navigation - the whispering caves

She totally wasn't breaking the rules. She totally wasn't breaking her aunt's promise. Who was she kidding? A season older she now was, a little larger, stronger and perhaps smarter as compared to her first venture away from the den. With all her mental will, she had tried to steer herself away from the outside world, forcing herself to partake in supervised activities with her siblings and talk civilly with her mother. How could she ever be more bored? Her life practically ran on excitement - it was her fuel. Without it she was the miserable girl - quick to start fights - who no-one wanted to be around. But that was alright, she couldn't care less about other canines' opinions, for she had her own life to lead. Upon a chilly autumn's morning, the child sneaked out to embark on her quick though hopefully unnoticed adventure. In her thoughts, she reminded herself to wander away from the eastern direction, as she had ventured that way before only to find herself in an unpleasant swamp. Keeping to the west, she hoped to find a more interesting area to explore, and the thought of that motivated her paws to trek onwards. As the gulley thinned, a looming shape close to the ground appeared ahead. Curious, she pushed her aching paws to break into a run until she found herself looking into the gaping entrance to the subterranean world. With eerie shadows floating in the tunnel, it was no wonder the child's limbs trembled. Yes, Zephyra the Fearless was still afraid of the dark. Reluctantly, she turned around, preparing to go back the way she came until she heard the faintest of rustles. Whether it was her imagination playing with her, she stood completely still, as if waiting for something to happen. "Speech"

After spying her, Valentine had changed course and taken off after the little Dione in the hopes that she'd lead him to her mother. The gremlin still owed him a fight. Quite a bit of time had passed since the whimping out of Lydovne, but if given half the chance he'd still take a stab at vengeance. He caught up to her and in doing so drew the girl's attention. Red eyes, green fur; she wasn't exactly what one would call a handsome child. Without a doubt she had to be Dione's. "Are you lost, child?" Valentine would be more than happy to help her get back to her parents. Of course his motives weren't that noble. He didn't really have a beef with Novaro, but he'd jump at the chance to dehorn Dione. "Talk" "You" Think

A tall man emerged into her sight, and for a moment she thought it was her brother who had magically doubled in height though soon discovered it to be a total stranger. Of course he had to be blue - everyone was blue. That didn't bother her, however, as it would definitely become a problem if it happened to be her brother and sister sneaking up on her and catching her disobeying multiple rules. For now she surprisingly felt safe, unless this canine was another family member she hadn't yet met. "Me? Lost?" she echoed in a squeak of disbelief, tossing her head back. The size of the brute or the fact he was a stranger and could possibly kidnap her didn't intimidate or worry the child, who kept a cool and dauntless demeanour as she spoke. "I don't get lost." After all, it was the truth. Her family would think she was lost when they interfered with her explorations, when she was quick to learn different terrains. "Speech"

The green, the black...this had to be Dione's. Oh, he could practically feel her horns cracking between his teeth! To think that one of her own children could be her downfall amused him. Would it be wrong of him to use a child against her parents? Sure. Would that stop him? No, absolutely not. So she wasn't lost, eh? She reminded him a little of Rhys. His youngest daughter was terrifyingly fearless. She went wherever she wanted with little regard for her safety, and containing her was a full time job. The girl was still young enough that her movements were relatively easy to monitor, but as she got older Valentine could only hope he'd taught her well and instilled her with enough sense to keep her from harm in her wanderings. "Ah, an adventurer, then." He sank back on his haunches. "So tell me then, adventurer, if you're not lost, where are you?" "Talk" "You" Think

A quiet giggle slipped from her lips as the man called her an adventurer - a pleasing title that she hadn't ever thought of though would start to wear it. Zeph the Adventurer - she liked it indeed. So far she seemed to be enjoying the male's presence, except she found his insistence of proving her lost a little irritating. Why didn't he believe her? For once, she wasn't lying, and he hadn't ever met her so he wouldn't consider her untrustworthy. Maybe it was an adult thing - pups were always lost regardless of their knowledge and situation. They never took children seriously. She didn't know what the name of the area was, or any other region such as her home territory. In fact, she didn't even know what caves were, but at least her mind had formed a short response. "I'm near home," she replied with faint annoyance in her tone, continuing to retain her confident and fearless demeanour. How much of an explanation did she need to give? Did she have to scream in his face that she wasn't lost? "Speech"

