Psalm didn't wander very often, he liked being there as a comfort to his mother, and with her and Ara going on a trip soon he was even more aware of how close he was to them. Today though he'd felt like walking by himself, it seemed like he was always with someone and being alone was different. He didn't have any particular place in mind he wished to go, but walking somewhere he'd never been was interesting. While his mother had been pretty eager about teaching him herbs he wasn't passionate about them. He thought they were interesting, and enjoyed the time spent with his mother that their small lessons brought him. However as far as what he really wanted to do he didn't have much of an idea. These thoughts occupied him as he made his way to the border of a thick forest. The tangled mass of roots reminded him of the place he called home, the mangrove trees had similar structures to them. Curiously he would leap onto one particularly garbled mess. He'd grip the tree's root with his claws, while they were dull he still felt better with added traction. With a triumphant whip of his tail he'd look deeper into the forest and continue into it. He used a similar technique to how he had to get through parts of the mangroves. Leaping from one root mass to some low branches he found his way deeper into the dark wood. ""

Angelus was belly deep in awkward teenness. To the observer he probably looked promising, but all of that promise was strung out along a too long frame resting on too long, spindly legs. He looked like an amputee spider. To top it all off, his voice was all weird. The boy might not have minded it had he not seen his dad snigger at him the last time he howled. Sometimes it was right, but half the time it dipped weirdly low or broke in the middle of speaking. He didn't like it. It made the usually exuberant boy want to give up speaking until it sorted itself out. Up ahead the slinking form of a much smaller wolf suddenly jumped out at him. Maybe it was the mist or maybe he hadn't been paying attention, but Angel found the sudden appearance a bit startling. He jumped and then recovered quickly. Hopefully the stranger hadn't seen him start. Clearing his throat to rid himself of his heebie jeebies, the boy announced his presence with a simple, "Um, hello there." "Speaking" - "Thinking"

Psalm didn't notice the other wolf at first, he'd miss the startle but would startle slightly himself at the sight. He hadn't smelled any other wolves around here. Psalm just had to leave it to thinking too deeply and not paying attention. Catching his breath and the sudden fast beating of his heart the young Destruction would take in the wolf before him. He seemed a lot like Epiphron's boys when they'd first come to Fiori. Tall, gangly, and obviously having a long way to go. Psalm envied him, he was by far the shortest male in Firori, and he was much shorter and smaller than almost all the pack but the youngest of pups. It was kind of embarrassing when within the presence of someone who towered over him. Still Psalm was curious about this stranger and hesitated in continuing on his path. "Hello!" There was still little fear in him when it came to strangers, but some of his mother's timidness had rubbed off on him. As well, he was getting older and realizing it was socially awkward to run up and hug every wolf you met. "I'm Psalm, currently exploring this here forest. How about you?" He'd ask as his slender form slipped up to a higher reaching root to more easily look this newcomer in the eyes. ""

The boy turned to look at him and Angel suddenly fell uncharacteristically shy. The stranger, Psalm, was much, much shorter than him and all of his siblings. Even Ash was taller than Psalm and he was the youngest Imperialis. His eyes were sky blue and stood out sharply against his dark coat, as did the strange markings on his face.  And he had a pink nose! Angelus had never seen a wolf with a pink nose before. He'd thought only rabbits had those. The other boy was also very agile, his small paws easily finding purchase on the roots of a tree and lifting him so that he was eye level with Angel. His smile shy, he said, "My name's Angelus. I'm exploring too." His journey had just begun; the pair were barely outside of Imperium's border. The packlands were out of sight, but the scent of the border wafted into the forest. "This forest is really cool," he offered, "Kinda creepy too. I heard there was a monster that used to live here and eat puppies that wandered in." "Speaking" "Thinking"

