The Fool

Ricin watches the white wolf-dog as he speaks, working to remove the worry of moments before. The blue boy offers his name and he is rewarded with the ethereal wolf’s name… Sybil. His shy smile broadens as they talk, he offers a deeper chuckle at her statement of having heard stranger quesitons. Ruby eyes slide off her to look at the yawning darkness behind the pale wolf as he continues to speak, sharing some of the outlandish tales he has heard. Her voice pulls his gaze back to her pale form and the tall boy nods his head slowly at her words, mind once more wandering down into the deep, dark depths where death lingers. After all that Ricin and Chade have been through, it would not surprise the blue wolf to know that the ghost stories mothers tell their pups at night are real.

Sybil inquires as to where exactly she is and Ricin tilts his head slightly, eyebrow raising in silent question as he says, “This place is called Stylianos Crypt and you just met its inhabitants.” A dark dipped paw with pale toes quickly gestures at the entrance behind the white wolf before he takes a step back to turn and look at the land around them. Taking a seat in the snow, tail curling around his pale blue haunches, Ricin lifts a paw to gesture at the mountain behind him that the crypt is attached as he says, “That’s Fenrir’s Maw. Lots of mountain goats up there but not a lot of wolves. I like to race along the steep paths when I have time.” A happy smile flitters across his lips before he turns to point at the nearby rolling hills.

Matter-of-factly, he says, “That over there is known as the Buffalo Knolls, a pack resides there but I don’t know much about them. And lastly…” He turns toward the East to jab his paw at the huge volcano that glows ominously in the distance while saying, “That’s Mount Volkan. A different pack claims that place. They are why I like to the goat paths up the mountain, it is much faster to get back to my pack that way.” Having given Sybil several landmarks, he turns his ruby gaze back to the white wraith and asks, “Do you know where you are now?” The light blue boy does not consider the fact that she may not be from these lands, only that she is lost in the white-covered landscape and, because of that, he does not offer any further information. A small, friendly smile rests is on his lips as he looks at the wolf that he is still isn’t quite sure is real or not.


"Ricin Dauner"