'Near home' didn't tell him much and the pup didn't really seem all that keen on sharing more. But maybe...maybe it was enough. Just because she said she was close to home didn't mean anything; she was young and could be a poor judge of distance. Even with that in mind, how far could a pup travel in a day? Surely not that far. Really, all he needed to figure out was if she was going to or from home. He'd circle back to the subject of 'home' later. "So, do you have a name, adventurer? My name's Valentine." "Talk" "You" Think

ooc: so sorry about the wait! I hadn't realised it was my turn to post :o

At least he had dropped the subject of her home and her sense of direction; she didn't feel like arguing as usual, especially with an adult. It was somewhat easier and more comfortable starting a fight with someone her age, perhaps because of her belief that all grown-ups would outmatch her, tell her off, and punish her for such actions. Maybe wolves that weren't family were different, but the girl wasn't prepared to test that out. Valentine was the man's name - she didn't think much of it other than storing it in her mind for future usage. "Of course I have a name!" she exclaimed giddily, puffing out her green chest with pride. Who didn't have a name? The scenario sounded so absurd to the child, though the possibility of someone having a cooler name than hers was impossible. No-one had a cooler name than her, no-one. "It's Zephyra!" "Speech"

Adopting the kind of enthusiastic tone he'd take with his kids, Valentine exclaimed, "Zephyra! That's a lovely name! Very strong too," he assured her. "The perfect name for a fearless adventurer." If he looked passed the ridiculous shade of green, the kid was kind of cute. She was very brave. Perhaps too brave. And a little too naive to be wandering far from home. Both qualities were ones he intended to use to get to Dione. The brute sank back onto his haunches and flipped his tail over his front paws. Visions of maimings occupied his thoughts, but he kept a pleasant face on and gave the impression that he was harmless. And to the girl he was. It was her parents who needed to worry. "It's very nice to meet you, Zephyra." "Talk" "You" Think

Her ears enjoyed hearing compliments - they brought a warm, fuzzy feeling inside of her whilst they made her feel giddy. Short giggles were what she used in response to his praise, a beaming grin splitting across her complexion. If only her family could say such nice things about her instead of, 'Zephyra! Stop it!' or 'Green is an ugly colour'. Perhaps then she wouldn't be the misbehaving tyrant of the den. When the man had finished speaking, she allowed a silence to pass over them as the rusty cogs in her brain spun to life. There was something he hadn't mentioned; if only she could figure out it was. Thinking wasn't her strongest suit, as he could probably tell. Think, think, think. What could it be? Suddenly, her features lit up with realisation. Ah hah! "Hey!" she barked with playful anger. "Aren't you exploring too?" "Speech"

He almost answered the girl's question with a negative, but after a moment's thought he realized it was kind of true. He'd never been to this place before and while he hadn't set out with exploring in mind, that was kind of what he was doing, wasn't it? "Mmhm," he rumbled. "I've been all over but I've never been here before." His gaze slipped to her's. Dione was ever present in his thoughts, but he'd have to circle back to that. "How about you? Have you been here before?" He eyed the entrance to the caves. "I've heard of these caves. They're supposed to be so quiet that you can hear whispers for miles." "Talk" "You" Think

The man seemed like an explorer himself, having been "all over". That puzzled the child, whose brain couldn't stretch too far. "All over?" she repeated, tilting her chin. "What does that mean?" Perhaps it meant he had travelled across the entire continent, venturing through every corner of every region, though unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to figure that out without him telling her. Then he wondered if she had been around the caves before. So that was what this place was called - caves. Apparently they were quiet as well - not something that took the child's interest though she considered an exploration sometime in the future. "No..." she slowly replied guiltily, jealous of the male who seemed to have been everywhere. Lowering her voice, she murmured like she was giving away a secret, "But don't tell mum I've been here." If only she could be like him. He probably could go anywhere without his parents telling him off, or restricting his adventures. That wasn't fair; she wanted freedom too! "Speech"