Arrow Lake Eel in the Water and She-Wolf I'll Be

Thread title is from this song, if anyone's curious!

Talos's determined march came to an abrupt halt as she squinched her elongated muzzle and tilted her head far, far back to look up and up and up at the magnificent loud downcrashing of the water in the distance. She'd gone scampering along the winding banks of the Swiftcurrent, chasing a flickering fish here and there before she grew bored of the difficulty of chasing them; she had hoped there would be something far more interesting and worthwhile if she snuck off further down the watercourse. Home was staid and safe and boring; this gigantic waterfall, on the other hand, was an amazing sight that left her heart pouding with excitement. Oh yes, no matter what her dumb brother Akatosh might say, slipping her way out from under the adults' eyes to come here had been totally worth it.

But although she had scampered as fast as she could to begin with, it had taken a little while for her to get here; her near-gallop had slowed along the way, and now (though she'd never admit it to any of her brothers, that was for sure) she was glad for the excuse to stop and take a bit of a rest. Her silvery eyes, with only the barest drop of blue remaining in their glimmering pools, glanced back over her shoulder with a bit of apprehension, but her stubby coal-furred tail waved smugly anew as she saw no one back there still. Her pack could just stay in the dark about this little trip of hers, so far as she was concerned. Talos raised her smiling chin proudly high, right after she stuck her tongue sassily out at the frantic dartings of the small river fishes as she walked her weary feet into the sandy-bottomed shallow back of the river. She stood there for a moment, letting the cool water soothe her slightly-throbbing feet as she bent to inhale some mouthfuls of water, and then even more eagerly raised her eyes again to drink in the fresh landscape surrounding her.

They would have to move and pretty soon as well. Wraen thought, as she padded back from the scouting the southern areas of the Rising Sun valley. The last group hunt that had failed and during which she had got an injury that had prevented her from leaving the Sunspire for few days was constantly on her mind. It felt like time was slipping through her fingers like sand and she just could not keep up with it. Yes, things were now considerably easier with four growing puppies less to take care of, but still she could not shake off the nasty feeling that this would not last long. 

Therefore her scouting and finding out the situation over the mountains. Small game had kept her belly full, and spotting not only deer, but also odd, fat and hairy deer-like animals grazing in herds, had been a pleasant discovery, which she wanted to relay to Rannoch right away. But even the best messengers need to stop and have a drink and this was, how she caught sight of an almost grown-up wolf with still rather childish features about her that spoke of her age. And from, where Wraen stood, she could tell that this wolf belonged to the pack she always had to pass, when she entered the valley. 

"Hey," she called out to the teenager and approached in a calm and friendly manner. "Ain't you a little too young to be on your own?" she asked, knowing well that this patronizing sentence would irk all young and brave wanderers that had first set their foot outside pack's teritory.

Talos lifted her eyes from the sandy riverbottom and puffed herself up with easy self-assurance. No, she replied quite readily to the inquiry of the stranger, almost convincingly and with unusual confidence for one her age, and putting effort into her enunciation for once to boot. She licked a few stray droplets of water from her whiskers before continuing. You obviously got me mistaken wi' someone else. Why're you here?

The stranger seemed friendly and interesting enough, Talos supposed as she looked the other wolf up and down, and more importantly she was someone new. Talos was quite heartily sick of the faces of her stupid brothers and interfering family in a lot of ways by now. And the sights and scents of most of her actual packmates were old stale news by now too. She couldn't even remember the last time someone with a completely fresh scent and face had shown up in her life. So Talos moved forward to meet the other's friendliness with her coal ears avidly cocked and slightly-silvered black tail tilted up past her rump and wagging eagerly. Normally, she'd have been tempted to be a lot ruder to this officious bitch and her assumptions, but for right now Talos was more interested in making sure this other wolf stuck around a little while and apprised her of a little of what might be going on in the wider world beyond Swiftcurrent's borders. Talos took a good long sniff of the other's scent as she speculated about where this stranger might have come from and what interesting adventures she might have to share.

