So, Imperium was really totally gone? Sparrow sighed as she walked through the old lands. Somehow, the scent of the pack had become a little familiar to her. It was probably because of Rhythm and Ashmedai mostly, but it was still odd to smell this land so devoid of the scent of its members. The small girl swallowed a lump in her throat, trying to forget her memories here. It was a good resource for odd fruits and herbs. Maybe she could come back here in the spring and gather some things to bring back to her family. It was hard to tell in winter what spring would bring, but she had seen these lands before and had a good guess they'd be fruitful. Well, now that she knew for herself that Imperium was gone, perhaps it was time to move even further from her pack, into uncharted territory.

no one can be just like me

The snow would be melting soon. Already it was starting to feel squishy beneath her paws. Gross. Ricochet stepped through the snow, pausing now and then to shake clumps of the stuff off her massive paws. The trail of paw prints she left behind seemed to weave in a bunch of random directions. There were trees everywhere here, fruit bearing trees with thick branches holding lots of the heavy, cold, squishy white shit. She was weaving around the way she was in order to avoid the trees whenever possible. Twice already she had come close to having a load of snow dumped on her head.

As much as she detested the wet melting stuff, she was still excited about it warming up soon. She wanted the sun back. As she walked, she looked around this orchard place and started to imagine what it might be like with a little sunshine. Or in the summer, especially, the fruit all ripe and sweet. Yeah, she would definitely have to come back here later in the year. She was distracted suddenly with trying to memorize the place to find it again in the future and suddenly a tree branch decided to drop a little pile of snow and ice right on the brutish woman, hitting her square in the back. She made a sound that was half yelp and half snarl, darting away and quickly shaking herself out, swearing angrily under her breath. "Damn it, damn it," she growled, shaking herself one more time. But then she was aware that she had company, another woman about ten yards away. "Oh, hey," she said bluntly, trying to put on a cheap smile so she wouldn't appear to be a total bitch. Though, who was she kidding, really?

"Damn it, damn it."

A voice behind her echoed. Sparrow turned, minty eyes wide. At first, her mind went to Ashmedai. Could he have returned? What about her aunt? No, she wouldn't use such language. Could it be anyone from Imperium? Surely someone from the pack remained somewhere...

It wasn't Ashmedai, not Rhythm, nor anyone she knew. There was a large, monochrome wolf that was brutish in all but scent. The small girl couldn't help but snort as the other shook snow off herself before noticing she wasn't alone. She offered a greeting and Sparrow had to pretend she wasn't just laughing, "Yeah, hey there." A small smile tugged at her lips.

"This really is the worst part of the season, isn't it?" Sparrow shook off her back leg, slinging sloshy snow as if to prove a point, "Nothing grows and the snow loses its crunch." The small woman didn't move much other than to adjust her weight. She looked around the barren range. She was forgetting something, wasn't she? She totally was. After a second, it dawned on her, "Oh! I'm Sparrow, by the way."

no one can be just like me

The woman turned to Ricochet, eyes wide with surprise. The big, masculine woman didn't blame her. She hadn't exactly presented herself well, and a woman like her was a bit of a surprise to see regardless. Hell, she was hardly a woman at all most days. Ricochet grinned in response to her own thoughts and played it off as a friendly gesture as a greeting from the stranger met her ears. She walked a little closer, curious, and then nodded in agreement as the woman commented on the awful conditions and shook a bit of nasty snow off her own leg. Ricochet chuckled deeply and raised a brow. "Crunchy or not, I hate snow," she said, always honest even when it got her into trouble. Still she smiled at the stranger, looking her over a bit. Pretty girl, but seemed like the bubbly, pristine type. Ricochet wouldn't lay the flirting on too thick with this one, might scare her away.

Still, she couldn't help laughing at the way the woman suddenly seemed to remember that she should be introducing herself. Cute. "My pleasure, Sparrow," she said. Huh. First she had met a Peregrine, and now a Sparrow. What was it with the bird names in this place? Still, Peregrine and Sparrow were nothing alike, that much was clear already. Sparrow more resembled her namesake, a little more bright and sweet in nature. Peregrine, well, she really was sharp as a hawk, wasn't she? Ricochet felt a strange and sudden tug in her gut at the thought. She should track that little lady down. She wanted to talk to her again.

But no. Back to the matter at hand. The woman cleared her throat again and at the same time cleared her mind. "I'm Ricochet," she said by way of introduction. Short and sweet. Well, not sweet really, but to the point.

