[Trillium]

The Pale Black Sheep "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

With her mother spending more and more time with the healers, Trillium had taken advantage of her father's distraction with her brothers to run wild.  She did as she pleased, often dragging along Birch whenever she needed an 'assistant'.  However, recently, she was starting to realize that her carefree existence could not last.  She was getting to that age where she should be making something of herself. Trillium was really more interested in fulfilling her own curiosity, but her father had hinted, more than once, that it was time for her to get a job.  The teen had scoffed and rolled her eyes, but in truth, she was kind of glad to have an excuse to get away from her family.  

She was now sporting a new set of scars, a constant reminder to her that life was in no way guaranteed or expected. She also had some measure of herself, and despite her reactive bravery in saving Birch from Roderick, she did not think herself suited to the office of 'guard'.  When Blaise had, once again, stated that she needed to be more productive with her time, she did not, as she usually did, take it as a challenge to come up with a new (and more daring) experiment.  Instead, she had gone off to have a think.

With her front paws dangling above one of the creeks, she had stared long and hard into the water, as though expecting her reflection to provide her some insight to her life.  Her mother had gone to the healers for a long time now, and Blaise had been very adamant about the fact that she could not be visited, that she was ill.  How was she ill?  Something about how she had acted when she had last been home had frightened the girl enough to obey her father, to stay away from where Kita was being treated. But the bond between mother and daughter was something not easily broken, and she ached to see her mother.  First, though, she would do something worthy of her father's praise, so as to soften the blow of his scorn.

Getting up from her spot by the creek, she set off through the forest to find someone who could fulfill what she had in mind.  She wasn't a fighter, despite the scars that cowled her neck and shoulders.  She wasn't a healer, a meek soul like her gentle brother.  No, Trillium had it in her to be a strong, independent force.  What she lacked was any physical prowess.  Physical, brute force was not in her cards, and as such, her options were limited.  So instead of strength of conviction or medical knowledge, she decided she would try for something more ordinary.  Trill decided she would join the messenger service.  But in order for her to do that, she was going to need to find out how to apply.  To do that, she was going to need to find a Page.  Hopefully this wouldn't be a wild goose chase. Trill hated busywork.

[Dali (RP)]

He'd get it this time!

"I have it!" 

His jaw opened, teeth gnashing at the fluttering butterfly. Nope, too slow.

"Don't have it!"

Dali snorted in annoyance. Yeah, you'd better fly away! He thought miserably. At least his Sentinel duties were going OK. The border was free of... well, butterflies at least. The hound let out a loud groan. "I'm bored!" he said to no-one in particular. It was mostly a compliant aimed at himself and his inability to produce any fun on his own. Noticing that the butterfly was still hovering over his head, Dali gaped at it in disbelief. "It's... IT'S MOCKING ME!" he yelped in outrage. And the cycle began anew, Dali jumping at the butterfly - and missing - as it flew away from the border and deeper into the packlands. The forest was getting distinctly cooler in the autumn months. Despite being a former dweller of the desert and marshlands, Dali hardly noticed. He had a few years to get used to the Inarian ecosystem by now.

Besides, even if it was freezing cold, he wouldn't trade it for anything. He and his packmates had everything they needed: food, water, comfort. Each other. God, that was sentimental. He liked that. 

He soon sighted something through the trees. A wolf. Social activity! The butterfly long forgotten, Dali trotted over and wagged his stick-like tail in greeting. She was an adult but significantly younger than he by a few years. Her fur was a pale brown highlighted by lighter tones, scars marring her young body here and there. This was no concern to Dali, however. He had never been taught to draw attention to scars or anything. He just considered them part and parcel of somebody's history and he often had no time for the history of others. Not because he didn't care but because he had the attention span of a duck. He needed to work on that.

"Hello there, lovely day, isn't it?" Dali asked, his ear twitching as the butterfly landed on it. "OK, THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!" 

Later. 

After jumping up and down at the butterfly once or twice, Dali would soon remember the wolf once more and grin apologetically. "Sorry about that, I have been tasked with keeping Inaria's borders secure from danger. Very serious business, so I have to be constantly on my toes," he explained with a hint of pride, his tone abruptly changing to one of utter serenity. "Anyway, I'm Dali. Page and sentinel in training. Nice to meet you."

[Trillium]

The Pale Black Sheep "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

The first creature Trill came across was a dog, and he was acting like... well, a dog.  He bounced up to her, then was immediately distracted by one of Inaria's several species of butterflies.

"Hello there, lovely day, isn't it? OK, THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE NOT DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!"

The pale girl watched him jump up and down, reminding her more of one of her brothers in their younger years.  How old was this dog? He certainly seemed older than she was.

"Sorry about that, I have been tasked with keeping Inaria's borders secure from danger. Very serious business, so I have to be constantly on my toes,"  Uh-huh. "Anyway, I'm Dali. Page and sentinel in training. Nice to meet you."

A page! Exactly what she needed! Although the in-training tag behind his sentinel title made more sense now.  He acted even less like a soldier than Felix did.  But a rambunctious page was exactly the type of page she planned on being, so she was a bit more willing to go along with his personality.  She politely disregarded the bouncing and instead focused on being the polite, proper young lady she had been raised to be... for introductions, at least.

"I'm Trillium." She said with an awkward pause, awaiting the inevitable "Blaise and Kita's girl" or something similar along the lines to her lineage.

If not that, she wondered if this dog had learned of her rather... combustible reputation.  To put it politely, Trill was already known in Inaria for her preferences towards pyrotechnics. Up until now, she hadn't considered that the other adults might actually hold it against her.  With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Trill did the only thing she knew how to do, she kept pushing.

"I want to be a Page."

Can you give me a job? ... Please?