Water dripped from my snout as I stared, mouth agape at the shewolf after I called her name. For a moment I expected her to vanish altogether, a figment of my imagination called up by memories of her adoptive brother. Or perhaps I thought that when she turned towards me I would realize my mistake and find myself face to face with a stranger. Instead, her white-winged facade only served to leave me speechless, confirming that it was Butterfly who stood upstream from me. A wolf plucked straight out of innocent memory and placed into haunting reality. When she spoke, the dubious expression vanished from my features, replaced by a happy smile; I was glad not only for the fact that she recognized me, but at the realization that her uniquely eloquent way of speaking had not changed in the many years between our meetings.

As she moved to extricate herself from the river, I did the same, crossing through currents to place us on the same side. Even where the river was shallow it held hidden power beneath its surface. Even so, I reached the bank without drifting too far down stream, finding us near to one another as we shook the dampness from our fur and then approached one another. My tail was lifted slightly, even with my back as it waved back and forth happily. Ears pricked forward alertly, studious of her body language and pleased to find her so receptive after all this time. "It is good to see you again," I responded, reaching out with my own muzzle to greet her in turn.

Withdrawing once more, I nodded at her next sentiment. "Yes, I reign over the mountains now as my mother and grandmother did before me." A pause, for perhaps it was not quite as it had been when they ruled. Both had been undefeated, even if they had required their mate's assistance throughout their stead, until death had taken them. "But not without struggle," I added. Butterfly's own perfume was much different than it had been when we were pups, barely any trace of Moladion upon her other than the freshest hints from the paths that had led her to the riverside. And she had grown as tall as I, perhaps built slightly more lithe but athletic nevertheless. A thing required for a wolf to survive on their own - if she had been on her own in her life outside of Moladion. "Your travels have taken you there and back again; what wonders of the world have you seen?" Duty had bound me fast to these lands, but that did not mean I had never been curious about what lay beyond Moladion's borders. Part of me wanted to ask her then and there if she'd seen her brother, if she knew where he was or if he'd found happiness, but I held my tongue, thinking better of it. Perhaps another time.