Sure you do not. Wraen thought, looking at the cub, while it spoke with bravado. She had been an obedient child in her early years, but she could easily imagine that neither Sarah, nor Terance - being the bravest of the trio - would have let any stranger patronise them for being out on their own. Even if they were young. 

"I guess I did - I apologize truly for my mistake," she played along and dipped her muzzle in a polite manner. She let the kid have a good look and sniff of her, she did the same and, when the initial round of introductions was over, they could continue their conversations. "Came to have a drink and - perhaps - catch a glimpse of a water dragon. I heard someone had spotted it here. What about you?" she asked.

Talos tamped down her puppyish wriggle of excitement as she inhaled deep of the other's scent; she was not entirely successful, but she did at least manage to wipe the giddy grin off her face and straighten up in what she fancied was actually quite an impressive and regally adult manner before she faced the other wolf-bitch squarely once again, nonverbal introductory courtesies at least nominally observed. 'Pology assepted, she told her new acquaintance loftily, not unfriendly exactly—not with that eager sparkle alighting her eyes—but still with the tone of someone quite graciously bestowing a favor upon an uncouth lower-ranked.

It only grew harder, however, to maintain the airs that she was putting on as the other wolf revealed that she was here to look for a water dragon. ...Truth be told, Talos had no idea what such a thing might look like, but that only gave her imagination more room to run wild as the possibility ran through her like a current of electricity. Her fur puffed out with an agitated, excited mind of its own as Talos stood high and forward on black tippy-toes that had trouble keeping themselves from dancing in place. She couldn't resist quickly craning her neck up and over to give the water a quick scan before she replied, just in case the rumored water dragon might have snuck up upon them as they stood around talking. Nope...? Well, she'd try again in a second. This was great though—exactly the kind of adventure she had been so sorely missing back at home! Why hadn't she run this far amok earlier?!

I was firsty too, she said, her vocabulary suffering somewhat more as she was now keeping half an eye on the rippling stream nearby and envisioning the fearsome creature who could appear at any moment. She did maintain enough presence of mind to hastily improvise however, the words tumbling out and practically running into one another in their haste: An' I was sended to look fer dragons. I'm Talos—I'm tha bes' dragon-hunter in the whole pack. Only with the last three words did her speech slow appreciably down, making sure to emphasize each individual syllable. Yep, this other wolf should be downright honored to be in such a lofty knight's presence...sure. Besides, since this other so delightfully was not from Swiftcurrent, there was surely no way for her to know that Talos was bluffing as she puffed her chest proudly out once more, thinking this showed her sturdy muscles off to their best advantage as well as making her look bigger and older.

The cub's attempt to appear all important, experienced and superior was so adorable that Wraen had a difficult time keeping a straight face and not start laughing. This girl truly had a lot of personality bubbling inside her and, while she would be very annoying person to be around, if she had been an adult, then now her young age offered that much needed comic relief.

Yet Wraen treated the puppy with utmost respect and paid the required deference. After all, if one was the best Dragon Hunter in the whole pack, you should do nothing less. "I consider myself very lucky to have met you then," she responded, giving the cub another reason to feel smug. "Have they been troubling your pack much? I have heard rumours that they tend to snatch people by ankles and draw underwater. Or - worse - they lure people in the water while singing the most beautiful and mesmerizing song."

Yah, said Talos as Wraen declaimed her luck in meeting such a talented young creature—Talos was liking this lady more and more. Her silvered eyes widened as the older wolf started describing these dragons in increasing detail, however—water dragons that grabbed ankles, water dragons that sang?! They do?! exclaimed Talos unthinkingly, and then belatedly realized she might have given the game away. I mean... Ours don' sing. There. That was better. That was more convincing. Right? Talos quickly peeked at the older bitch to see how she was taking this.

