Explorer in Spirit

Ruse laid on the beach of their island, stretched out on her back and looking up at the stars. For some reason in all the time leading up to her first birthday she thought that maybe, just maybe, once she turned a year old she'd be allowed to go out and do more things, but ever since her mom's unexpected and unplanned vacation it seemed like her mother was even more protective of her than she ever had been and of course her father was still very firm on her staying close to home, not that she really ever expected that to change. She sighed and stretched her front paws up toward the sky, her toes splaying and stretching in front of her so that she could see the stars peek between them as they moved.

At the very least if she had to be stuck in one place she supposed it was a good thing it was a beautiful tropical island. She didn't know what other places were like besides what she had heard in stories, but she didn't think she'd like living somewhere that was really cold all the time or somewhere that didn't have beaches for swimming. Other than the small trips she had been taken on to the lands very close to their own the only places she had been in and were familiar with were the island and the area just across their ferry to the opposite shore where all of the beaver dams were. The island was infinitely more interesting than the beaver dams, but even it started to get boring after a while.

Lowering her paws to curl them up on her chest, she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye and she looked over to see Hoax walking toward her from the family compound. Her mastiff always came to check on her at night, clearly being sent by her mother to get the young woman to come to bed even if Hoax always denied it. "I'm not tired yet!" she called, loud enough that if her mother was outside on the deck by their room then she would hear. Hoax came over and nudged her cheek and Ruse waved the mastiff of, saying, "I'm fine, Hoax, I'll be in soon...ish." She was intentionally vague, not wanting to give anything specific that would come back to bite her later. The mastiff huffed, but she didn't bother her any more and turned around to go back into the compound.

Once Hoax was gone Ruse sighed and looked back up at the stars again, following the patterns and shapes of them, tracing out what she thought they were in her mind. She had picked up on the fact that the stars were in set patterns and had predictable paths fairly easily and she had started studying them every night, learning every star that was mapped out over their island. They moved slightly as the weeks went by and the seasons changed, but she could pretty much point out where the most memorable ones without having to search too hard for them now. She rolled to her feet, giving herself a good shake to get rid of any sand that had gotten caught up in her fur. Looking out toward the mainland, she looked in the direction that the castle they had visited once when she was really little was, her eyes following the distant stars that trailed off in that direction. Maybe, one day, if she ever got to go exploring again she would follow those stars and she'd go see the castle again.

Looking back over her shoulder at the compound that was waiting for her behind some jungle trees and vegetation, she imagined sneaking off of the island to follow those stars. She'd pass through the beaver dams, being quiet so she wouldn't disturb any of the flat-tailed animals sleeping there. She'd go through the cedar tree forest that she knew had a river running through it and waterfalls only because she had heard the roar of the falls in the distance one of the times she had convinced her father to let her go on a patrol with him. She would keep following those stars and eventually, somewhere on the other side of the cedar wood forest, she would find the other Auster dwelling pack and the castle they lived in. She didn't have a real reason to be fixed on the castle in particular, but it was at least a moderately familiar pin point for her to plot a pretend path for. But, instead, she just turned around and went back to the compound so she could finally go to bed and make her mother stop fretting over her. Hoax was waiting for her by the door when she got there and she just chuckled softly at her attentive mastiff, motioning for her to go inside before she followed in behind.

WC: 823

"Rusalka Alondra Klein"