The beating, beating paws

Ada was new to this whole pack thing. When the call came for the wolves of the pack to rally, however, she wasted no time in high tailing it to the meeting place. There was an urgency in the call that made the young woman move as quickly as she could. Danger had found its way here to her new home and she didn't quite know how to feel about it. This was supposed to be a place of mental ease and safety. There were huge, powerful wolves in the Armada. Why would anyone or anything want to mess with them?

Over the past few days since Sirius had welcomed her into the pack, the bob-tailed girl had been getting to know Armada lands. She hadn't made very many friends or anything like that, but it was mostly because she wasn't used to interacting with others. It didn't even cross her mind to stop someone and say hello the majority of the time. If her gaze happened to lock with someone else's, she would stop and say hello. Otherwise, she'd continue on her merry way. In that time, she hadn't seen any crazy, giant wolves. She hadn't seen anything dangerous at all. Just snow. Lots and lots of snow.

How giant was a giant wolf anyway? Sirius was bloody huge! Did wolves come in sizes bigger than his? That would have to be the case, wouldn't it? Why else would everyone be so afraid. The look of panic on everyone's faces; the stink of fear in the air; it was all so palpable. Some showed their fear more than others while some seemed to be more annoyed by the disturbance than anything. Getting to see the plethora of emotions on so many wolves in one place... it was pretty interesting.

The small, charcoal and grey girl didn't show fear. Ada didn't really know fear. Not yet. Her life was still too fresh to have learned fear. She knew caution, of course. Just because she hadn't tasted fear didn't mean that she just ran into situations headlong. No fear didn't mean that you jumped over a gap without gauging the distance. It meant that you looked, then took the leap without thinking that you might fall. She was confident in all things and today's events wouldn't hamper that. Ada would face whatever was coming at them and she would do it with the same confident bravado as she did all things. If she learned a bit of fear today, so be it. She would learn from it and would file it away in the character development section of her brain. It wouldn't change her though. Of that, she was certain. Nothing would ever change her unless she allowed it to do so. She also hadn't learned yet that too much confidence could be a killer as well. Hopefully she wouldn't learn that lesson today.

Coming upon the group of wolves as they stood around the obelisk, Ada tried to decide where to stand. There were several wolves here and all of them were looking out towards the darkness. Darkness... That was something that she might be able to do something about. Moving to the side, Ada came to the big bonfire that seemed to always be burning. It had burned down to small, licking flames. It wouldn't do for their enemy to have a clear view of them while they couldn't see their enemy, so Ada had an idea. No, she didn't ask if she could do it and no, she didn't think that there might be repercussions later. The girl was so used to just doing the first thing that popped into her mind. In her defense, she had just joined a group for the first time! Maybe she would be chastised for her actions later, but for now, she had an idea and needed to carry it out.

Taking up a thick branch from the pile of firewood and kindling, Ada placed the dried wood in the dying fire. It sputtered to life as the hungry flames consumed the dried, crispy twigs extending off of the main branch. Once the fire had settled in and she didn't have to worry about it giving up its hold, Ada took the end of the branch between her teeth. She struck out and away from the group on her tiny, quick paws. Ada was fast as the wind, as quick as lightning. Of this, she was certain. Out into the darkness she moved. Ah, but it wasn't darkness anymore with a flaming torch in her mouth, was it? Away from the pack she moved, getting closer and closer to the things waiting in the shadows. The closer she came, the more the torch ate those shadows hungrily. Orange eyes widened as the hulking forms were illuminated by the firelight. Oh. Oh was that fear?

Ada dropped the flaming branch out in what had once been darkness. The flickering flames danced off of the eyes of their enemies. The Armada would be able to see how many were coming, in any case. Surprisingly, none of the enemy made a grab towards her. Perhaps she was too small and insignificant. Perhaps they were just too stupid to think about it. Either way, the young woman high tailed it back towards the bonfire.

Since no one told her no, Ada lit a second branch and repeated the process. She placed a third in the fire to be ready for her next run. Again she plunged into the darkness, illuminating the beasts that were slowly working their way into a line before the Armada wolves. With the bonfire at their back and the three burning branches in their front, the area would be well lit. No more surprises would be coming from the dark.

Out of breath and panting, Ada rejoined the group once more as Sirius collected what looked to be like his children in the center of the pack. Some of them were bigger than she was, but she would do her best to protect them all the same. Ada would do her best regardless. Choosing to fill in a gap, the monochromatic lady stood beside a horned, floppy eared gent. With her place taken, she did the next logical thing: she began to count the pairs of eyes that glowed at the edge of the firelight. Now that she really had no idea what to do, she would wait for word from Sirius.
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