It wasn't often that I roamed far from the den. While my mind could take me miles from the small clearing that surrounded our home, my paws refused to do the same. Once I had tried to follow Vortigern when he'd wandered off to play with the friend of his whose scent he often wore when he returned home again. Unfortunately, a rather large raccoon had come down out of a tree and properly scared me, so I'd scurried back to the den. Today, however, I had decided it was high time that I expanded my little world. There was so much more out there, beyond where Daddy and Mom disappeared in the trees when they went off to hunt or do other things. So I had chosen a trail that lead away from the clearing, one that was clear and seemed well lit as far as I could see. The path seemed relatively straight, too. Surely if I followed it I would discover many new things but I could easily find my way home again.

Of course it didn't take long for me to become distracted by something beautiful off the path - a flower or a patch of sunlight or something else. I continued to wander, so absorbed in the beauty of my home that lay beyond the clearing that I knew. No raccoons or other woodland creatures popped out to surprise me, and so I just kept on walking. It wasn't until an unfamiliar howl caused my tail to tuck swiftly under my belly and I turned back to run down the path back to the safety of my den that I realized just how far off the trail I'd wandered. The call had come from so close by! Frantically I looked about, trying to find somewhere to hide, and I dove under a nearby bush. But as I listened to the message in the song, I realized this call was for my family - maybe even for me. Wiggling further under the bush, I managed to peek out the other side. Low and behold, there she was, a wolf that seemed to almost sparkle as she sat atop a nearby rock.

I hadn't realized just how far I'd come, that I was so close to the border as this. Frozen with trepidation, I simply stared out from under the bush at the shewolf. Did she call for my family because she meant one of us harm? I had never met anyone outside of my family, and my wide blue eyes searched her over, trying to discern if there was any element of enmity to her presence. So concerned was I with figuring out if this wolf was a danger to my family, that I did not even realize Astraea was approaching until she was standing before the rock and dropping flowers at her paws. Tucked as it was between my hind legs, my tail still gave the slightest of waves at the sight of my sister. When she introduced herself and asked if the glimmering wolf upon the rock was related to Daddy, my wide eyes shifted back up to her. With bated breath I waited, until finally it was confirmed - she was family. An aunt named Celeste. I thought I remembered Daddy having mentioned her before; she was family I reminded myself again, so certainly it was safe to come out now.

Disentangling myself from the bush, I made my way over towards them, ears pulled back slightly and tail still partially tucked beneath my belly as Celeste lectured my sister on how to wag her tail. When I reached Astraea's side my ears finally pricked forward, my nervousness beginning to melt away, confidence bolstered by being near to her. My tail remained dormant, however, not wanting to wave it wrong and make a poor first impression on our auntie. Looking up at the pristine shewolf upon her perch, I gave a shy smile. "Hello; I'm Asariel." My words were spoken more softly than they usually would be when only with my siblings and parents, but by all accounts Celeste was still a stranger to me, even if I knew her name and that she was my aunt.

zero - zaphkiel x astrid - taviora