Hate the snow? Sparrow wondered how that was possible. Snow made finding herbs hard, sure, but it had kind of pristine look to it. It sometimes looked so smooth. It almost screamed for someone to run through it. It was one of the signs that winter was a thing. It was a reminder that even after hardships, life would return, fresh and new.

The grey woman held a confidence around her that she didn't really see in Abaven. She didn't seem like she was challenging anyone with her air, like a lot of Imperium's wolves either. It seemed like a cool confidence, and Sparrow immediately envied it a little. She wondered if she could learn to be like that one day. Like that, but still herself, obviously. Was that an option?

She laughed a little when Sparrow remembered to introduce herself, but it wasn't a cruel laugh. How could you laugh at someone's mistake and not seem cruel? Cool confidence, Sparrow decided. It had to be. Maybe she needed to be away from her family more so that she didn't go looking at every stranger with sparkly eyes. Her tail was swaying. She needed to stop that. She was starting to ooze at the thought of another being, and to have that being be so chill...

Stop, Sparrow. Stop while you're ahead.

Swallowing, Sparrow regained her composure. Her name was Ricochet? That was... wow... cool. It wasn't even a bird name.

She needed to get out more.

"Ricochet," she repeated, "That's really cool. I'm just... Sparrow. Then there's Finch, Lark, Star-" Her voice cut off a bit. Sparrow cleared her throat, "We're all bird named. I mean, that's obvious, I know, I was just- Ricochet is a cool name."

She should have kept her maw shut. She pressed her lips together, minty eyes looking anywhere but at Ricochet. When she looked back, she finally realized the woman's eyes were mismatched. Even her eyes were cool. Sparrow sucked in a breath. One was fiery and brilliant, while the other was electric and lively. Orange and green. Sparrow just kind of stared for a second, her maw trying to form words, but just, "Wow."

No. Wait. She said that out loud.

Sparrow shook herself, her mind reeling, "I meant- wow, uh, you didn't want to know my family names." Sparrow tried to laugh it off, but it felt forced. Her heart was racing.

She really hoped Ricochet tripped or did something stupid soon, because right now, standing there, she was literally the coolest.

Sparrow had to get out more.

no one can be just like me

Ricochet definitely noticed the look of admiration in the eyes of her new little acquaintance, and she just soaked it in, a small cocky smile on her lips. She liked being admired; who didn't? She did wonder what exactly this girl was admiring, though. Her stature? That was likely. Her looks? Slightly less likely. Then, as Sparrow spoke (and spoke and spoke) she realized it was the name. Or the name was part of it.

Her siblings all had bird names. She listed a few. Ricochet raised a brow, becoming steadily more amused as the poor creature continued to struggle. She should have politely cut her off somehow, but why miss out on the entertainment? Ricochet was a selfish little bitch and she'd never deny that. But finally, as the excitement and fumbling words seemed to die out, Ricochet felt a rare pang of pity. In some cases, it would have been the nature of the brutish woman to make things worse. To tease. But in a case like this, that would be like kicking a puppy.

But worse. This puppy was already down. Time to lift the puppy up, she decided. She laughed again, genuinely entertained by the girl and her flood of words. Maybe the laugh would offend her. Oh well, this was Ricochet trying to be nice. "God, you're cute," she chuckled, gesturing with her head for the girl to follow her. "Come on, little Sparrow," she said. "I want to look around."

Her face was hot. How was her fur not singeing? She was hoping to see Ricochet do something dumb, but instead, the woman complimented her, then offered for her to tag along. So few words, that cool gesture with her head.

She was so cool.

She called her "Little Sparrow".

Oh man.

Sparrow was in deep trouble.

She followed, her heart hammering. She was trying to think of things to say while telling herself to shut up at the same time. She didn't know which option was better. She wanted to turn the attention to something else, but she didn't want to mess up her words again and just...

Sparrow let out a huffy breath, trying to calm herself. Even from behind this woman was really something. She was about the size of the Imperium wolves. She could probably lay on Sparrow and kill her. She didn't, however... at least not yet. Sparrow wouldn't mind being-

What was she thinking? She needed to stop. What was wrong with her? Was she just set to auto-drool at any wolf that was tall and nice to her? This wolf was a girl. Sparrow had never thought about girls... or guys for that matter. Now she was, though. Surely this wasn't the beginning of some crush? No, this wolf was just really... cool.

