Time had seen the young wolf through various things. Her birthing into a cruel world, her bond with an unlikely creature, and far to much ridicule. For days now she had been in search of a new place to hide herself away. Unfortunately luck was not on the pup's side, for she'd found no little cavern suitable enough to her growing from and much to her dismay it had forced her to remain out in the open. Constant want to find a place to be safe in drove her forward, while an over abundance of danger kept her aware of her surroundings as much as she could. Still though, without really realizing it until it had already happened, Aleera had ended up back in the very place where she had taken her first breaths. Through the foliage she moved, careful and alert until eventually memory drug her back to the very set of mushrooms she had been born upon. It was to big for to see the top, but what was clear to her was the ceiling of the cavern. Where spikes of rock hung down in a menacing manner and between them, the orange remnants of what had once been her chrysalis. Black ears flickered as she observed it, and inwardly she cursed that spot. Why was it she had to be born this was? Why must she suffer from these ugly markings, be blinded even, when everyone else could enjoy their beauty and their comradely!? Those ears to big for her head fell back flat against her crown, lips curling back in an angered snarl though it was still to high pitched to really seem threatening. "I hate this place." She growled.

Then she remembered that other cat who had been there when she was born. The one who'd called herself Blackfeather. She'd been spouting off something odd that Aleera didn't quite remember what, but she did remember it had been important to her. Perhaps the cat could explain why she'd been born this way, why she had to suffer...But for now, the young gembound was content to rise up to her paws and cast one final glare at her birth place. "May I never see this place again." She muttered to herself, turning around and leaving behind the mushroom which still born scars of her claws that day. Into the foliage Aleera returned, her form almost completely obscured by the giant leaves and grasses until she reached the rocky lining of one of the many streams that ran through Eridanus near one of the game trails, a well worn path many used to navigate the lush cavern. The fire born creature looked about for a moment, again determining if she was truly alone before lowering her head and taking a few drinks of the crisp water.

@Feral

The dingo pup was perhaps older than the wolf by a cycle or so, yet she was a much smaller creature, and as a result she was currently of comparable size to the wolf.

She had been climbing, obliviously cheerful, and once atop a tall, flat rock, had been gazing over her surroundings.

Plant. Plant. Plant. Giant mushroom. Rock. Plant. Wolf. Pl--wait, wolf?

There was a dark, lupine shape trotting through the ferns--then pausing, growling, drinking. The dingo tilted her head, amber eyes sparkling with mischief. It wasn't Arkrael, she thought--it was darker, younger, even if she couldn't see it very well from here--especially in the shadow of the big mushroom.

Still, the dingo--still young, and still essentially feral--immediately decided that here must be a friend, the same as Arkrael had turned out to be, and so off she bolted. She leapt down from the stone in a flash of tawny fur, then streaked at full speed around it, down through the path that wound between the ferns.

Then she simply scrambled toward the wolf, letting out a couple of shrill, high-pitched yet soft "woofs," her thick and bushy tail beating to and fro as she simply threw herself at Aleera from behind, her entire mind consumed with a blind desire to PLAY.

Unfortunately for the dingo, the mud at the water's edge was rather slippery. Instead of slamming cheerfully into a wolf, Feral went slipping and tumbling past with a third yelp, tumbling entirely into the cold water.

With a few more startled barks--and sneezes--she scrambled half-out, soaking, dripping and shivering--then shook herself off only a couple of feet from the stranger, spraying water in all directions.

((ooc -- @Aleera ))

The water was soothing to both her tongue and her right paw as it lingered in the shallows. Though it softened her exposed flesh to a weakening degree, it was also fairly enjoyable as it provided the little female an opportunity to scrub free all the dead flesh that still hung on tight to her form which developed the nasty looking scales that covered her side. It also eliminated most of her desire to scratch one irritating itch after another. In this moment Aleera knew a sort of peace that often escaped her, which proved to do so again when the forest around her suddenly became alive with the movement of foliage and the pounding of paws against the earth. Almost to late did the obsidian pup turn to miss the catastrophe unfold as a another young gembound came barreling through the bush at her and slipped on the mud. Aleera leapt backward out of sheer instinct, but it wouldn't have mattered because the golden brown creature, who shared similar characteristics to herself flopped into the water a few feet away.

