Paws pounded against the muddy spring soaked riverside, her lithe body flowing much like the water. The sounds of the running river filled the air and fueled her dreams, the pounding of the falls ahead matching the racing of her heart. This was the place she lived, both body and soul, and like the falls themselves, it was in the spring when she came alive.

Whisking through the brushes and jumping from rock to rock, the young woman reconnected with growing terrain. Creamy gold legs carried her easily over the familiar trails. Her pink tongue poked from her pale mouth as she ran, lilac eyes shining from her golden mask. The scars that had covered her childhood were now completely covered and faded into the shadowy fur of her head. So much had changed from that day of her birth, while still so much had stayed the same. Her mother had raised her, in freedom and in fear of the world. Yet still her wild sense of adventure had pulled her into the wild, issuing a call she could not refuse. Throughout her childhood, she had seen her mother’s anxiety. The need to be free at war with the need to protect her children and keep them safe. Finally, when the urges became too strong, Taika had left and Masque had blossomed into her own.

With each step she took, the masked dancer took her mother’s place. Free spirit, loving soul, and eternal wanderer, Masque twirled her way back into the world. Her mother had been ‘Queen of the Gypsies’, and Masque was the rightful heir.

Dashing excitedly up her favorite waterfall, Masque skittered to its peak and stared out at the blooming Moladion. She grinned, her joy lighting up her face in the watery mist. This was her world, her playground, and her dreamscape! Nothing could hold her back from letting her spirit take flight. Unable to hold in her emotions, she lifted her muzzle to the air and called out to the air, welcoming to spring and the life back to the world!