What a very strange concept, to think that I was now a yearling. A whole year had come and gone, and I'd been present in the forest for each and every day of it. My world had slowly expanded from the den of my birth, to the clearing beyond its threshold, and then the trees that bordered our clearing. As the first year of my life had passed by, my world had grown exponentially to include every bit of Taviora that I'd had the opportunity to explore. I'd not yet gone beyond the forest's borders, finding comfort within the markings of Amoxtli's scent. What need did I have to wander outside of the pack lands? Everyone that I loved was here. Except Grandma; I'd been very sad to find out she and Grandpa had moved back to Diveen. I missed the warm comfort of her cuddling embrace. Maybe, now that I was a yearling, I could go to the land of the red dirt and visit her. Maybe.

I was exploring the forest once more, blue eyes roaming the canopy as my star dusted head tilted back slightly. Jogging along familiar paths, I wondered at how quickly I could make my way nowadays. My legs were getting quite long, and there didn't seem to be any end in sight of when they'd stop their growing. Oh well, I didn't mind so much. It was like getting a new view of the world each time I went through a growth spurt. The light that filtered through the treetops fractured and reflected off dust particles, creating a starry atmosphere in the middle of the day that always captivated me. And then it got even better - it started to rain. The first rain of the new year! And the sunlight glinted off the droplets that slipped from the sky, and a smile creased my features as I danced forward into a clearing so that I could get a better look at the sun shower.

Blue eyes were so fixated on the sky as I pivoted and danced about on midnight paws that I did not realize I was not alone at first. My tail waved out behind me, maw parting and tongue extending forward slightly to catch a few fresh rain drops on my tongue. It was then that I spotted the form of another wolf out of the corner of my eye, and I realized I was not alone. Immediately my tail pulled between my hind legs to tuck nervously against my stomach. The black of my ears pulled back, abashed at my display in front of a stranger. But as dancing paws ceased their movement about the meadow, I noticed that he seemed joyous about the rain as well. It wet my fur and made it lay in ways that I was certain Aunt Celeste would not approve of, but I could fix it before I saw her again. Sheepishly I grinned at the older boy, the white tip of my tail twitching as it relaxed slightly away from my belly, even though it still remained firmly tucked between my legs. There wasn't really anywhere I could hide in my embarrassment, and besides, I was really enjoying the beautiful display that the sun shower was creating as it descended through the opening in the canopy that the meadow offered.