf caught her eye. She paused, turning her head to get a better look. Not that it did much - one eye was still out of commission. Half her face was still out of commission. At least the pain was somewhat less.. although if it was because she was becoming desensitized or if it was really less she couldn't tell. Nor did she care, really. Eager for the distraction the girl would provide, she headed towards the den, sniffing real quick to see if others were about - no. But this den was apparently Bass' and Wren's. She hadn't paid much attention to it before - shocking, because she tended to thoroughly explore - mostly because she could smell wolf scent, and she didn't want to intrude. It was old scent, too, but it still felt... wrong. And while it was old, it wasn't that old. So she didn't. She approached now, coming towards the girl on her right, Lillie's left - she'd be able to see Lillie in her periphreal vision if she was paying attention. She seemed focused on the flowers strewn about, though, and Lillie would would speak as she was beginning to come up alongside the girl. "Need help?" she wasn't sure why she asked, because she wasn't planning on waiting for an answer. She plopped down beside the Wrass child, sniffing at the flowers carefully. "Speech"

She was so focused on her flowers and trying to make them perfect, that she didn't notice the other wolf come up to her at all. All of the sudden there was a voice and a thump as the girl sat beside her. Letting out a loud yelp, Finch jumped up with her back arched like a cat, scrambling back towards the mouth of the den. Her tail tucked between her legs as she went to run into the nest, before she paused and turned around slowly. Its not like the girl had tried to scare her, but Finch was just so... jumpy! Ears against her head, she slowly slunk back up to the girl, standing close to the ground on the opposite side of her flowers. That is when she noticed the scratches on the side of her face, and her mouth formed into an 'o' as she let out a soft breath of air. Oh no! What had happened to the poor girl? Carefully standing to her paws and walking to the other's side, she carefully poked her soft nose at one of the marks, whining softly as she placed a soft kiss there. Then the shy girl scrambled back to her spot, careful not to crush any of her flowers. Her eyes were full of sadness instead of fear now, although her tail was still pulled towards her belly. "O-ouchy," she stuttered, paws shuffling in the grass slightly. Her voice was hoarse from under use, the girl obviously didn't talk much. "N-no g-g-good... o-ouch no g-g-good." With a firm shake of her head, she let out another soft whine. She hated fighting, hated violence. It was obvious that she disproved of the scars on the girls face, but there was no blame in her eyes. "N-no one g-get o-ouchy."

"Speech"
'thoughts'

When the girl she plopped down beside just... utterly freaked out, Lillie jumped backwards, her own fur fluffing up in alarm, eyes wide as she stared at the girl She stared that way, wide-eyed and alert as the girl scrambled away, ears flattening. She stood there, not at all knowing what just happened, when the girl began creeping back. Ears still flat, but fur smoothing out. It was then Finch noticed her wounds, and Lillie shifted uneasily, though kept still as the girl circled around. The girl wouldn't attack her, but she just... hated people coming up on her blind side. She was surprised, though, when a feathery light lick and nose-touch touched a scar,. Her ears pricked, rotating fully forward as she then watched the girl scramble back to her spot and look at her sadly. What...?

Her head tilted in slight confusion; had she never seen wounds before? Ouchie? "I-I'm sorry?" she spluttered finally, stuttering herself with the apology ending in a question. She wasn't sure why she was apologizing. For getting hurt? For approaching? She didn't even know. The girl was taller than her when standing up straight, but sitting and slightly crouched as she was with Lillie standing left Lillie taller and above the girl, and her ears went back as more whines reached them. She leaned forward and gently licked the top of Finch's head on impulse, moving somewhat slowly. "It's okay," she murmured, once again not sure what she was saying that for.

speech

The other girl seemed very confused at her speech, and Finch let out a little huff. She knew that she spoke in broken English. It wasn't like she didn't know HOW to speak, she just didn't to it all the time... It was awkward and almost hurt her throat because she wasn't used to it at all. Shuffling on her paws and trying to think about a better way to explain it all, she was surprised to feel a soft lick at the top of her head, pale eyes blinking at the stranger. She wasn't used to being touched by others, so the kindness rather shocked her. The darker lady apologized, and then told her that it was okay. Finch smiled softly, a snort sounding as her head shook. "S'okay!" she yipped, not wanting the other to be sad too. She was just upset because she didn't like to see others in pain, to see what violence really did to others. "I... d-don't l-like o-o-ouchies. N-no g-good," She said, mulling over her words as she tried again. "F-fighting is n-no g-good." Finch added, nodding her head slowly up and down. She hated fighting, with all of her heart. Her Dad had come home with bad injuries, and ever since then the whole idea of violence had scared her. The girl shivered, then looked down at her pretty flowers. Nosing them into a small pile so that none got crushed, she wiggled herself a little closer to the other girl. Hey eyes cast over to the cuts on the side of her face, eyes pulling back slightly. "D-don't d-deserve." Finch said with a deep set frown. No matter what the other had done, there was no reason to go and hurt someone like that! Not ever! Even if someone hurt her brothers or sister, she would still be too afraid to fight them. That is why she had asked Lark to teach her how to at least defend herself, because she knew that there were bad wolves out there who hurt others. Like whoever had hurt this one!

