She padded quietly through the last thicket, barbed briars tugging at her coat, the fjord ahead catching her eye as she broke through. She halted, turning to wait for Regulus and his sisters to break through. After the rush of emotions, and her charge to Solstice for answers, she had told Sibelle that she would think of the offer to stay in Solstice until Falk was freed. However, what of the rest of her family in the Willows? It had occurred to her to move the whole family out of the Willows, and hide them away; perhaps in the southern continent, or nearby. Emotionally, she was a mess, but refused to break under the strain. For her children, she would do what she could to make sure she was strong enough to care for them. Her children were her point of joy in the whole tumultuous They could make her smile, even if she felt as though she were on the verge of tears. So today, she was taking them to the shore to play. As her children came through, she padded on slowly, until her paws touched the glimmering sands that connected the northern continent to the southern continent. Her eyes lifted to the smudge of land on the horizon before turning to look at her children. ?Don?t go any deeper than over your toes, kids. And don?t go beyond my sight.? She trusted them to obey those two requests, and added, with a chuckle, ?And don?t drink the water; it?ll make you feel sick.? She stretched as Regulus took off with a howl of delight. Settling onto her haunches, she stood watch over her children as they played and enjoyed the sea.

Regulus

Regulus trotted after his mother, pink tongue lolling in his jaws. It was a really long walk from the den to this place. But he could take it! He was a master adventurer, after all. His big paws were a little tired, but man, was he excited! He tried a little hop and skip, and crashed into his mothers hocks. After he picked himself up and shook off the snow flakes and dirt, he looked around to see if he?d escaped his sisters noticing. Not that he didn?t love them, because he did love them, a lot, but they could be such teasers. His mother was getting ahead, so he charged after her, his tail wagging. The beach! What was a beach? Could he eat it? Maybe not? But he?d find out! The brambles they were pushing through widened and lightened, and his heart thrummed with excitement. He could feel it; they were almost there! His deep sapphires sparkled with near mind boggling excitement. And suddenly, they were there. He stopped in his tracks to stare. ?Whooooaaaawow?.? He felt so very tiny, all of a sudden, and that was saying something. His mother spoke, and he took her words to heart. ?Yes mother.? What was that?! Something scuttled to his right. He pounced! Something scuttled to the front. Whatever the beach was? He loved it! Regulus charged off, howling his challenge to the beach to battle. His charge was abruptly halted by a blue glimmer at his paws. It hardly took a second for him to go from poking to digging. What the heck was this? He unearthed the blue thing, and found that it was attached to something that was the same color as his mothers light silver parts. Was it food? He leaned down, taking it in his mouth and biting down. ?Ylech!? Grainy, salty tasting dirt clung to his tongue, and the thing was most definitely not edible. It clinked as it hit the ground, and he poked it with his paws, before the excitement took over and he took to bouncing around the thing, barking and yapping.

Faite had fallen in easily behind Regulus' leadership, allowing the red boy to plow ahead and lead the way. He blazed a trail through the underbrush, and Faite followed behind, content to rest within his shadow. He could gather the lion's share of the attention - and indeed, when he tripped and went sprawling, Faite allowed herself a small smile. It wasn't intentionally cruel, but if one messed up while in the spotlight, well, others were bound to notice. Which was why Faite was more than content to follow behind Regulus and let him mess up. Her gaze remained focused on her brother and mother, though Faite kept one ear pricked towards Zuriel at all times, paying attention to her sister as much as she could. It came as a small shock to the youngster when her paws hit the sand, and she drew up for a moment, anxious blue and gold gaze focusing on her mother. Would their mama have taken them somewhere dangerous? It took Faite a few moments to ascertain that the sand was as safe as any other ground, but once Regulus had charged ahead without suffering any harm, Faite too stepped forward, muzzle crinkling slightly at the strange sensation. Curiously, she sniffed at the ground, sneezing slightly when some of the grains of gritty dirt went up her nose. Nodding eagerly when her mother told her not to go too deep into the water, Faite padded forward cautiously, ears pinning back for a second when the water reached her paws for the first time. It was cold! And it smelled salty, to say the least. Faite was almost tempted to taste the water, but if it was anything like the gritty dirt, she wanted no part in it. And so Faite was content to frolic a little in the water, bounding up to Regulus and splashing a small amount towards him as he played with his find. She was careful not to splash enough that it would get near his eyes or nose, as it smelled rather unpleasant, but the playful grin on her face invited Regulus to return the action. Would he play with her in this strange water? "Burn Baby Burn"