Luminous orange eyes were wide, jaw parted in disbelief and uncertainty as the other rose back up on her feet and turned to look at Aleera. She was dripping wet but seemed undeterred by the matter as suddenly she shook her frame about the size of the black pup's and threw water in all directions. The fire based creature closed and eye and turned her face, being hit full force with this spray of water before she appraised the creature again. The desire to turn and run struck Aleera deep in her chest, but something else forced her to keep still and carefully she parted her jaws so words could escape. "Are, you okay?"

Feral froze, briefly, staring at the stranger as she spoke.

Words still escaped her, despite her older age; she'd lived almost entirely on her own, bar a brief visit or two from Arkrael. She'd hunted, drank, slept and lounged about entirely on her own, so all she really knew was the instinctive language of the body.

Her tail wagged rapidly, eyes wide, coat still dripping wet. Abruptly she dropped into a play-bow and turned, sprinting off--but after a few yards she spun, running in a circle instead.

A moment later she was back, splashing into the pool, then off she went again, a dancing bow and a leaping away, as if to invite the other to join her.

She still hadn't noticed the strange skin on Aleera's legs, or the limp; she didn't know that the other canine might not want or even be able to run with her. As a result she simply galloped and spun, leaping to and fro in a rather overly-energetic display of her youthful hyperactivity, hoping that Aleera would play, too.

((ooc -- @Aleera ))

Aleera watched as the lighter canine began to leap and dance about with a happy demeanor. She did not respond to Aleera's words in the slightest, and all the black pup could do was stand there and watch the other gembound dance about awkwardly. Instinct did not completely escape her though, and it became clear the longer she watched that what the other desired was to play. Aleera had seen other young gembounds use similar motions while they played with one another, but never towards her. In fact, the idea of playing with anyone was quite new to her, and she didn't know how to really respond. For a few long moments Aleera only watched as the other danced around, intent to invite Aleera to play and yet...How did one, play exactly? Just run around? A huff escaped her before she glanced around the area once more, again trying to make sure it was just her and this other unnamed gembound.

"Ooookay." She muttered, and took a few steps forward toward the other, stopping when she was close enough and rearing up to drop back down in the shallows in an attempt to splash the other. She them promptly froze after that, looking to the other for some sign that this is perhaps what she wanted?

Run. Play. Dance. Chase. Play.

The words weren't exactly there, but the intent was, the meaning behind them. Play with me.

The wolf, however, rather than chase her, simply splashed her with water.

Feral flinched, sneezed, and froze, staring for a moment.

Then she immediately decided that this was how Aleera wanted to play. The dingo plowed back into the water, slowing as she got chest-deep and sending a film of droplets in all directions. Then she turned toward Aleera, and started bouncing toward her, using her snout and paws to flick splashes of water in the wolf's direction. Then she lunged up into the shadows, closer to the wolf, again bowing down--and when she leapt back up, joyfully splashing about.

She barked a few more times, tail wagging frantically; she seemed to be expecting the wolf to either splash about more, or even to give chase.

Clearly, Aleera would play with her! ...Right?

((ooc -- @Aleera ))

The brighter of the two took up Aleera's offer of play with glee. Out of the waters she darted and then back into them, wading deeper into the depths until she was chest deep and turning back to face Aleera. Amber eyes darted between Feral and the surrounding area once more as the other bounded about through the water, using her paws and nose to send sprays of water in the black pup's direction. Awkwardly, Aleera hopped through the shallows, avoiding some of the splashes she received by the other, and copied her movements by digging her snout into the water and flinging water back at the other.

