Rise and Shine {Reeves}

Shali’s initial reaction to Reeves’ words was a tilt of her head to the side. There was wonderment and curiosity clearly on her features. It wasn’t long though before her head tilted back to its normal position. Master of soul stones? What did he want with the master of soul stones? Hmm…well that certainly was not something she’d heard every day. However, the good news was that Shali had heard a minute fraction about him. The bad news was that she’d ONLY heard a minute fraction about him. The dude was somewhat of an enigma around here. Some claimed that had come into contact with him and actually spoke with him. Others did not believe the hype and went about on their merry ways like nothing was amiss. Shali herself had never laid eyes on this so-called master, and remained a neutral party in the matter. At this point in her life, the she-wolf was content with the level of soul stone she was at. If she advanced farther, then that was hunky dory, peachy keen. That being said, her goal in life was not to find this master like Reeves. Instead it was to etch out a meaningful life for herself and those that called Kyon home.

A low hum reverberated in Shali’s throat for a moment. She was really curious to know Reeves’ intentions in finding a creature with so much potential knowledge and power. On one hand, she did not want to be the one to orchestrate the demise of anyone by telling the lion what she knew. But then again as her soft gray eyes scanned over him, he still did not seem like vicious type to her. Additionally, it wasn’t like she knew all that much anyways. Perhaps she could just give him a clue and point him in the right direction. That way guilt would not fall on her shoulders should something go wrong, and she would still be helpful to the best of her abilities. And, believe it or not, Shali did want to help him, different species or not.

“Well, there isn’t much that I can tell you,” Shali began. “I only know what I’ve heard, so you can take it with a grain of salt really. Pretty much it’s just gossip and hearsay.” There was a slight shrug to the wolf’s left shoulder before she continued. “From what I hear, the master is indeed a male canine, so your trespassing is justified and I won’t hold it against you. I’ll gladly vouch for you should someone say otherwise, I feel like I can trust you enough so far. I’ve also heard that the master is very lean and leggy in appearance if that’s any help to you. The last thing is that you’d probably have a good shot if you keep heading south. I recently came from the dens to the north and there was no sign of him.”

The female wolf shifted her weight on her paws once before resuming talking. “Before you do go, it seems like you need a rest, so there is no rush to leave. And I spotted a small pool of water not too far from here that you’re welcome to. If you’re thirsty that is.” There was nothing wrong with being hospitable right? Right.

Shali’s mouth turned up into a slight smile as she watched Reeves. His repeated head bobbing was, admittedly, somewhat comical to her. The she-wolf would not keep him long, seeing as he was energetic to get going. Anyone would be if they were one step closer to their goal. Hopefully this information would do him some good down the line. However, Shali was pleased that this “meeting” had taken place along the way. There hadn’t been any bias between the two species, and they were able to get along well enough. There hadn’t been any useless squabbling, bloodshed, or otherwise either. It put Shali’s mind at ease a little bit, and the woman was able to form her own viewpoints on the matter. She honestly did not see where the big division came from either, but such was life at the moment. If both species stayed in their own little corner of the world, then they wouldn’t be forced to interact with one another. Sometimes that could do more harm than good actually. Interaction meant understanding and grace. Separation meant a lack of understanding and isolation.

 
“You’re welcome, I’m glad that I could help in some way at least,” the she-wolf responded simply. With that, her tail brushed the ground a few times, similar to a common household feather duster. It stirred up the stuff on the ground beneath her a moment before coming to a stop. “Looks like you’ve found yourself a tour guide,” Shali stated. She then stood to her paws and began walking in the other direction without further hesitation. It wasn’t a long walk to the water really, but it was always nice to have company anyways she figured. The sweet smell of water would be clearly apparent within a few minutes or so to a discerning nose.

The black canine moved through the jungle at a mild pace, enough to get things moving, but not enough to leave Reeves behind. “To your left you see trees, vines, and leaves. And on your right you see…trees, leaves…and vines,” Shali noted, a somewhat playful tone intertwined in her voice. That short smile appeared on her features again and she snorted slightly to herself. Kyon was a beautiful place in Shali’s opinion, which was exactly the reason she resided here, that and her adopted family too. Her blood relatives were nowhere to be seen.

Within a short time period, the pool that Shali had spotted before appeared. It wasn’t the largest in diameter, but at least it was clean and seemingly untouched by paws or otherwise. The wolf padded along the edge and began to relax. “We have reached our destination, thank-you for traveling with the Shali express.”