Sparrow needed to think of other words than just, "cool".

Sparrow found herself following a little too close. Did their fur brush together just then? Sparrow tried to distance herself without being too obvious. She was failing. She cleared her throat, "There, uh, used to be a pack here. A lot of their wolves were really tall. They were all strong warriors. I- uh- am not a warrior." Sparrow laughed at her own remark. It was obvious she wasn't a warrior.

Shut up, Sparrow.

Sparrow tried to coach herself. She didn't need to ramble. She needed to act cool and calm.

She wasn't cool and calm.

no one can be just like me

She glanced back at the little brown and white girl, raising a brow again to see that she was following. Really, she didn't mind any of these awkward little interactions. Why would she complain when she was being admired like this? The two walked along, with Ricochet again starting to carefully avoid the branches hanging low with the weight of snow. She did not want another pile of icy white shit on her back. They walked a while in silence, which was odd considering all the words that had tumbled from Sparrow a moment ago. But perhaps she was still embarrassed. Ah well, she would get over it.

Ricochet looked around, bright orange and green eyes taking in her surroundings and committing them to memory as best she could. Of course, she had to picture the place without snow and ice everywhere. When she returned, it would be in warmer weather. Then, at long last, the little Sparrow spoke again. Ricochet listened without looking over at the girl, the twitch of her ears the only indication that she was hearing what was being said. Of course, the large woman had already caught wind of the deadened pack scent, she simply hadn't bothered to say anything about it. But the sadness in the voice of the girl suggested that the lost of this pack was more personal. Shame. Ricochet clicked her tongue in a weak show of sympathy.

"Warriors, huh? she said, finally glancing back at the girl for a moment. "It's too bad they're gone," she sighed. Of course, that wasn't a certainty. It was likely they had all just scattered, finding new homes or choosing the loner life instead. Ricochet belonged with the latter. She was a loner, and probably always would be. She hated being told what to do, especially by righteous idiots. And most alphas were righteous idiots.

Little Sparrow quietly admitted that she was not a warrior. If that could be considered an admission at all; it was quite obvious. Ricochet smiled pityingly at the woman. "No, you're not," she said, as honest as ever. "But I'll give you this, sweetheart. You're pretty to look at." The dark woman winked. Sweetness and a pretty face could get you just about anything in this world. Sparrow had both. Ricochet had neither. But she found her own way to get what she wanted in this world, by using her strength and will and by never taking shit from anyone. It was working so far.

→ just follow your arrow ←

Sparrow tried to walk straight, but she kept looking over at Ricochet and then drifting towards her. Nothing about the way she was acting was straight. She didn't just think that. Who was this woman? How old was she even? Where did she come from? She didn't smell like a pack, but Sparrow didn't know where she might be from.

Sparrow wanted to ask, but she also didn't. She didn't want to be annoying, but she really wanted to know. At the mention of warriors, Ricochet seemed to perk up. When she said it was too bad they were gone, Sparrow hummed in agreement, "They were really cool... And kind of scary... Some were pretty nice, though- as long as you weren't on the wrong side of the battlefield."

Ooh, she was rambling again.

At her mention of not being a warrior, Ricochet agreed with her. It made her heart drop a little. She kind of wanted to be a warrior; strong and confident, but she wasn't. Ricochet commented that she was pretty to look at... and called her sweetheart.

Oh no.

No no no.

This was not good.

Sparrow felt her face heating up. Her heart- which she didn't think could speed up more- jumped and began to beat faster, "Ah- I'm not really pretty. I mean, not as pretty as you. I mean, uh- I mean you are pretty, but that came out weird, didn't it? I just mean, like... I'm brown. I'm like dirt. You have like, the color of the sky before a storm. You're tall, probably strong too. Your whole demeanor could be like- the oncoming storm or something." Stop, Sparrow, "I'm like, the mud you'd slip in, or like a bird, or like..."

Or like actual shit.

Sparrow cleared her throat, "I just meant- sorry- You look cool and strong. I'm... tiny. Little Sparrow, the bird-sized wolf." Okay, she wasn't actually bird sized, but she wasn't even close to tall. She was acting like a bird, though. Sparrow was being small and flighty...

And annoying.

The small girl fell quiet again, licking her lips. She felt bad. She needed to explain...

"Sorry, I just... I've only left my pack like four times and this is only the second time without like... my entire family," she admitted, "It's... kind of nervous making."

