The young child that toddled along through the undergrowth had a determined look on her little face. She was the equivalent of maybe a six- or seven-year-old, with the chubby cheeks and firm frown of youth. Thickly-furred fawn legs supported her weight, and a loose tunic had been draped over her violet-hued upper torso.

The stubby fingers of her left hand raised to brush a few tangled strands of black hair from her forehead, back behind one backswept, pointed ear, and with eyes like starlight she surveyed her surroundings.

Dad had been very nice. He'd talked to her, sang to her, and told her about staying safe. And so she'd immediately snuck away, at the first opportunity, one of the smallest hunting spears clutched in her hand. She had no idea how to use the thing; she could barely even talk. But damn it, Thalia would have an adventure.

It wasn't that she was petulant--she'd giggled and sang along with Dad's words--but she was stubborn, and when he'd told her she shouldn't explore on her own yet, she'd immediately decided that she would. So now here she was--pushing aside another front of greenery, and stepping out to look over the cold, silver pools of water just ahead.

"WATER!" she told it, eyes springing wide with excitement as she recognized a word. Then she hushed, blinking and looking around, realizing how loud she'd been.

Whoops.

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet made her way through the dense greenery. She was exploring around, poking her nose in everything she saw. Things were a bit boring and she was trying to find something fun to do. Hopefully even find another animal she could play with! Her nose caught a faint scent of another animal, she didn't recognize it, so she followed it.
She wound over fallen trees, rocks, and dense leaves. The trail was getting stronger now, it led to a familiar place: the twin pools of water. It was where Comet had hatched.
She pricked her left ear, someone had shouted something! She peeked her head through the ferns and saw-- what looked like a part deer and part child. Hello?

@Thalia

She stopped nearer the water's edge, turning wide-eyed toward the sudden voice.

"Oh!" she squeaked, more a sound of surprise than an actual word. But what emerged was not scary-looking; it was sort of cute, actually. Small, fluffy, white, with one ear a pretty, if oversized, pale blue gemstone.

Thalia thought this over, briefly. It definitely wasn't prey--it could talk, and she didn't know how to hunt anyway. So--that made it a friend! She was a little nervous, so she squared her shoulders and marched with baby-fawn steps toward Comet. "Hi," she offered, a little shyly, and then--embarrassed by her shyness--immediately steeled herself to talk at it a lot more.

So she wouldn't seem scared!

"My name's Thalia," she said, the child's words a little awkward in her inexperience, "and I live here with Dad. Are you a dog?" she asked, silver eyes wide.

She'd heard the word but, somehow, it didn't seem quite right. Her mind wandered toward 'fox,' instead, but... no, that wasn't quite it, either...

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet was a bit nervous when she saw the girl had a very pointy thing in her hand which looked sort of dangerous. But that was okay, because the fawn seemed a bit nervous too. Hello, I'm Comet. she responded, I think I'm a-- wolf? that was what she heard from her dad, Yes, I think I am a wolf. she wagged her tail a bit, wondering about the slight differences between dogs and wolves.
She crept closer to her, and gave the fawn a tentative sniff. She didn't smell very bad, and she was not moving the pointy stick thingy in a dangerous fashion. Comet concluded that she was probably friendly. The wolf jumped on her feet and looked around, My turn, are you some sort of deer? asked Comet. She had seen many wild deer but they stood on four legs, and they certainly did not carry pointy stick thingys.

@Thalia

The girl seemed to think, the pudgy fingers of one hand coming up to tap her chin in a vague imitation of a gesture she'd seen her father make.

"Ummm... I think Da says my other-Da's a deer. So. HALF deer!" she exclaimed, tiny fists balling up (spear still clutched in one) with the excitement of it all. "Da's not a deer." Each word was still clumsily-said, tumbling over one another in a young child's uncertainly-formed speech. Thalia tottered toward Comet, but it was hardly threatening: her fawn-hoofed steps were somewhat awkward, too, with oversized joints.

"Your white looks soft," she observed, quietly, silver eyes wide as she took in the wolf pup's pelt. "Can I touch it?"