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Green eyes met blue eyes, and a hesitant tail thump followed. Lillie smiled at yearling who was a little older than her, not really understanding the girl's words, but going along anyways. She had a feeling from the huff earlier that asking would not be kindly received. Well. It would probably be met with cute fierceness, which made it almost worth it, but not quite. The next words Finch spoke she definitely understood, and she nodded her understanding. The hardness in her eyes - there was still some left - melted at her next words, as well as the cold fire of revenge; how could she disagree with such a cute thing? "No, it's not," she agreed softly, voice a mere murmur, quieter than even Finch's.

Watching curiously as the flowers were pushed into a pile, she also added absentmindedly, "Those are quite pretty. You have good eyes." They were just as quiet as before, and Lillie barely even registered they came out. There were merely her thoughts being spoken out loud. Her eyes widened as the other wriggled up to her and uttered a single claim: that she didn't deserve the wounds. A shadow of doubt flashed across her features - she did, just a little - but also... gratitude? Gratitude there wasn't more anger. "Thank you," she finally said, once she got over her... well, shock. She found herself wriggling so red fur touched white, and she licked Finch's cheek lightly to accompany that thank you.


speech

It would seem that the other girl was trying hard to understand Finch, but she couldn't help but feel slightly irritated. She was starting to feel stupid, angry that it was hard for her to formulate her thoughts into words. Ears flicked back slightly as her eyes narrowed, obviously a girl hard at work trying to make sense. Her brothers always seemed to understand her, and she felt a longing to see Starling again. Apparently he had gone off to do some training with herbs and stuff. She didn't much care for that part of her pretty things, she just liked to collect them. But as she watched the girls face before her, she saw something melt away and replaced with something a lot nicer. That brought more of a smile from the girl, some of her teeth even showing. She agreed that fighting was not good, and Finch vigerously nodded her head. It was an icky, terrible thing. Just thinking about how much that must have hurt made her shiver, she never wanted to get an ouchie like that. The girl was speaking quietly too, so her mismatched ears were pulled forward just to pick up the words. She liked it though, Sparrow and her brothers were too loud sometimes.

She felt the other watch her push her flowers into a pile, and when she was complimented on them. Finch beamed, her pride showing in her blue eyes at her collection. "Pretties!" She yipped happily, jumping to her paws as her tail wagged behind her. She may be a very shy girl, but bring up her collection and she suddenly came alive. "W-wanna s-s-see m-more?" She asked with such excitement, able to push out her words with a bit more ease. The girl adored showing off all the things she kept around here, and her longing to add to her ever growing piles. Too much energy was pooling off of the normally calm girl, that she missed the doubt in the darker girls eyes. She heard the thank you though, and had to slow herself down to remember what she had even said. Oh yeah, that she didn't deserve it, right? Yes! The other reached over and licked her cheek, and she blushed and let out a small giggle. "I F-finch!" She quickly added, realizing that they had yet to share their names.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Her eyes widened just a little when Finch jumped up, and became.... so not shy. So, pretties did it, hmm? Lillie's tail thumped on the ground happily, before she rose, nodding in agreement. Her own tail sped up as Finch asked if she wanted to see more, and she nodded eagerly. "Yes!" She'd never admit it to anyone else, but she did like pretty things, and she admired those that collected pretty things. She wasn't a... pretty thing person: she couldn't find the best pretties, and she had a habit of accidentally messing them up when she did find them. Or losing them. Or forgetting about them and both of those things happening. She also loved that she made Finch happy - that she made the girl forget her shyness. It was clear she loved the things she collected, and Lillie grinned to herself as she made it her mission to find something pretty to give to Finch. Maybe a feather, of sorts?

