Location: Swallet Ring

Duchess traveled to the most southern lands of Auster and their known lands. Coming out south west she was reminded of Draco and her life of near servitude with him. They were harsh memories, but she had loved him in all that time no matter what he had done to her. Walking on the broken sand bridge, the rain fell above her but she didn't mind. The water was warm on her paws as she made it towards the outer banks of the ring but moved a few steps in once she got there. She looked ahead at the fish that had gathered and with the rain. She used to come here to fish when she lived with Draco.

"Duchess"

The blue pup had decided to go exploring further away from the band today. The heavy feeling of having betrayed his brother’s trust accompanies the light blue pup as he meanders through the land. Truthfully, he isn’t paying attention to his surroundings (a fact that, if Chade knew about, would earn Ricin an earful) until his paws touch water. Starting, the pup looks around, trying to figure out exactly where he has wandered. There is water on both sides of the strip of land he stands on and it even cuts a trough through the small land bridge. A fin pokes up through the water as a large fish swims in front of the boy and he barks out a surprised laugh.

This is so cool! Jumping the small bit of water, Ricin trots over the bridge to pool of water. As Ricin casts his gaze about, he spies the familiar form of the black and purple wolf he had explored with before. Changing direction, the large boy trots toward her, calling out, “Hey Duchess! Isn’t this place cool?”


"Speech"

Duchess continued to look out in the water until the familiar voice came across her ears. She turned to the slightly familiar boy, he was hard to forget at least. Their colors and markings stood out from most though Duchess had met many odd multi colored wolves so it wasn't that strange.

She smiled at his presence, his eagerness making her chest feel like it got a beating. She wasn't sure how old he was, but she wondered what her and Indigo's pups would have been like today... "Do you like to fish?" She asked, her paw gesturing out into the waters inside the ring. The water wasn't dangerous here, though Ricin was much larger so there shouldn't have been any worry about him drowning at least.

"Duchess"

The purple lady looks up at him and Ricin smiles, happy to have a friendly face around. Her smile makes his tail wag as he approaches her, only slowing when Duchess gestures to the water and asks if he likes to fish. The smile falters, panic rising in his chest as he remembers his sister who had drowned in the icy cold lake. Since then, the brothers had steered clear of deep water, their sister’s hunting, fear-filled eyes flashing in their mind. But Ricin is growing up… he is almost one! Maybe he should try something new. As he pulls up next to Duchess, the boy says, “I’ve never fished before. Is it hard?”

Ricin leans over the water, peering into the clear depths at the various sized fish that swim underneath. A rather large one swims to the surface, breaking through to shoot a stream of water at the pup. It surprises him, causing Ricin to yelp in disbelief and stumble backwards. Long legs tangle and cause him to flop heavily on his butt. Wide eyes turn the purple lady and he says, “Did you see that?! That fish was very rude!” The land around the pool of water seems sturdy and safe, maybe he can catch that mean fish from here.

"Speech"

Duchess chuckled lightly as Ricin asked if fishing was hard and stated he had never done it before. "It's easier from the river. I would make a net to fish these ones out." She looked around quickly before noting the entryway she walked over, "Or if one of us stood by the water there and the other scared the fish we might be able to catch one."

A fish spout up from the water, splashing Ricin with it's mouth and the pup tumbled backward on his rump making Duchess giggle more than assume he was hurt. He was clearly fine given the way he reacted. Her paw carefully pressed against his back as if to help him up but there really wasn't much she could do being so much smaller than him. She moved forward into the waters more, wading through the water as if herd the accused fish looking at Ricin and wondering if he would help catch it.

"Duchess"

Ricin wrinkles his nose at the stinky, mean fish, sticking his tongue out at the retreating form. Duchess places a paw on his back and the blue pup offers her a grin as he stands. Furrowing his brow thoughtfully, the boy says, “Well, we don’t have a net but I beat we can catch it anyway! The pool seems to keep it trapped so all we’d have to do is corner it… right?” Duchess is already moving into the water and Ricin is quick to join her. His large paws splash water every which way and the blue pup looks to the purple lady to find her completely soaked. Biting the inside of his cheek, the boy says, “Oh you uh, you got a little something right there…” Picking up a large paw, the blue pup runs it quickly from the back of her neck up to the middle of her forehead. The soaked fur sticks out at odd angles and Ricin barks a laugh, smiling playfully at Duchess before charging deeper into the pool. Wheeling around, Ricin declares, “Hey Duchess! If you help me catch the rude fish, I’ll tell you a secret!” He giggles, splashing water everywhere. When they finally corner and catch the stray fish, the blue pup will share that he has a brother named Chade. Well, it was a secret… right?

"Speech"