The afternoon sun felt warm on his back. A chilled breeze pushed past him and crashed against the rock wall, spraying a few leaves and other debris. No matter how warm the sun felt, winter would be here soon. The boy looked behind him, as if he could see the changing season behind it's chilly harbinger. After a moment's pause he gave a snort and a roll of his shoulders. It was fine, winter wasn't that big of a deal. He'd survived a whole winter already - what was another! His attention returned to the matter at paw, bright eyes lifting to take in this newest challenge.

The rock wall was crumbling, and he could easily just walk through it... But where was the fun in that? Random piles of rubble dotted the parts that still stood, so he picked the nearest one and started climbing. His paws were small and nimble, so he felt quite sure-footed as he picked his way through the haphazard pile, but he did have to pull himself up a time or two when he was simply too small to scale the piece of boulder. Chittering filled one ear and Seneca dismissed it with a snort. "Like to see you do any better," he grumbled, and the dark swath of fur at his neck twitched and lifted its head. Seneca grunted as he pulled himself up one more time, back claws scraping at the rock. There was just one more bit until the very tip top of the wall - so close! But he needed just a small little breather. He took the opportunity to look around, appreciating the view, for what it was.

Wylan ventured out of pack lands, heading just out of the woods with a small list in mind. There were herbs he wanted to harvest before winter killed or covered them with frost and snow. He brought what he needed to dig for valerian roots, and to pull dandelions without damaging their roots.

He thought the shade of the great, crumbling wall would be a good place to start his search. With his miniature polar bear at his paws, he trotted along the vast field, wings tucked tightly at his side.

Before he reached the ageing stone, a shadow caught his eye and he glanced up to see another wolf, resting on a high perch. He trotted up to that piece of wall in particular, and reached up. Resting two forepaws against the wall. His tail started wagging behind him as he did so. “Hi! Wow! You made it up high”

A dark form moved toward him, and he couldn't quite place it until it got much closer. It was another wolf but with wings! He watched curiously as the other approached, going so far as to put their paws on the rubble to get a better look. Seneca immediately grinned when the other boy observed how high he was, his head lifting in pride. "Yep! I plan to go higher - in a minute. It wasn't that hard," he added, looking to the side as his grin turned cheeky. Nothing was hard for him, especially when there were witnesses.

Bright eyes returned to the other wolf, curiosity overcoming his ego for a moment. "How'd you get them wings? Can you fly like a bird?!" He immediately began to fantazing doing so, thinking the wind through his fur would feel so cool. "Aw that'd be so fun! Can you show me? You can come up here to get a better liftoff!" Naturally, Seneca ran with his wild dreams. He prepared to climb the final step, wanting to give his winged companion room to come up. He was tired, but he could climb it... Just in a moment or two.

Wylans tail increased in speed behind him when the other wolf leaned down and responded. The Armada wolf was glad the stranger didn’t feel he was intruding. In fact, he was immediately welcoming. “I was born with them” Wylan explained, accustomed to the question.

He went around to the lowest letch, and hopped up easily. His difficulties came more with how little room he had. He was a large wolf, so he had to be careful not to tip too far in either direction. He flared his wings to give him a little extra balance as he made another hop. “They’re too heavy to fly. But sometimes when I jump, it feels like I'm gliding!” he said helpfully “I’m Wylan”


"Wylan Fatalis"

He claimed he was born with them, which was really weird to Seneca. But, he took it at face value - it's not like he could have stolen them, he guessed. He watched as the other wolf hopped up and began to climb, and it wasn't until then that Seneca realized just how big this guy was. He quickly turned and jumped to the very last bit of wall, back paws again scraping just a bit to push his back half up. He wanted to make sure there was room, and he of course wanted to be first to the top.

"Gliding is better than nothing, I guess. Do you climb up high a lot?" Seneca moved a few steps down the broad stone before turning around, wanting to watch the other climb. He then introduced himself, to which the mottled boy grinned again. "Hi, Wylan! I'm Seneca." His own tail wagged back and forth. "Plenty of room up here," he noted, glancing behind him to make sure there wasn't random crumbling rock just waiting for him to step on and slip. When he looked back to Wylan, he noticed the little bear for the first time. "Hey! Who is that?"

Wylan hopped up again, almost losing his balance when an oversized paw slid on some loose stones. He wobbled a couple times and caught himself. Instead of becoming afraid from the incident, he just grinned and jumped again. He was almost to where Seneca was now, and he was eyeing that perch just below them.

“I live in a tree house!” He said, which he felt answered the other wolf's question rather significantly. He made the last jump, planting him on the platform just below the other wolf. Only, he stood equal height to the smaller boy. The difference in size was readily apparent. “That’s Glacier! He’d my friend, and he helps me tend to patients” He explained, looking down at the little polar bear. The round creature sat on the ground below them, looking as if he was contemplating a nap.


