You look up when feeling eyes upon you. You turn around, looking into the eyes of an old wolf, the creature sniffing at you as the wind brings your scent to his nostrils. He sneezes and turns around, walking off a bit, then stopping and glancing over his shoulder at you, as if waiting. Assuming that he is one of the pets living in this portal, you follow him.

After walking through the trees a bit, you catch the movement of wings. Looking over, you catch sight of Vaprrenon's back. She's laughing and seemingly holding something in her arms. The old wolf trots over to her with a low woof, and she turns around. Smiling, she stands up, and you see a tiny black bundle in her arms.

"I see you've met our Ashes of Flame already," she says with a glance down at the old gray wolf near her side. "He's our senior citizen here. He likes to be called the pack's shaman, though. He teaches all the little ones. He's an excellent grandpa, aren't you?" The wolf seems to smile, beaming with pride. "This!" She holds up the little black thing with eyes. "Is Coaldust! He's only a pup right now, but he'll be sure to grow."

You smile and walk over, petting the fuzzy little thing, watching it wag its tiny little tail happily with your presence. Vaprrenon sets him down and he runs arond your legs a few times, then gallopes over to another fuzzy spot on the ground, this one white. It looks up at him as he plows into it, then yawns and goes back to sleep. Another small white creature pads out of the brush, wandering over near the smaller one, and nuzzles it. She glances up at you.

"That's Nedorah and Freeital," Vaprrenon says as she watches the two creatures. "They were both gifts to the CCF. They are powolas, actually, not wolves at all." She turns to face you again. They're much smaller than most canines, as you can see," she says, "SO be careful not to step on one. A visitor did that a while back and walked off with a limp; they might be small, but they have sharp teeth. I don't want you to have to deal with that."

You swallow and nodd, taking note of that. No stepping on sharp-toothed little creatures. That certain didn't sound like much fun at all. You glance up at the sound of Ashes of Flame barking, head tilted to look at the skies overhead. You try to follow with your eyes to where he might be looking, but cannot find anything near your little group. You look to Vaprrenon for help as to what is going on. The old canine stops his barking, sitting down now. You ask her what all of the wolf's barking was about.

You blink, instantly snapping your head up to find whatever creature Vaprrenon was speaking about. It could not possibly be a wolf if it is 'hovering' about all of you. You see a blurr of blue fuzz and let out a yell, covering your head with your arms as you duck, something coming down and nearly dive-bombing you as it heads in for a landing.

Once you are sure it is safe to rear your head once again, you raise your gaze and glance around, spotting a small blue and white winged creature sitting before you, looking quite smug at his own little antics. You frown and glance to Vaprrenon for an explaination as to who and what this creature is. Obviously, it is no wolf--wolves don't have wings!

Your guide chuckles and pats the little thing on the head. It looks up at her proudly and wags its long tail with pride. The ishna looks to you, gesturing toward the blue creature with one hand. "This is Yutin. He is a wolrin, a more mythical relative to the wolf. Obi was able to track a few of them down and put them up for adoption, and this little bugger came home with me."

You nodd, if only to clear your head a bit, and take another look at the small wolfish creature. It grins at you, sticking out a little tongue, and wags its tail triumphantly, obviously still pleased that he had startled you so just a moment ago. You sigh and smile at his cute little expression. You watch the wolrin perk up his ears, glancing around and looking quite happy. He lets out a bark-like yip of joy.

"Oh, here he comes," Vaprrenon says happily. "Pack leader, the alpha. His name is Rufus, and he's such a gentle sweetheart. You can't help but love him, I'm telling you!" She glances over her shoulder, turning a bit. You watch the forest eagerly, soon seeing a grey figure appearing between the trees.

The wolf proudly comes forth, tail and head held high. He strolls over to you, sniffing at the air a bit before closing the distance between you and allowing you to rub behind his ears. Actually, he insists upon it, nudging you with his head and stepping on your foot with his large paws. Neither hurt much, they are just there to tell you he wants some attention.

You smile happily up at Vaprrenon as Rufus sits down at your feet, the little black pup Coaldust running up to him and playing at his tail. The alpha amuses the little one by swishing it back and forth over the ground for him to chase. Ashes of Flame yawns and lays down, and Vaprrenon smiles to you. "Aren't they the cutest family you've ever seen?"