Yup, it was because it was her first time out of the pack and not really in Imperium. It was because there was this non-Imperium stranger, right? Not because there was a tall, pretty girl here. Not because Sparrow thought she looked really cool.

Definitely not.

Peregrine was surprised to find Ricochet's scent on the wind. She would recognize it from a mile away at this point after their... meeting. Whatever you wanted to call the debacle that heralded their coming to know one another. She altered her course easily, not giving more than a single thought to how she wanted to spend the rest of her day. After all, it wasn't like she had any real plans or anything. She did need to hunt down Magpie again, but she'd heard wind that there were actually traders in the realm and she'd hoped to track them down instead. She supposed Ricochet would do. The closer Peregrine drew, the clearer the scents grew. Finally she was able to figure out that Ricochet probably wasn't alone. Another scent, probably female, was just as strong as hers. Jealously flared in her stomach, unwarranted and unexpected, and was quickly extinguished by a tidal wave of mischief. She grinned. Tsiry, who had been scuttling along beside her, knew at once that something was up. "What is going on in that muddled canine brain of yours?" she asked in a tired voice. Peregrine turned to her with an ever-broadening grin, and quirked her head sideways. "Dearest Tsiry, you sound so forlorn. When will you learn to trust me?" She heard a muttered "Probably never," as the lemur clambered up onto her back. She knew the routine by now. Peregrine took off at a gentle lope, crashing through the snow and sending clouds of it up into the air behind them, satchel jouncing at her side. It wasn't long before their scents grew so strong she was certain she must be right on top of them. She caught sight of a pair of tracks, and at last, there they were. Ricochet had found herself an attractive older woman, fantastic. Her coat was earthen and her figure petite. Game on. She slowed to a lope, trotting up on Ricochet's other side and finally walking as if she had been there all along. She looked straight ahead, face blank, and waited to be addressed. This was gonna be good. "Talk" "You" Think "Tsiry"

Ricochet continued to absently look around as she walked beside the smaller woman, a smirk growing steadily across her lips as her compliment sunk in. And then the stammering began again. The ebony woman could have sworn she heard the sound of her heart going full throttle in her little chest. Oh, poor thing. She started to try to deny the compliment, and say that Ricochet was pretty. And then took it back. And then called her pretty again. Then there was this whole comparison made between her and an oncoming storm, at which she couldn't help but let out a low laugh. Her teeth glinted a bit in the light as she grinned at Sparrow. "You couldn't be more right, darling," she drawled. "Except for the whole I'm not pretty thing. Because you definitely are. Nothing wrong with being small, you're freaking adorable," Ricochet added, but then her words trailed a bit as a scent caught her attention, and she immediately forgot everything else. Peregrine. Speak of the devil, hadn't she been thinking of tracking the little lady down? And here she was, coming up beside her moments later and acting as if she had been there the whole time. The two of them were on a very similar wavelength, so it was as if Ricochet immediately picked up on the mischief (and the hint of jealousy) surrounding Peregrine at that moment. "Where've you been, sweetheart?" the dark woman asked, bumping her hip gently against that of the earthen lady beside her. She turned to look at Sparrow again, an even more devious light in her eyes now. Oh, the poor, poor thing. She had no idea what she'd gotten herself into today. "Peregrine, this is Sparrow," she said, mismatched eyes looking back at Peregrine as she smirked a bit. She was sure they were on the same page. She could feel it. "Talk" "You" Think

→ just follow your arrow ←

Sparrow could feel her face burning at Ricochet's words. How did she suddenly fall into these things with a stranger? This was unacceptable. She needed to be more careful. Control, Sparrow, control.

Wait, there were two wolves now?

Sparrow's attention turned to the new addition to the group. This one was taller than Sparrow, but not as tall as Ricochet. She was browns and whites with markings not all that different from Sparrow's, yet somehow they looked a lot better on this form than her own. Ricochet addressed the other casually. Wait- they knew each other?

Worse, Ricochet called the other girl Sweetheart.

Wait. Wait wait wait. There were so many things not adding up, Sparrow decided. One, did this mean these girls were together like... romantically? Two, why was she so worried and disheartened about this possible relationship? Three, since when did she care about girls- pretty girls- being in relationships?

Ricochet introduced Sparrow to the other girl. Apparently she was named Peregrine.

Wasn't that a bird name?

Was this girl collecting bird-named girls?

Wait, no, weren't these two already together?

Wait...

Sparrow shook herself. She needed to stop.

