She was a fragile little thing, he thought to himself. Courageous in her wish to meet him and yet at the same time timid that, what, perhaps he would hurt her or she would anger him? It was an interesting paradox to be found in such a small girl, but as Semele had no doubt found her excitement was infectious and he yearned to reciprocate some of that. She responds well to his greeting, her brilliant green eyes even dancing at the fact that he had noticed her about before. If only all conversations were this easy. At her soft words his thick, gray ears prick forward to ensure he doesn’t miss anything she says, a bit of it mumbled in her shy, excited demeanor but he nods and smiles in what he hopes is an encouraging manner so that she will not vanish like the slip of a girl she is.

Even as a youth he veritable towers over her, more so even than the rest of his siblings; he is all legs leading into his broadening chest with cords of muscle that grew ever hard the more he trained. With the differences between them he attempted to make sure he did not intimidate her in the way he had others before. He smiled at her acknowledgement that she had seen him two, his slender tail swept behind him in a few wide arcs, the hair there longer and more silken than the rest of his body it gave him a underlying sort of grace. Yet as she continues on, speaking of her old home on the plains, he can see a darkness wash over her face that still her seemingly ever moving body. “ Oh yes, you’ll like the mountains. There is so much to see and explore here,” he interjects, wishing to drive the pain from her eyes; seeing others hurting was something he could not bear.

At her question of if he was born here he nods, “Yes, my father was born here as were myself and my siblings. Our den lies high on the mountain,” he said with a gesture to one of the tallest peaks of the range with a hint of pride in his voice. He loved the lofty heights and vantage points that their den provided, the home base he could always return to. Her gently question draws his bluegreen eyes back to her, quirking his head to the side at the idea of simply exploring for exploring’s sake. Surely when he was a pup he may have indulged in such needless play, but he hadn’t in quite some time with the rest of his siblings thoroughly preoccupied; besides Bastille was the adventurous one and Embla the investigator. No, he knew his paths around the borders and to that he typically stayed.

Yet he finds that he doesn’t want to simply brush off the girls offer for company, something he has not had much of as of late and at her offer, and subsequent second guessing of it, he offers her another sincere smile. “I was patrolling the borders, but I could do with a break and I think exploring would be a grand idea,” he offers, his voice a low tenor , something he would continue to grow into in the coming years. “Where would you like to go? There are some meadows where the wildflowers are in full bloom, or we could visit one of the peaks though that is quite a climb, or I heard of a waterfall not far from here that should be full up with the melting snow.” It was quite a feat that he made her such an offer, especially with so many choices as it was not in his nature, but what could diverting from the norm hurt after all? Besides, for a while at least, in her light he was able to put the shadows behind him.