"Speech"

It had been some time since he had seen the Destruction boy of whom he had taken a liking to. Who knew children could be so enjoyable to be around? It was like as if they radiated this relaxing yet playful aura, so when he was with one, all of his concerns and responsibilities faded away from his mind. His own childhood seemed like a distant memory - a rollercoaster of a blur. A rollercoaster that had crashed. Shaking his head, he pushed those imminent thoughts into the depths of his mind. Perhaps he needed to occupy his paws, just something that he could engulf his focus in and forget about all other worries. Walking through the plains wasn't enough; it was all too quiet - the perfect trigger for dreaded flashbacks. Company would be perfect, especially that of a pup's - he really needed that relaxing aura. Didn't Tordo say he had a sister? Was Sandpiper her name? Well, he wouldn't mind meeting her as well though what were the chances of him bumping into her on this winter's day?

Piper hummed happily as she walked through the snow, lifting up her legs a little higher than normal as she moved. She was walking back and forth across a five foot or so space, trying to put her paws back into the holes in the snow she had already made. Of course there wasn't really a way to do that in the spots at the ends of her little row of paw prints where she was turning around so those spots were all messed up, but she was doing a pretty good job of keeping the rest of her paw prints in tact! A new scent caught her attention and she stopped mid-step, her head popping up to look around to see where it was coming from. Soon enough her sky blue gaze landed on a man that almost matched her a little bit. They were both kind of a tan color and they they both had a marking on their nose. "Hey!" she called to him, bouncing away from what she was doing and abandoning her snow print project. She bounded over to him with her tail wagging, giving him a huge grin. "You're all tan like me! That's neat!" "Talk" "You" Think

"Speech"

Momentarily, a tanned girl bounced up to him, pointing out that they both shared a tan pelt. In a split second, he studied her features. Her colouring and markings looked a tad familiar, could she be one of Bass' children, the Sandpiper that Tordo had told him about? Such a coincidence for their paths to entwine, especially after thinking about the child just now. Perhaps he carried the mental ability to summon his pack-mates.

"Look!" he remarked with just as much enthusiasm, feeling his mind melt into that of a pup's. Ah, he loved kids. With an ebony paw, he dabbed his nose where a similar grey stripe streaked down through his chestnut fur. "We both have a nose stripe - that's neat too." Now that he thought about it, he could probably pass for a Destruction, not that he wanted to be a part of that lineage. Regardless of the many flaws and tragedies in his life, he was proud to be a Lastic, even if he was the only one left.

Sandpiper giggled gleefully when he cheerfully replied just as excitedly as she had greeted him. Not everyone was as willing to play with her as he seemed to be so she was really excited! When he pointed out their matching nose markings she gasped and hopped in place from excitement. "You're right! Oh my gosh! We're almost like twins! Except you're way bigger than me." She giggled again and ran forward to do a lap around his front legs, only having to duck a little bit to fit under his stomach. She came to a halt in front of him again with a huge grin. "See? I can fit under you!" "My daddy says I'm really strong though!" she insisted, puffing out her little chest proudly. "I'm gonna be a big tough warrior one day! Or an explorer! Or both!" She bounced happily and then suddenly a thought popped in her head and she gasped again. "Hey! Do you know anything about clouds? I think the wind moves them cause they go the same direction the wind does but then Tordo said he didn't know wind went up that high and now I don't know if I'm right or not!" she exclaimed, her bright blue eyes peering up at him like he must know all of the answers to her questions. He's an adult, he must know things! "Talk" "You" Think

"Speech"

Well, what a talkative child indeed, who gasped and remarked that they were twins, except for the fact they were at completely different heights. A warrior she wanted to be, like her brother, or an explorer or perhaps both. Oh my, an ambitious girl as well! Startling him, she ran between his legs, proving her small size. And what an energetic child she was too! He could barely contain his laughter at the sight. "Oh, I'm sure you'll grow," he encouraged with a beaming grin, giving her a friendly nudge. "Maybe you'll be as tall as me, and as strong as your dad says you will be."

Momentarily she asked the most random question: if he knew anything about clouds. Clouds? What was going through that head of hers? Then she told him that it was the wind that pushed the clouds, which to the man seemed about right though her brother contradicted that idea, thus making her lost in the whole situation. Perhaps she needed some wise grown-up knowledge, even if didn't know an awful lot on weather. "No, I'm sure you're right," he murmured in a calmer voice. "I've met you're brother before. I bet you're the smart one of the two."

She tipped her head head up to look at him when he said that she might grow up to be as tall as him and she thought about that possibility with amazement. She couldn't imagine being that tall! He was as tall as a tree next to her! How could she possibly grow that tall? She wondered how growing worked. How did pups like her go from being this little and end up growing as tall as him? But her train of thoughts got disrupted when he confirmed that she was probably right about the clouds and the wind. She beamed up at him and her tail wagged so hard that her butt wiggled from the movement. "Ha! I knew it!" Her kind of twin mentioned her brother and she peered at him curiously for a brief moment, wondering how he knew Tordo, but then he said she must be the smart one and she giggled with a shake of her head. "Noooo, Tordo is very smart. Just a different kind of smart! He thinks of stuff I've never thought of all the time!" She nodded decidedly and giggled again. She plopped down on her haunches and pointed up at him with her fore paw, narrowing her sky blue eyes at him. "Heeeeeey, you never introduced yourself! I don't know your name! My momma and daddy said it's rude not to introduce yourself!" She realized as she spoke that she hadn't introduced herself either.... but oh well! That wasn't the point! "Talk" "You" Think

Oh, so her brother was smart in a different way? Thinking of things she hadn't yet thought of? Hmm, interesting. Well, he had been joking anyway, and now that he thought about it, the boy would make an excellent fighter; both of them actually. Energy and brains both came in handy. "See, you know him better than me!" he admitted with a light-hearted laugh, though he abruptly stopped as he noticed the narrow-eyed girl pointing a paw at him almost accusingly. He felt a little taken aback at her sudden assertion, guilty as well for forgetting his manners, especially when a child pointed it out. His cheeks blushed as he countered blithely, "What about you? That makes both of us rude, so we're even." It wasn't his fault that he hadn't had any parents to educate him on etiquette. "Name's Tinaro." Wait a minute...he already knew her name! But he wouldn't tell her that just yet, in fact, he'd mould it into a game. "How about I try to guess your name?" "SPEAK"