Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

Four years since his abduction, Ty had grown from a toddler to a lean-built, if incredibly gruffy and unkempt, young eight year old. When one article of clothing wore out, it was the duty of Kraai and Kivo to pick out a new garment to replace it, which meant scavenging the dump most of the time - or in the case of a group of skinny dippers last summer, wait until the group of teens discarded their outerwear so that it could be efficiently swifted away before they could do anything about it. This mean that, most of the time, Ty was all but drowning in a shirt or sweater that was a size or few too large for him, but at least his nearly furless skin was always protected from the elements. On this day, his bronzed skin was covered by a pair of holey jeans, an inside-out cat sweater, and a pair of bare feet. Brushing a tangle of dark brown hair from his face, the kid continued to fiddle with a length of yarn and a set of rib bones.

"When do you think he'll make fire?" Curled up next to the boy, the tom cat was watching the lavender yarn and try to resist the urge to stretch his paws out and grasp it.

Sitting atop a small stone, with her head turned as she groomed a shoulder, Elfina responded, "Kraai thinks it's a learned behavior. Without other humans to teach him, he doesn't know how to grow it."

The striped tom sighed disappointedly at his sister's idea, "Learned? I bet it has more to do with their age. Give him... oh, maybe a year or so, and it'll come to him." Trillium flexed his claws, still eying the tantalizing string that Ty was knotting around the bones, making some sort of necklace... or something.

Molly

Molly lead the pups through the rocky mountain terain. She moved at a quick pace wanting to find good ground for the pups to rest and digest there recent food. Molly sighed when she thought she found a good place but it was already taken. A human and cats! Molly let out a soft growl. Humans were her worse enenmys. "Stay" she warned the pups.

Benji hopped from big rock to big rock. He loved jumping around for no given reason. "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" he laughed before pounceing right ontop of his sister Bali.

Bali was paddleing around slowly tired and bloated. She wasnt used to walking this much after a big meal like they just had. She groaned but yelped as her brother landed on her. "Get off" she growled baring her teeth at her brother.

Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

A silvery-tan ear flicked back when Trillium heard the not-so-quiet pups bouncing around as they were led by Molly. Standing hastily, the little feral tom whirled around, tail poofed out and hair standing high along his spine. "Who are you...?"

Alerted by her brother's movements, Elfina scampered a few feet closer to Ty, turning abruptly and arching her back. Wide eyes gleamed back at Molly, knowing that a collie could very easily make a meal out of her and her brother... and quite possibly Ty, since he was little but lean muscle and lanky limbs right now, not to mention too young to know any great fighting maneuvers.

For his part, the young kid stood up slowly when he heard Molly growl to her pups. His soft eyes shot up from where he was working on the necklace and looked warily to the unknown canine. Having no grasp on animal language, aside from the basics of body language, the kid was watching her every move with a critical gaze.

Molly,benji,bali

Molly had half her attention on the pups and her other half on the cats and the young human boy. Her black ears moved backwards to the pups when she heard the yelp. "Off your sister now benji" she growled slightly at the male pup. Her silky head spun around to the cats. The dog bared her teeth slightly at there reaction. "I am molly and this is benji and bali, and you are" she hissed out lightly. Her dark eyes stayed glued on the human. Human that word itself raised the hair on her back.

Benji wasnt going to get off his sister but when his mother molly growled at him and the male pup jumped off and retook his place at the right side of his mom. His eyes glued on the small cats.

Bali squwirmed around under her brother and let out a deep sigh when his fatness was off her back. "Finally you fatty" she growled at him as she moved to the other side of her mother. Her eyes darted at each of the beings.

Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

"Now would be a great time for his human smartness to take hold." Trillium murmured under his breath, tail lashing slowly from side to side in response to his agitation. A second later, he followed up his comment with a more serious question, "Should I alert the others...?"

Elfina shook her head vaguely, not able to afford her brother much attention when there was an unknown dog staring her down. Sure, they could split up and make a run for it... they weren't that far from the Temple, and she could scamper up the nearest tree if all else failed. But she couldn't just leave Ty here by himself, and with that in mind, the tabby puffed up her chest a little and braved a reply to Molly, "Elfina. This is my brother, Trillium-" She nodded to the young tom cat, and then to the child, "-and this is Ty. We're members of the Ancient Guardians. What are your intentions here...?"

