Dragoncrest Cliffs Swept out of sight, rolling up on an ocean.
bury all your secrets in my skin
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#1
All Welcome 
Gimme threads with other puppers! @Ephraim and/or @Silkie, maybe? Otherwise AW.  :)

Although Hougeda was not yet a home to him in the way Portia's densite had been for the first few months of his life, Dacio was not opposed to change. He loved new sights, different smells and, of course, happening across new wolves. @Dio had promised that this transition would be good for the ashen Goufa and his sisters: an opportunity to better bond with their pack-mates and the other children within Drageda's ranks. He'd already met a couple of other unrelated pups and thought of them fondly as he trailed through the foliage beyond Hougeda's caverns, maintaining his eager anticipation of introducing himself to the others.

Although his guardians were never far, his age and recent relocation meant that Dacio and the girls had been granted greater freedom. He took full advantage of this, content to busy himself from his immediate family for longer periods of time to explore on his own, yet never far enough away to rouse fear of getting lost. A dark ear swivelled atop his ashen crown to regard the morning's first raindrops that landed on the dense canopy above, a soft pitter-patter which promptly turned to downpour.

He snorted, disinterested, and carried on following the shimmering trail left by a travelling snail across the damp forest floor.
"Trigedasleng" "common"
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More pups had come to enter Hougeda, but Ephraim's childhood jealousy was already on its way out the door. Unlike Svalinn, whom he had seen as a competitor for ma's affection, the younger pups arriving at the rendezvous site only excited him now. It meant more playmates, more pups to teach about mushrooms and bats and flowers, and more interaction—all of which was welcome.

From his lounging position in a tangle of roots just beyond Hougeda's mouth, Ephraim watched the rain begin. When he first stepped foot outdoors, it was pleasant enough weather, but the sky had darkened a considerable measure without warning. The rain started gently, a hushed rat-a-tat of individual droplets, but just as quickly as the sky had darkened, the gentle rain turned to a deluge, and Ephraim was soaked through in minutes. He didn't mind, though he did rise from the roots to shake himself and start ambling back toward home.

That was when he ran across the snail, and not long after, Dacio. The pups' face was gloved in a darker shade of grey, similar but not the same as his own espresso mask. It was the strange white splotches breaking up the space between Dacio's eyes that got Ephraim's attention, and then he waved his tail in greeting and asked the smaller child, with a shy smile, "where are you going?"
bury all your secrets in my skin
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Mostly protected from the rain by the dense foliage overhead, Dacio is only dampened across his crown and dorsal in comparison to Ephraim's sodden pelage. The downpour doesn't bother him at all - in fact, the coolness of rainwater is a welcome escape from the uncomfortable heat of the Summer sun. Fascinated by the glimmering trail that led him to the shelled form of the slimy bug that created it, the ashen Goufa's tail swings to life as he moved in to better investigate.

Another cub, one who strikes him at once as familiar but who he doesn't recall by name, moves onto the scene and past the tiny creature up ahead as though it does't even exist. Dacio stopped, his stance not unlike a deer in the headlights for a long moment, focus shifting swiftly from the snail to the young coywolf who moved toward him. "Nowhere," he responded immediately, a defensive edge to his tone as he cast his blue-green gaze downward almost guiltily. So intent on finding whatever had created the crystal trail, Dacio was unaware of how far he may have travelled from the boundaries his mother had set for him to stay within.

He peeked up past his lashes, blinking curiously. Ephraim didn't seem like he was here to reprimand him, and so he felt it safe to slacken somewhat. Dacio made a careful step toward his companion, reaching out with his muzzle to tentatively test the scent that clung to the other child's sodden furs. "Who you?"
"Trigedasleng" "common"
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Ephraim understood that tone, but reeled back all the same, taken aback by its issue from a mouth so young. Not like he was one to talk; prior to losing both himself and his self esteem in the storm, Ephraim could be defensive himself. Then he was more self-serving and sought any opportunity to avoid doing anything. He still had that laziness to him, and a defiant streak that made him prone to growing defensive as well, but both traits were easily masked. Maybe as the wolves of Drageda became more familiar and commonplace to him, they would begin to show once more.

"Okay," he conceded, even though he thought the snail's trail on the ground was more telling of Dacio's intentions. He had no will to argue it with the younger pup; in fact, he didn't have the energy to ask again. He let the grey-furred boy get near enough to smell him instead, and when asked who he was, he simply said, "Ephraim. Ay-yol-ver," he pronounced slowly, because it had taken him such a long time to be able to say his own surname without botching it or tripping over himself. He glanced down between his toes to the slick, gummy trail and he wondered, "Who are you? Are you followin' the shell-crawler? Can I come?"

He really had no concept that Dacio was a bit young to be out this far nor that he should try to escort the pup home.
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"Dacio," he responded carefully, but confidently. He was well-practiced with his own name now, and Portia often gushed over how clever he was! Scruffy tail swishing with pride between his darkened hocks, the ashen cub brightened considerably as Ephraim requested that he join in on his little adventure. "Ya!" Dacio chirped, excited to have a new buddy to accompany him rather than escort him back to his mother. "You come!"

Eager to get going, the boy was quick to resume following the trail. Eyes fixed to the slick path, he loped alongside it and soon closed the distance between himself and its creator. "Oooo," he wondered aloud, reaching out to boop the creature gently with his nose, "you shell-craw." He briefly blinked up at his companion for confirmation as their find retreated into the home it carried on its back, feeling it safe to assume that Ephraim had indeed been referring to this strange critter as a "shell-crawler".

They harassed the small creature for a time until Portia's call requested Dacio's returnand, with a fond farewell to Ephraim, he went padding back home to face his mother's frustration that he'd wandered too far.
"Trigedasleng" "common"