3/7/2026, 5:00 PM
Willowbelle had never really been the planning type. There wasn't exactly much to think about when your job was easy, and a series of whistles told you exactly what needed to be fixed and when. One her human's farm, she'd spent her days either laying around in the middle of the herds, laying around in the middle of the grass, or laying around in the middle of the road. No matter how long she simply thought and sat, nothing seemed to conjure any sort of inspiration in her brain; certainly nothing that would bode well from a human raised half-breed who's only experience in the wild was to keep it away from her farm.
The familiarity of the collapsing cottage at least offered a brief bit of respite, something for her to heave a sigh and settle down on when the lack of ideas simply turned into a lack of though. She wasn't aware of how much time had passed when movement stirred in her vision, only that the sun was certainly not in the same position it had been in when she'd begun her attempted planning. These hours of silence had been perhaps the most prolonged bit of aloneness the wolfdog had her entire life, so it was rather hard for her to understand exactly what her eyes told her.
It wasn't a human that stood at the edge of the road, looking curiously down towards the dilapidated house, but instead another canine.
Under normal circumstances, Willow wouldn't have formed a single thought before accepting her duties as guard dog and chasing off the intruder- but the fact of the matter was, this was no her home, or her fields to protect. And, if honestly called, she would certainly admit to missing the idea that there was life around her other than the dumb sheep and stupid cows. Her tawny fur flowed like tufts of grass in the wind as the female jerked her head up suddenly, scrambling to her paws a moment later. Her stance was wide, almost as much as her mismatched eyes, but Willow had been raised better than to simply throw her tail up. Instead, she lifted her head to sniff delicately at the air, as if to catch what the slow wind might stir towards her of the stranger's scent. It cut through the nothingness of the farm swiftly; her remaining braincells quickly connected the dots, and a moment later her tail was wagging.
"Hello?" Willowbelle stepped from the ruined porch and moved forward a few cautious steps, her body clearly displaying the eagerness of a dog and the caution of a wild wolf. It was as if two sides pulled at opposite ends, settling her in a rather precarious position in the middle. "Is this your house? I didn't mean to trespass, I was just looking for my flock. And my pack. And my cottage..."
The familiarity of the collapsing cottage at least offered a brief bit of respite, something for her to heave a sigh and settle down on when the lack of ideas simply turned into a lack of though. She wasn't aware of how much time had passed when movement stirred in her vision, only that the sun was certainly not in the same position it had been in when she'd begun her attempted planning. These hours of silence had been perhaps the most prolonged bit of aloneness the wolfdog had her entire life, so it was rather hard for her to understand exactly what her eyes told her.
It wasn't a human that stood at the edge of the road, looking curiously down towards the dilapidated house, but instead another canine.
Under normal circumstances, Willow wouldn't have formed a single thought before accepting her duties as guard dog and chasing off the intruder- but the fact of the matter was, this was no her home, or her fields to protect. And, if honestly called, she would certainly admit to missing the idea that there was life around her other than the dumb sheep and stupid cows. Her tawny fur flowed like tufts of grass in the wind as the female jerked her head up suddenly, scrambling to her paws a moment later. Her stance was wide, almost as much as her mismatched eyes, but Willow had been raised better than to simply throw her tail up. Instead, she lifted her head to sniff delicately at the air, as if to catch what the slow wind might stir towards her of the stranger's scent. It cut through the nothingness of the farm swiftly; her remaining braincells quickly connected the dots, and a moment later her tail was wagging.
"Hello?" Willowbelle stepped from the ruined porch and moved forward a few cautious steps, her body clearly displaying the eagerness of a dog and the caution of a wild wolf. It was as if two sides pulled at opposite ends, settling her in a rather precarious position in the middle. "Is this your house? I didn't mean to trespass, I was just looking for my flock. And my pack. And my cottage..."