Off exploring

Spring seemed to have zipped by and changed into summer before she even had time to really register it in her mind. But maybe that was because the bitter cold of winter still clung to the air throughout spring and was only just now starting to tease her with warmth. The only reason she realized it was summer was the quiet murmuring of the older wolves as they looked at the placement of the sun as it moved across the sky and the puzzled look on their faces as they then moved on with their day. However, despite the persistent chill, Laoise was finally a yearling and she was free to explore outside of Valhalla lands, her long slender limbs carrying her russet and charcoal brindled body to the south-west as her nose led her around. There were so many different and new scents that, at first, overwhelmed her but she soon settled herself down and really began to explore.

It was an hour or so after she had passed over her homeland's border that she noticed the ground was becoming colder and wetter with each step she took and the air was filled with the scent of birds. Curious, the brindle girl stopped and lifted her head to get a good look of her surroundings, her dual blue eyes looking over the estuary with awe. The ground was wet and frosted with the unusual cold air and that made the grasses and foliage brown and dormant, but the massive willow tree in the center was still a marvelous sight. Even from this distance she could see a flock of birds roosting within its branches, some sleeping, some preening, and some squabbling with their neighbors. It brought a smile to her russet lips and the girl wanted to get a closer look.

Carefully she hopped from the driest parts of land she could find, sometimes having to wade through the water as she made her way to the center. Lee stopped halfway between the tree and where she started when she noticed the noise the birds where making had become louder and more agitated. She had been spotted by the birds and apparently they did not like having a predator walking around their roost. The girl sighed, trying to decide if she wanted to press on and disturb the birds more or turn back but a loud croak sounding next to her, almost making her jump in surprise, but effectively took her attention off the birds. Her blue eyes met the enormous eyes of a rather large frog, the green and brown creature eyeballing her as if it was thinking about eating her. Lee giggled, instantly falling in love with the cubby frog and she lowered herself to her belly as she took a moment to study the frog.