He startled slightly in surprise as she gave her name - not because it meant anything to him, but because his attention had been snared so completely by her coat and maps that he had not introduced himself. He had let his guard down so completely, she could have knocked him over before he could have responded. He kept his surprise to himself, taking care to pay attention once more to what was around him, and gently nudging down thoughts of his darling daughter.

“I’m Sirius Fatalis” he introduced himself, pausing to sweep a paw forward. “This is the Tall Grass Plains, the closest territory to where I found you.” he said, welcoming her forward. No one would disturb them well she was being escorted by the Warlord. As he crossed, he also raised his head to howl to daughter, to invite her to join them.

Colors flew this way and that. With her newly acquired dyes, Aslatiel had been painting her star maps to mimic the night sky. With blues, purples, reds and black, the tiny girl was recreating the stars that she looked at every night. There was blue and purple coloring smeared on her paws and cheeks from the fervor with which she worked. So, when her father's call came, she wasn't remotely in a state fit to meet company. Why would she have expected to meet someone new anyway? Her father called for her often and had never had anyone to introduce her to before. Why would this time be any different?

Putting her paints away, Asla placed the large skin out of the way so that it could dry. Scratching an itch on her cheek smeared the paint on her cream colored fur even more. Heading out of the den, the now vibrantly colored child made her way in the direction where she believed her father would be.

Coming upon the hulking form of her father in the distance, plum colored eyes narrowed. There was another wolf beside him. It was someone that she didn't know. Wiping her paws in the grass, she would wait for them to come closer to her, giving her more time to make herself somewhat presentable.

I have toured the endless starlight…

Aerndis followed Sirius to the Tall Grass Plains, taking in the wide variety of grasses that were growing here, pushing their way up through ash and darkened soil. It gave her hope that the lands would indeed recover from the volcano. Hopefully, the grassed had had enough time to root deeply before winter though the south usually had milder winters. "Thank you, I'm excited to see your territories. It looks like the plains are recovering well. That's good to see!"

Sirius lifted is head and howled. Aerndis felt the stirring of butterflies in her stomach as she wondered what his daughter would think of her. She'd never really worried about the thoughts of others before but she found herself not wanting to disappoint this girl. Her ears flicked forward as she spied a small shape bounding toward them, covered in what might be paint. Aerndis couldn't tell for sure and of course she knew many wolves with interesting color and markings. She smiled kindly at the girl but waited for Sirius to make introductions.

His daughter, freckled with splatters of color, would halt before she reached them. Sirius didn’t even slow, if anything he picked up speed, plowing into his daughter with a bear hug as he wrapped his forpaws around her, and rolled them both into the grass. He kissed her cheek, not in the least bit embarrassed by his display of affection as he released her and let her land gently on the grass again, pulling himself back to his feet, and turning towards his companion. “This is Aerndis, she’s making a map of Boreas, we get a copy in trade of showing her around our territories” he explained, head still close to his daughter, but voice just loud enough to Arendis to catch his words as well.

He raised his head then, nodding to the brightly toned woman. “Aerndis, this is my daughter Aslatiel. She makes the most beautiful star maps.” He would conclude the introduction, giving away what they had in common with his words. With that, he pulled himself back to his full height, dwarfing his little daughter. “Let’s talk and walk.” he suggested.

He took them further away from the weeping woods, making their way between Bird's garden and Resin’s meadow, skirting Io’s pond as he led them towards the communal area that the firepit lay in. “If you need more time then a brisk tour, your welcome to hang around for a day or two to get what you need, and a day longer if needed to give us a copy of your map” he concluded.

Though she appeared serious initially due to her apprehension about being covered in pain, the girl instantly dissolved into laughter and giggles as her father scooped her up and tumbled in the grass with her. She playfully bit at him and licked his face. Again, it ran through her mind just how glad she was to have her father back.

