”This is ridiculous,” groused Zahir, who stood guard over her young charge as he dug. They were on an island under the supervision of the event hosts so Valentine had relaxed his rule against Zahir taking Tyrian outside packlands unattended. The boy’s father was somewhere on the island probably with one of the other kids, so it wasn’t like the pair had tromped across Boreas together.

”What? I can’t hear you over all this fun I’m having!” Tyrian snarked back. He shifted around so that he could kick sand in Zahir’s direction. The snow leopard protested, threatened and then moved away with a hiss when her warnings fell on deaf ears.

First he dug deep, then, when it became hard to reach the bottom, he widened the hole until he could fit in it. Then he started digging down again. Being so close to the shore, cave ins happened frequently but Tyrian was unperturbed. He was just going to have to deal with it because this was a good spot. There wasn’t anything special about it, he just had a feeling that this was the place to be. He was going to find the best treasure.

OOC: he’s at Q-10

deciding to go back to the area that Siobhan had seen people digging at, she stumbled upon a boy and his companion. her little tail lashed behind her in excitement as she watched him dig, her rusty chain forgotten in favor of the tickets she had gotten so far. the girl hadn't dug anything worthy up, and she assumed someone had claimed the chain by now. or it was left to the elements, who knew? "h-hello!" she gasped, rushing boldly up to the boy and his feline. "did you dig something nice up?" she'd stare at him through big round purple eyes, her little mouth opened. okay, first real interaction with someone that was around her age. that wasn't family, even! gotta be proud and confident. she was an alpha's daughter, after all! the boy was older than her obviously, but she hoped he didn't mind her talking to him. "I'm Siobhan Valentine" she added, introducing herself with a bright smile. "from Lirim." she really hoped she wasn't bothering him. her turn to dig was up and she was bored.

He dug and dug until his arms ached. Finally his toes brushed something very clearly not-sand and Tyrian's heart leapt up into his throat. Though he was tired he redoubled his efforts. Slowly the shape of something began to form under his paws until at last enough was exposed that he could seize it in his teeth. Fully expecting a prize he wrest it free...and was disappointed to discover all he had freed was a twisted knot of driftwood.

Immediately he dropped it, his baleful gaze staring daggers at its mottled surface, and was on the verge of kicking it when a voice reached his ears. Tyrian looked up, still glaring, and was rewarded with the sight of a pretty little girl. His glare disappeared almost instantaneously. "Hello," he said in a suave tone. b>"My name's Tyrian."

Something she'd said had piqued his curiosity, so after lifting the driftwood up so she could see he'd only found a boring thing, he said, "Your last name's Valentine? That's so weird. That's my dad's first name."

Siobhan shyly shuffled her paws, not understanding the term or emotion 'suave' for her age. she didn't know if the boy was being smooth. all she knew is that the other child made a big show of introducing himself, being all proper and such... and for some reason it made her shy. conscious even. maybe she was going to grow into an attempted heartbreaker herself one of these days. or at least someone who, dunno, was shy when others flirted with her? time would tell. "ooh, is it?" she shot her head around the boy as if to see the man named Valentine. "maybe it's super common?" her head tilted comedically as she looked back to the other child. "nice to meet you, though, Tyrian! that's a nice name" Siobhan giggled, finding it both mature and strong. he seemed to be sad about dragging up some driftwood though. peering at it, she'd bounce to her paws and lean in as he lifted it. "yuck, it smells like it's been down there loads of time!" she stated naively. turning to gasp as she glanced at the feline, she'd waggle her butt in excitement. "is this your friend?" he had a companion at his age? wow, Tyrian must be strong and smart then!

He wasn't sure if it was or not, but he guessed not. That's what made it so weird in his book. Tyrian shrugged, then said, "I don't think it is, but I guess it doesn't matter."

Small as her compliment may have been, it was just the kind of ego stroking Tyrian needed. He smirked at her, his tail wagging gently, and said, "Thanks, Sioban's a nice name too. Very pretty."

He glanced back at Zahir, who now lay in the wet sand watching the pups. "Oh yeah, this is Zahir. She's supposed to be digging too and because she isn't, all we've gotten is this smelly log."

The slander was enough to goad Zahir into responding. "No," she said firmly. "You are the one who's competing therefore only you have to dig."

Tyrian rolled his eyes and cast a meaningful glance in Sioban's direction. "Well, I'm done digging now so it doesn't matter." But what to do? The beach was boring with just him and Zahir. His eyes lit up as he looked at Sioban. "What are you doing here? Anything fun?"

Siobhan watched the exchange between wolf and companion with a giggle. they seemed to be good friends despite the bickering. she wondered if one day she could have a friend like that, and she would ask Papa if she could. a familiar was a lot of work if you didn't get a good, compatible one. she'd have to feed it, take it on walks... maybe she could get one like Tyrian had. Zahir seemed to be able to look after herself. "I'm done digging too" she recalled Rags and Paddy helping her but all she found was a dirty chain. reaching out, she'd gently touch his shoulder with a smile. "hey, I didn't get anything either and I was digging all by myself. at least you have Zahir to keep you company." she'd give a friendly encouraging nod to the sabercat before her eyes returned to Tyrian. she withdrew her paw, buzzing with possibilities. no, she wasn't doing anything fun right this second but she could. the girl eyed the other wolf. "it's not fun to do anything by yourself" Siobhan admitted with a dramatic sigh "so I sorta just... wandered around, hoping to find someone to do something with. my brothers and sisters are all busy doing their own thing. I wanted to do something with someone new." a subtle hint that she would, if he allowed, allow her to accompany him on whatever he wanted to do.