where was lifegiver? the question is a familiar one, always lingering on the edges of the pup’s concious. daria can recall the details of her lifegiver and of other - the brilliant green of lifegiver’s eyes and the softness of her stomach when daria was seeking out a teat, her cold black nose nudging at her and other, white and black fur clashing on her muzzle. the image of other comes more easily than the one of lifegiver; violet and gold eyes, pale fur rubbing against her dark coat when they slept side by side, the size of other’s paw prints in the damp earth when they played together. the faint memories of other and lifegiver are good ones, fading away into nothing the same way her lifegiver had. daria recalls going to sleep with the both of them, her and other snuggled into lifegiver’s tawny fur one night, and then waking up with only other. she remembers searching out lifegiver instinctively, leaving other resting, and then getting lost when she couldn’t find the woman.

lifegiver had been gone for days now, though time isn’t a concept that the child truly understands. it feels like years without her lifegiver and other, years since lifegiver has fed her, years since she’d had the comfort of lifegiver or other at her side while she slept. there are small comforts - the sea’s waves in her ears, the smell of home heavy in her nose. still, she yearns for the pair she’d claimed as her’s. where were they?! rings through her little louder, her thoughts not truly taking on words - blurs of panic and yearning and loss fluttering through her head like swooping bats.

she is tucked under a leaning tree, years of battering by the sea leaving the wood smooth and soft against her back. she had shifted the sand enough to form herself a scoop in the sand, a divot just big enough for her to curl up in, and she flinched further into her little hollow as the gulls above her began diving. brilliant blue eyes squeezed shut tightly as the pup wiggled closer to the base of the tree, shooting open when the gulls suddenly went quiet. hope fluttered in her chest, bouncing unchecked across her ribcage and right into her heart. without hesitation, daria flung herself out from under the weather-worn tree and into the open. ears pricked, she began to search desperately for her lifegiver, sure that the presence of the woman would have driven away her tormentors. as she searched desperately, her eye caught on a dark form in the distance and hope was chased away by joy, entirely convinced that this was lifegiver - even if there was little resemblance between the wolf and her lifegiver. short legs propelled daria down the beach with little grace, excitement overpowering her limited amount of logic.

realization dawned when she was too close to the stranger to be unnoticed. confusion and disappointment filled her as she stumbled to a halt, almond shaped eyes locked on the - she took a moment to sniff the air hesitantly - male. from where she stood, he at the very least smelled like home, even more than lifegiver had. he was bigger than lifegiver, even at this distance, and she was frozen, unsure of what to do. lifegiver had always kept them separate from the others who lived in home, and never had she told her what to do in this situation. lifegiver, she realized, didn’t tell them much. still, she had to do something, didn’t she? instinct won out and she flopped down, belly crawling a few inches forward and batting her tail against the ground like she did when lifegiver came back at night smelling like - well, daria didn’t know exactly what lifegiver smelled like, but those were the days when lifegiver regurgitated food for them instead of letting them nurse.

as the stranger came close, the speed of her batting tail increased too, until she was practically wiggling. pleased with his closeness to her, the child lurched forward and skidded to a halt just as she was about to go sprawling into his front limbs, dancing back a few steps to shove her small muzzle up towards his chin - whether or not she actually touched him was another matter, but she was more than pleased with her attempt. daria danced back another few steps, tipping back her head to meet his eye and flash him a bright grin, fluffy tail whipping behind her. ”daria,” she blurted, economic with her words. ”mine?” she inquired, leaning forward on her toes, lifting her nose again to sniff at him again. he didn’t smell like her’s, like lifegiver and other did, but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t, right? she fell back on her heels again, head tilted expectantly as she waited for his answer, tail still wagging behind her.

ooc. I hope this okay! seemed like a good way to introduce them, but I can rewrite it if you'd like!