Why did they have to walk so faaaaar? This was the first time for Zuriel to be out of the den in quite a while and her legs were already so tired from walking. She seemed to get sick so easily and frequently that she had gotten used to staying in the den while Reg and Faite played and explored. It got boring, but Momma kept her company most of the time. Daddy used to, but she didn't know where Daddy was so just Momma did now. She didn't get to think about it too much since she looked up just in time to see Regulus run into Momma and fall down, making her grin and giggle at the sight of her silly brother. He was always so energetic! Zuriel continued to lag behind the group, having to run a bit to catch up to them every few steps. She still ended up behind Faite for most of the trip though, not that she really minded. When they finally arrived at this "beach" that their Momma was talking about Zuriel's bright blue gaze widened with wonder and her little mouth dropped open with surprise. It was huge! She had never seen so much water all in one place! And the ground felt weird here, all gritty and it moved under her paws as she walked on it. Regulus of course dashed off to investigate something he spotted head on the moment he stepped onto the beach and Fiate headed right to the water, but was still on Reg's heels. Zuriel settled herself next to her mother at first, leaning her thin form into Surreal's side while she let her tired legs rest. Her wide, curious gaze never stopped taking in all the new sights though, so many questions coming to mind. Her eyes finally landed on a plant that seemed to be thriving despite the fact that it was growing in this weird, grainy ground. After several moments she pulled herself to her paws and padded over to it so she could sniff and move it gently with one of her small forepaws. "Momma?" she called back over her shoulder to her mother that she had left just a few feet behind her, "Do you think I could take a little bit of this back to Gran-Ma? Do you think she'd know what it is?" Speech Thought Others

Regulus was the first to charge off, and Faite soon after, Surreal followed the two with her eyes as she settled at the edge of the sand, in a place where she would be able to watch all three children, and hear any approach from behind, and see any approach from the distance on the sand. A lot of her hoped Shai might pop up. It’d been a bit since that evenings lesson; she wanted to learn more, and teach her friend more. Regulus’ loud barks and yips drew her attention more fully onto her red son; he’d found something in the sand, and was circling it, challenging it to fight. A chuckle bubbled from her throat. Zuriel hadn’t wandered far from her side. The second born daughter of her heart had given them all a few sleepless nights. The illness had been a severe cold, and as her daughter pulled through, Surreal saw the interest in herbs and healing kindle. Erani had caught that spark as well, and had begun teaching the silver and black pup about plants and their uses. Even now, Zuriels interest in it never wavered; the little girl had found a plant already. Surreal shifted her eyes to Zuriels find. It looked like a plant her mother would find interesting. ”I think she’ll like it, and I’m very sure she’ll know exactly what it is. We’ll leave it for now, and you can take some of it when we’re ready to leave; that way it lasts longer.” She cast a loving look to the girl, nosing her forehead. ”I’m proud of how fast you’re learning. Healers are a fine set of wolves.” Regulus was still yapping, and Surreal sat up, looking around. She wouldn’t be surprised if someone came to see what the racket was about. She grinned as she saw Faite attempt to splash the big red pup with the sea water. Slowly, she left Zuriels side and slipped into the water, around behind her youngest, making sure not to splash. Once she had hopefully obtained her intended position, she hunkered down until her shoulders sank under the waves. Then, abruptly, she leapt up, rearing back to slap her paws into the water, aiming to splash both pups. Then with a laugh, she bounded out of the water, inviting them to chase.

Regulus

Ohhh, this blue, sparkly thing was a tough one. It just sat there, even under his best moves and greatest barks and growls! Finally, he stopped, glared at it, then grabbed it and flipped it in the air. Take that! The thing glittered as it flipped through the air, and a yellow, glittery vine spread in a sparkly circle, attached to the blue thing. Then it began to descend. ACK! It had him! All the sudden, he felt something around his neck; the thing had him around the neck! It was at that moment that the water splashed him in the face. He was too startled by the change in the fight with the blue thing to care. And then the water exploded! Regulus was off like a shot with a yell of “MAAAMA!” And the thing stayed with him! The vine wrapped around his neck, and the blue thing smacked against his chest. And a water monster was chasing him! What would uncle Castiel do? His mind was in a whirl, and finally it settled into: Uncle Cas would turn right around and beat that water monster to pieces. Regulus took a deep breath and slid to a sand spraying halt, and whirled, squaring up like his Uncle and Cousins taught him, and faced the monster. Mama? She bounded out of the water, laughing, and just like that, the danger was all gone. Regulus watched his mother run, until the switch flipped in his brain, and suddenly, he was charging after his mother with a crow of belly shaking laughter. “I’ll get you, Mama!” The thing was forgotten quickly as he raced after his mothers heels, jaws gaping to try and catch her dripping tail. He didn’t know where the water monster had gone, but he was sure his mother would be able to beat it with one paw behind her back if it came back.