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Dawn looked up to see Ebony, and she stiffened a little. Play it cool, you don't want to give him the idea you hate him, but you don't want Snowfall to think you like him or anything She thought to herself. She didn't like Ebony as anything more than a friend, but she did want to be friends with him, and also be friends with Snowfall, which was hard to do, when you knew that this was your friends crush.

Dawn smiled, not an over-enthusiastic smile, but a friendly one. "Hello, Ebony" She said "Oh, I was just exploring around with Snowfall because...." She trailed off, seeing Oak in the background. Her parents had been saying something about him, something about him being a top show husky, and him making great show puppies.

She wondered if they were planning to.... No, they wouldn't do that, would they? She shuddered at the thought or being with a mate she did not love. She saw him gazing at something, and, looking over to where he was gazing, she thought she saw.... a dog? Or it could have been a bush, it was too far off to tell.

She diverted her attention back to Ebony. "Urm, oops, I mean, We were going to explore, since there were rumors of the sled team bringing back a human, but it seems that idea went poof, so nothing. Just sitting here" She said with a yawn.

Dawn cocked her head as she saw the bush move - so it was a dog! Maybe Kar? Maybe a new dog? She wanted very much to investigate, and took a step forward. But something stopped her. Oak was there. She felt she would prefer to avoid him, right now. And besides, it would be rude to just turn and walk away from Ebony. She turned back to him, and once again waited for an answer.

Snowfall gazed lovingly at Ebony, she was spacing out. She shock her head, and bliked her eyes,r realizinng she wasn't dreaming, Ebony was right in front of her. "H-hi Eb-ebony." She stuttered, felling as she was in love with this handosme male husky that stood in front of her at the moment. "So, what up?" She asked mroe 'causisly' more going normal. She didnt want him to think she was freak!

Dawn couldn't resist, she quickly said to Ebony, "I have to go, Eb, see ya around!" With a smile, she was gone. And then she was off, down the street, towards her house, veering left, turning towards the dog again. She ran, and ran, then started panting, as she started to reach near the place where she had seen the dog.

Snowfall saw her best friend, Dawn racing down the street, the effort from her smile fadded away. She sighed, than looked back to Ebony. Taht smile reappered as fast as if had vanished, and she took one step closer to the male husky. She abtted her eyes once. twice. Even a third time. She had the biggets crush on Ebony. Her tail swayyed back in forth, wagging.

Dawn skidded to a halt. The dog - or whatever it was - wasn't there...... she sadly looked down. Then decided to go look over where it had previously been. She started to go there, when something pulled her back. She hesitated, and she looked out to the distance. Why was she so drawn to it? Why did it seem to call her the woods, the trees, the creatures. Shaking her head, she started to walk over to where the dog had been. She almost stepped on Barin, as she was lost in thought. "Ahhhhh!!" She had tripped over him, and now she was upside down with her head back and looking right at Barin. "Uhh...." She muttered, getting up. "You're a....a.... Wolf" She had never seen this breed of dog before. Never. But she knew what it was. She had heard so many story's, with death revolving around it, but she had never seen one before. It was a wolf. She was slightly jittery, the stories springing to mind, but she didn't believe an ounce of some of those stories, so she tried to ignore them.

Snowfall batted her eyes at Ebony, but he ahd no reaction. She sniffed, and pranced off behind Dawn. She soon lost track of her best friend, and decided to go home. She had ntohing else to do. She walked along the streets of the townf rom where she lived in, glancing at every house she saw. Sooon she saw a big 3 story marron colored house, with a big white fence in the front, But it wasn't fully built, do she just walked right around it. She than scarcthed on the door of the house.

Dawn pulled her nose back, and got up quickly. "I'm sorry, I've just never seen a wolf before." She said softly, averting her eyes. Could she trust this wolf? He was a stranger, not from this town. She did not know him. And yet..... something drew her to him, like that something that made her hate being a pet, and that something that pulled her to the wild. There was much she did not know and here was a chance to learn.

She stared out into the distance, and in a far-away voice she said to the wolf "Whats it like? Being wild, I mean.... To be.... Free" She said free as if it was everything she had ever wanted, although she had never really thought of being anything but a pet until now. She suddenly snapped out of it - what was she thinking?! "Oh. I'm sorry, I forgot my manners, my name is Dawn." she said.

