The shower of water had effectively saturated them both, but Sleekwing did not bother to shake away the moisture. He was too caught up in the exhilaration that radiated off Natu like the electricity in a summer storm. As his tail lifted, swinging back and forth to fully display his glee at her presence, water arches in streams as it cascades away from the appendage. Natu came towards him then, stepping high and splashing through the waters as she moved around him, and Sleekwing could do nothing but follow her spirited movements, his head turning with maw parted slightly in a broad grin. He was eager to hear what she had come to tell him, but in those brief moments before she shares the news he simply takes her in, the exuberance of her joy making his heart swell for never would he forget their first meeting, and how much she had changed since then. It seemed each time they came together things got better and better for her, and his eyes widened as the words finally spilled from her lips.

He could feel the weight lift from his shoulders, that guilt that had pressed upon him in the aftermath of the loss of Sven. It was true, that Sleekwing believed himself responsible for the safety of every wolf upon the mountain. Whether there was something he could have done to prevent the boy from casting himself from the cliff if it had been him to discover him upon the precipice instead of Swallowbane would never be known. But now, now such thoughts no longer mattered. They were cast aside in celebration, to know that he still lived. Natu's movements through the creek stopped as she came before him once more, stopping with mere inches between their snouts, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to plant an adoring kiss upon her nose. But instead he seemingly exploded with the joy that transferred from her heart to his in these moments. He reared up on his hind legs, springing slightly forward so that his forelegs wrapped around her neck and his head rested between her ears for a moment in a literal bear hug. He does not press his weight upon her for more than a few brief seconds before he slides down to stand in the water once more, backing up just enough so that his anterior can swoop down into a play bow as she speaks again. His chin hovers just above the waterline.

"Alive!" He echoes as he suddenly rises once more, the sound so close to a howl that it is almost a mixture of speech and song. Almost his entire body swings with the waving of his tail, ecstasy overflowing as it courses through his system. "Natu, he's alive!" It is as if he cannot believe it until the full statement were uttered by his own voice. In this moment it felt as if little else in the world mattered, or existed for that matter. To look upon them one would never guess that these two wolves were of twelve and fifteen years of age, for their high spirits make them appear almost as children.