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Really? Comet said. That must be why she was sort of like a deer but not a complete deer. Well I have two dads too. One is a lion and one is a horse. she watched cautiously as the fawn stumbled closer to her. But it was not a dangerous movement, it seemed she was not yet familiar with the movement.
Then the half-deer asked to touch her fur. Normally, this would be a weird question, but Comet was used to it because her adopted brother Sun enjoyed running his fingers through her fur too. Sure. she walked up to Thalia and gave her leg a lick.
The girl seemed very nice, Comet wondered if they could do something together. Hey, want to explore around a bit? she asked her.

@Thalia

Tiny, pudgy fingers reached out, running lightly over the surface of the white fur.

Thalia's face lit up, a bright smile creasing the dark freckles that speckled across her nose and cheekbones. "You're soft!" she told Comet, delightedly. Certainly an adult wolf's fur would be coarser, but for now the fluff of youth was delightful to run a palm across.

Curious, she then reached out, briefly, to attempt to touch the crystalline gemstone that made up the wolf cub's ear. "Is that your stone-?" she asked, curiously. "Da says we've all got a rock. Why is it, um. Your... ear?" she asked, struggling for a moment to remember the word 'ear.' But her face was still delighted, lit up with a smile.

Friends were cool!

"Oh! Yeah! I wanna explore. Where do we go?" she asked, looking around. She stepped back, hooves lightly crunching on the dead leaves, brushing down the fur-touched hand absently across her own, also-fluffy black leg. She searched the forest with her eyes, her imagination already running wild. "Think there's. Monsters? Or-... or um. -Birds?" she asked, said imagination immediately running out of ideas, thanks to inexperience.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet felt the hand run through her fur, and she let out a relaxed growl. It felt really good whenever someone did that. She put up her guard when the fawn reached out to touch her stone, but it was just a quick brush. Umm, yes. I can not hear anything out of it though. Only my left ear works. Where-- where is your stone? Is it blue too? asked Comet.
She shook her fur while thinking about the prompt. I don't know, let me see if I can smell anything.
Comet lifted her nose high in the air in hope of detecting an interesting scent. Unfortunately, she was not able to catch a whiff of anything. I can't smell anything. Do you want to just walk and see if we find anything? she asked. That was usually a good approach to things.

@Thalia

The child studied Comet's gemstone ear solemnly for a moment. She couldn't use it-? That was said, but she didn't say as much; partly because she had no real reason to comment on the obvious and partly due to some half-developed social instinct that warned her it might hurt the wolf cub's feelings, somehow. And partly, too, because Comet was asking her a question, in turn.

Thalia brightened, and looked down, pulling down the rough, plain tunic enough to bare her gemstone. It sat between and a bit below her collarbones: a round, glimmering piece of diamond. She had to adjust the spear to do so, briefly holding it beneath one arm.

"That's mine," she told Comet, cheerfully. "Da says it's a Die-mon." And as for the wolf cub's suggestion, she nodded--letting the shirt bob back up, and shifting the little spear back into one hand. Her silver eyes glowed with excitement.

"Yeah-! We can... we can hunt monsters!" she suggested excitedly, turning for the underbrush ringing the clearing around the Eyes. Thalia half-crouched, as if stalking something--immediately half-lost in her own idea of a game. She pushed through the leaves, and turned to whisper (in a child's too-loud whisper) to Comet.

"We can just go until we find something, and then stalk it-! I bet we'll be a good team. We can sneak and-... and hunt and find stuff!" Her little nose scrunched up. "Maybe we'll find--birds, or... pretty rocks! Or sharp rocks!" she suggested, unsure which possibility she liked better.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet watched the girl look at her gem ear with a look on her face. She couldn't quite tell what it was, and noticed she was thinking about something, but she asked her a question and the girl brightened up.
She watched the fawn pull down her tunic to reveal her gemstone: something she called a Die-mon. Wow, that's very pretty. the gem glittered. Comet thought back to her own gemstone. She had never really seen it with her own eyes before. It was always in the reflection of a puddle or someone else complimenting her on it.
Comet scanned the thick underbrush along with Thalia, hoping to encounter some monsters too. She listened to the fawn whisper loudly back to her and nodded her head. All the possibilities she offered sounded exciting, but what interested her the most was hunting. Perhaps they would find something big. Follow me! Comet pushed through the ferns, unsure of what they might find.

@Thalia