She grinned at the giggle, again, and licked Finch's cheek again, eyes twinkling mischievously as her tngue then lolled out of her mouth in a silly grin. Then Finch gave her name, and Lillie bounced slightly around the girl, circling around. Finch's energy was infecting her, making her oh-so-cheerful... and she loved it. A lot. "Lillie," she yipped back, bouncing on her paws back and forth as she waited for Finch to lead the way to the pretties.
speech

Oh good oh good! The girl wanted to see her other pretties! Pretty much jumping around, she wanted to run off and show her right now, but waited until the rest of their words were shared. The darker girl seemed to like her a lot, she kept giving her little kisses that made Finch let out a tiny squeal. Easily the other picked up on her energy as well, bounding around Finch like a bunny. Giggling again, she reached out a paw and attempted to swat at her rump playfully, her smile growing on her maw. It was getting harder and harder to be shy around this one, now that she knew that she was interested in her collection. When Finch introduced herself, she was rewarded with the other's name as well, calling herself Lillie. Oh, very pretty! But that didn't matter, it was time to show off her things! On her paws and practically wiggling with excitement, the girl kicked off the ground and raced around to the side of the den. Looking over her shoulder to make sure that Lillie had followed her, she parted a large patch of grass that was hiding some of her things. This is where she kept all of the shells that she found by the lake, and that Daddy had brought her on his trips to other places. There were many different shape and sizes, but she had a favorite. Nosing very carefully through the pile she picked out a rather delicate, tiny pink shell. It was the very first that her father had brought her, and it was the one she liked best. Placing it on the very top of the pile she pointed to it proudly with a single paw. "Pretties!" She exclaimed again, before she pointed her nose at the tiny pink one. "M-my Da-daddy b-brought t-that h-h-home, is m-my f-favorite!" Finch said with a bark and a wiggle. There was more to show her too, always more! But she wanted to wait and see what Lillie had to say, and if she wanted to see them closer. But she had better be careful, these were very special to her! Pale blue eyes were on the other girl, intent and focused. There was still caution in her gaze though, a warning to be very, very careful with her collections. Finch had worked long and hard to collect the number of things that she kept hidden, and would be torn apart if one of them broke.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

A look of shock, then faux outrage crossed Lillie's face as she felt her butt smacked. Lillie scrunched up her face slightly, giving Finch just... a funny, silly, scrunched up face look. Why? Why not. Pain flared in her face, but... she didn't care. It hurt, yeah. Oh well. The red girl bounded forward to try and nip lightly and playfully at Finch's shoulder, followed by another lick all the way up the ear to elicit another squeal, fire dancing in her eyes. Oooh, she'd make the older girl pay. But first- collection!

Lillie danced after Finch, paws light and barely touching the ground as she did so. She felt so light; so free, so... happy? It was odd, feeling this sensation after the bitterness of the last several days. She felt privileged that Finch would share her collection with her, a broken girl, and as Finch parted the grass, she stopped beside the other wolf and peered down, smiling as Finch arranged the shells. They were oh so tiny, but they had really interesting patterns if she looked closely. Her approval of the collection was clear in the blur of her tail, in the impressed look she gave Finch. That tail sped up as Finch announced it was her favorite, and crouching carefully, she looked back at Finch to see if moving closer would be okay. She saw the warning, the slight fear that one would break, and she nodded before she poked her nose closer, looking down the length of her muzzle. She looked at all of them, noting that her favorites were probably quite similar to Finch's. She saw one that she loved - and withdrawing cautiously, she looked back up at Finch. "I love that pink one, your dad has great taste," she yipped joyfully, before carefully pointing out her other favorite. It was a swirly one, circle shaped and cone-ish, and was mostly white with some cream and brown swirls. "This one is my other favorite." She really had no reason why, only that it was very swirly and unique and kinda actually had Finch's colors. And it was a circle. A perfect circle. That made it cool automatically. She looked back up at Finch, a smile on her face as she tilted her head, seeking the girl's approval of her pick.