We don' have much prob'em wif 'em since I was born though, Talos elaborated, just in case. It was so fortunate that Swiftcurrent had acquired such a talented born dragon hunter, really, or who knows what might have happened... whole pack, eaten by mysteriously silent but deadly water dragons! Talos could practically hear the howls of lamentation at the terrible event in her mind already. They just didn't know how lucky they were to have her; her whole pack and even more importantly her whole family ought to be a lot more grateful and groveling toward the great huntress Talos, if you asked her. Though perhaps one couldn't entirely blame brothers for being stupid, or parents for having a blind spot when it came to their own pups... Regardless, however, Talos was very pleased she had found this stranger who immediately and enthusiastically acclaimed her brilliant expertise. ...Though Talos did feel just a little guilty about misleading the woman...assuming she was still being misled, here; Talos peeked again to make sure of it. They gots big teeth what bite real quiet, and e'en bigger spikes an' ears, but I still scairt 'em all real good, she embroidered further, wanting to see just how much braggadocio and nonsense this new admirer would swallow. This was so much better than hanging out with that skeptical little tattletale brother Akatosh regardless, however; he managed to outdo everyone else in sheer annoyance, every time, it seemed, even her other pesky little bros and interfering parents. None of them were even half so attentive and ego-stroking as this stranger, though! It was such a nice change, really it was.

"Of course, not all water dragons are born with a singing ability. There are some, who do not possess the talent and, when they attempt to do so, ears start to bleed," in a few words Wraen had managed to describe her own endeavours in music. 

"Then you must be a person, who people in stories call "The Chosen One"s," she spinned the yarned further, much to her own quiet amusement and to the joy of the little kid, who seemed to be positively radiating of self-confidence, the more her ego got stroked the right way. 

"You know - someone like an era-defining hero. All kinds of miraculous and unbelievable stuff surround them," she mused on, watching the girl with one eye, curious to see, what would the kid make of this praise.

Unconsciously she crept closer in fascination as her elder kept expounding and embroidering, moving unthinkingly nearer and slowly lowering into a comfortable sit upon the grassy banks as she leaned involuntarily closer to be certain she caught every word. Ooooh, she breathed, hardly even aware she was doing so, so riveted was her attention to the amazing stuff that Wraen was coming up with. Then, somewhat belatedly once again: Rai', rai'. Yes of course she totally knew all this about dragons that made innocent wolfears bleed and wasn't just entirely winging this, why ever would you ask.

Her moonsilver eyes grew larger and larger, her tail stiffening and bristling in excitement where it had tried to curl itself neatly around her damp shining black forepaws. A Chosen One? Talos had never before heard of such a thing, but immediately cottoned to the idea. And this wolf was so much older and more knowledgable, surely she must know whence she had spotted such a one. Talos's widening grin matched the sparkle in her eyes as she turned this idea over in her mind and found herself liking it more and more. Wha' sorta stuff? she asked breathlessly, hanging on to Wraen's every word. Talos didn't think she had ever seen anything too miraculous or unbelievable still, but then again she had better make sure, since she wasn't certain what such things might look like. Or maybe they were just happening a little slower to her than to other Chosen Ones in the past. And who knew, if the facts didn't match up then maybe Talos could make them do so, through clever planning or sheer force of will. Now that the possibility of being such a character had been put into her mind she was starting to have trouble envisioning herself as ever happily being anything else.

Maybe this episode, where Wraen messed with this kid, would be something that Santa Paws would not overlook, when he going through the "Naughty list" during Christmas. But even if this meant that this particular she-wolf would get extra load of coals instead of gifts, she was having more and more fun. This kid practically ate all of the nonesense from her paws and therefore this audience was too precious to let go easily.

"Well, you mentioned already that, when you were born, most of the dragons knew, how to keep themselves in line, right?" Wraen kept the yarn ball rolling. "Not all births are that important in the eyes of the world," she added, sounding very serious now. "There have been falling stars at the time of birth of some heroes. Others' have been born in the wake of the most awful storm the world had seen. There are tales about runts of the litter surviving everyone else against all odds. That kind of stuff. Does this sound familiar?" she paused and asked a question, having an inkling that this kid would definitely have a positive answer to it.

