She'd heard tell of a terrible sickness that had been roaming the Salvajes, striking seemingly at random. She'd even seen a few wolves struck with it, and heard rumors that it . But Bryndel wasn't sick, oh no.

Being sick meant staying at home in bed, after all, lackluster and listless. And Bryndel didn't feel like that at all, oh no; a touch on the warm side, perhaps, and more giggly and silly than usual, but so what? She had plenty of energy, now that her stomach had stopped grumbling at her. And she was ready for some fun. She paid little mind to where she was going, miraculously avoiding bumping into and tripping over anything--save for five rocks, one recalcitrant boulder, and a skulking log with lots of sharp twiggy bits, all of whom somehow managed to leap in her way when she wasn't looking. She grumbled and dusted herself off each time, growing a bit more bruised and dusty with every fall, but setting each incident out of her mind and soon back to her aimlessly humming self. She had to stop short, however, as she found herself on the edge of the lake, and a strange sight met her eyes. A sight so strange, in fact, that even Bryndel couldn't deny how unusual it was--and wonder for a moment if she was ill, after all, and hallucinating odd things indeed.

A patch-eyed wolf, with brown fur mottling her white upon her face, was shouting crazedly about--who knew what. Who cared. Bryndel was relieved. She distinctly heard those shouts, now that she'd stopped and concentrated, and surely illusions could never be so convincingly noisy. She trotted forward blithely and cocked an ear to listen to the actual words of the mad she-wolf--the mostly-white bitch who stomped her gimpy way over to an innocent young nut, who lay stolidly upon the ground and endured her ranting in silence. For a moment, Bryndel wondered why it didn't grow a spine and stand up for herself--wait, no. Nuts didn't talk. Did they? Not last she'd checked, but perhaps it would be better to make sure. Because the she-wolf wouldn't shout at something that couldn't answer, would she?

Bryndel clumped toward the tiny oak-to-be, intent upon examining it an only half-aware of the strange wolf's words for a moment. She checked the small, hard, shiny brown seed--no teeth, no mouth, no tongue and not even a nose. And then paused and looked up, trying to recall why she had been looking at it so intently. She blinked, suddenly seeing the wolf cavorting in the water, and wondering in alarm when she'd gotten there, what she was doing, and how she'd snuck by Bryndel and the acorn both-- except (the brindled nose furrowed, trying vaguely to recall) hadn't there been a wolf much like this one here, recently? Some time ago? Any time ago? She wasn't certain. --Wait, no, that was Unari, rescuing me, and he left ages ago. She didn't know how she could have mixed the two up. Anyone with any sense could plainly see, it was not she who needed the rescuing this time, but this crazy wolf by the lakeside, brandishing a stick and . About time the brindled younster returned a favor, then. She splashed out into the shallows of the water, prepared to confront the other, when suddenly the white wolf spun and confronted her.

"Slow? SLOW?!" The insult both startled and offended her, and the pup's voice yowled out, completely oblivious to any input from her brain. "I came 'ere t'SAVE you from yer idiocy, bonin' about like you owns this lake when it rightly belongs to ME, at least like it does anyone, and " At this point she had to stop to catch her breath--and even more so, to blink and try to figure out what on earth she'd just said.

Especially as this particular wolf looked ill enough in the head to injure herself or someone else, if Bryndel didn't nobly try to stop her! The pup's nose wrinkled, catching the scent and ruminating on it distractingly. Her ears perked forward after a moment, realizing why it was such an unsettling, oddly familiar scent. The tar of pines and subtler, earthy scent of the granite of none other than her own home mountain. No wonder this wolf smelled familiar; she'd come from Bryndel's own pack!

For a moment it seemed stranger yet that she'd never actually met this wolf 'til now, this delusional packmate of hers, until it dawned on Bryndel that if she were this crazy, she'd steer well clear of the irritable alpha and likely everyone else as a result. The young female nodded in satisfaciton at having solved the riddle, and got down to brass tacks. Her moment of distraction had cost her dearly, however, as, despite her ready stance and guarding stick, the other's weapon lashed seemingly out of nowehere to strike at Bryndel's heart. With a strangled yelp, the striped younger one hopped back, and parried almost as an afterthought. The fight was on.