Sparrow coughed, "Uh- yeah, I'm um... You heard... Sparrow."

Oh. Oh my. Yes, Peregrine understood what had so enraptured her... friend the moment the earthen woman spoke. Clearly Ricochet had done well by herself, and it took everything Peregrine had to keep her face still and impassive. After all, she didn't want to give away the game! Ricochet introduced the other dame as Sparrow, and that did earn a smirk. You don't say... she thought to herself, mind churning with the possibilities. She had taken measure of Ricochet and found her to be mercurial, with a quick mind and a sharp tongue. This little dove was adorable, like 'oh my goodness' adorable. She decided to address Sparrow first, because as far as she was concerned, she and Ricochet were officially competing. She seemed properly frazzled. Peregrine dropped back behind their party, swaying sideways and trotting up beside the other woman instead. Perhaps, a bit close to the other woman? She'd deny it if asked. Wow, was she tiny. Peregrine gave her a sweet smile, yet her eyes were dancing. "You have a questionable taste in company, Miss. Sparrow," she said in an airy voice before jerking her head in Rico's direction. "Hanging out with this degenerate? A gentler soul might get the wrong impression." She shook her head slowly, sadly, but her mercurial mercury eyes sang a different song. "Talk" "You" Think

Ricochet turned her mismatched eyes back to the little woman beside her, narrowing them a bit as she tried to decipher her facial expression. She looked fascinated by Peregrine, but also disappointed somehow. Was that jealousy? Did this little sweetheart roll that way? Damn, Ricochet hoped so. She was too adorable to just leave behind after today, and she knew Peregrine agreed. The earthen woman quickly hopped on over to Sparrow, successfully sandwiching her between the two taller wolves. This made the dark dame smirk. The words out of her mouth, however, made that smirk quickly disappear. She growled playfully at her accomplice, meeting her eyes over the head of the little Sparrow while simultaneously thinking about how adorable it was that she could even do that. "Oh, you're just jealous that she happened upon my company first," Ricochet challenged, looking down at their little victim with a surprisingly sweet smile. "Don't listen to her, baby girl," she said, using her most coy and alluring voice. Even Peregrine hadn't experienced this yet. She hadn't needed to use it. The friction and teasing between them had always been delightful the way it was, she'd had no reason to add any sugar. But this girl required a teensy bit of sugar if she were going to lean her way. Ricochet could be sweet when she wanted to be. And right now she wanted to be, because she knew for a fact that this had become a competition. "We can all play nice here. Isn't that right, Peregrine?" the ebony woman purred. "Talk" "You" Think

→ just follow your arrow ←

The brown girl- Peregrine- dropped back and came back up unexpectedly close to Sparrow. Sparrow moved to accomodate, but ended up almost running into Ricochet. The small girl looked between the two towering woman. She suddenly felt very, very small.

Sparrow swallowed as Peregrine began to speak, saying Sparrow had questionable taste in company. Sparrow wanted to ask her if she had ever really looked at Ricochet. She wasn't a degenerate! She was tall and strong and...

Okay, that was enough.

Ricochet spoke now, saying Peregrine was jealous that she had stumbled upon Sparrow first. Why would she be jealous? Ricochet craned her neck around, speaking sweetly and telling Sparrow not to worry. For a second, Sparrow melted at those words, a sappy smile melting onto her face as her eyes met Ricochet's mix-matched ones.

This wasn't good.

Sparrow stopped.

She needed to get her wits about her.

She wasn't even into girls.

Was she?

She needed to decide.

Sparrow stood, staring at the ground. She missed Ricochet's last words as her mind spun. Finally, she spoke, "H-hang on a minute..."

Her voice lacked confidence.

"How do you two know each other? Are you friends or...? I- um- I can't really tell."

She didn't want to get in the middle of a feud. Sparrow was beginning to feel like she was some meal being hunted by two very ravenous predators.