Molly Benji Bali

Molly couldnt help but be on edge. After all they were running from the humans. She thought that this would be a good place to come and rest for a while and that they would be safe but apparently not. A human was here. Molly didnt let down her stance as the female spoke up. "just looking for a safe place away from the humans i thought that this would be a good place even just to rest" she made sure that the word human stood out. "but i see my thoughts were wrong" she looked to the boy.

Benji and bali watched.

Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

The boy had become as still as a statue, knowing enough to tell that Molly wasn't exactly relaxed at the moment. And even though he couldn't understand the cryptic talk going on between the cats and the collie, he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't be making any sudden moves around this strange dog.

Elfina let loose a quieted sigh of relief - Molly at least wasn't a branded enemy. From what she said, the dog sounded like nothing more than a protective mother trying to find shelter for her family... and that could work in the tabby's favor. Slowly lowering her poofy tail and trying to convince the rest of her fur to relax and settled down, the little cat spoke in even words, "If you're looking for safety, you've come to the right place. Ty here isn't like the other humans - he lives with us, at the Temple."

Trillium shot his sister a harsh glare, but Elfina continued. Her bright eyes passed briefly over Benji and Bali, before landing back on Molly, "He is the only human here, and just a youngling at that. If you like, I'm sure our leader will let you stay in our territory. If not that, you can at least take shelter there until you're ready to move on." It really wasn't her call to be inviting strangers to the Temple, but then, it was always better to make friends before enemies.

Molly

Benji was already being distracted by a colorful butterfly. He wandered away from molly and chased the colorful bug.

Bali on the other hand was very interested in the boy. He dd seem differnt from the other humans that killed her mother. And the small wolf was curious. Slowly she iched her way closer around the cats. Her body close to the ground.

Molly watched and as elfina let down her hard stance and molly did the same. Her eyes darted to the other cat. "I see" she said softly. "For now this place seemed like a good place" she looked around the pups were already moving around.

Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

As soon as Elfine and Molly dropped their tense poses for more relaxed ones, Ty eased up as well. Taunt muscles loosened, and his wide brown eyes turned softer when he saw Bali creeping closer to him and his friends. The young boy grinned as he crouched down on hands and knees, lowering himself towards the ground to mimic somewhat the way the wolf pup was acting.

"It's very safe, actually." Elfina offered, sitting back on her sleek haunches to further show that she didn't mean any harm to Molly or her pups - not that the little feral cat could do too much damage to the canines in any case. "We haven't had much human activity in the area, except for the occasional hiker - and even they don't stray too far in this direction." The tabby permitted a small smile, watching now as Benji was distracted by a passing bug - how innocent the young were!

Trillium was still uncertain of the group, but he too flattened his fur and hunched himself down next to Ty. It was Elfina who spoke again, eager to keep their conversation on a positive note, "Some in our pack recently had a litter of cubs. I'm sure Bali and Benji would be welcome to play with them, if you'd like. We've also got a bit of food left from our last hunt."

Molly

Bali crept closer but kept a good space between them. The tiny female pup stayed close to the ground wathing the boy do the same. Her head moved to oneside then the other a tad bit confused. Why hadnt he spoken. It was odd to her.

Benji was to easily amused and this bug was just one of the very amusing things here.

Molly eyes kept a close watch to both pups. "I hope, these to can do without another inncounter of hunters" she said moving to sit onher hunches. "They lost their mother to one" she said with a sigh. These to had lost so much at such a young age and if it wasnt for molly they wouldve been killed aswell.

Ty, Trillium, & Elfina

Ty was completely wrapped up in watching Bali right now, and even lowered himself down onto his belly to better mimic the pup's actions. When she tilted her head, so did the feral boy - first one side, and then the other. Pretty soon, a small grin spread across his gaunt face, showing off a row of teeth as he finally decided that he liked this new pup.

Elfina was keeping tabs not only on Benji's investigation of the butterfly, but also Bali's interaction with the boy. She was about to say something about the two, when Molly informed her just why a collie was looking after two wolf pups. The tabby lowered her eyes briefly, turned her head, and spoke lightly to her brother, "Please bring Quaidah here... and keep the Brothers back."

As Trillium turned about and sprinted towards the nearby Temple, Elfina looked up at the dog and spoke in a slightly disheartened voice, "I'm very sorry to hear that. They're fortunate to have a kind soul like yours to guide them. And I can assure you, Ty here will never harm them - he's only a cub himself. Too young to hunt anything bigger than frogs and bugs."

Molly

Bali watched and didnt move for a long time. She had a puzzled look on her face. "why doesnt he speak?" she asked.

Molly layed down and closed her eyes only for them to flash open at bali's words.

Benji kept chasing.