She was almost a year old now, Ily had never come back so she was but a memory to the girl. She was still short but made up for her height shortcomings in spunk. She had been learning that spunkiness was the best from Iskra. Pyralis was a long forgotten nightmare of a woman too. It was dark out right now and she was busy finding something to occupy her. This place had become a recent obsession for her. It intrigued her and drew her in like a moth to flame. Its water was just as vibrant as her. It seemed to glow under the light of the moon, and make her glow seem like something more natural. She stood from where she had been seated and moved towards the water. In the waves she could see the stars above and it looked like an endless eternity of night there. She waded out into the water and watched silently as the water pooled around her. She'd been called many things but the one she remembered most was a spirit. She felt like a spirit in this place. Like she was one with the water. Her heels stood out until she sank in to her shoulders. Her eyes stayed on the water and she watched the sparkle of water as it washed over her. Her pulsating glow was the only thing that she felt made her stick out now. She wondered if Iskra had forgotten about her or even seen this place under the moonlight. Maybe she should find her again. Walk "Talk" Think

Ashiel returned to Auster, grateful for the warmth that spread through his bones and put him more at ease. In his opinion the Abraxas practically owned Auster so the whole of the land felt like home to him. He'd made the decision to visit the western shores of Auster. There was still much of the land to explore and while he could ask his mother about really any of the territories he preferred to explore them himself. Ashiel knew what he was looking for and he was feeling a growing need for independence. Not that he didn't respect his mother. Her approval and respect was something he desired above all others and her opinion meant a great deal to him but at the same time he needed to get used to thinking on his own without her input. He was to rule a pack some day and there was no guarantee that she would follow him to this new pack. As far as Ashiel knew she planned to stay with Amon. A soft glow on the horizon caught Ashiel's attention and he eyed it warily. Was there magic afoot? Cautiously striding forward he came upon a shoreline that seemed to glow. He padded softly along the shore line but froze when he noticed another presence there. There was a spirit in the water and Ashiel immediately ducked down, not that it would really do any good. There was practically no cover on the beach. His ears flicked forward as he stood up and cleared his throat. "Are you the spirit of this ocean?" "Talk" "You" Think

She was lost in thought until the sound of someone approaching came to her. The squishing of sand was minute but enough for her to pick out. She paid it no mind and instead waited to see if they would pass or stop. Though once the squishes turned into a silence, she turned her golden eyes that reflected much of the water in them onto the boy. She eyed the ashen boy and waited. It would be another game of questions most likely. Iskra seemed to be the only one to understand she didn't speak so there was no use in asking her too many questions but she did still talk to her like normal. When he asked if she was the spirit of the ocean she couldn't help but feel like this was another of those wolves that had some kind of belief that she was magical. She might as well play along though and see how far he took it. She did consider these lands her home and this place was her favorite so she gave him a shrug. She then turned her smaller body and move carefully to the shore. Once she was near him she smirked and shook out her pelt,aiming to splash him mostly. Walk "Talk" Think

Ashiel waited with baited breath to see what the girl would say but she said nothing, simply moved toward the shore. He tensed, hackles raising as his limbs tensed slightly. Had he stumbled upon some sort of ritual and now he was going to be dealth with? The woman was smaller than him and Ashiel was certain that he could take her in a fight but if there was something about the ocean and moon that were giving her power he didn't want to fall into the trap of being overconfident. He backed up a bit as she shook out her pelt sending a spray of water through the air. Ashiel cocked his head as he gazed at her. Well, she didn't seem overly angry or vengeful… her face seemed pleasant enough. He started to calm down and let his hackles rest. "Oh, ok. So you're not going to try and attack me? I'm sorry if I stumbled upon some ritual of yours. I just saw the glow and came to investigate." "Talk" "You" Think

He went on the defensive and Arwen sat down with a silent giggle at him. That was her, silent as always. No one would ever hear a sound from her. Come to think of it if she cared enough she could make a great assassin. Aside from the glow that was. She couldn't imagine many wolves being easy to sneak up on when she glowed like the northern lights. He spoke again and it drew her back to the present moment. He said something about her attacking him and something about a ritual and she shook her head. She was doing neither of those things. She just wanted to appreciate that there was something else in this world like her. Magical. Iskra was magic in her own way too. Her fur still captivated Arwen to this day. She was quick with lifting a paw and smacking it playfully at the ground in front of her. Her tail wagged lazily in the sand beneath her. She figured if she got him to play maybe he could forget about talking since she couldn't. Walk "Talk" Think

