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(( ^o^ Alright! Sorry if I'm a little slow... I'm watching a movie on the side so I might get distracted. ;3 ))
Pitchy paws fell on soft, sandy grounds near a bubbling stream as a cobalt blue and cream pup padded forward a couple steps into the shallows of the gentle water. Olive eyes glanced back and fourth in a cursory cautious glance. Times in the woods before already had made the small pup wary of going out on her own. Hesitating a moment, Nessa tilted her ears backward, reaching down to lap up the cool water with her light pink tongue, her light eyes scanning even whilst she drank.

((It's okay. No worries ^^))
Enclosed within the shadows of the brush, the young brown and orange hued pup silently onlooked towards the banks of the tranquil river. The days had grown long and the air cool with a soft, caressing breeze that rippled against his fur. It had been days since he'd last been reunited with his pack but, once again, he'd managed to wander and seek the thrill of adventure. Like a luscious fruit that tantilized ones appitite, the unknown was elusive and he'd always enjoyed to discover the mysteries the forest held.
Drawning near towards the river, his eyes caught sight of female cobalt blue and cream pup. Though he'd never had really interacted with many pups his age before perhaps he could finally find a friend or at least meet someone new.
Padding slowly towards her, making sure not to scare her, Jaxom yeilded in his steps several feet away from her as his tail wagged with curiosity and his ears perked up.
"Hello." He greeted, barely managing to slide the word off his tounge with a bit of nervousness.

Nessa pulled up sharply as a figure of tan and orange slipped into her peripheral vision. She drew back a couple steps onto the land, licking the water off her whiskers. Shaking a front paw slightly, absently in the air to rid it of a few drops of water, she dipped her muzzle in response to the other pup.
She might not have appeared so flighty if it had been another time, but Nessa was still readjusting to forest life after being ambushed by a pack of hounds. Her view of the world was rewriting itself with the added aspect of danger.
Still, what could be so frightening about another pup? "Hello," She returned the greeting softly, tail wagging gently. One ear swiveled back as a tentative smile crossed her face. "Who're you?" She asked, her voice gaining a little of it's usual spunk.

Nessa pulled up sharply as a figure of tan and orange slipped into her peripheral vision. She drew back a couple steps onto the land, licking the water off her whiskers. Shaking a front paw slightly, absently in the air to rid it of a few drops of water, she dipped her muzzle in response to the other pup.
She might not have appeared so flighty if it had been another time, but Nessa was still readjusting to forest life after being ambushed by a pack of hounds. Her view of the world was rewriting itself with the added aspect of danger.
Still, what could be so frightening about another pup? "Hello," She returned the greeting softly, tail wagging gently. One ear swiveled back as a tentative smile crossed her face. "Who're you?" She asked, her voice gaining a little of it's usual spunk.

As she shifted and took several steps back from the waters edge, he drew a friendly smile across his face. He didn't want to seem intimidating nor a brute as first impressions were known to determine ones friendship status of present and future time.
"My name is Jaxom," he replied with a dash of enthusiasm as he sat down upon the sandy banks. "What's your name?" Brimming with curiosity as still the foreign territory was uncharted and mysterious to him, Jaxom couldn't help but tilt his head and look upon Nessa with a friendly smile as his worries of meeting someone new were slowly dissolving.

Nessa pursed her black lips together, feeling her anxiety falling away. "Well I'm Nessa." She said with a hint of a pleasant-natured smirk, turning slightly to face the other pup before seating herself primly on darkened haunches. The little female readjusted herself, paws dancing slightly on the sandy ground, coming to a rest at last to sink her tiny claws into the earth.
"Are you--" She tilted her head. "--from around here, Jaxom?" Her ears canted slightly forward, towards the other.

"Nessa," he softly remarked as he glanced upwards in quick contemplation, "that's a pretty name." Stretching his neck upwards and adjusting his head position as he slowly drew it towards a more comfortable level, the young male dabbled in silent thoughts until her question drew his attention.

"No. I'm from just outside the forest, up in the mountain terrain. I got separated from my pack when the the fire erupted." His ears flattened as he hadn't heard or caught scent of his pack for days. Whether they were alive or deceased was oblivious to him or perhaps he would never know the truth. "Are you native to the forests, Nessa?"

