saucy too felt like straying from the bay, she remembered her conversation with Sweet a few weeks ago; she wanted to settle but not to stop exploring. That didn’t necessarily mean she wanted to travel long distances, but she wanted freedom, so she took this day to remind herself that freedom was hers to keep. She found herself wandering into a broad green pasture, with waving grasses and warm easterly winds. They soothed her, and reminded her of the less wet places she’d been, and how much she’d liked them. She briefly missed the valley, but only briefly.

After a little while of wandering and thinking, Saucy’s relaxation time ended and her body clock told her it was time to do something exciting. She started to run through the fields, her footsteps pulsing into the ground and her tongue lolling out between her teeth. Her heart beat quickened, she felt alive and awakened. She paused her running when she came across a familiar scent. Dalia! She easily changed directions and took off after her friend, running now for a purpose.

She arrived to see the grey freckled girl, and let out a friendly bark to alert her. She slowed her pace, which became a bouncy saunter to meet Dalia. Heyo! What’s up? she said in a laidback and joyous tone.

Gemstones? What’d he want them for? Saucy wasn’t exactly a shiny things kind of girl, she saw little difference between a diamond and dirt. For whatever reason Dalia or Ford would want a gemstone, Saucy didn’t think she’d find many out here either, they grow in like, mountains I think, the dumbness of that sentence flew totally over her head. 

Her tail began to wag when she was asked about her own antics, I was just running, gotta keep up the grind you know, she replied playfully, energy still shooting through her body. The white lioness let out a playful growl, shaking her powder sugar mane. You wanna run too? I’m in a hyper mood, sorry, she said with a jovial giggle. She wasn’t entirely sure of Dalia’s temperament yet, but a friend is a friend, and fun was fun no matter who you’re with.

aww yiss she was gonna run- WAIT! That SNEAKY- well bitch was not something that could be used to describe Dalia so umm- LADY! Saucy’s friend took off even before she finished her sentence. DUDE! she exclaimed in surprise, though her icy blue eyes narrowed as she accepted the challenge. They weren’t really racing to anything, there was no goal or anything to constitute winning. However Saucy was going to win. This was fact. With a wriggle of her hips she took off after Dalia, letting loose a playful growl.

She sped forwards through the tall grass, which whipped at her fruitlessly. She scrambled to get right at Dalia’s heels, then to her side. She ran next to her for a moment, shot her a look of ‘haha I caught up sucker’ and attempted to go further. Oh it was on.

Dalia seemed to be having a good time, she was smiling. Saucy was sort of smiling, it was a mixture of, “this is so fun,” and “I want to win really fucking bad”. She hardly noticed that Dalia was struggling to keep up, she just kept on running. Finally she came to a stop, deciding that a lone tree was their finish line. When she reached it she turned to see her friend, and let out joyous whoops. Breathing heavy with exhilaration, Saucy did a victory circle around herself as she waited for Dalia to catch up.

you just got served! Bro I’ve seen snails go faster than you, she taunted, she couldn’t help herself. These were the kinds of things her and her sister would do to each other. In her eyes, a good friendship was one where you could make fun of the other and still know that you loved them. Hopefully Dalia got the memo, otherwise Saucy was just being saucy.

Saucy watched Dalia cross the finish line and take her deep breaths. Her taunts were taken well, and Saucy mentally noted that Dalia was dope actually and that they could definitely be gal pals. She snickered when the gray girl showed off her sick ride (her legs) then asked Saucy how she got so fast. The she-wolf shrugged and rolled over too, curling into a snowball and then uncurling and hey she was wolf again! It’s all about the thrust babe. You gotta get a good start and then you can keep going from there, she said with a smile, her tourmaline gaze drifting to Dalia.

She laid there for a moment, collecting her breath and her thoughts and soaking up the sunlight like a sponge. She rolled over onto her stomach to talk, her tail wagging cheerfully behind her. So where are you from? she asked, hoping to get to know Dalia better. These were just the basics, the stuff every friend should know about their friends.

Saucy smiled when Dalia repeated her words. Surprisingly Saucy’s mind hadn’t reached the innuendo yet either, it would occur to her later that day surely, that she could’ve made a wack ass joke out of it. But right now she wasn’t thinking about wise cracks, she was just trying to help out a friend. 

Dalia answered with a sad sort of smile, Drageda she said. What that meant Saucy didn’t know, but it sounded pretty cool. She listened with her ears pressed forwards, interested in her friend’s birth pack. I was born without a pack, just a mom and a dad and my bros. What’s it like being a pack wolf, do you miss it? she asked, out of curiosity for Dalia’s past but also for information on what her future might be with the coastal wolves. She had no idea what it would be like not moving around all the time, having whole ass responsibilities. She’d trust Dalia’s judgment to debrief her and prepare her.