Ummmm... Yeah! Close enough, anyway, right? Talos had never so much as seen of these dragons so it totally stood to reason her birth had scared them away. Or her getting older and starting to wander about the territory and beyond, whatever. Sure—close enough. But as Wraen went on Talos did feel that tiny seed of doubt within her start to grow. Stars falling from the sky, terrible storms, runty survivors... Talos just wasn't sure she could stretch the truth quite enough to actually fit any of these things. What the hell, reality—did you really have to be so inconvenient?! Uuuggggh. Talos was starting get a little disgruntled now, truth be told.

I don'amamber m'birth aw'tha'well... she started to reluctantly half-mumble, even as the gears in her brain were still churning away trying to find something, anything that might be made to fit the mold. But wait! No, she did remember something—100% completely for real this time! There had been some sort of kerfuffle in the sky not all that long ago—Talos hadn't really paid much attention herself but she had heard other wolves talking about it some here and there. The stars had started streaking and moving about the night skies at one point! It had seemed very distant and unimportant to Talos at the time, but heck, if she'd known it was some sort of magical sign heralding her own sheer awesomeness then yeah, she'd probably have paid a little closer attention. There was fallin'stahs though, I do amember! The recollection went through her like a lightning bolt, perking her right back up again and restoring the sparkle to her eyes as it set her charcoal tail gradually wagging anew. Huh...myabe there really was something to this whole "Chosen One" business; maybe it wasn't just wishful thinking. Maybe her own Chosen's schedule genuinely was running just a little behind, was all. ...Cool!

I wannint a runt, she added self-importantly to Wraen, just in case the lady got any ideas about exactly what kind of hero she was facing, here. I wa' extra-big, bigger'n dumb brothers—defn'ly big enou' t'skeeroff alla drag'ns! Didn't all her siblings just wish they were even half as scary or cool as their oversize sis, now.

"It definitely works both ways - you are either the smallest or the biggest cub of the litter. The preference depends on the culture that tells legends and stories. Some favour oldest sons and consider them being the smartest, some prefer the youngest, who have more heart than their older and smarter counterparts," Wraen explained, hoping that this would soothe the self-doubt in the kid. She did not want to give up the whole hero business with her just yet. 

"And all heroes - young and old, small and big need a founding legend," Wraen added. "If you do not have one yet, I can help you come up with it. So, that, when they write songs about your greatness and awesomness, they know, where to begin with."

Sons, snorted Talos. I were t'only girl, and therefore the bestest and most importantest of the lot, as her tone would surely make clear if her self-important body language wasn't already screaming it loud enough. An' the biggest, so there! E'en tho' I wa' born las'. Yeah, take that, you stinky brothers who weren't even here to defend yourselves. Maybe they could feel their obvious inferiority remotely somehow.

Talos caught her breath and smooshed in closer to Wraen, hanging on her every word. The tales this wolf was spinning were golden. Why hadn't Talos had the luck to grow up with bitches this attentive and awesome and properly awed by her greatest-of-all-pups self, anyhow? Life was so unfair that way. It was a good thing, a very good thing, that Talos had taken it into her head to go out questing on her own, or else she might never have found this most wonderful and intelligent of bards. Or—horrors!—might not have ever figured out or had it confirmed that she was indeed the Chosen One of pupdom. Oh yes: it was good to be the best. Even if her own family and pack had never seemed to appreciate just how destined for greatness she truly obviously was. (If Talos's head inflated any bigger, in the meantime, it might just explode.)

She hung on every word Wraen spoke, right up until assistance with this founding legend business was offered. Talos couldn't suppress a gasp of eager glee. Tha'd be awesome! Her paws couldn't contain themselves either, picking themselves up off the bank and dancing about in delight. Yah of course they need tha'! When can w'start?! It seemed pretty clear that any response beyond right this instant here and now was not going to be satisfactory.