Psalm was practiced in the art of navigating trees, he'd lived his whole life in the mangrove. If you didn't want to get wet you took to the roots, and since really roots were the only way to travel in this forest. With ease he'd hop up so he didn't feel quite so tiny next to this massive pup. With out much hesitation he'd coil his haunches and wrap his tail around his hind legs. His curiosity was obvious in the way his ears perked up at this slate almost purple boy. In terms of age Psalm was the winner, but his mentality was hardly that of a one and a half year old. On the other hand Psalm was becoming more observant with age, and he wouldn't miss how shy this stranger, who introduced himself as Angelus, was. Though he could see potential in this interaction already, the other was exploring as well. Psalm would nod at Angel's next comment, it was a really cool forest. However his words about a monster made him quirk an eyebrow. "Haven't seen any monsters yet. I'd give it a piece of my mind though, if I saw it." He'd laugh to himself as a joke formed in his head. "I'm small enough it'd probably mistake me as a pup too!" He'd snort at the thought amusedly. ""

Psalm's joke drew a soft sniggering from the young Imperialis. The boy was pretty short. Angelus wasn't used to being around wolves so much smaller than him. Just about everyone in Imperium (besides Ash) was pretty tall so his height scale listed towards the taller end. Only Rhythm, the fae who'd taught him about plants, seemed to break the pattern in height. He associated Psalm's size with younger puppies and short faes. The difference in height combined with the boy's odd markings and unfamiliar scent prompted Angel to ask, "You're not from around here, are you?" He certainly didn't look like anyone the Prince had ever seen. The markings on his face kind of reminded Angel of Seraphim's, but it was only a vague resemblance and he felt like he was just grasping at straws in the hopes of making a connection. "Speaking" "Thinking"

His mother was also small, only an inch shorter than himself, while his brother towered over him. Even Ara held height on him. Most of the time it didn't get him down, but there were still moments when he wished that he had reached the same height of his brother at least. It seems he'd taken the least amount of traits from his father. Humor was most certainly not one of them, and his little quip would earn a snicker from the younger boy. This would prompt Psalm to scoot a bit closer to this new face as the other asked another question. "I guess I live pretty far, I grew up in the east. I live by the ocean." He'd tell him excitedly, "Have you seen the ocean Angelus?" Some wolves had not, he just thought it polite to ask. Either he'd be able to describe it (or better yet show it!) to the other boy or they could possibly discuss their favorite parts of said ecosystems. ""

Angel's eyebrows rose as the boy said he lived far away. Wow, and his parents let him go that far? That was so cool! His parents let him wander, but he knew his dad would object to him going farther than a half a day's worth of travel away. It just wasn't smart, the King told him, because if someone got their paws on him they could use his safety against Imperium. To combat this his dad was teaching him to defend himself and one day when he was confident in Angel and his siblings' abilities, he would let his kids go wherever they wanted. He lived by an ocean. Angel didn't even know what an ocean was -that's how far away Psalm lived. The young Imperialis was in awe of this petite boy. He'd traveled far and he'd traveled fearlessly. Angel wanted to be like that. "Nope, I haven't...what's an ocean?" The only bodies of water the Prince was familiar with were freshwater. Rivers, streams, ponds and puddles were all he knew about standing water. He'd never seen so much as a lake before, so the idea of a giant, seemingly endless body of undrinkable water never crossed his mind. He assumed an ocean was like, a giant hill or barn or something, because those were the biggest landmarks he knew.

Psalm had been given a lot more freedom after the change in leadership, though if Novel had known where her boy was she might have panicked. He was getting older though, his second birthday would be here before he knew it and though he was small in stature he was confident he could take care of himself. Not that he'd ever been faced with any life threatening disasters yet, surely after a few close calls he'd be much more cautious. However for now he was more than eager to face anything head on. Psalm's attention would remain on the much larger boy, the emotions that the other felt about Psalm's travels were completely foreign to Psalm. The last thing he'd expected from a wolf like Angelus was to know that he wanted to be like him. No, his focus was on how disappointed he was that Angel hadn't seen the ocean. "It's the giant water." Psalm would say simply. "Think of how much land you've seen during your life, now imagine that's all covered with water and you still don't have as big as the ocean." He'd never seen the other side, not even when he'd swam to the island. "Oh, you should come see it with me!" ""

