The girl wailed, breaking the surface of the river as she finally came to a more calm part of the river. She gasped for air, coughing as she did so. She had taken in way too much water from her fall way upstream, and she was far to frail to last this long. If she hadn't come to the calm part just now, she wouldn't have made it -- this river would have claimed her young soul. The masked girl was weak, some of her bones showing clearly through her sopping wet fur. Her mother and father had wandered off, and she had grown bored and wanted to explore. So she tried to make her way back to Alacritia on her own, but she wasn't even a year old yet. She knew how to hunt, but not very well. While she had been chasing a rabbit she had tripped near the riverbank, and her tiny body easily fell right it. She had been fighting against the current for almost half an hour now, and the muscles in her pale legs were wobbly as she dragged herself to the shore. Charmeine wasn't even able to fully pull herself out of the river, flopping with her front half on the damp shore. Her midsection of her back and down still rested in the water, the steady flow pulling her tail downstream.

Charm closed her bright cyan eyes, turning her head as she vomited out some water that she had swallowed. She felt parched, and oh so tired. Her weary head flopped onto her legs, gray ears pulling back against her pale skull. Sides heaved as she fought to breath normally, her lungs greedily sucking in all the air she could take. The poor girl was now so far away from her parents, and her scent would have been washed away from where she fell in. So lost, alone, and nearly starved and drowned. And not even a year old...

The yearling had returned, her parents having taken leave of the lands of her birth. But Arda was back, no one would remember her here. Here she could try and start again, could give only her chosen name, live only with those who saw her as she saw herself. There would be no more adults calling her “son”, no more girls who would tease her for how feminine she was. In Alacritis she’d be female, no matter what. White paws carried the yearling further than she remembered ever being. They had left when she had still been a pup after all, and now she was free to roam where she would. The sound of running water, probably a stream or river, reminded her she wasn’t quite sure what the last time she had taken a drink was. Angling herself towards the rushing water she would find quite a different site than she expected. Upon the other shore, the prone form of a pup clung to the land. Without any thought the black and white girl splashed across the river. Despite her own diminutive size, something she had learn to be grateful for, her movements were powerful, lithe muscles propelling her across the river towards the other side. Without even stopping to shake the fur from her pelt she dashed towards the pup. Without a word she leaned down to try and grab hold of the girl’s scruff and drag her back, onto dry land. ""

She felt teeth grab her scruff, and her body being dragged upwards and away from the water. As she was pulled she turned her head to vomit again, hopefully away from the wolfs paws. Groaning, Charm was placed back on the earth and she wearily opened her eyes. Blinking them several times she looked up at the wolf, trying to focus on their black and white form. Her nose told her that this wolf was a male, but their face looked like a ladies face. Her head spun, and she wasn't quite sure if she should call them miss or mister... But before any more words left her mouth her stomach heaved, but nothing came up. There was no more food or water in her stomach, and the poor babe laid there and dry heaved for a few moments before flopping over to her left flank. She felt like crying, but was too tired to even do that. She just sniffled, the stench of her earlier vomit still in the air. Her nose wrinkled upwards, a cry leaving her mouth. No tears followed, she was too dried up on the inside. Her wide eyes looked up at the stranger, her sodden tail thumping on the earth. "'hank you," she muttered, still not quite able to pronounce her t's. "and I don' wan' 'o seem rude, bu' are you a girl? Cause you look pre'y bu' you smell like a boy," Charm said, her voice harsh from all her vomiting and inhaling water. But Charm was just that, quite the little charm. It would be strange if she wasn't happy to see someone or make idle conversation, even if she just nearly drowned.