I'm Not Scared

As the young pup moved beneath the overhang beside Iolaire, the rain began just as predicted. The girl gave her name and Io squinted at her, trying to recognize whose child she might be. She imagined it was either the offspring of Rudyard or Artorias. Either way, the pup held her family name and so they were related. "Well, Talyssa, I'm your Aunt Iolaire." She wasn't sure if she'd been mentioned but it didn't really matter. The conversation shifted onto more interesting things.

Talyssa asked how one could tell that a storm was so close and Io lifted a paw, tapping her blue-hued nose with one dexterous digit. "You can smell a storm before it arrives. The air starts to smell thicker and more earthy as a storm moves in." Io then tapped one obsidian ear. "You can hear far off thunder. The closer together the rumbles are, the closer the storm." Instead of tapping herself this time, Iolaire tapped the girl gently right between the eyes. "Use your eyes. Always watch the clouds. If they're dark and look heavy, they're usually full of water."

As the rain hammered down around them, Io looked out into the grey curtain of water. "And, when it rains this heavy, it usually doesn't last for long." The wiry old wolf flashed a pristine white grin as the rain already began to taper off. "We're going to have muddy paws, but that's just fine." The rain petered out to a sporadic sprinkling and Iolaire stepped out into it, pulling her skull in the direction of the castle. "Shall we head back?" She imagined the girl might have more questions and she was glad to answer them.

"Iolaire"