It had been some time since my mother had birthed my sisters and I had faithfully watched over them. They were growing quick and I worried sometimes that I didn't know enough. What if they stumbled over a stick and it stabbed them? What if they ate the wrong plant? What if they wandered to the river, like me and Thor had done, and one of them falls in? A few of my thoughts couldn't be helped. If they drowned there was no method on earth that could save them, but if they got some minor wound I wanted to be ready to tend it. I was careful of them and ever eager to supply my mother with whatever she needed. My hunts had grown more successful as I grew, managing to get scrawny rabbits, squirrels, and voles and even coming close to getting a full grown badger. Until it turned on me and I had fled - they were not the easiest prey after all, because they didn't think like prey. They fought back.

So today I leave behind the small glade that made up my family's home. It held such comforting memories to me and I wasn't sure I could ever leave there, even if I worried Thor might one day decide to. My nose twitches as I walk, pausing through the woods to sniff out spindly plants and to run my tongue over their leaves. I had learned a bit just by taste testing, always a very minute amount considering I didn't want to accidentally poison myself. Still, I remember the words that Hadrian had asked. Was I brave enough for new methods? Yes. I was determined to be brave enough, to be the best, and it was time for me to take up my mantle.

Honestly I had no clue where he was so I searched for the better part of two hours. Tracking was a thing that I was picking up on quickly but I still wasn't the greatest at it. I meandered about, my vibrant blue eyes glancing around as I traipsed the edge of the beach. I could howl for him but I didn't want to do that - I wanted to prove to myself that I could find him. Another hour passes and finally I pick up his scent. My tail wags in excitement, my teeth flashing as I grin to the air, and I carefully pick my way down the path.

I see him ahead! He is large like I remember him but maybe not as much. The mind tends to trick me when I get excited, I think, and I temper my grin with a more subdued smile as I pad towards him. "Sir Hadrian. It's me, Samia. You said that you needed an apprentice, or that I could uh... well can I still learn?" I am confused for a moment, not remembering the specific words he used because he is intimidating in size, but I push onward. Be brave, my daily motto, and I look at him with a solemn face.