A Great, Wide World of Wonder

Spring was gradually beginning to take over in the West, and Aurielle was getting her first sights of green shoots peeking through slowly melting snow on the plains. It all meant two things, maybe more, to her. One, her training would begin in earnest, which excited her greatly! Two, her father would be calling a pack meeting, hers and Aramis’s first meeting and first real exposure to the entire pack. She and her brother would sit on that boulder and look out on the faces of the rest of the pack as Regulus introduced them.

Oooo, that part was less exciting. She would be the one in the spotlight, for certain, right? She wasn’t entirely certain she wanted the spotlight. The thought was downright scary, and she had nightmares that she would grow up and never be the powerful leader her father was, or that the very founder of the pack this one had been based upon had been. Cairo. All she and her father had were stories, passed down from Erani, who had known the male so personally. But she wished she could meet the great brown Adravendi Patriarch.

But Spring also meant another thing. She was deemed old enough to venture through the Plains mostly unaccompanied. However, she wasn’t alone. Her father had returned from his explorations up north with two large mountain lions. They were still smaller than her father, of course – none could match him in size, her young mind was certain – but it had been a startling experience to meet them. Instinct warred with her father’s reassurance that these cats would not harm her.

However, she’d warmed quickly to them after a day or two. But it was Aelloshir, one of their several litters, that she had warmed to most after his parents had left for a week and returned with him. He’d bonded quickly to the small, shimmering white wolf, and now shadowed her every move. He was ranging around her, now, pale ice blue eyes ever vigilant as she padded across the plainsland.

Today, she was ‘patrolling’. Aelloshir was a year old, but had already received training from the elders of his clan, and dropped back to her side as they drew nearer to the wall. “You remember your father’s orders, yes?”

The young Future of Celestial nodded, but continued questing onward, following the wall’s inner curve until they came to an opening, about thirty feet wide—one of the passages for prey. Soon elk and other large prey animals would be migrating through as the plains grew lush and verdant, and hunting would begin, as well as Paladin’s fascination with preservation of resources.

The child stopped, gazing out at winter-dead old grass that she was still too small to see above yet. So far as her young mind was concerned, if she couldn’t see anyone, there was no one there, but her father’s lessons prevailed, and she took a sniff of the wind, trying to study the scents there. Plenty of the pack members, of course – the border’s scent was laid strongly here – and some prey she hadn’t learned the names of yet. There were of course the scents of loners, but they were old and stale.

Her slim, dirty brown muzzle remained raised, tasting the wind before Aelloshir took pity on her and scooped her up to rise onn his hind legs and set her gently on top of the wall. By now, the efforts to widen the ‘walk-way’ had begun to show fruit, and there was room enough for her and the mountain cat to fit, if somewhat cramped for him.

She stared out over the plains that lay beyond the borders, sapphire and sky-blue eyes wide with young wonder. “It’s so much bigger than I imagined. Loshir, how big is the world?”

The cat chuffed softly, a snort of laughter. “Very big, little moon child. With many dangers.”

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think