Haiku was taking his newly found freedom seriously, and he was now allowing himself to go past Abaven’s borders. A territory or two. Haiku was probably the most cautious of the ‘bigger’ three of the litter. Ruin had an honorary big title because of her giant personality. Usually he would have asked one of those two along on an adventure, but he was trying to prove himself to himself and was out in the world all alone. Or mostly. Prose soared in the cloudy skies above him. The weather was cold, but he wasn’t whenever he had her company. He hoped to hear from Bowen in the next few days, but with the spring never seeming to return he didn’t know when he would hear from or see her again.

The bot tried not to think too hard about his friend, he could hardly leave pack lands alone, how was he supposed to get all the way to Auster? Haiku huffed lightly but continued to plod along in the snow as he made his way to the falls, which had practically frozen over. He could still hear muffled running water, the rapids had to empty somewhere he figured. He’d seen frozen water before, and if the falls were anything they were impressive and he couldn’t wait to see the ice formations.

Brrrr but it was cold. The sensation prickled at her scabbed pads, and tickled at her nose. She was starting to think she would never be warm again. There were some things to be admired about the landscape, and her good sense and her wonder constantly fought battle inside of her. She wanted to gawk at everything like a love sick tourist. She wanted to touch everything, explore every wonder. The other part of her feared staying still. It ran hot in her blood, the urge to move and move until she collapsed, exhausted, at the end of every day.

The further she ran, and the more muddled her trail, the more likely she would continue to evade capture.

Such a war began when she saw the falls. The icey sculpture rising up before her, startling her with its beauty. She could fear the thunder of falling water, so clearly it was all frozen, but enough to create a formation of ice in wavering patterns. She was so enraptured by it that she forgot to pay attention to her surroundings. Stepping closer, she rapped one such icey creation with a curious paw.

Haiku continued plodding along through the fluffy white snow. He really wished real spring would arrive, but he’d keep on keeping on anyway. If anything he was built for the cold. His massive body made plenty of heat and his winter coat had grown very heavy. The chilly wind didn’t even make him flinch. Prose called out, she could see the falls already, and he was surprised that she was alerting him to another wolf’s presence. The young Destruction boy continued onward curiously, ears perked and multicolored eyes searching. He crested the peak of the falls just as the girl down below tapped against the ice.

Even over the sound of moving water the musical note that followed was both haunting and beautiful. Haiku hadn’t ever heard anything so beautiful in his life. The boy was forced to pause as the sound reverberated through and air and into his soul. Haiku took in a deep breath as it faded into nothingness and he again peered at the girl. He wasn’t sure what to say, nor could he think how to follow up something unbelievable like that. So she’d get a simple, ”H.. hello.”

She jumped in surprise at the bell-like noise that rang out at her touch. Beautiful and musical, who knew such a thing existed in this world? She wouldn’t have, if she had continued to run.

She jumped again when a voice broke out the silence that had come after the sound had faded. She hadn’t heard the boy approach, she had been too entranced by what was before her. She squeaked a little, and turned hurriedly, almost slipping as she looked over at the young boy. oh but he was pretty. His eyes were like hers, too, but different. A touch of a lighter tone lingered beneath them. He looked a little frosted himself, with the white that wrapped about his forepaws. He didn’t look like a threat, but she was already on edge. She slowly took a step back. “Oh, i’m sorry, I didn’t see you there” she said to cover her fright and surprise.


"Speech"