The complete opposite of her sister Alya, Lyra was turning out to be far more reserved and quiet than her sisters, spending a lot of time on her own and learning things at her own pace. She enjoyed the company of her parents and siblings, yet often wandered off to do her own thing. Exploring the world around her was a task that required her full attention and Alya was much too loud, Hydra too bossy and Korei too energetic.
She had managed to break away from the rest of the family earlier that morning to take a pee break — they had been scolded many times for leaving a mess in the den and Lyra quickly learned where not to do her business. Since they were first introduced to the Bright, she hadn't been able to roam too far, having always been reigned in quickly by either their mother or father. They were not in sight at the moment, however. Slowly, rising from her squat with a glance back at the den and a mischievous glint in her eye, the cub suddenly made a beeline for the trees, eager to test how far she could get this time.
Despite his desire to spend every waking moment with Alastor, Aesop refrained from actually doing so. He had to give Alastor room to breath and time to adjust. He truly wanted what was best for his friend/crush, and that meant leaving him to settle in.
So Aesop wandered, checking the states of various caches and nosing through the underbrush in search of any last-minute plants he could pull. That his idle wandering had brought him so close to the Alphas' den was mere coincidence, but coincidence was a strange and lucky thing, for it had brought him right in the path of one of Moonspear's wayward daughters. They had grown since last he saw them, back when they had saw fit to attack him. Aesop drawled a lazy hey
to catch the girl's attention, wondering if she would flee at the sight of him or make another valiant effort at slaying him.
It wasn't long before an adult caught her in the act, thwarting her efforts! She froze with a paw left dangling in the air, lowering her head and guiltily turning to face whoever had called out. Somewhat fortunately, it was not her mother or father and the girl's ears immediately flipped back up happily at the realisation. It was the man she and her sisters had tried to take down. While she still wasn't completely sure of him, she felt a little braver than when she first encountered him.
Still, she had a mission to complete!
Stern blue eyes locked onto the pale adult and she uttered a quiet "shhh" before turning to continue her trek towards the trees.
Only one thing was certain: this was one of Charon's daughters. Charon had four of them, and Aesop had met three, and as far as he was concerned, they were all nearly identical. He didn't know them well enough to tell them apart, and wasn't even certain on their names, so there was no telling which pup this was.
She looked at him with the kind of solemnity only a child can muster and shooshed him, and Aesop's heart damn near melted. Of course he would have to shoosh! Shh,
he replied, nodding. And then, as she continued on, Aesop followed her, a great big shadow to her every step.
A smile lit up her features as he agreed to be quiet, thankful he was compliant — or at least was happy to humour her while she made her great escape. To the little cub, though, the man was fully into her plan on not rousing her parents while she explored the outside. He of course had the capacity to bring her back home should she wander too far or dob her in, but Lyra placed her trust in his paws. Surely he wouldn't betray her!
So, with a happy toss of her head, the girl toddled forward at a snail's pace compared to the grand loping gait of the adult trailing behind her. She made it about three steps before a leaf on the ground moved ever so slightly in the wind, distracting the cub who then stared at it in fascination.
Though her parents might not have been happy with it, Aesop was content to follow the girl knowing that he could keep her out of trouble. Or at least he was adult supervision. He followed dutifully behind her, taking a step for every few of hers, though they hardly got far.
She stopped to investigate a leaf, and so he, too, came to a halt. He gave her a few moments to investigate, then broke the companionable silence. What is it?
he asked, attempting to fake wonder and interest but falling short to vague curiosity. It never hurt to humor kids, and if she didn't know what a leaf was called, then it would be a learning experience.
She nosed it gently, a look of deep concentration marking her features as if that leaf was the single most interesting thing in the world. In truth, she had been startled by it, on edge already seeing as she breaking the rules. She turned back to Aesop as he questioned what it was. She gave him an almost pained, really? expression before announcing, "is a leaf." She nosed it again before smiling. "Dummy."
Of course, the pup didn't mean anything by it, simply calling him a thing Hydra and Alya seemed to call many things. She then strode forward again with a quickness to her step, determined not to let anything else sidetrack her this time!
[b]Huh,[/q] he said, barely containing laughter. A sly grin slid across his lips as the opportunity for mischief arose. You want to learn a word even better than dummy?
he asked. He was probably already going to get in trouble for not bringing her back. Might as well make it worth it.
She continued walking from there, and again Aesop merely shadowed her, content to see where she was going and how much trouble they could get in. For a moment he worried about Charon's reaction to this impromptu adventure, but Aesop squashed that like a bug.
She scarcely noticed his stifled laughter and mischievous grin, intent as she was on forging her daring path onwards. However, his question caused her to stop and swivel an ear backwards, a look of utmost interest crossing her features. She turned to face him slowly, first looking over one shoulder dubiously before completing a full circle and sitting before the adult. He was proving to be more interesting by the second! "...Um," she hesitated, biting a lip before it broke into a grin that mirrored his own. "YEAH!"
His grin cracked wickedly, mischief turning his smile from obliging and endeared to a sly show of teeth. It wasn't an altogether unfriendly expression, but it certainly meant trouble. Okay, don't tell your dad I told you this,
he said, a halfhearted attempt to cover his own ass. He was pretty sure Charon would know it was him in the end, and only really hoped he could pass it off as a weird old guy thing and get out of trouble. Alright, you're definitely old enough to use stronger words than dummy. Try asshole.
His toothy grin reminded her of the ones that Alya and Hydra's showed sometimes, especially when they were trying to rope her into mischief. Granted, his seemed more...sinister but she trusted the adult, as weird as he was. Tail wagging eagerly, she giggled as he gave a simple disclaimer; she was well-versed in keeping things a secret from both Charon and Amekaze. In response, the girl nodded, before quirking an ear at what he said next.
"Asshole," she mimicked, laughing again at the funny word. She liked saying dummy better, but if this was an adult word, she wasn't opposed to using it! "Wha's it mean?" she asked, gazing up at her impromptu swear-word mentor.