Peregrine wondered if they were truly terrifying the poor thing. On the inside she was cackling but her exterior remained cool and unaffected. Ricochet as usual was acting far older than her age and thanks to her size she wasn't sure Sparrow had picked up on it. In the back of her mind Peregrine made a note that Ricky would make for great muscle if she ever needed to rough someone up. Duly noted. She pretended to consider this whole "playing nice" deal, but honestly that didn't sound like much fun. She sighed at Ricochet and gave in with a roll of her eyes. Well... Gave in for now. After all, it looked like this pretty little doe was about to bolt and that would ruin all the fun. She responded to Sparrow instead of Ricochet, pretending to be put out with her apparent diplomacy. "Oh, you know, I helped this lovely lady out of a jam up in the Soulless Forest and now she's indebted to me for life, nothin' major." She gave Ricochet a long look, waiting to see how she'd take that. After all, they weren't supposed to fight in front of the pretty lady, were they? "Talk" "You" Think "Tsiry"

To her surprise, Peregrine seemed to agree to the whole playing nice thing. For now, anyway. After all, it was hard for the ebony dame to keep an unaffected smile on her face as Sparrow got fed an entirely bullshit story about the Soulless Forest. Seriously? Peregrine had saved her? That was about as wrong as it could get, and she was dying to let their little friend know that. It would make her look better. She tried to hold back, maybe even go along with it, but no. Hell no. "You could have me for life without lying to the poor thing, Pere," she said, her voice still a silky purr. That purr sounded soft and welcoming enough on the outside, but underneath it promised danger. "Why don't you tell her the truth, about how you got your ass stuck under a log? That story is a whole lot better, in my opinion," Ricochet said with a chuckle. "Funnier, too," she added, smirking down at Sparrow between them. She wanted to tease and scare her, but she didn't want her to run. Hopefully playing nice would last just long enough to convince her to hang around. If this still even counted as playing nice. "Talk" "You" Think

→ just follow your arrow ←

Both of the two girls seemed to be telling different stories now. Sparrow still felt a little trapped, but she started noticing their side glances at one another. The small wolf couldn't tell if they were friendly or not, though. She hoped they were friendly. Ricochet said that Peregrine didn't have to lie to the poor thi- hey wait did she mean her? Sparrow shot a pout towards Ricochet without thinking. When she realized it, she wasn't really sure what to do, so she went back to looking at the ground.

Ricochet argued that her story was funnier, but Peregrine was trying to play hers off too. It made Sparrow a little curious, "Why don't you both tell me your story? Best one wins- uh..." she hadn't really thought that far.

"How about best one wins bragging rights? The title of best story." Sparrow's suggestion would hopefully let them both tell their sides, since Sparrow wasn't really sure which one to believe. She still couldn't tell if they were friends or not. She was kind of stuck in the middle whether she wanted to be or not... literally and figuratively.

There seemed to be a palpable tension in the air, but something about it was exciting, unlike the angry tension that always flooded Abaven's pack meetings. Sparrow found herself snickering, "Yea. Please tell me both of your stories. I'd love to hear them!"

Alright, so Ricky had called her bluff after all. She'd be mad at her later, but for now it seemed as though she had to come up with a compelling story to tell instead. She pursed her lips and tossed her gaze skyward while she waited for something to come to her. Finally, it clicked. "Well, its true that I was in a jam. I was treasure hunting you see, it's what I do." Her words were flippant, which in a roundabout way put emphasis on how out of the ordinary they really were. If all went according to plan, the darling puffball would ask more. "After days and days of trecking through a haunted forest I'd found my quarry but couldn't quite reach it. It was tangled up in thorns and briars and fallen logs. I tried to wedge my way in, but the log I'd hoisted up onto my back snapped suddenly and pinned me. It's true that Ricky here rescued me, but in turn I rescued her from a lifetime of boredom. It seems like a more than a fair trade if you ask me!" See, and that was most the truth too so even if Ricky retold the story it would just be a blander version of the original. Hah! Beat that! she thought with a smile.

Ricky raised a brow, a little impressed by the tenacity Sparrow was suddenly displaying. She was even cuter than the ebony dame had previously thought. She proposed a little story telling competition, which had her grinning. She loved to compete, over basically anything. But she had to admit as Peregrine spoke, telling of her wild treasure hunting adventures and the way she had saved Ricochet from a life of boredom, that not much could top that little story. Especially considering it was the truth, whether or not Ricky cared to admit it. She opened her mouth to speak, but then rolled her eyes as if she didn't care much about the competition in the first place. "Whatever, you win," she said to Peregrine, making the tone of her voice careless so as to lessen the victory as much as she could. "That's basically what happened," she said, looking down at Sparrow between them. "The only thing she left out was how hilarious she looked trapped under that log, and how she begged for me to rescue her sorry little ass," she said, grinning. Maybe no actual begging had taken place, but Ricky liked to imagine it had. It was like her own little fantasy, rescuing such a sexy damsel in distress. "Talk" "You" Think