Oh the places you'll go
It had been mere days since she had opened her eyes, and will continue to use her vital vision for the rest of her exciting life. Of course, she had only done so out of desperation, the urge to shush and trample her smaller yet annoying siblings having overwhelmed her. Now she came to realise that seeing wasn't such a negative sense after all, in fact, it had broadened her young and innocent mind to a whole new world. Every since opening her eyes, she had begun to crawl and scamper within the confinements of the den though it all still revolved around napping and eating. Not that the latter wasn't important, she was just growing more rambunctious and restless as the time flew by, just like she had been in the womb. Around four equally active pups, it was no wonder she desired to venture out into a larger space, especially with her own bulky size. There was no other place she could think of other than The Beyond. Upon multiple occasions she had seen her father and uncle venture out from the den, but where they went remained a mystery in her intrigued mind. And this mystery she had to solve.
So upon a pleasantly warm summer's day, in the late hours of the morning, she decided to see this Beyond with her very own scarlet eyes. After spending some time precariously tapping the peculiar sunshine that filtered through the den and heated the entrance, she headed out to the blinding light, tripping on a small mound of dirt in the process. Walking appeared to be much more difficult in the Beyond without having a wall or siblings to lean upon, especially with its vast space. And oh! Was it enormous! By what her gaze could scan and thoughts comprehend, it was seemingly infinite, a boundless terrain for her paws to trek upon. All the earthen shades allured her eyes, and the blooming flora was all green like the very hue upon her pelt. She just needed to touch, see and sniff everything. But first, she needed to get there, and there wasn't a great deal she could do sprawled on the soil. Heaving herself to her paws, she hobbled upon her long limbs, occasionally stumbling though the determination to explore fuelled her motivation to falter onwards.
Eventually, the safe and enclosed den became a distant memory, even when she stood on her tippy-toes and looked back the way she came or craned her neck to look through the monstrous plants. Finding her path home was the least of her worries; she was a carefree pup, what troubles did she truly face? Upon her wanders, every fern and ravine was being stored in her visual memory; it would only be a while before she knew her whole way around the gulley. She remembered where she had turned or swerved in direction, though for most of the time she had lumbered in a straight line. And to think today was her first day out. Soon she'll be showing her siblings around their home region, and if they got lost, she'll happily find them. Exploring, yeah, she liked it.
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* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
"Who're you?" the pup demanded impudently, ignoring the woman's generous greeting of whom the child started to approach dauntlessly. Stopping by her right foreleg, she momentarily sniffed, inhaling the female's scent. With an undeveloped nose, it was unlikely that she would recognise the woman as a relative, having her memory already evade her. If the bland aureate shade was replaced with a more distinctly unique unnatural colour, perhaps then the child would identify her as kin though that really wasn't the case. With a young and practically empty mind, the only adults she knew of were her parents. Whoever else was out there, which there certainly was though she wasn't aware of anyone else sharing the continent other than her family. However, as a new explorer, she was soon to uncover it.
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* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
The woman stated herself as the girl's father's sister - the relationship between them too long for the pup to remember. She didn't know much about her father, so it was a surprise to know that he had a sister, though many had siblings so it shouldn't be as unexpected. "I'm a sister too!" she blurted out eagerly, her features alight with a childlike happiness as she thought about her own family. "To my sisters, I mean, and my brother." Her brother wasn't her biological brother, though she didn't know this and even if she did, she'd pretend he was always related and treat him no differently. With his own unusual pelt that surprising wasn't inherited by Marina, he was likely to fool many, which was what she wanted. "Ah...Anah...Anais!" After succeeding in pronouncing her aunt's name correctly, a random sneeze interrupted her giggling celebration in an annoyance.
She didn't remember her name? Oh, the pup would ensure that the female remembered exactly who she was. Every girl of the litter carried a different and unique colouring (except for Kaitlyn, who would be remembered as the girl who didn't have unnatural fur), so it was easy for her name to connected with the green hue upon her pelt. "I'm Zephyra!" she squeaked with a proud puff of her broad chest. "But my family calls me Zeph."
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* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
Even her aunt questioning the existence of a brother didn't raise any doubt. "Yeah, his name's Ren! He's about dis tall." She lifted a green paw and levelled it with her chin, though as a result started wobbling on the rest of her limbs with her lack of balance so she quickly dropped the paw to support her bulky form. "And he's blue! Not Nixie blue, but Ren blue!" What she was trying to get across was the fact that he was a different shade of blue to her sister, and peculiarly a different hue than what their mother carries - another sign of his adoption though Zephyra never took notice of these things.
