Welcome to Gaia! ::

<-- because images are fun? ^^;;

This was perhaps the third day that she had been entirely alone. The North was empty - or its inhabitants were well hidden. To the dark-coated pup walking across the tundra, it made no difference. She was alone, she had not seen another of her kind in days, it was cold, and she was hungry. The mice and other small mammals she had been able to catch were not enough for a growing creature's appetite, and she couldn't catch anything larger without assistance. She knew now that others of her kind lived in packs, but she didn't know how, or even if, she could join one.

There was a lot she didn't know, but one thing she had decided on. Her name. Masha. It seemed right, somehow. A memory, a vision? She wasn't sure. But things needed names, and it was hers. Pausing at the top of a small rise in the land, the pup shook herself out of her thoughts and gazed around at her surroundings.

The pup who called herself Masha jumped at the sound, swinging round towards it. She was ready to run away - until she saw the pup who had made it. He was younger than her, as pale as she was dark, and he didn't seem at all threatening. In that case... "Hello?" she ventured uncertainly, unused to the sound of her own voice. She hoped fervently that she herself would not come across as threatening to the younger pup. She didn't want him to go.

"Oh." He was acting as nervous as she felt. That was probably a good thing. Desperation had forced her to ignore those nerves and speak to him, but if he felt awkward too, then it was unlikely that he would attack her in any way... Masha's thoughts trailed off into a shiver of fear. Turning to face the pale pup more directly, she offered him a friendly expression. "I didn't mean to disturb you, or... Do you..." The words failed her, and she shook her head. "I'm Masha. Who are you?"

An introduction was probably the easiest way to start.

Masha sighed and sat down, head resting on her paws. "Nice to meet you, Haru." That was the appropriate thing to say, she thought. Haru... she supposed it was a nice name; not that she had much to judge that by. "I... this isn't my territory, if that's what you were going to say. I'm just wandering, too. I... don't really know anyone round here." Anyone at all, she added silently.

"...I s'pose." Masha looked up at him and smiled. "Do you know anyone around here, Haru?" she asked, hoping that the answer would be yes but guessing that it would be no. Most adults wouldn't let a young pup wander around on his own. "Do you... have parents, or anything? I don't," she added as an afterthought. She didn't have any family, that she could remember, but she knew that most people did. That was normal, right? To have family, or people who treated you like family at least.

Food. That sounded good. Masha's stomach began to rumble at the thought. "She sounds nice," she commented first, then, after a pause, continued, "...is the place she said you could find food near here? I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." She realised, as she finished speaking, that that was the most she'd heard Haru say in one go, and smiled. Maybe he was getting more used to her.

Masha got to her feet and padded after him eagerly. Food of any kind would be good. Fruit would do for now, until she had some energy and then she could try hunting. She sniffed the air, hoping for the scent of possible prey, as they entered the grove, and wondered if Haru was a good hunter. With two of them, even if they were only pups, they might be able to catch something larger to eat than she'd managed on her own.

Masha paused in the shade of the grove and looked round, taking in her surroundings with interest. "Where now?" she asked.

Masha nodded in response and padded over to the bushes. Stretching up on her hind legs, she managed to knock down a couple of fruits - they were small, spherical, and a dusty orange colour, and slightly overripe. They tasted great, and were squishy and soft except for the stone in the middle, which she spat out before reaching up to get more. "Want some?" she asked the younger pup. "Oh, and if other animals come here... d'you think we should try catching something?"