Welcome to Gaia! ::

Soaking wet and looking all too pleased with herself, Soul marched away from the river carrying a large bounty between her jaws. Every other step had become a skip as she hummed a spirited tune to herself.

The path back to her home was a well worn trek through the forest, but growing paws were hard to see beyond the bobbing body of her catch. So she relied on her memory of the path, as well as all its obstacles, to guide her to safety. When she stumbled, which was often and inevitable, she would yip and let loose a chuckle. But when she finally arrived at her hovel, a once much more inviting den for a larger creature than she, Soul could not deny the feeling of pride.

He would be proud, too.

The weeks prior had been spent rapidly adjusting to the absence of her guardian, Greymane. He had taught her many things, fishing one of her favorites and impermanence one of his, so that when he vanished she wasn't exactly surprised. Disheartened perhaps, and a little fearful, but not surprised. After all, Soul knew his stay was never meant to last forever.

But a part of her hoped that his leave would only last for so long as well. That was what 'impermanence' meant after all, wasn't it?

When the frustrations wore off, Soul made the best of every day regardless of his absence. Gratitude was a self-taught expression, and she could not help but feel it in every waking moment. For every moment, with and without him.

Soul let the fish fall from her mouth and to the earth, it's audible 'thump' louder than expected. The area around the den site seemed just as abandoned as the den itself, but she scanned the foliage for threats nonetheless. Sort of for herself, sort of for Greymane.

Nothing. No one. At least no one that she could make out and that was enough for Soul. Under her breath she muttered something that was followed by a snort, before she placed a paw upon the tail of her kill and carefully tore through the scales.

Mid-way through a chew Soul's body locked up, leaving her jaw unhinged with bits of fish hanging from dark jowls. Her dainty black nose was the first to respond, twitching wildly. Her yellow gaze darted back along the tree line, where she had last checked, so flustered and frightened that she was hardly looking at anything at all.

Then there was a growl, and the young she-wolf wasted no time in wheeling her back to the mouth of the den and scrambling several paces towards it. Her first instinct was to take cover. Assume a low crouch, hide first. And if things got too dangerous, Greymane's voice echoed between her ears:

Run. Survive. Do whatever it takes... Never let them catch you.

But her own voice seemed to whisper, as it had when he first shared that wisdom:

But what if there is no danger. What if... there is another way?

The lanky female, limbs all bundled up beneath her, remained where she last paused. Pressed against the soil, only partially hidden within her home, Soul waited. One part dread. One part curiosity.

Greymane's voice echoed once again, stoic yet kind... merely wanting to help, Run! But defiantly her body stayed. Or was it fear that kept her rooted?

There was a long pause following the others address. It was filled with quivering and a flickering gaze of her own. Every step he took was another breath she retained, releasing a strong exhale only after he had come to a stop. Her chin was pressed low while her eyes darted quickly from the strangers face to the soil ahead; pretending to be invisible, but unable to keep her curiosity at bay.

Her silence could linger for only so long. When her gaze met with him again, and stayed where it landed, her tail swept slowly behind her. She kept low, but she answered.

"A-are you going to kill me?"

She watched his eyes roll...No.

"Do you promise?" Soul whimpered, coming out of fear inch by inch but definitely needing the encouragement...

... which he would surely deliver upon.

"W-wait." Her gangly limbs fumbled to find their length, suddenly desperate to be mobile again. She was eventually lifted to her full height and propelled forward, stranger-danger a concept lost to a moment ago. When just shy of the male's chest, she paused and peered into him. Through him, almost, with a look that read of doubt and relief all at once. Behind her stare, there was a glimmer of... something.

And there was a moment where, if he were watching carefully, her brow would twitch. Those bright, yellow eyes of hers would lock on to his and linger... questioningly... for a beat. Somewhere within her, instinct had set off an alarm. Wounded. Wounded. Blind. Blind... but the she-wolf was distracted, almost entirely, and the moment would pass in favor of the topic at hand.

"Someone... someone wants to meet me?" A smile was creeping across her face. "Take me in? Who?"

Hope. That glimmer was hope. A vibrant, fertile expression lit her face and pulled at the corner of her lips further. She drew herself in, closer to the male, now sending her gaze out across the forest in search of the someone he mentioned. When her nose tilted towards the sky, testing it, she found nothing. No one. Except maybe the faintest hint of water.

"I... Who... who are you?" A nervous pause. "And why would they want me?"