"Thanks!" She whuffed, pleased with the compliment. "Yours is nice too.. though I don't think I've ever heard one quite like it." She smiled, her brush of a feathered tail sweeping against the ground behind her.

Nessa glanced at him curiously as he spoke of his past. "Mountains..." She echoed, letting the foreign word roll off her tongue. The mountains were quite far from here, or so her father had told her. Fire... that was the instrument of two legs. But she didn't know anything else about it. Still, being associated with two-legs was enough, and Nessa felt a tiny tingle of fear creep up her spine.

"We live here." She nodded in affirmation. "My family. Beside the river." Her eyes wandered to sweep the familiar waters.

A grin spread wide across his maw as his name truely was a bit unique. "It's a bit out of the ordinary but it never gets old," he commented as he wiggled each claw within the soft sands, gripping and sensing the grainy texture underneath.

He had watched her facial expression as he unveiled a minute aspect of his past, somewhat portraying a puzzled and curious look as he mentioned "moutains". He was alone and forlorn within the forest realms as he had no home or pack to call his own. It would take time, thought the exact timeframe was shrouded with mystery, for him to become accustomed to the lands and its culture yet sooner or later he would learn by experience and trials.

Glancing around the river banks and its surrounding territory, Jaxom was in awe. The land was lush and thriving with life! What could be better than residing right next to a tranquil river? Sunning on its banks, cooling down when the temperature became unbearable, and even hunting for fish, sounded like a perfect lifestyle. "This- I mean- your families territory is beautiful."

Nessa couldn't help but flip Jaxom a reflective grin, her expression mirroring his own. "Thank you." She said with sincerity. "Mom and Dad were lucky to claim it before anyone else did." She let her olive colored orbs roam her familiar surroundings, and seeing them through the eyes of another she was pleased. The river waters twinkled here and there, bending beams of light, skewing them off in random directions to create fleeting sparkles.

"Is your family here with you? --Or.. your pack?" She quickly added the latter, remembering that not all wolves travelled in small families like her own. Indeed many chose large groups. Surely Jaxom couldn't be on his own... could he?

(( Edit: Oh! x3 Thankyou! ))

"It's a sanctuary. I bet countless wolves have only dreamed to acquire such a territory." The rays of immaculate light danced upon the rivers calming surface, leading his eyes to follow its pathway until its destination became shrouded by its distance. It was this territory that would have lured his family to live within the forests yet they'd always believed that the mountains were a desirable home away from the dangers of the two leggers. They were wrong.

Just as Nessa questioned the whereabouts of his pack, the young males ears flattened while he winced as if something had cued a sharp pain to grasp his heart. He fell silent as he stumbled to draw the words out of his mouth.

"I- I haven't seen them for two days," he finally replied as the words were begining to roll off his tounge withouth hinderance. "Our territory was swept by fire from the two leggers and my mother told me to run, run away towards the forests." He softly whined as he only hoped that his pack was well yet the constant thought of his family deceased and gone forever was unceasing, "I don't know if they're alive or looking for me. I might never know."

The blue pup smiled warmly, flopping her little body down against the soft earth. She'd seen adults do this before, so she knew it was appropriate to do while in a conversation. "It's all I know." She wuffed softly. "Well--except for the woods. But I'm not sure if I like it there yet." She fought back a shudder.

Nessa's ears swiveled back slightly as Jaxom spoke about the fire again. Her brow lowered. "What exactly is fire? I don't know much about it at all." She glanced up at him slightly, her features sympathetic. "That's awful... do you know where to look for them?

His head lowered a bit as the recollections of the event swept fresh through his mind. "Fire," he began as he leveled his vision with Nessa's, "is a monster. You can't bit it or scare it away, it consumes everything within its pathway without mercy nor hesitation. Bright as the sun and as hot as the vile summer day, it destroyes everything it pases over as it leaves its trail of death and blackness behind it." Looking towards the side as his body quivered with the jolting images from the tragedy, Jaxom sighed. "Everything it touches dies and its darkened breath is vile to the smell. No wolf can stop it."

Swivling his head towards the young, femal pup, he shook his head. "I'm not sure where they would look. The woods are foreign to our pack and rarely have we ever set foot within its realm."