Though she moved with the other, she was still uncertain of the entire context for this interaction. Though it had not turned sour, that did not mean it wouldn't and remained on guard. The manifested in the fact that while Feral seemed to be having the time of her life throwing herself into these movements, Aleera's was more calculated and cautious, certain to try and keep a fair distance between herself and the other. Though at one time Aleera may have actually wanted to play honestly, all sense of such innocents had been almost completely eradicated from her mind set. Everyone was a possible threat at any time, even those with good intent.

The ebony pup was backed into the shallows by the approach of the other for a sheer desire to play. Jumping backward onto dry land her paws and stomach dripped with access water, and yet her movements were still so dry as opposed to the other. With lack of water to throw, Aleera allowed her paw, claws and all, to wrap around a small stone and chucked it toward the other, making it plop in the water by the others feet.

@Feral

The dingo splashed and danced, the fact that the black wolf wasn't quite as exuberant pretty much lost on her. She was only prompted away from her mindless exaltation of all things wet when a stone slapped the water in front of her. She froze briefly to stare down, then plunged her entire head and neck beneath the water, seeking the rock.

Her head remained beneath the water for a moment while her body twisted about to angle toward the bottom; after a moment she came up with the rock in her teeth and water streaming from her nostrils, sneezing repeatedly.

The dingo turned, trotting to shore and dropping the stone--immediately forgetting it in favor of rolling around in the mud at the water's edge. She wriggled on her back, tongue lolling out, glancing at Aleera.

Suddenly she pulled herself up again, tail wagging, and shook her coat out again; this time it was mud that sprayed in all directions as she came closer.

Ears back in some semblance of friendliness, not noticing the other's strange skin--or at least, not seeming to--she came closer to try and sniff Aleera's snout.

((ooc -- @Aleera ))

Aleera watched as the lighter gembound became preoccupied by the stone she'd flung in the others general direction. Without even the slightest of hesitation the other, who's name she had yet to get, plunged her head into the water in search of the stone. The black wolf backed even further onto the shore, her tail drifting back into the thick foliage and stopping only when the dingo popped back up out of the water with a selected stone in her mouth and sneezing up a storm while water rolled off her form. The desire to run was still heavy upon Aleera, and her eyes kept trying to determine specific escape routes every so often. Retreat aborted once the other was out of the water the pup watched as she dropped into the mud and began to coat herself in it as if it were the best thing ever.

The ebony child made a slight face, for she had never cared much for getting outrageously dirty. Mostly because once mud or clay dried it irritated her exposed skin beyond anything she cared for. It dried it out worse than before and clung to her like an annoying layer of dust that only a good soak in water could get off. Remaining where she was Aleera also watched, with luminous orange eyes as the other jumped up, her energy never faltering and shook herself once more and threw mud in all directions. A bit of this flying mud smacked Aleera right on the snout and she jumped with a yelp, dropping her head whipping it away furiously with her paw as best as she could.

A whine escaped her as her skin flared up with a burning sensation that made her entire body coil up and hunker toward the ground. When the other began to approach, Aleera peered up and instinctively jumped back from her, shaking her head with a tiny growl and glaring at her. Without a word the wolf pup turned and shot back into the foliage, if she was lucky the other wouldn't follow her.

@Feral

The dingo pup froze, flinching, as the wolf growled. A moment later the creature had sprung away into the brush in a blur of lithe black fur, and she was left standing and blinking.

Why did she leave...?

For an instant, the pup assumed play, and charged after the wolf, barking lightheartedly in a high pitch, once or twice. She ran as she yipped, pushing through the ferns, but quickly realized that the wolf wasn't spinning to greet her in the dance that meant, "play."

Saddened, she paused, looking around. She whined, tail slowing and then simply hanging behind her.

She'd left. The new friend had just left. Why?

The dingo trotted up to her rock to look around, peering, but couldn't spot her anywhere. She might have been able to track her, but what was the point? If the wolf wanted to be gone, she would be; she was faster, and probably stronger, too, despite her younger age.

Feral finally lifted her head, howling pathetically, a high-pitched yipping yowl, mournful and questioning.

Where did you go? Why did you leave?

((ooc -- @Aleera ))

((It's up to you if you want them to exit or whatever! :) ))