"Wylan Fatalis"

Seneca watched as the other wolf climbed, nearly dancing on his front paws. His large size made climbing a little harder, but he had to give it to him - he didn't stop just cause he almost fell! When he mentioned he lived in a tree house, Seneca's eyes got wide and he hopped a few times. "A tree house?! That's so cool! I wanna live in a tree house!" Seneca giggled, but it was cut short when Wylan made the jump right beneath the top of the wall. Weirdly, they were eye level, and it was only then that he realized just how big the other wolf was. His ears swiveled to the side, but Wylan's next explanation distracted him.

He glanced o er the side down to the 'little' bear. "Oh! So you're a healer? That's neat." His eyes returned to Wylan, and he proudly puffed out his chest. "I'm an Explorer! I'm gonna explore the whole world and make the most detailed map ever!" He flashed a toothy grin, quite sure of himself.

Wylan settled himself down on the ledge, hanging his paws a little over the side, and letting his wings fan out just a little either side of him. He didn’t dare stretch them out fully, in case he accidently knocked Seneca off his ledge. “I only started living in it recently, but it is pretty neat” He agreed, tail still swaying back and forth happily behind him.

“Healer, and a fighter!” He declared. He wanted to honour his mother and her healing abilities, but fighting would always be where his interests lay the strongest. “That’s cool! We have some maps in the Armada, too. How many maps do you have so far?” He asked.


"Wylan Fatalis"

When Wylan settled and fanned his wings out, the small wolf felt a pang of jealousy. With his wings, the other was absolutely gigantic - and there he was, the runt as always. Again his ears fell outward, looking over the detail of the feathers. He made himself feel better by thinking having such large appendages was a lot of work - you'd have to keep them super clean and they'd probably get caught on everything. Seneca was relatively clean, but his romps in the mud would dull the feathers quite quickly, he'd bet!

Teal eyes returned to the other wolf's face when he clarified he was also a fighter, and Seneca found himself smiling again. "I can fight, too! But I'd rather hunt. I do that a lot while I'm out exploring. And fish! You ever fish?" He wanted to do something cool that Wylan couldn't - hopefully it was fishing!

He commented on maps, and his head tilted curiously. "What's an Armada? Is that where you live?" He didn't want to admit he didn't have any maps, so he gave a little shrug. "I don't have any with me right now, so I'll just have to make more. What kinda maps do you have at the Armada?"

Wylan gave his head an enthusiastic nod at that. He wasn’t the best hunter, but he’d definitely done a few hunts. “Yeah, my pack has a beach territory, and we have fishing huts along the sand. Through…. Uhh… I’m not that good at fishing myself.” He admitted a little sheepishly. “My wings make me really heavy, so swimmings a bit hard.”

“The Armada is the name of my pack, my cousin Basilisk leads it.” He explained at the other wolf's curiosity. “Oh, uh… well, my Auntie makes Star charts, and we have some old maps that some previous wolves made, and I think Iggys been making some newer ones recently.” He said thoughtfully. Admittedly, he hadn’t spent much time thinking about maps.


"Wylan Fatalis"

Beach territory? Fishing huts? It seemed after every other word from. Wylan, Seneca's eyes just got bigger and bigger. His front paws tapped against the cold stone of the wall before he fully dropped into a play bow. "But but Wylan! You don't gotta swim to fish, I promise! Oh I'll have to show you!" His rump wriggled in the air as his tail wagged furiously. Not only did he love fishing, but he also loved being better at something than someone else.

Wylan then explained Armada was his pack, and his cousin was the leader. But before he could really digest that information, he was being told about what kind of maps he knew of. His whole body was nearly vibrating at this point, but he did his best to stay relatively still. Last thing he wanted to do was fall from this high up!

"Star charts?!" Seneca's own eyes sparkled at the thought of using star charts. "I-I would love to see them! Maybe I can teach you to fish and then you can show me Armada's maps?" He smiled broadly, hoping beyond all hope that he would agree. How exciting!

“I know that” wylan said with a huff before his expression relented back into a warm grin.”But I'd love to see your style!” He said welcomingly. He didn't expect them to want to come to the Armada however, And he considered that for a moment. “Well… you can't enter Armada without Basilisk’ permission… but you can come to the Marketplace! My Auntie sells some maps there, I'm sure we could borrow them to look over them!” He suggested, warming to the idea. He would love to bring his new friend home!


He turned around awkwardly, his wings flaring to keep him from falling before he hoped down, one after another in quick succession. “Come on!” He said to his friend, waiting for them at the bottom.

Seneca frowned initially at Wylan's reply, but he mirrored his grin when he said he'd love to see how Seneca fishes. He then said he wouldn't be able to enter Armada, but could go to the Marketplace where his aunt sold maps. He didn't really have anything to trade for them, so hopefully this aunt was super nice and would let them look. He watched as Wylan made his way back down relatively easily, and called for him. Getting down was the hard part.

Seneca carefully picked his way down, being much more selective on which rocks he would use. He also had to take a few of the larger steps backwards. If only he had wings - he might have been able to glide down. He leapt from the last ledge and landed with a small grunt. When he turned to face Wylan, he made sure to stand as tall as he could. The other wolf really was an absolute giant. "Lead the way!" he proclaimed, trying his best to not sound intimidated or upset.

