The Sentinels With you believing in my innocence

The dawn found her outside her den, in a small clearing though it could easily be found by following her scent. The circle she had drawn in the loose dirt was not quite perfect but it was sufficient. 

At each end lay some sort of trinket she had found, an offering that she used to cast her circle. A dove's feather to the north, the piece of quartz to the south, a smooth stone from the riverbed to the east, and a branch of lavender to the west. In the middle of the tiny circle sat Tansea.

Her eyes were closed in prayer, though no words escaped her lips. Her breaths were deep, even to cleanse the negative energy from her body. 

She prayed and practiced in the early morning and late evening so as not to disturb her packmates, leaving her offerings at the flat stump outside her den each time. It had become her altar at any time should someone come by they might find a variety of things piled on it or around it.

Now that the kids were almost three months old and even harder to keep put in one place, Osprey let them roam free and without supervision from time to time. With the condition, that they always stayed within earshot and would come, when she called, or scream out loud, if something bad happened.

This, of course, was a grand turn of events for young Sarah - with a newfound confidence she lost her brother and sister on purpose and did wandering and exploring on her own. As much as she loved both of them, she found comfort in solitude. This morning she had decided to take her favorite bone for a walk and with it between her jaws she was padding through the forest, where she soon found another wolf. And not just any kind of wolf - one, which sat almost unmoving. 

This reminded her encounter with the dead mole she had found one day and, how the kind wolf Rowan had explained that it was dead. Was this wolf too? Sarah put her bone down and asked in a whisper: "Are you not living?"

Tansea scented the other's approach but made no move to react. If this was one of her packmates, as she smelled that it was, they would either go away or speak. It wasn't likely she would be attacked by a member in their territory and the witch wasn't concerned with the wolf coming closer.

A slate colored orb peeped open at the child's words, an amused smile crossing her pale features. "I am quite alive," she addressed the pup as she opened her eyes, turning them down to look fully at the girl.

"I was praying, not dead. I don't believe we have met. I am Tansea but you may call me Tansy if it so pleases you," the dryad dipped her head gracefully, waiting for a response with perked ears.

Sarah was slightly disappointed, when the wolf she had taken interest in, turned out to be quite alive - as she put it. How cool would that be to tell Terance that she had spoken to a dead wolf? He definitely wouldn't have had nothing to match with that. She was sure of that.

Well...

"Tansea-a-a-a..." Sarah repeated the wolf's name and then recalled that she should introduce herself too. Now she had learned how - it was easier to make the first contact, even if the rest of the conversation would not be that easy for her. "My name is Sarah. And this is Bone," she beckoned to her toy and looked at the wolf proudly. Suddenly remembering that her favorite thing was her, helped to boost her confidence.

Tansea smiled genuinely, meaning her next words full heartedly. "It is nice to meet you Sarah." The dryad liked children but it was not hard to gauge them sometimes. Some younglings were confused if you treated them as fellow adults, some seemed to thrive in it. 

"It is nice to meet your Bone as well," she tacked on, eyes flicking down to the bone in question. "I have some bones as well," Tansea offered, unsure what else to say to the girl. She gestured to the stump she used for her offerings, some of which were indeed bones; particularly skulls.

"Nice," Sarah said and nodded, perking her ears up, when the lady mentioned having her own bones too. Her brow knitted together, as if for a moment the girl did not enjoy the idea of other people having "bones as friends", but one look down at her precious toy assured her that no other bone that anyone else had could ever be a match for hers. 

Therefore she gave in to the curiousity and taking Tansea's gesture to the altar as a permission to go and examine, the girl got to her feet and walked over to the place. They were interesting, of course, skulls were fascinating things - with their big, black holes, where eyes had once been. "Scary faces," she announced to the dryad, leaning with her muzzle so close as if to make sure that no firey flame was hidden inside.

Tansea nodded, accepting the compliment silently. She didn't object to Sarah moving closer to her stump, watching the girl avidly to see what she thought. "They can't hurt you," she murmured, perhaps unnecessarily.

Tansea moved aside her offerings, having decided that her prayer was done. Sweeping the circle into shapeless dirt once more, Tansea moved the things over to the stump one at a time.