Not much different than this? That was a relief! Saucy loved this, whatever it was. A content and relaxed smile grew on her face when Dalia said this, she felt as if an inner worry was slowly drifting away. That's cool, she said, and then in response to her mention of other tasks, what kind of gardening? The white lioness could totally imagine Dalia standing over a patch of flowers, she totally seemed like that kind of girl. Saucy was definitely a fighter, that was her thing- but she often thought about nature too, and secretly she was also a lover of flowers.

Dalia said she missed her pack, Saucy could tell from the sad smile earlier, and the way the speckled wolf talked about Drageda. She wouldn't make her talk about it more, she'd rather talk things other than their pasts now anyway. Dalia said she was happy here, Saucy replied, good, cause if you left I'd be stuck with trouty mouth 24/7 and he's a douche. She let out a giggle at this, her tail thumping on the ground.

If Saucy were to ever try gardening it would probably be for fun as well. Healing would be a nice thing to be effcient in, but she knew for a fact that she'd be a shitty healer. She'd probably be too rough with her patients, or she just wouldn't have the patience for it. Saucy wasn't known for her patience virtue, she could wait for approximately 2 minutes before getting bored and doing something else. Thus healing would not be her thing. She was glad it was Dalia's though, cause somebody would have to patch her up when she inevitably got into trouble!

That's nifty! I wish I could be a healer but I'd suck ass at it for sure. But maybe you could show me some of your plants sometime? That'd be cool I guess, she said, not trying to sound like she was too interested in flowers. Badasses didn't love looking at flowers and she cant give up that badass rep right?! Hell no.

Saucy giggled along with Dalia, also thinking about their first meeting. No he's the worst! she replied,  he thinks he has better comebacks than me so don't let him think it's true. She was however clearly kidding about him being the worst. She actually liked Velen a lot as well, he was funny, and great company. A real dude! Dalia promised that she wouldn't leave her though, even giving Saucy a cute smirk. Dalia was cute.

Thanks, I'm happy here, she said in a moment of seriousness. She truly was happy with her choice to stay, she felt better about this choice than any she'd made in her past (which consisted of a bunch of stupid ideas and whack ass outcomes).

Well if Dalia said so! Saucy would try her best to catch on, but she didn’t and likely wouldn’t have that bedside manner that she needed to be a great healer. She could at least learn the basics though. Starting a garden would be fun though, and Saucy couldn’t possibly suck that bad at that. We can plant coconut trees, and throw the coconuts at Velen, she suggested with a grin, always finding time to take a jab at a friend. 

Saucy gave Dalia an approving nod when she said that Velen’s jokes weren’t as good. Of course they were pretty much around the same level of goodness, but Saucy took a lot of pride in her ability to be crude. Plus brogurt? What was funnier than that. Thank you, she said with a giggle.

In their moment of sincerity, Dalia repeated Saucy’s sentiments, and Saucy felt truly grateful to have this little gang. They would be a pack soon, with real established borders, and ranks and so forth. Saucy better be one of the leaders (she decided just then and there), But if she wasn’t well that’d be ok too. Her thoughts drifted to the other wolves in the group, and she was reminded that she hadn’t met all of them yet. Ford or Rannveig, all she knew about them was that one spits acid and the other is hella intense. What’re the other bros like? she asked.

Dalia took a long moment to ponder the question, a long moment that Saucy didn’t have the patience for. She patted the ground with her paws and let out a chant, c’mon! Spill the beans! Finally Dalia had collected her thoughts, and she began to promptly, spill beanage. First she talked about Rannveig, who she assumed was acid spitter, who was like Velen but a little rougher. Oh shit, she said sardonically, though it was all in good fun.

Yes! They were gossiping! And it was super fun! Gossiping was one stereotypically girly thing that Saucy allowed herself publicly enjoy. She wanted to know everything about everybody. She could sit here and sip tea all day and never get bored. Everybody’s business was her business, and Dalia it seemed was the perfect source.  Their next topic was Ford, his intensity was confirmed first, and more detail followed. Saucy’s eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly agape when Dalia finished. Was that umm- a crush? Mhm.

The white lioness replied with a playful growl, so are you and Ford a thing? Sounds like you’re a thing, she said with a teasing jump of her eyebrows.

Dalia blew off Saucy’s comment with a big eye roll, Saucy interpreted it as either Dalia was telling the truth or over compensating to cover up the truth. Saucy raised her eyebrows in an amused look and purses her lips, Mmmk, but when y’all start dating you owe me something cause I called it, she teased.

Dalia flipped the question on Saucy and Saucy laughed, Hell no! There is no guy I’ve met who can handle this much badass and this much ass. But I have had some fun before, she said, which was an only partial truth. She’d had fun before, with a boy, but not the kind of fun she’d insinuated. It’d just been some flirting and some kissin, nothing that crazy. She was too young for that, but she didn’t care much if Dalia thought it or not.