Her parents always told her to have manners - why should it be any different for a wolf? Inside her mind, it seemed a fire had been lit - one of curiosity, and question. A burning question, questioning what it would be like, to be free.

Dawn squinted at the wolf's sarcastic voice. "I suppose you've grown up in a free life, right?" she said "I haven't. Where I live..... Well, its just hard. Not hard as in the way of hard for the fact there is no food, or something to do with survival, just..... hard. I'm not a stray or anything. Heck, I'm a pure-bred husky. Top-of-the-line bred." She said top-of-the-line bred as if it were a curse, bitterly, not an ounce of pride in her voice.

"But my life is hard. I don't know, I doubt anyone would understand. most of the other the other dogs, the girls, in town, want to be like me. The pure-bred sweet, little husky, who all the humans love........" She let her voice trail off into a furious silence. Now why was she telling the wolf this? That she did not know, but she knew for a fact that she had just spilled out openly to a complete stranger something she would never say to her own parents. With a polite nod, she said "Well, I must leave now. See you around..... or maybe not."

And with that, she was gone, into the town, in search of Snowfall. It was getting dark, but she didn't care. With each step, she came closer to Snowfall's scent.
But unfortunately, her parents were out for their evening walk with their owners.
"Breaking Dawn!" Said her mother sharply. Dawn tried to slink into the shadows, with no luck. "Breaking Dawn, get out here! I know you're there! You slipped out this morning, and you....." Dawn heard her voice trail off. She saw something, like a look of great fear mixed with disgust coming over her face, as she whispered something to Dawn's father.

Dawn anxiously watched his eyes darken and his face turnt into a scowl. She sniffed, noticing their noses twitching. What could they smell...? Her mothers voice was silent, but furious. Very furious. "Come with us, now."
"But.... what is it, mother? Wh-"
She was cut off by her father. "Now"
She had no choice now. She walked with them home, all the time they whispered, both anxious and furious at the same time. Dawn fretfully watched them.

Once they were home, the owners went to watch The little people box, or 'Tv'.

Her mother suddenly looked old, tired. Her father watched her sink to the ground, and decided to start instead. "Dawn." He said, faltering. She could see he was choosing his words carefully. "Dawn" He started again. "We have brought you up to be.... civilized, a show dog, like our parents before us." She fidgeted quietly, thinking she knew what was coming next.

"I think we should tell you about wolv-"
"Why!?"
"I think we should tell yo-"
"But why!?"
"Don't interrupt!" He snapped.
Now her mother spoke up. "You have been out of town, we can smell it on you. And there is are wolves outside of town."
"Yes," Continued her father. "Wolves. Its not unusual, but we have told you not to go outside without us."
"I can take care of myself"
"You think you can, but not with those wolves around. You don't know what they're like."
But I do know, she thought to herself. I know more than you ever will.
"Dawn, we are worried about you. We can smell wolf on you, you must have been near one, it must have been there recently, or stalking you..... Learn to recognize the scent, and be more alert next time."

Her mother seemed to have regained herself now.
"Dawn, just be careful. We don't want to lose you."

Dawn sat, listening. She would have to be more careful, next time she was out of town, to get any strange scents off her.

"Theres something else we ha-" Her father started, before being cut off as her mother prodded him sharply.
After a lot of whispering between her mother and father, and angry comments, Her father averted his eyes from Dawns, and simply said "Good-night"

Dawn walked to over to her dog bed, and settled down, thoughts buzzing in her head.

Dawn's thoughts still buzzed as she woke up in the morning. Slipping out was too risky today. She went to her father, who was more likely to let her go outside. "May I go outside, please?" She asked him. "Yes, just as long as you stay away from the edge of town" He said, distractedly.

"Thank you!" She said, rushing out before he changed his mind. Once outside, the cool air passed through her fur, and it smelt like the fresh rain that had fallen that night. Her mother and fathers warnings and fear, far from making her stay away from the edge of town, had the opposite effect. She rushed to the edge of town immediately. There was still much she wanted to know, she thought.

She sniffed around, tracking the wolves scent, but lost it near some bushes. With a sad shrug, she lay down, waiting for it to get later so she could go back to town and see if Snowfall was around.