"Well, being the only daughter in a litter of boys only is a very good start," Wraen replied, being shamelessly open about her support to the rights of women. "And being the biggest and toughest of them surely accounts for something too," she added. "So, do you know, what was the weather like, when you were born? Because most legends and stories, where girls take the main role, there is something special. Like Ronja, the Robber's Daughter* was born on the stormiest night, when the harpies sang," Wraen offered.

"Or... in the story about Snow White the mother wished to have daughter with coat white as snow, eyes black as coal," she added. "Or - they say that sirens are born from wind and sea foam. So - what do you think, what would fit your birth story? It does not have to neccessarily stick to the facts - I mean - when I retell it to someone else, who is going to check them?"

*"Ronja, the Robber's Daughter" is a children book by Astrid Lindgren. And I do not claim any rights to Snow White either.

Talos was nodding hastily along like a demented bird that just couldn't catch its balance as the older wolf continued to expound and elaborate. Yah yah, o'course, she half-muttered: being the biggest and toughest as well as the only girl very assuredly meant something, great things! Yes. She was so glad this wise older bitch was here to reinforce all her biggest and best and most self-important ideas. Talos's brow furrowed and her vehement nodding started to slow, however, as Wraen started to talk about other, similar stories, about somewolves Talos had never even heard of. Ronja? Snow White? Maybe she'd better find out more about these other girls, if she wanted her own story to be good—to outshine these others' stories, even, more than likely!

Um, said Talos, buying some time as she thought hard. No, she didn't really know what the weather had been on the night she was born, if she was being totally honest. But she was already halfway to convincing herself other events, ones she'd been a little older and more aware for, had something to do with it regardless. Aih' 'member alla stars wen'fallin'... Stars falled nearer when I wen' 'venturin'. ...Bu'...buh maybe they fallin'd when I was borned too...? Shoot. What other interesting things might've happened? Talos really didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the weather, generally, except to note that rainier days sucked for smelling things and getting some good proper exploring in. Talos would have to think on this some more... My eyes'r lighterer th'n m'coat, s'black with ligh'eyes, she mumbled to herself in response to the descriptions of this "Snow White," who frankly sounded like she had it all backwards if you asked Talos. Her body and tail stilled as she furiously pondered what sort of a tale she wished to spin, and how much of it might be stretched or spun out entirely of whole cloth. Her squinched and deep-thinking eyes widened however, and her jaw dropped open, as the last thing Wraen had said finally sliced through her fog of thought. Was...was this adult telling her to lie? Was she supporting Talos's obvious awesomeness and Chosenness that wholeheartedly, that she already knew getting that across to her listeners was obviously much more important than mere facts? Talos's thick black tail started beating a loud tattoo upon the ground again. Oh yes, she definitely liked this bitch. Wraen had clearly just become her most favorite adult in the entire world, at this moment.

I thin' lots o'awesome thin's hap'n'd when I's born, agreed Talos fervently, aloud. All th'awesome thin's! Don' you? Nothing so mundane as stormy nights and singing harpies-birds and seafoam and wind, whatever those things might be like: no, Talos had to think bigger. I thin' the sun a'sploded! she said with impulsive enthusiasm...however little sense that might make, on balance.

Had Wraen been able to look inside that little head, who bobbed so eagerly, eating up every single word spoken out loud, she would be surprised by the assumption that she was outrightly teaching this kid that "lying was a good thing to do". On the second thought - this was not the kid she would meet ever again and therefore, whatever damage she would inflict on this girl's character and morals, parents would have to deal with it. 

"Well, sun exploding is a little too far-fetched, but I like that one about falling stars," Wraen shared her views on making the basis for the awesome origin story of Talos. "Let's say, it goes like this," she said after a while spent on pondering and putting all the legos in the right places. "Talos was destined for greateness from the very beginning. Not only she stood out among her siblings by being the biggest and toughest, but also on the night of her birth stars fell from the sky. And as it is known from ancient times - this is a good omen, that marks the chosen one of the generation and sets him or her on a very extraordinary path of destiny."