speech

Finch didn't even see the pain, she was already bounding off to show the girl her collection. First stop was her shells, one of her most favorite piles. She wiggled slightly as Lillie looked at them closely, looking up at her to see if it was okay to get a closer look. She would just give her the warning, she didn't often trust others near her things. But Lillie was careful, noting that the pink one was nice, and pointing out her other favorite. Yes, all of them were very nice! She loved her collections, and before long she let out a bark and placed the grass back, nosing a big leaf over most of the pile to hide them. Her family knew where it was all hidden, and they were careful not to step on it. Carefully moving around it, she bounded off to the very back of the den. This collection was very different, and she had to dig it up. Using her pale paws she scratched the dirt off of her rocks until the top of the pile showed, brushed it away so that Lillie could see them. She only grabbed the most pretty rocks, the one with interesting colours or patterns on them. She adored the rocks that had a circle going all the way around them, and those were the ones that she looked for most. Sticking her nose in the hole she pushed some of the rocks out of the ground, before stepping back to let the other girl see these ones. These two collections were her very best, the others only had one or two things. She didn't show those to anyone, not until they were bigger and had more things. Sitting back with pride in her eyes, she gave Lillie full access. Rocks were pretty hard to break, so she didn't mind these ones being touched.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

She found it so adorable that Finch just... didn't notice anything. She was so focused on her collections, and showing Lillie, and it was... so adorable. She loved it. She stepped away from the collection as Finch started covering the collection; it was utterly hidden in mere moments. Surrupteously, she glanced around, noting the position of the shells in order to not hurt them. She felt a nagging worry, though, that someone would come looking for Bass and find the shells... by stepping on them. But she kept quiet, afraid that her words would startle the girl out of her happiness. Plus, she reasoned, it was close enough to the side that anyone looking for Bass would be a bit further out... she pitied the poor fool who would actually step and break them.

Following Finch to the back of the den, she stood to the side as the older girl frantically scrabbled at the ground, head tilted in curiosity. The reason became apparent as Finch dragged a pawful of... really really colorful rocks. Ears pricking forward, the wounded girl bounded forward when Finch sat back, triumphant and satisfied. She pawed at the rocks, spreading it out some, grinning at a purple rock and nosing it to the side. There was also another rock that caught her eye; it was perfectly normal... except for the random white stripe. It was really cool, actually, and as she looked around, she saw more with random white stripes. She nosed that first one she saw out, before bending to grasp it gently in her jaws and drop it with the purple one. She pushed the other rocks to the side a little bit, before nosing the two she had chosen forward, tail wagging. It was clear these were her favorites; she kept them there for Finch's viewing for a second before pushing them back into the pile. "They are so pretty," she murmured, not really wanting to speak at all, but not wanting to give Fich the impression that she thought the others weren't pretty.

speech

WHY IS THIS HERE

The girl danced from paw to paw as Lillie pulled out her rocks, showing her the ones that she liked best. Head nodded with vigor as she eyed them as well, a happy giggle leaving her maw. They were all so pretty, it was hard to pick her favorite one at times. Once Lillie pushed them back down into the pile Finch quickly nosed her way towards the rocks and pushed the dirt back over them lovingly. This was all of her things, and as she looked up at the younger girl she suddenly felt sad. She wished that she had more to share, but none of her other piles were even ready for viewing! Flopping to her rump, she pouted for a moment. Until she remembered her flowers, and her ears stood erect as an idea popped into her mind. "C-can you h-help m-me?" she asked, head tilting to the side slightly. She wanted to get more flowers, and even more pretty things to decorate their family den like Wren had when they were younger. When they went away there was no one to pick up and replace them, her siblings didn't really sleep in the family den anymore, they had all grown up too much and moved away to other places. It made her upset, and she wanted to remember what it was like when she was little again. "N-need p-p-pretties!" Finch said in a way of explanation, motioning towards the front of the den where the pile of flowers now lay in waiting. Jumping to her paws she trotted around in a little circle, getting excited again at the prospect of a new hunt. They could go to the lake to look for shells, or to the river to see if there were any rocks along the bank for them to pluck up! Oh the places they could go and the things that they could see, all with someone by her side! It was not something that she ever expected to happen, but this girl seemed to adore her pretty things just as much as she does.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

When Finch pushed the rocks back in and covered them, Lillie sat back on her haunches and wagged her tail, tongue lolling out of her mouth as eyes crinkled with amusement and happiness. She was enjoying this, so much more than anything else so far in a long while. Her head tilted when finch suddenly looked sad, and the girl popped up with a whine and bounced towards the Destruction child, licking her cheek in an attempt to cheer her up.

It was unnecessary, however, because Lillie's new friend then popped up and asked if she would help. Help with what, Lillie didn't know and didn't really care, because whatever it was she'd enjoy it. She nodded, a grin on her wounded face, exposed green eye sparkling with delight. She nodded again at Finch's elaboration, grinning as she spotted the flowers that caused her to meet Finch. She stayed still when Finch was bouncing around, but she couldn't help a giggle from escaping her lips.

speech

 WHY IS THIS HERE