Psalm said the giant water, like that was supposed to clear things up. It did not. However, the description that the boy followed it up with certainly did. His explanation was a good one, but Angelus couldn't quite wrap his head around it. How could such a big body of water exist? His brow furrowed in thought. Surely there wasn't that much space in the world. Or maybe...maybe the world was split half and half. Half was water and half was land. Yeah, that made sense! How cool! The boy's admiration for Psalm only grew. "Oh, you should come see it with me!" Angel's breath caught. Really? Did he really mean it? Would Psalm really take him to the giant water? Without stopping to think, he blurted, "I'd love to!" His whole body wiggled in excitement as his imagination snatched the idea up and ran with it. It would be an adventure! They'd have so much fun and he'd get to see so much and he'd have so much to tell his paren- The boy deflated. Ugh, his parents. The ocean sounded like a far away place. Much farther, at least, than a half a day's travel roundtrip. They would never let him go, he just knew it. Tentatively, he asked, "How far away is it?" "Speaking" "Thinking"

Psalm had grown up by the ocean, it's salty smell and comforting lullaby were all he had known for the first part of his life. Now though he'd really been starting to explore, and knowing there were wolves out there that hadn't seen the ocean made him realize what a big world it was. Angelus was obviously not faking his lack of experience, he looked quite confused but still accepted Psalm's explanation. It did not take much prodding before the other boy agreed to go with him to said place. The excitement was easily transferred to the smaller boy and his tail would beat faster against the tree that held him up. He'd never really been on an adventure with anyone but Hymn, even though he'd already seen the ocean it'd be more than fun to see Angel's reaction. However quickly after it was like the bigger boy's balloon got popped. Psalm would freeze as he watched the other pup become quite distressed compared to how he'd been a split second ago. He'd ask timidly how far away they'd have to go. "Well, not nearly as far as my home. I followed a river here, its bound to meet up with the ocean at least kind of close!" Yeah it wouldn't take so long to get to the ocean from here, compared to Fiori it was just a hop skip. "Why are you so worried about how far away it is anyhow?" ""

Angelus slowly sank to his haunches as he thought. The smaller boy didn't think it was very far away, but if it wasn't, how come Angel had never heard of it? Psalm's answer was a little too vague to help him guess at the distance. Then again, it was entirely possible that Psalm only thought his home was far away because he had short legs and had to take tiny steps. Following that reasoning, Angelus decided that, because his legs were way longer, if he ran the whole way back from the ocean he could make it home in a reasonable time. Yes. That made perfect sense. And even if it didn't, he was going to go with it anyway because he really wanted to see the ocean.   Psalm's question pulled Angel's gaze from the ground where it had dropped as he thought. "My dad said I'm not old enough to travel all over on my own," he explained with a shrug, "And I have to be able to make it home in half a day or less." Wasn't that normal? "Think I could make it back in that time? I live just right over there." Using his nose, Angel motioned back the way he'd come, vaguely gesturing in the direction of Imperium. "Speaking" "Thinking"

Psalm was curious about Angel, he doubted that his curfew was as strict as his own had been once upon a time. For a long time he hadn't realized that he'd been a prisoner in his own home. Now that those days were behind him and he was working on getting to his second birthday Novel hadn't been quite as nervous letting he and his brother out and about. Still he knew she worried about them, but he always came back so he didn't really know why it was she was so worried. Angel explained about his dad, and Psalm was very much sympathetic. "Your dad worries too much, kinda like my moms." He'd tell him, obviously Angel was big enough to take care of himself, in Psalm's opinion at least. "Half a day huh? I bet we could do it." Psalm wasn't a stranger to running, "Alright come on lets hurry!" He wouldn't waste any more time, leaping off his root Psalm began to race through the thick forest skillfully. ""

Angelus couldn't agree more. He was plenty big enough to take care of himself. When he was smaller his dad had told him not to wander off on his own because someone might knock him over the head and run off with him, but surely that didn't apply any longer. He was bigger than his dad! It would be no small feat to run off with him. "Half a day huh? I bet we could do it." Angel's ears perked at this and he queried hopefully, "You think so?" Fantastic! "Alright come on lets hurry!" Without hesitation, Angel took off after his new friend. "Lead the way!" He was going to see the ocean and be back before anyone knew he was gone. -exit?-