Once they were done wrestling in the grass, Sirius introduced her to the vibrantly colored woman beside him. Aerndis was her name. Aslatiel's mouth set in a hard line and she nodded once at the woman. "Good to meet you," she said courteously. The girl was not happy, but she tried not to let it show.

Maps...

The word pulled the dull, cream colored child from her negative thoughts instantly. Aerndis made maps of the land, her father said. "Do you... want to see my maps?" Aslatiel asked hesitantly as the trio began to walk so that Sirius could show the woman their territory. She wasn't happy... but at least another map maker could give her some insight into whether or not she was on the right track.

I have toured the endless starlight…

Aerndis grinned as Sirius tackled his daughter. A pang hit her heart as she wished her father had played with her like that when she was young. So much of her time had been lost to wandering alone. "Hello Aslatiel, It's nice to meet you. I've never seen a star map before, that sounds really cool!" She meant it to. She'd never seen or tried to make a star map but she could see how it would be useful, especially since the constellations seemed to constantly shift in the sky except for a few particular ones. The girl seemed a bit wary of her but Aerndis could understand. She was a complete stranger after all.

"I would love to see your maps! I'll show you mine. I need to get them out to mark things down anyway." She carefully pulled out a wrapped piece of hide as they walked between a lovely garden and meadow. Aerndis pulled out her ink of smashed raspberries and carefully marked out the garden and meadow. She looked up to Sirius. "This is fine, it won't take me too long. I just want to get a rough idea of where things are and then when I give you your copy you're welcome to have Aslatiel help you refine it and add in more detail."

Some of her vibrancy faded as she was introduced to the stranger, and the fun of their spontaneous play fell away. He frowned at her, surprised and weary at the change in her demeanor. Normally Asla was like the rising sun, bright, and vibrant. What he would have given to know what was going through her thoughts. Instead, he gave her coat a gentle ruffle with his breath, and walked beside her, so she could lean on him - physically or mentally, as she pleased.

He paused when Aerendis brought out her maps, and gave her space and time to jot down the things she saw. He did use his height to glance curiously at her parchment to get an idea what she was drawing, and grinned in amusement to see part of Bird and Resin’s worlds on the paper.

“We’ll stop by our home before we continue on to Sea’s Plains, and the two of you can look over eachothers maps.” he decided, and would either wait or lead depending on what Aerndis was doing at the time, giving the tour at her pace.

Aerndis said that she would be happy to look at Asla's star maps and the girl cracked a little smile. She stayed close to her father, pressing herself against one of his tree like forelegs as she watched the woman unroll a hide and add something to it. From her place almost hiding behind her father, Asla spoke. "What kind of paint is that? My aunt Io made my colors for me." She did like the shade of the woman's paint though, so if she could learn what it was, she could make her own.

Once Aerndis was finished, she mentioned Asla finishing her map and adding in details. The girl beamed up at her father, excited at the prospect. With a little pep in her step, she bounced ahead of the adults, leading the way to her star den. Once inside, she pulled out a few rolls of hide. The best of her maps were hung on the walls, however. It was the easiest way to display her work. She waited for her father and Aerndis to enter the den so that she could show off her very colorful work.

I have toured the endless starlight…

Aerndis worked quickly and nimbly. Practice was making her much more effective at sketching and and drawing, especially on the move. She dipped a claw in the raspberry juice and quickly marked out several landscapes. She could always refine later and in fact she planned to after making a more durable ink. "Oh, this is just raspberry juice. I've crushed up the berries and use it as a temporary ink. It's a bit sticky and not very permanent but I just use it to sketch. Once I'm done I'll go back over it with a permanent ink." She finished up her sketch. "Your Auntie Io sounds like a clever woman. Perhaps some time we could share recipes?" She didn't have any recipes that were colorful like Asla's paints but she could make up for that with more permeance. "Ok, I think I'm good here. Can we go see Aslatiel's star maps now?"