So far, so good. Even Wraen, who had practiced her paw in story-weaving was impressed with herself. "Alright - we have the origins. What do you want to have in your story next? Maybe you can tell me, when and how you met your first dragon? Dragons are always good for stories."

Talos's paws danced eagerly in place and her tail kept thudding into the ground at a rate that might yet dig itself a little ditch-den all its own. She was just a little disappointed that the sun exploding was a little much, but...well, no, this wise elder was probably quite right, there. Falling stars would have to do. Even though Talos wasn't really sure how stars falling was a more logical and believable thing than the sun exploding, and in fact, in some ways it seemed even worse—after all, the sun was just one mass of light that would afterward have to be put back together and relit (and what, was Talos not awesome enough to single-pawedly do that?!) while the stars were a whole friggin' bunch of bits of light, which would have gone tumbling entirely away from their proper spots... but eh, whatever: other wolves thought stars falling made sense and suns exploding did not. Sometimes there was just no accounting for taste. But if this epic was going to be one sung all throughout the packs of the world, Talos supposed some of it would have to make sense to at least some of her duller fellow wolves.

Everything else about this just got better and better, though. Talos was again nodding along fit to bob her head right off the end of her neck as Wraen went on about the youngster's revised and improved history. Talos was going to do her level best to edit her own memories to match all of this, in fact. THAT would be REALLY epic, right? Of course! But—oh shoot, now the older bitch was handing it off to her to come up with more. And about those dragons she kindasortamaybe didn't actually know anything about. Crap. Uh. Rai', yeah, dragons... Firs' drag'n I sawed. Firs' drag'n I sawed was...small. Talos paused, turning this over in her head to make sure it made sense. And hadn't snuck any additional exploding suns in there. Ih was small, buh then go' much biggerer! An' starrh'ed drinkin' up all Swi'curren Creek! She could practically feel the thrill of rising danger as she pictured it in her head and kept elaborating. An' then I came. Her chest puffed out to accompany that announcement. Ih though' it coul' cause trouble, buh Aih go' ih in trouble i'stead! Grrraar! She leapt up and splayed her forelegs out before her as she loosed an enthusiastic growl to demonstrate, quite certain she made a fearsome enough picture to strike terror into the hearts of any and all scaly things that might dare to venture near.

Being creative is such a hard work! :D Sorry for the wait!

The kid had bought every word and was enjoying herself immensely. Wraen watched the girl continue her hero-origin story with an amused glint in her eyes. She had found a real gem among rocks and she was also quite happy that she was not the person, who had to deal with Talos on daily basis. Because experience told her that you can't get exposed to awesomeness for too long, it could get on your nerves after after a while. 

"Bravo!" she praised the girl, once she had finished. "And did you chomp the nasty dragon's head off and hung it in a tree? So that every one would know that no dragons are welcome in Swiftcurrent creek?"

No worries whatsoever... RL has been a beast in any case, so I've been much slower yet  ;.;  Trying to get at least one or two posts done before everything possibly goes haywire again though, gyah.  >.<

Talos paused in her dramatic pose with all her fluffy black fur on end, and side-eyed Wraen for a moment. Chomping dragon heads off to hang in trees was not something that had crossed the younger girl's mind...but it seemed suspiciously easy a thing for any other packwolf to countermand, when the thing was supposed to have been on full public display for all to see and smell and worship the bringer of. Talos could only imagine what her brothers would say if presented with such a tale, ugh. Was this elder bitch trying to pull one over on her, or something? No, no, surely that couldn't be, when she had been all enthusiasm and graciousness all along. Talos refused to entertain such thoughts about her new heroine.

