Witch's Marsh the cry of a loon

For someone with a terrible sense of direction (and a terrible sense of balance to top it all off) you'd think she would be accustomed to running in to things and bouncing right back. This wasn't the first time Ibis had ever collided with a fellow wolf and it certainly would not be the last; however, in this particular instance she had not been anticipating a body to be standing there at all, and the ground wasn't so forgiving. There was no grass to cushion her fall — just mud, and frozen mud at that! She went down hard enough that even her lightweight body was briefly winded.

She looked up at the object that had come in to her path with a glazed expression. The sharp color of her irises illuminating in the moonlight with a pale sheen, almost like tears, which she hastily blinked away; the longer she looked at the shape the more canine it appeared to her, and the wider her eyes got. Soon enough Ibis was stricken with a look of utter shock upon realizing it wasn't an object, but a person! Oh, she'd gone and run in to another person again! The girl sputtered a bit and tried to rise to her nimble little paws, flustered and humbled, if it were the most heinous of crimes.

The stranger fussed over her frantically. His voice was booming at first; so loud she thought the quaking earth had awoken again and she tensed, but as her ears adjusted to the gravel of it, she came to appreciate the enthusiasm. He reminded her immediately of her family — except, where Okeanos was often subdued by contemplative thoughts and somewhat withdrawn, this stranger was anything but. It was hard to tell if he was putting on a show or if this was his natural state — either way, Ibis couldn't help but smile and feel her apprehension melting away.

He shrank back from her with a swift little apology, and the smile which dawned upon her face was eclipsed by concern and apology again, and she opened her mouth to bumble, Oh no it's okay— but was caught by his question, —Whats yer name?

I-Ibis! The girl squawked almost like her namesake, utterly hopeless in the charisma department for the time being. Almost immediately she followed up with, You? as she tried to catch her breath. He'd knocked all the sense right out of her!