Ari had A Plan. That wasn't unusual - there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't have some sort of scheme or mischief planned. Today's Plan, however, required a fall guy. Or at least, a shared-trouble guy, for as they say pain shared is pain halved. Or in this case, trouble shared was trouble halved. And of course she had the perfect patsy in mind.

And there she was. The patsy.

Ophelia.

The mud-bedecked, leaf-and-stick camo'd Aris sidled over to where Ophie was and attempted to snatch her into the grass, hurriedly adding more mud to her dirty sister as she did. "Come on, Ophie," she hissed to her. "No questions, you're going on an adventure with me. Make yourself sneaky." She stuck her head back out, glancing around warily to see if their family's watchful companions had noticed their disappearance yet. She couldn't tell if they had, but it was a risk she was willing to take. "Ok clear! Let's go!"

Grabbing her sister by the tail she tugged her to orient her towards the border, then gave her a shove in the rump to encourage her to move before scampering in that direction herself.

She was careful to watch for any patrolling pack members before breaking out of hiding and sprinting over the border, not stopping until she was well on the other side, then diving into cover to pant, and glance around for her sister. Did she make it, or had she chickened out?

It took a lot of effort being this muddy, you know? No matter what her Mother thought, Ophie was convinced that she didn't smell bad and that there was nothing wrong with a bit of mud, and dirt and slime and-well the list went on and on. Splayed out on her back, Ophie had found the perfect puddle to marinate in and was making full use of it. Her tail swished from side to side, creating ripples as she stared up at the cloudy sky, daydreaming as per usual.  

Or at least that was until Aris crashed onto the scene. Needless to say she'd chosen the perfect victim. Scrambling to her paws, Ophie's wagged her tail a mile a minute, causing droplets of dirty water to be flung in all directions. If her sister asked her to jump Ophie had to know how high! She parted her lips to ask where they were going, only to click her teeth shut when Aris asked, or rather told her not to ask any questions. Yeah! Okay she could do that! The sneaky part too, though that might prove to be a little harder.

She let out a soft eep as Aris grabbed her tail but want all limp and malleable to allow her sister to push her wherever she needed to go, this was the first time in AGES since Aris had involved her in anything and honestly the mucky Princess was beyond thrilled.

Rushing along as fast as her little paws would take her, Ophie felt a stab of guilt as he made her way across the border. But she made it and laid low, belly to the ground, blending in with the foliage as she waited for Aris to catch up.

Gossamer rolled onto her back to stare at the clouds as she waited for her herbs to dry. Asta insisted that this was a crucial lesson, that the best way to store herbs for use in the future was to dry them. Unfortunately, though, it took foreeeevvvveeeerrr. Gossamer was bored. She was buried down in the golden grasses, watching the clouds when she heard movement. Peeking up above the grasses she spied Aris and Ophie heading for the woods. She didn't see their companions off hand. Were they going out of the Armada without someone to watch them? Her eyes narrowed and she bolted after her sisters. She was pretty sure she was allowed to wander since Ásta was an adult and basically the size of an average wolf.

When she got closer she hissed out a call. "Psst, hey, where are you two going. Do you have your escorts?" Speaking of escorts. Where was her fox companion?