Wylan watched his friend rather carefully as he climbed back down. Finding it surprisingly nerve wracking to watch him take some of the larger steps. He gave his wings a shake out when the boy made it down, and reached one over to cup around Senecas side in a quick hug before bringing his wings back in and trotting off.


Glacier wasn't the speediest walker unless he was dashing, which he preferred not to do. So the pace Wylan set was an easy one. He led the other wolf around the woods without touching them. (Basilisk would be so mad if he helped a wolf trespass) and instead brought them around the side of one of the mountains. Here there was a large opening, well lit inside with the scent and sound of wolves and wares. “Andy isn't here… stay here a minute and I'll grab some of her maps from the side room.” He said, ducking past the guard on duty so he could head into the storage room and find what he was looking for.

Wylan reached over with a wing, and Seneca was confused at first. But when it curved around his side in a hug, he looked up at the bigger wolf with an almost blank expression. He had never seen someone with wings before today, so getting hugged by them was kinda weird! He wasn't the most affectionate guy around, but he did offer up a smile. He had never really gotten along with anyone outside of his siblings, so his social awkwardness really shined in that moment.

Luckily, Wylan then set off. Seneca followed quietly, taking in the scenery and landmarks as they went. Every day he practiced his memory, and today was a terrific day for that. The polar bear trotted along with them, and the pine martin tucked around Seneca's neck spent the trip staring. When they arrived, Wylan instructed him to stay there and he would return with the maps. Something told him this wasn't exactly on the up and up... But he was fine with that! He waited as patiently as he could, eager to see what maps he would secure.

Wylan found some funny looking maps that he assumed could only be star maps. He found some other maps that looked more like details of terrain, and grabbed them too. He stuffed them in his healer bag, and swiped some snacks before trotting back out to where he had left Seneca. He did glance around a little guilty. He was only borrowing the maps, but he wasn't sure if that would still be frowned upon. 


He trotted back out and waved a wing at his new friend, indicating that they should follow him. Tucking himself into a crook in the side of the mountain, he rolled out the maps and spread the snacks out before him. “Whatcha think?” He asked, his tail swishing behind him. He looked rather pleased with himself.

The longer he waited, the more antsy he became. Wylan probably wasn't gone that long, in fairness, but Seneca still became a little fidgety  y the time he saw the dark form of his new friend emerge from the cave. He motioned with a wing, and the gray boy nearly sprinted to follow. He joined Wylan in the alcove and looked at the maps he had spread out, his eyes shining with wonder.

"These... These are great!" His voice was a harsh whisper, only wanting his co-conspirator to hear. He snatched one of the snacks and chewed absently as he looked st each map carefully, pouring over the details. He hummed as he pointed out random details, his tail thumping rhythmically on the ground.. He wasn't quite an expert yet, but he was able to generally read them. He was most interested in the star map. He pointed to it, looking up to Wylan. "You ever look at one of these before? It shows the constellations in relation to each other, and where they'd be in the night sky - depending on the time of year. Takes a lot of work to make one. And almost as much to learn to use one. Regular maps are easier, of course, but I've always wanted to learn how to use the star charts." He took another bite, unaware he may be rambling. "Do you know how accurate these are?" he asked around a mouthful.

His tail picked up speed behind him when Seneca joined him, and complimented the maps. He had had nothing to do with their creation of course. In fact, all he’d really done was know they had existed in the first place. But his friend's pleasure was contagious.

He grabbed a piece of cured meat, and chewed absently as he watched Seneca study the map. He chewed and swallowed before he could answer. Did he know how accurate they were? “I don’t even know how to read it” He said somewhat apologetically. “Andy has an observatory and a telescope, waaaay up on that mountain there. We call it First Light Point. She spends lots of her time studying the stars.” He said, which was his roundabout way of saying probably?


"Wylan Fatalis"

He couldn't help a quiet snort when Wylan admitted to not being able to read the maps, but his expression morphed to awe when he mentioned this Andy having an observatory and telescope?! His attention snapped the the mountain peak, though he wouldn't able to see much at this angle. He swallowed the last bit of food hard, having so many questions he wanted to ask but unsure of how to formulate them. Teal eyes returned to Wylan with a soft smile.

"Your aunt sounds like a smart lady. I've never been in an observatory or seen a telescope before. I've heard about them, but only through stories and lessons." He paused, thinking. He had to assume access to all that was only for the Armada - which seemed like an exclusive club. But it also sounded like the cool kids club! "Does your pack have anything else cool? It must - fishing huts, maps, star charts, an observatory..." His words drifted off, curiosity plain on his face.

“Auntie Andy is pretty smart” He agreed, tail swishing happily behind him. He loved his family. It was so big that there were wolves he had never met, and some he had met only recently. But he loved them anyway.

“Oh! Well…” Wylan trailed off as he considered the question. Everything about the Armada was normal to him. So what would his new friend consider to be unusual and cool? “We do have hot springs in one of the caves, so we have hot water to swim in, even in the middle of winter!” He said, checking Seneca’s expression to see if this passed as ‘cool’ or not.


"Wylan Fatalis"