Ashiel gazed at the spirit as she promptly sat down. Why didn't she say anything? Didn't she understand him? Maybe some of the spirits spoke a different language? She answered his question with a shake of his head. So she wasn't attacking or performing a ritual then what was she up to by making the ocean glow like that? Spirits were strange creatures indeed. She took her paw and smacked it into the sound. Ashiel could only gaze questioningly at her. What was she trying to say? "I uh… what's your name? Wait… can you talk?" That had to be it. The spirit was mute or else communicated in a way that he could not hear. Like bats with their sonar. "I um… I don't know what this means." He smacked the earth with his own paw and shrugged. Surely she knew what sand was and wasn't trying to ask a question of her own. "Talk" "You" Think

More talking. That was boring. She couldn't answer him so instead she did what she knew could get iskra to play if she didn't just get it the first time. He looked like someone fun to chew on anyway. She was quick to bounce up. Her rail was high and waving like a flag. Then she dropped her chest to the ground and extended both paws stiffly.

She bounded around him before doing her best to barrel into the much larger boy. If it worked he'd be splayed in the sand and she'd be play bowing again. Her next move was to bound around him and attempt to get a hold of his tail. He needed to go for a swim and stop with the talking. Life was more fun if you just went with the flow and didn't talk anyway.

Her silence was really all the answer he needed. The girl was mute and that confused him. He'd never heard of a voiceless spirit unless perhaps she were under some sort of curse. He wanted to ask her about it but she quickly bounced up then dropped her chest to the ground. Finally, he got it… sort of. "Erm… you want to play? I uh… I'm a bit old for that…" He was a grown wolf now, he didn't get into a play bow for anyone unless he was planning to immediately surge up and rip the throat or entrails from his opponent. Why would a spirit want to play so? She danced around him then bounded into him. He stumbled back a bit from surprise but his much larger bulk meant that he wasn't going to be an easy target to topple. "Hey! What was that for?" He wasn't sure why he was still speaking. Honestly, he didn't know how to handle someone who could not speak. Ok, this was getting weird. He turned to leave when he felt a tug on his tail, pulling him toward the water. "Say, what are you doing?" Ashiel bounded forward and pulled his tail minus a few hairs out of her grip before looking at the water. "Ok, ok, one swim." He eyed the water for a few minutes then carefully put his front feet in, waiting to see if he felt weird. The whole thing was quite eerie and he half wondered if the girl was some sort of siren trying to lure him out into the water to drown him. "Talk" "You" Think

She wagged her tail when he finally got it. Wow he needed a really good nickname. He wasn't much fun though because he said he was too old to play. Boring! first thing she needed to do was splash him and get him to loosen up a little. Fun was the name of her game and she was in it for the long haul. When she pulled his tail she finally got somewhere, though her butt ended up in the sand. She spit out his fur and ran a quick circle around him until he finally got ankle deep in. Well that wasn't fun. She sprinted right past him, making the biggest splash she could, and hopefully getting chicken boy with it. Boring chicken boy! That was great! She grinned as she got shoulder deep, back at the boy. She reared onto her front legs and twisted aiming to splash his face. Her face was alight with glee and she gave him a look that said what you gonna do now? She was daring him to splash back, after all who was really going to see out here? Only her and they'd likely never meet again. Speech

Ashiel dipped his head to sniff at the water. It did smell a bit weird but only slightly and he didn't feel any different. Perhaps he was immune being the child of a spirit himself? This gave him a boost of confidence as he slipped forward and melted into the water. Ashiel had learned to swim from Lydia. It had been an important skill growing up in the canyon when the wet season caused the river to swell and twist into rapids. The girl had taken a flying leap into the water but Ashiel's timely entrance saved him from the slash of her canon ball. She twisted to splash at him and a wave smacked the left side of his face. "Ack, hey!" He twisted his own body, reeling in his hind legs then kicking them out toward her, intent on returning the favor. "Talk" "You" Think