But, just to be on the safe side—she proffered a firm shake of the head. 'At drag'n wa' too skeer'd ta let meh bi' its head, an' hid it unner its wing i'stead! So I grabbits tail an' chuck it back inna wa'er, where i's too 'shamed t'come outta'gin. She tossed her head back in a flourishy sort of way before another thought occurred to her. She leaned in close and whispered theatrically loudly to her new favorite wolf. Bu' tha bigger'r drag'n jus' wouldn' b'lieve wha tha li'l one tol' it. Ih hadta come challen' tha drag'nslay'r ihself! An' all th'wolves 'at saw it were skeered righ' outta their fur. 'Til I came 'lon'! Her tail swooshed through the air like a swashbuckler's sword, dramatically whipping itself to and fro through the air as it matched its tempo to the rhythm of the theatrics that were playing themselves vividly out in her imagination.

It did not occur to Wraen that Talos had a very good reason to reject the "head chopping" idea, because as far-fetched the story already was, you could still argue that no one had any proof that it was a lie. Now, if you added some material proof - like the dragon's head - a different story entirely. 

But the kid had caught on and was spinning the yarn herself so well that she did not dare to interrupt the wannabe dragonslayer. The accent was a little hard to follow, but she managed and nodded approvingly. This was good. Really, really good. There was a spark of genius here, she could not deny that. 

"Wonderful," she praised the girl, when she got to the point, where the big dragon was about to get scared. "Now, I would love to sit here all day and continue the tale, but - unfortunately - I have a pack to return to. However - let's make a deal, we meet up some other time and you tell me your legend to the end. You are so good at it, that I have no doubt - it will be awesome in every way," she said, getting to her feet and shaking her coat. 

"A deal?" she asked, just before going.

Thank you - this was lovely!

Thank you very much in turn! 'Twas very fun for Talos and me both...even if I'm a little afraid now of just how big Talos's ego could possibly get before it engulfs the sun and explodes. X)
I am pretty sure she forgot to ask this, in the meantime, but if I missed it looking back over please let me know, LOL.

Talos beamed. I sav'd 'em ahll! she chirped proudly as she basked in the praise of her heroine. But despite this proud little insertion Talos couldn't help but burst out with, it was time for their little powwow to come to an end. This seemed less than wonderful to Talos, and she deflated a little at the notion. Unf. 'Kay, she said, if a little sadly, nodding in eager agreement to the proffered pact as the other wolf explained that her pack would probably be missing her. Well, and Talos could certainly understand why: if you asked her this adult was by far the most brilliant, the most creative, the most forward-thinking and outright fun stranger Talos had ever met! Who'd known grown-ups could be so awesome?! Issa deal, she said firmly, already looking forward to their eventual and, it seemd to her, legendarily inevitable future meeting, where this other wolf could again be awestruck and enthralled by the great hero Talos's sheer amazingness. 

But only belatedly did it occur to Talos that she might be missing one itty bitty little important detail here, if she ever wanted to track this wolf down again to glory in this epic tale all over again. Wai'! Wha's yer name?! she yelled, standing on tippy-toes and craning her neck after the other. With a quick glance toward the lowering sun, though, Talos suspected it was time she turned tail for home as well—but she wasn't certain if the other wolf had heard her final question or not. She teetered there indecisively for a moment to try and make certain, but either way she'd best pick up her feet and get her suddenly-rumbling tummy back before she could be too badly missed (or before her brothers ate the entire pack cache). Perhaps they'd have a nice bellyful of dragon soup cooked up and ready to serve there?

"Excellent! I look forward to seeing you in the future then," Wraen said with a smile, really meaning it, though not being too sure that this was going to happen. After all the cub lived all the way here and she lived on the other side of the mountain and chances of them running into each other just like that were slim. Plus, wouldn't it be awkward and suspicious, if she went to visit and asked one of the adults to see Talos. It was better to wait until she was older.

And she was already set on going, when the kid asked, what her name was. "Wraen Storyweaver," she replied, winked at the kid and left for home.