The Sunspire in another life, my teeth and tongue would speak aloud what until now i've only sung

Remi stretched her slim limbs out, and rolled in the grass beneath a beam of warm sunlight. She loved the sun; its warmth was comforting in the same way that the body heat of her siblings was. It was hot though. She soon found herself in need of some shade, and she got to her little paws, shook her soft coat, and tucked into the shadow of a stately tree. Here she sat, drinking in the sights and smells around her, flexing her toes across the earth and feeling the gentle mossy bottom under her pads.

She listened to the birds sing. Chickadees most of all. They flitted around her, plucking small round berries from the nearby shrubs. Eep! One landed on her head. Its tiny claws tickled her scalp as it daintily hopped around her skull. Remi giggled, rolling her eyes to attempt to see the bird, but of course she could not. Soon another chickadee landed between her paws, and then stood on her white toes. This drew even more giggles from the ticklish Remi.

She might as well have been a bush. The chickadees took their turns landing on her and flying around, and she welcomed them with giggles and smiles each time they came near.

Ever since attack on Ibis, Wraen had permantently moved her sleeping quarters over to the area, where all of the puppies and mothers resided. The summer nights were still nice and warm, therefore she was not very picky about, where to settle for the night or mid-day nap. Either in a dug out hollow under a bush on particularly warm days to escape the sunlight or under the low branches of a fir tree, if it rained, or somewhere in the moss and grass, if the weather was fine.

During her frequent trips in the valleys on both sides of the mountain range she had got used to sleeping, while always keeping her mind alert and ready to spring in action, in case something bad was going on. And today too, the moment the sound of childish giggles reached her ears, two keen eyes opened, quickly scanned the area and fell on the gray puppy that in the distance. On the first assessment she seemed to be having fun, therefore Wraen took time to get up, do all the neccessary stretches, before walking over to the kid and see, what was so funny. 

She stopped few feet away and lied down on her belly, watching the girl and the birds curiously, but not wanting to interrupt the game in any way.

She did not notice the approach of the pack's beta. Remi was comfortable and trusting in her surroundings. Nothing in the world had ever hurt her. Her attention was on the birds, as she tried to track their comings and goings. Unexpectedly, one chickadee sounded the alarm and the small flock scattered. Where are you going? Remi stood, taking a step forward as she attempted to peer through the leaves to see where the singers had gone.

Oh! That is not a bird. She paused, one paw lifted in the air mid-turn as her eyes finally fell upon Wraen. She did not know this wolf although her scent was not altogether unfamiliar. Remi was ever happy for company, but she was suddenly shy in the presence of a stranger. Um... The silver pup chewed her lip gently, casting her blue eyes to the ground as she toed the grass.

Despite Wraen's efforts to remain invisible, the birds were more perceptive and scattered, when they caught sight of her. Why would they be so scared of her, was beyond the hunter. After all, they were too small and quick to balance out the effort it would take to catch them. She followed their flight with her eyes, until they landed in the grass few strides behind her. 

Then she turned to have a good look at the second of Finnoch/Ranley and a slight disappointment crossed her expression, because this seemed to be scared of her too. For two people, who were so outgoing (she had attacked a cougar with Finley, for Heaven's sake), their kids so far (the 50% of those she had met in person) seemed pretty introvert and not happy to meet new people. 

Well, it is, what it is and what will be, will be. She reminded herself and rested her head on her outstretched forepaws, in order to be within the same level as the pup and broke the awkward silent: "Well, hello, little princess. Who may you be?"

Remi glanced timidly at the other wolf as the female put down her head and spoke, smiling cutely despite the newfound shyness. Her tail wagged; she did not fully understand the spoken language but she was in tune to the well-meaning tone, and it warmed her easily. That, and she was trusting.

"Remiiiiiii..." She answered with another shy smile, drawing out her name, before she glanced away with a titter and toed at the grass and chewed her lip a bit more. She was loosening though, as her body started to sway and wiggle under the building excitement of meeting someone new.

"Youuu?"

Well, this was definitely an improvement, because the same move had managed to scare away and over the hills the other baby. Come to think of it, she had never found out her name either. It had not occurred to her to ask this to either Finley or Rannoch, because, when during the times she came for a visit, all of them were out and in a big jumble, it was hard to tell one apart from the other. 

"Wre-e-en!" she mimicke the kid's drawn out tone. "Now you seem to be a lot braver than your sister. Did you find the birds to your liking?" Wraen realized that now she was talking nonesense for talking sake, but what else could you discuss with a toddler?

Once Wraen introduced herself, Remi loosened all the way. She visibly relaxed with a sigh, and she turned herself to face Wraen with a warm smile. "Wre-e-en!" She parroted. "Friends now!" She exclaimed. They had shared names. They were friends. Such was her logic at this age, and since they were friends she no longer needed ton be so shy.

"Like birds." She nodded, cocking her head as she wondered aloud if the opposite was true. "Birds like me?"

Well, at least making friends with this lass had been easy, otherwise - if her second attempt at getting to know Rannoch's kids had failed, she would have gone home, wondering, if there was something fundamentally wrong with her that these particular kids did not like. 

"Sure they do," Wraen said and looked down at the girl and smiling encouragingly. Now was no time to tell that her not to make close friends with people  animals that you intended to kill and eat later. Or the fact that Wraen did not believe the smallest of the smallest from the winged beast clan had brains sufficiently big enough to actually count as individuals and not just feathered canapés chirping and flouncing around.

She spent a delightful hour in the company of Remi and then herded her back to her mother.