"I'm not no fly! I'm a wolf! Arrrr. Ain' took no grog, durn wan' no grog and tastes like frogs! Git back yer crazy beast! I'll teach yer t'mess wiv th' likes erv Car'pn Shwrrrly!!" Bryndel threw herself into the role with all the enthusiam and spontaneity of a pup. Swashing her buckle, she sashayed forth to deal this self-styled Captain of the lake, this patch-eyed miscreant a blow she wouldn't soon forget. Whomp! Thwack! Flail! What the stick-sword's swooping cuts lacks in finesse they made up for in imagination. In her mind's eye Bryndel saw herself deafeating this pirate of lakewaters easily, driving her back into her --ah--"ship" where this Captain Flint would turn tail and run off into the sunset, never to threaten these waters again. Hah! Whoops. Smirking at the image, Bryndel practically fell on her tail trying to scramble away from another swift move of Gracie's that darted in, this time at her tender stripey neck, and with teeth, not branch.

"I ain't stole nothin'... and not sure I wanna go on no treasure hunt wiv no pirate 'oo thinks I did." And might yet steal something from her, who knew? That was what pirates did, after all. Swill and plunder, plunder and swill! --Wait, no.. it was loot and boot, loot and boot.

Okay, pirates did something with stealing. Loys and lots of stealing. Bryndel knew that for sure, even if she didn't know what it was. ...Still, Bryn couldn't help but lick her lips, contemplating the possibilities. Candy? Candy sounded gooood. ...Still, she couldn't just give in to a pirate. Or soemone who thought she was a pirate--Bryndel was unconvinced still, unless the patch-eyed bitch had managed to sink her boat and flatten it to the bottom of the lake in the 17.5 seconds before Bryndel had arrived. Which even Bryndel knew was nonsense. No, don't give in. "Whatcha gunna pay me, eh?" That was the ticket. Demand something.

She dropped her dignity entirely, however, when another figure spoke. Bryndel half-turned, and even in her madness recognized him immediately She flung herself toward him with a squeal. "'KASHIII!--er, Tictac Paddywhack!" She had to giggle at his codename, and abandoned all pretenses at hanging back entirely. Takashi was joining in. It'd be fine. Not just fine, in fact--it'd be fun. Her papa was her and he'd take care of all the important stuff, like making sure this pirate didn't swill and boot her, while she hunted down great gobs of candy for them both. Yes! She could hardly wait. Bryndel wriggled like a puppy from head to tail and gushingly tried to lick his face in the squirmy overenthusiatically subordinate manner of a kid, completely forgetting anything about being supposedly grown up. Last time she'd seen Takashi, she'd had a busted leg. This time, she was sound on all fours, and that meant they could have an adventure! Bryndel giggled: she must've gotten a peg leg. Only, she'd thrown away the stick in her excitement--darn. Gotta remember to pick it up before we leave.

She turned at the muttered mumbling of "map" from behind her. Yeah, that's a good idea. Gracie'd had a map, but Bryndel hadn't been able to make head nor tail of it. Maybe this person could-- she gawped, however, thoughts stopping in their tracks, as the dark male's scent traveled up her nose and tickled her brain. She knew that scent. She knew she did. Those eyes... that face... "Kendri--" Oops, wait. "Indris?" she said instead, disbelieving her eyes. No, wait that wasn't right either! Get in the game, Bryn, eesh. "Uhm, I mean-- SHADEY!" she cried, this time flinging herself away from Takashi and toward her former friend. All her earlier worries about him had vanished. How could he not welcome her back with open arms, the best friend from his childhood, the only one who'd figured out he was a ghost and--

Wait, wait, no. That wasn't right. Something was definitely not-right, here. Bryndel lay in the mud and blinked repeatedly in confusion, eyes glazing as she tried to figure out what on earth her mind was talking about. Get back here, brain! She giggled, than laughed aloud at that mental "command," and dismissed her maunderings. What did it matter? She felt happy, she felt giddy, floating lightly on the breeze as she gazed delightedly about at all her new and old friends all around her. Even that one over there, who she didn't know. And the one beside her that she'd only just met--oh, what did it matter, everything was happy, silly, hunky-dorky, the whole world was her friend today. Captain Swirly sat inelegantly in the mud, short one large ship and grinning stupidly at everyone.