There's something about the season of autumn that fascinated her to no end. How the days were beginning to shorten and the skies began to shift. How dusk was laden with the fading gold of the sun long after it had fallen beneath the horizon. Something about the shift in temperature from the heat she was familiar with to a comfortable not-quite-cold but not-quite-warm. In between. In a way, she preferred it to the scorching summer. It was a relief from the temperatures but a warning as well. A warning for her to prepare for the upcoming winter.

   She was still so small, her ribs still poking out from beneath her russet and cream fur. Nor was she a fantastic hunter, especially when she wasn't even a healthy weight and still below it. Her survival through the cold months was not guaranteed by any means. She would have to fight to see summer again or fall to the winter cold. But she couldn't start that fight without preparing during autumn times.

   Admittedly, she was doing better. She could hunt decently, even if she sometimes spent a few days with an empty stomach. Thanks to her small size, she could easily find a den to take cover in. A large fox den or maybe taking cover under a log. Whatever worked and suited her needs, she would take, no matter how shabby or stinky the makeshift den might be. Her goal was survival, not comfort. Perhaps that could be her goal one day in the future when she was more comfortable in her own skin and was perhaps even more relaxed around others. But that was far away. Right now, she had to focus on the present.

   Said present was her heading in the direction of a somewhat familiar forest. She spent most of her time on the open prairie, hunting what small creatures she could and honing her skills. She didn't know how long her source of food would be as generous as it had been so she had to scope out new terrain. The forest was one she was decently familiar with, having been in it on a few occasions when the weather in the fields got too harsh for her to be without much cover.

   What she saw had astounded Ifyla so much that her steps faltered until she came to a stop, gazing up into the boughs of the trees with an awed expression on her face. She had never seen the leaves change, she had never seen anything so lovely as the golds and reds, so generously scattered against fading greens and warm browns. The forest floor was laden with leaves of the same color, pushed aside as she walked along with dazzled eyes the color of a leaf that fell and landed right on the end of her delicate snout.

   If she were honest, Ifyla didn't expect to sneeze so hard that she landed on her rump, leaf litter fluttering in the air at the force as she began to giggle, the delicate noise of amusement eventually elevating to a full-blown laugh as she began to play amongst the fallen leaves.

The crisp autumn air filled his lungs with a deep inward breath. He loved these days just after summer. The nights where a new chill entered the air that clung in the mornings like a drape of moss over the trees. Where to begin today?

He found himself back in a familiar part of the woods. A swift memory of a mud soaked female fluttered through his mind as he splashed through the stream she washed herself in. Funny how he would find himself here again. And funny how he could almost imagine a sound as if... perhaps she was nearby? Too much of a coincidence. It was his imagination.

He was curious though so he followed the noise.

Lo' and behold he rounded the drying brush and saw her... dancing? Laughing? Though he had only known her briefly he knew that she would startle and get embarrassed the second she thought she was being watched. So he hung back a moment, hiding behind a tree and couldn't help smiling as he watched her play in the leaves.

Then, only after a brief moment, he shook his head and barked to alert her, then launched himself into the pile as well, sending a shower of leaves into the air as he danced on his long legs. He was leaping up trying to catch the leaves in his teeth much like he tried with the water this last summer with her.

He panted as he caught one then stood wagging his tail looking at her as leaves fluttered and fell around them.  

   Autumn is beautiful, she thought, eyes dazzled by the the colors that fell around her and got caught in the ruff around her neck and the fur of her tail. She pounced on leaves, catching them on her claws and wearing them like a halo when they fell on her head, sticking to her fur even as she romped around. Her tail wagged endlessly, kicking up leaves and only serving to prolong her delight. She felt like a child again, trying to catch the leaves and leaving her worries behind in the plains to be dealt with at a later time. For now, she was distracted, if but for a few moments.

   She startled, dropping her mouth full of leaves, when a figure entered her vision. Fear swallowed her pupils, frightened pinpricks falling on someone far larger than she. For a moment, she didn't breathe. Didn't move. Only stared, frozen and terrified. But only for a second at most before her muscles fell slack with relief and she felt like she could breathe again, if only a little bit. She knew this figure, she knew them just well enough to be far more comfortable than she was just moments ago.

   "Burdo-" she began, stopping short when leaves flew at her in a flurry. She yipped in surprise, turning and leaping away to escape but only earning herself a new crown of leaves  as she did.

   She glared at him and his mouth full of leaves, goldenrod eyes narrowed. "Burdock!" she whined, almost like a petulant child. "I was saving that pile!" she said, frowning at the scattered leaves before letting the facade crumble into a fit of barely concealed giggles. "Seriously, though! That was my pile that I found, all by myself. And you scattered it! How dare you!?" she cried out, voice lighthearted despite the slightest accusatory tones.

   She was clearly far better than the first time they had met. She had gained a pound or two, not quite as skinny as she had been. Not all her ribs were showing, at least. Only a few. That, and she was legitimately smiling. Nothing strained, nothing forced. It was natural. Admittedly, it was unlikely that her lighthearted and good mood would last long, but it was nice to to relish in her happiness while it lasted.

   She paused in quiet giggles, shaking the leaves from the top of her head before tilting her head at Burdock. "What are you still doing around here?" she asked, voice lacking most of its former warmth when she had greeted him. "I thought you were going to go visit your family in... um, Nardir, right?" She recalled his invitation to join her and for a moment her ears flickered back. She wasn't ready to go to a pack, she could recognize this easily. She wasn't ready to place her trust in others or to even confront her own problems alone. Maybe one day she would be, but certainly not now and definitely not anytime soon.

As the leaves fell around him concern flashed through his green eyes that he had truly upset her. Her laughing though put him at ease and he dipped his head into the pile of leaves and "splashed" her with a crispy light leafy shower with his own laugh. He stuck out his tongue at her as she complained about her pile but started to gather up the pile again with his paws as she asked him why he was still around.

"Oh I just had to come by and check on you. See how you were holding up!" He teased giving her a wink while gathering the leaves, "Nah, actually I've been wandering around trying to find them, but I had to backtrack for a friend and I'm on my way again with a better idea of where they are. Offer still stands if your interested in joining me!" He said throwing a pawful of leaves at her and dodging away if she tried to do the same.

"You also seem to be doing much better lately!" He commented, again dodging and kicking some more leaves at her if she tried to retaliate for that and laughing. She certainly was no longer at death's door, and the facade she had up around him before was considerably lower. Maybe life was much better for her now than when they first met. He was glad he had run into her again.