4 years old
No mate/inprint
Loyalties unbound
Played by Lexo


Arkin dipped his head when she bowed and strode after her. This, others had discovered, was how Arkin got places- striding. His muscles expanded and clenched tightly in the first minute or so of their journey, and then gave way to a dull ache. He was still reacquainting himself with solid ground but there was an excitement to see more of this place that burned more than anything else in his body. Even the hunger. He carried his head high so that he might see out as far as possible and even, a few times, pushed up on his toes every few steps to get a glance of the water that he could smell and then hear.

He pulled in breaths of the crisp air that hung around the pool and exhaled a content sigh. Arkin stood on the sloping slab of rock, gazing down at the clean water with ears tall and tilted forward. The water below was so transparent that it begged to be touched. He hovered closer and beneath him, the water shifted and darkened. He realized, then, that there was a cluster of tiny fish just underneath- exploding out and away from his reflection in the water. "A swamp?" He asked with an incredulous chuckle. "I couldn’t imagine it." All he had seen come from the sky were storms, and he couldn’t remember any storm severe enough to demolish a swampland and carve a river. Arkin watched her test the water, already drifting down to the pool’s edge.

"I was born in a valley named for its river. Dredic. But it carried much harsher waters than this. There was nothing to slow it enough to relax in it." He spoke of the memory fondly while his paws broke the cool surface and he watched as the grime and sand expanded in dark clouds out of his fur. Eagerly, he lapped up fresh water but told himself to enjoy it in small amounts. He’d hate to be sick in front of a lady.

He waded in completely, turning once submerged mostly up his sides to face Sila where she perched. "If you were in the river back home, you were fighting the currents. Even the valley was fast moving at times. My father used to tell us we were strong because we were born with the current in our veins." Arkin flexed each muscle group slowly, allowing the cold to soothe them. Then, he sucked in a quick breath and drove his nose down towards the water, dipping down until the water’s surface closed over top of him and then springing up to shake water from his ears. "I didn’t think I’d be so eager to see water again." He admitted. Already, he could feel the sea-matted fur loosen its grip. Arkin’s murky hazel eyes traveled up to her again and he wondered where it was that her roots were planted. "Tell me more about Sila the healer. I assume your home isn’t as far away as mine?"