The tour-guide-warlord gave his child and explorer room as they discussed paints, maps and stars. It was good to see Asla engaged with the woman. As much as he liked her spunk, it was nice that some of her activities didn’t involve killing.

When Asla bounced ahead, he cast a glance over to Aerndis, liking the woman more for the way she handled his kid. She made Asla feel valid, and put a bounce in her step that hadn’t been there before. It might be something small, but the Warlord wasn’t likely to forget it anytime soon.

“Just this way” he told Aerndis, through it was Asla in the lead, as he followed his daughter back to their shared den, and the entrance at the back that led to her own private room. He wiggled through the entrance that was built for slightly small wolves in mind, and then stepped to the side, so Aerndis could take in the circular-shaped room with maps on the walls.

The girl had taken out the best of her rolled maps and had placed them out on the ground. She also pulled out her very first map to show the progress that she had made. Each skin was loaded with color. There were tools that she used to get the directions right and the lines straight. She even sat out her pots of color that aunt Io had made for her.

When her father squeezed into the den, the striped fae instantly moved to sit between his paws. His presence was comforting. Plus, with as uncertain as she was feeling lately, she would draw on his strength and safety. Clearing her throat, she spoke, "So, these are my maps. I get better each time I try." Her head tilted slightly. "I don't know their true names, so I named them after things that I know." She was curious what Aerndis would think of the maps. Was she wasting her time or was she getting somewhere?

I have toured the endless starlight…

Aerndis followed Sirius and Asla to a den entrance and then slipped in after them. She found herself in a nice and spacious den that was honestly very impressive. Aern's own den was pretty sparse though she hadn't spent too much time in it yet. She had hides stored up to make it more homey and warm before winter just as soon as she took a break from her wandering, which would have to be soon with winter on the way. She followed the duo to an entrance that lead to another room. When she squeezed in she immediately noticed the colorful maps spread out on the walls.

"Oh, wow!" She meant it too. Hanging the maps on the wall was an excellent idea and she really enjoyed the colors. "These are quite good." Aerndis searched across the maps, looking for familiar shapes. She turned to Asla and smiled. "Really their true names are whatever you wish them to be, what calls them to your mind. I've heard dozens of names for what I call the North Star." Sure her name wasn't as imaginative as say Polaris, but she was pretty practical and straight forward so it worked for her.

The Warlord leaned back, letting the two of them take over. He played silent guard, though he did not believe Aerendis to be a threat, he also would not let his guard down well she was so close to his little daughter. He stayed near the entrance of the den, listening to the excited talk of his little one as she displayed her precious work. Sirius of course would always be at hand to fetch her anything more she needed for her map making, having already provided her with this spacious area to display and work on them. He would always help his children with their passions.

Aerndis praised her skill and the girl beamed, tail wagging. The star speckled woman spoke of the naming of stars and Asla nodded in approval. "I named them after what I know." She then started to point out the various stars. "This one is Sirius because it's the biggest. This little one is Zee because it looks a little blue in the sky. Here is Azure because it's bright in a patch of reddish sky. Indigo is here because the first time I saw it, the sky was a deep purple. Mortis is here in the middle, surrounded by the rest of his family." The naming of each star made complete sense to her.

She'd forgotten that her father was watching while she explained her names to Aerndis. He'd just heard her say that she had named a star after him. The girl cast a slight glance at her giant father, wondering what he thought of that.

I have toured the endless starlight…

Aerndis grinned and glanced over to Sirius as Aslatiel stated that she'd named one of the stars after him. That was just too precious. Oh, how she wished she'd had this kind of relationship with her own father. She continued to list them off and Aerndis could only assume these were named after other family members or perhaps notable wolves in the pack. "I think those are wonderful names!" They were much more imaginative than her own which tended to be just blunt descriptions of location, color or maybe time of year.

She glanced over to Sirius again to see what he thought as well as to see if he wished to continue the tour.

-end?-