Nessa stared at the tan and orange colored pup, almost as if she wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Her olive eyes flicked up and down his face, bout found no semblance of a joke, or even an exaggeration. A monster... Everything it touched... "Does it-- eat wolves?" She asked in a near whisper, finding it impossible to imagine such a phenomenon.

"When you ran from your mother you must have lost track of direction." She guessed, putting two and two together to realize the other's dillemma. Nessa pursed her lips, her ears tilting back again. Jaxom already had such a jaded past. She vowed to herself she would help him if she could.

"I've never seen it happen before but it hasn't stopped to pass up anything it can sweep over." Looking into her eyes he found trust and a true friend. Still a bit shy and wary of his new surroundings, Jaxom was sure that she could perhaps guide him around and help him become familiar with such a strange place.

With the given assumption, he nodded as his ears perked up slightly. "Yes, it was hard to tell where I was headed but I just had to run away. I couldn't stay anywhere near the fire." Glancing around, Jaxom still was confused. Where was he to go? Would he be reunited with his pack? "I just don't know what to do," he softly whispered as he bent his head low as sadness gnashed at his very soul, helpless and forlorn within the wakes of the world.

The pup quieted again, taking in the information about fire. Before, Nessa had been curious, even interested in two-legs, but if this Fire was a product of theirs, she wanted to stay far away.

Nessa raised her head slightly craning her neck. It was clear the gears in her mind were turning and she was mulling over a decision. Her eyes flicked with a hint of nervousness towards her family's den. Her father had warned her about slipping off, but this was important. She brushed the anxiety aside.

"I can help you look, Jaxom, if you want." She offered, her tail sweeping gently behind her on the ground. "I don't know too much about the land past here, but maybe two pairs of eyes are better than one." The puppy smiled offhandedly with a shrug.

His head suddenly drew upwards as his ears swivled forewards. "Really? I'd like that. Thank you, Nessa, it means alot to me." He replied as a smile drew across his maw.

Rising up upon all fours, Jaxom orange tipped tail swayed side to side as he envisioned a reunion with his pack. Slowly padding towards a lone path, well trodded as it snaked through the woods, he glanced back to the cream and cobalt pup as he was curious of where they would venture to. "Should we take this path? " He remarked as he was unsure of where to begin as well as where to start.

(( For Ronso: ))

"'Course," She smiled, a little abashed.

Nessa pulled herself to all fours, shaking the sand out of her soft puppy fur, the longer tufts on her hips inherited from her father fluffing otu like a bird's feathers. "That sounds like a good idea. You said you came from the Mountains in the north?" She glanced up the worn deer path, following it's shape, and nodded in confirmation. "I know that way's North. It leads to the Northern bank. There's a crossing there, a tree that fell across the river. If we just keep going in that direction..." She trailed off, tilting her head, ear flicking forward as if calculating something. She glanced to the other to see what his thoughts were.

"We'll see the forest disapear into sparse trees and endless plains. But that's not for a while, if i remember." He commented as his nose took a small whiff of the lingering scents though only to find no recognition. Trailing behind, Jaxom's mind was rambling upon countless thoughts as it left him silent.

The piercing howls of his pack still rang audibly through his ears, surging shivers echoed through his tiny body as it was consuming his soul with a ravenous appitite. Still lingering upon his soft pelt was the stench of a distinct, rotten smell of the fires breath while its blackened remains still clung within the depths of his fur. Would he ever be left in peace or would he be haunted, scarred forever by the devastating fate that was brought to his pack.

The knowledge of his head continued to tell him that it was useless. There was no sense in searching for his pack as it was likely that everyone had perished either by the hand of man or by the wrath of the fire. Beckoning with hope, his heart still held to faith that his pack was well, searching and scouting the woods for him. These conflicting emotions were burdensome and sooner or later they would get the best of him and seize him when he'd least expect it. When his walls would crumble and a swelling emotion would overtake him.

"It's strange. For one moment you think that everything is perfect but suddenly the world turns against you and you're alone." Flickering his ears as he was taking in every sound of the lively woods, he looked towards Nessa with softened eyes. "Do you think they'll come?"