In response to Reeves’ words and actions, Shali took a friendly, yet nonchalant attitude. It had not been very hard for her to do anything up to this point really. She just had to tell him what she knew, and walk a few paces in the right direction. No biggie. Her duties as a beta had been much more extreme than that, several times over. She loved her job and rank, most definitely. It enabled her to do things she had never dreamed of before. Shali never thought that she would make it this far in her entire lifetime. However, there were times when her pack mates annoyed the snot out of her, making it somewhat difficult. That was not the case here though, thankfully. The laughter that came from the lion was getting to be contagious the more Shali heard it.

Shali’s shoulder lifted up and down once, and gave a nod of her own when Reeves spoke of her helping him. With that movement, the leather strap that held her teal soul stone in place decided to slither down her arm again. Without thinking, the wolf absentmindedly pulled it back up to its normal spot with her teeth. It had become a force of habit for her to do that now, as she’d done it since she was a pup.‘I really should get this thing tightened one day,’ Shali thought for the billionth time, yet she never did. Old habits die hard apparently.

Shali’s gray eyes narrowed slightly when she heard what the felines had said about her species. Mangy? Uncivilized? Really? Shali could understand the vicious part, but was slightly unsettled for a moment anyways. Luckily she picked up on the male’s teasing tone, and was able to let it roll off her shoulders a bit. Had it been any other circumstance, and had Reeves not gotten on her good side from the get go, the reaction might have been different. Things could have taken a turn for the worst. It did not happen that way though. But that did not mean that Reeves was going to get away with it unscathed quite yet.

“Perhaps you are not pompous, pansy poof balls like we thought either,” the she-wolf said, gently stroking her chin with a paw. As she did so, a sly grin crossed her own features and she just waited for his reaction in anticipation.

Shali couldn’t help but to bust out laughing at Reeves. It was one of those full body shaking, deep belly laughs too. It was the kind of laugh that tightens ones abs and, for some, brings tears to their eyes. Shali could totally visualize the male lion puffed up like a fuzzy ball, strands of mane going this way, that way, and the other way. Certainly that would be a sight to see. Luckily, wolves that the she-wolf came into contact with didn’t have to deal with that particular problem. Humidity did not really seem to have the same effect on her. Sure, when she went in water, Shali’s fur got all spikey and wet. It plastered to her body like crazy, making her look like a large strange creature of sorts. The female potentially could be a sight for sore eyes then. She wasn’t about to tell Reeves that however. He’d just given her more ammunition to make fun of him instead. The play battle of words was about to get much worse in the best ways possible.

 
“Well, now isn’t that interesting. I’d pay money to see that I think,” Shali almost purred. She stroked her chin methodically before she stood up to her paws, and a sneaky look came on her features. It was blatantly obvious what she was going to do at this point, but it was all part of the fun. “What about water? Does that have the same effect as humidity? Shall we find out?” Shali dipped a paw in the water, and flung it towards Reeves. The female didn’t quite know if her aim was on, but it was worth a try. A good game of water tag would be fun, she figured. Thereafter she splashed both paws in the water playing around.
 

Shali was certainly amused by this point. That was the only adjective to describe her feelings, amused. Her mouth had been turned up in a smiling position for a while now, and it continued to stay that way still. The wolf remembered back a long time ago when her grandmother was still around. She said that if Shali kept making funny faces and the like her face would get stuck like that. Shali would not mind having her face frozen into a permanent smile. That might freak out others, but, honestly, she really would not mind.

On top of the seemingly endless smiling, her laughter had not stopped either. The female was having a delightful time, much more so than her other scouting ventures. Who knew that this lion would be a source of happiness? Sure, Shali knew that she had important beta things to be tending to, but this was more fun. If the alphas had anything to say to her about it, she would take it all in stride. It would all be worth a few moments of fun. Nobody said that this job entailed being melancholy all the time. Her being the beta of the pack did not require solemnity 24/7. If that were the case, she would have remained a pack member for as long as bloody possible.

As Reeves took a tumble into the water and got soaked, the she-wolf could do nothing but gasp for air and shake her head. Occasionally, a few pig-like snorts wormed their way in too. Silly man. “Indeed we did, that’s a good look for you,”Shali said in agreement. As she was sprayed with water droplets, a small screech of surprise was emitted. She too fluffed up a bit, but not nearly as much as Reeves. Shali tended to her fur and set her sights on the lion. She walked towards him and attempted to smooth out some of his disheveled fur. She then sat down and spoke again. “So…do you really have to go on this journey alone? It seems like it would get lonely after a while.”