All You Have Is Your Fire...

Autumn arrived in in the north encouraging Pyralis to head back south as winter moved in. She didn't have anything against winter really but now that she was getting on in years she found herself lured to more mundane pleasures. It was spring now in Auster and part of her wondered if there were any young coyote pups that she could steal for a game of coyote ball. Her golden eyes turned to her companion Alkali who flew above her. Come to think of it, Alkali was never very fond of the game of coyote ball. That was a shame. She needed to invent a good solitary old lady game it seemed.

Without thinking her paws led her into the canyon where so many memories laid buried. It seemed like so long ago. There was a bitter loneliness that had settled in her heart though she was loathe to admit it. Amon was gone, her children were gone. She had family, it was true, but the breaking of those closest bonds left her feeling barren. Something was amiss now. In truth part of her felt she was just waiting around to die. Pyralis settled down to gaze out across the canyon as the sun peeked through the clouds, washing the land in brilliant oranges and reds.

Iroh followed Sarabi into Auster, he assumed he was allowed to go out of the borders if Sarabi told him to follow her. They really didn’t go too far from the Empire anyway, though Iroh was distracted by the color of the dirt and canyon walls here. He stood captivated for a moment as his primate companion had to retrieve him so they might finally get where they were going.

Recently Iroh had been feeling a sense of loneliness, though he had his mother and Zagan they felt distant compared to Sarabi. He spent as much time as he could training with her or Pyrrhic. The she mandrill pushed him towards the canyon and made her way into the trees suddenly. ”Hey, Sarabi, what’s that supposed to mean?” He confronted her as blue and lavender eyes followed her up into the foliage. He shrugged her off and turned towards the canyon’s multi levels and saw the other wolf.

He froze, uncertain of who she was. He recognized her markings, and she looked enough like his mom Kasdeya to make the connection. This was another family member, but why weren’t they a part of risen?

All You Have Is Your Fire...

Pyralis was content to be still for the moment but a mix of scents caught her attention. They drifted on the wind and teased at her nose. She smelt coyotes and she also smelt a relative. Gracefully rising to her feet she turned in time to see a dark pelted child stop to stare at her. She smiled. "Hello child. You're one of my sisters children if I'm not mistaken. My name is Pyralis. Perhaps you'd like to join me for a game of coyote ball?" She glanced to Alkali, her hawk, who took off to go scouting for the group of coyotes. If she was lucky they'd have pups with them and then they could get a good game going. Assuming the youth was even interested in such things.  It had been awhile since she'd played and some days she wondered if she even remembered all the rules. Not that it mattered. If she could not remember the rules then they would simply have to come up with their own.

Her attention came to him swiftly, her fierce eyes falling on his dark form as she smiled and hesitated not in introducing herself. If his mom was her sister that meant this she wolf was his aunt. He knew vaguely that Abraxas wolves not of Risen lived in the reaches of Boreas, but he hadn't expected to run into someone so closely related to him. She didn't explain why she wasn't in Risen but she did seem friendly enough to a relative. "I'm Iroh. Kasdeya's boy." He told her back confidently, covering any trepidation he might have had. "I, uh.." He didn't mean to stutter, he knew that he needed to be confident in himself as a General. "What's coyote ball?" That was not a game that had been played around him or between himself and his brother.

All You Have Is Your Fire...

The boy introduced himself as Iroh and as expected he was one of Kasdeya's children. She hadn't seen her sister in a coon's age but then she hadn't been around Risen very much lately. She toyed with the idea of returning but in the end the urge to wander pulled her away. She had much to think about. There was too much in her mind and the only way she could think about anything without going crazy was to walk while she thought, wherever her feet might carry her.

"Well, in order to play coyote ball we need to find a coyote pup. Since its spring there should be some new litters about. We grab one of the newborns and use it as a ball." She grinned maliciously. "We then toss the 'ball' back and forth. If you drop the ball the other player gets a point. We'll need to draw a line in the sand of course. You aren't allowed to cross that line, if you do then the other player gets a point. First one to 10 points wins. Interested?"

His aunt’s smile was a bit more twisted than the family members he was used to, there wasn’t too much confusion left as to why she wasn’t around Risen much. Iroh wasn’t sure how to feel about her, but as she explained the rules to her game he was reminded rather clearly of the way the mandrills played with the other wildlife around them. Especially the slave primates they kept as pets and workers. Iroh had thought the pass time rather cruel, and he wasn’t certain he wanted to play now.

However, the boy was curious, and even tiny baby coyotes were not innocent. The only good coyote was a dead one. Iroh was also curious, and despite the seeming cruelty he couldn’t deny how much fun the young mandrills looked while harassing one of the lesser primates. ”I guess I could try.” He finally gave his answer, and keeping his uncertainty to himself.