...And another thing - an important thing - she also hadn't noticed was her wanderings taking her so far from the den. Well, she was fully aware of it, though didn't recognise it as anything dangerous until her aunt inquired about it. The way her query had been worded assured the mischievous tyke that her actions had been wrong, which meant she would find herself in a heap of trouble as a result of those actions. "Maybe..." she mused innocently, her scarlet gaze falling to the ground, though she quickly bounced over to the golden woman keeping her words whispered. Perhaps her aunt could save her from getting scolded at. "Psst! Can ya keep a secret?"
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* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
She didn't usually keep secrets, and when she did, they wouldn't remain secret for long. That was the main problem with her siblings - they liked to dob on her. It was no fun mucking around when there were consequences looming inevitably ahead of her. Sometimes she'd try to shush them and threaten if angered to the point - anything to prevent them from opening their mouths, bound to spill the truth. At this point, she hadn't ever gotten away with anything naughty, because when adults were around, she was a goner. Lying never seemed to work, especially when she had annoying siblings screaming the opposite side of the story. After demanding for an apology, the adults would tell her to stop misbehaving, which she just couldn't do. No name-calling? No crying for attention? No being an absolute nuisance? That wasn't possible; all the fun would be drained out, and Zephyra liked to think of herself as a fun individual, even if she was the only one who shared this opinion.
She whispered into the woman's ear, who had lowered to become level with the smaller canine. "A secret secret." Very descriptive indeed. "If Uncle Spencer found out I was being naughty, you know what he'd say?" Then she puffed out her chest, trying to intimidate her best masculine voice, with words stern and scolding like her uncle always displayed. "Zeph, enough. Apologise." A smirk tugged at her lips, quite smug with her impression. The sudden urge to try out her sister's voice boiled beneath her, imagining how funny she would sound, but found the secret matter of higher importance. It was the difference between getting in trouble and getting away with it. "So keep a secret? Don't tell anyone I went this far." She wasn't one for the whole act of cuteness, though decided this was a desperate time, which called for desperate measures. Her head tipped slightly to the side as her crimson eyes enlarged - hopefully an adorable look. Then again, what was so adorable about green?
"Speech" |
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* Because he has become her protector, Glacier is allowed into any and all threads that Anais may be in, regardless of how they are tagged.
I'll keep your secret. In that brief moment before the full picture was painted, the girl just couldn't believe her luck. The woman before her had to be an adult, and by her knowledge, all adults were pretty unfair and miserable, especially when it came down to punishments. Well, a selected few weren't, including her mother, so this aunt had to be the best aunt ever. On the inside, she tumbled around with joy, doing imaginary flips and cartwheels. Though her inward festivities abruptly halted when the older female finished the sentence with a catch. She should have seen that coming; it was too good to be true anyway. It was a difficult decision, leaving concentration scribbled all over the child's features. Her head constantly tilted from side to side with a serious thinking face on her complexion while the cogs in her not-so-intelligent brain slowly started to kick in, roaring to life.
"Hmmm..." Then she began to pace around the auburn woman's paws, walking down a straight line before turning around and repeating the process. It was a tricky decision indeed. As she had discovered, exploring on her own was an enjoyable experience, even though perceived dangerous by her family. In the future, she wanted to do it again, but it seemed today her plans had been thwarted. The female was a clever aunt, she had to admit. The girl next overlooked her possible outcomes of the situation. If her aunt doesn't keep the secret, the information is bound to end up in her mother's paws, which will definitely put the child under probation - so no more adventuring for a long while. Alternatively, she could agree to the promise and at the very least try to avoid venturing out unattended, or perhaps ask her mother for permission instead. It wasn't what she was used to doing - not a very Zephyra thing at all though there were plenty of other mischievous actions she could still do. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to sneak out every once in a while; how would her aunt check?
"I'll try," she confessed sheepishly after stopping her pacing, now staring down at her fidgeting paws. Finally looking up, she gazed into her aunt's amber gaze. "You'll keep the secret, right?" It was all that mattered, really. As long as her uncle or mother didn't find out, she'd go to great extents to keep her mischief safe. Until she forgot all about it, that is.
"Speech" |