move along

The days had been getting longer, and with the change in temperature, Annaleise had been getting restless. She had been stuffed into classrooms, told what she could and could not do, and had been scolded for trying to set fire to the offending teachers. In all, it had been mostly a bad day for her, and she wanted to explore more. Thus far, she had not found any other children her age, but that didn't exactly stop her from trying. With a freshly pressed dress trimmed in lace, Annaleise knew her mother would be proud of her child's fashion sense. Though she often ripped and tore her clothes, she definitely knew how to dress herself.

Trotting down to the lake that she had heard the elder children whispering about, Annaleise stood on a small hill, hands on hips and wondering what was so great about a giant crater filled with water. Surveying the land, Anna spied a very large dog, and was immediately attracted to it. She rather liked dogs, and the bigger the better. Gathering bunches of the soft material that made up her skirts, Annaleise scurried down the hill and closer to the dog, her tunnel vision widening to include another human. Stopping at once, Annaleise thought that perhaps the dog belonged to the person, and her path changed, leading straight to this curious looking adult. Her cheeks flushed a faint red as she grew nervous, and she tucked her hands behind her back, her face upturned in what she hoped was an endearing expression. "You have a pretty dog."

Jumping at a voice, Anna's gaze shifted between the girl and her wolf, trying to work out whether or not her dog spoke. Annaleise wasn't entirely sure what else to call the creature, if it wasn't a dog. He certainly didn't look like a cat. She faltered for a moment, a little intimidated by the growl, but quickly snapping out of it when his tail wagged a little. She wanted to play with him, but pouncing on such a giant creature would probably end up with her injured.

Anna's forehead scrunched up considerably, trying to puzzle out how a wolf could be a brother. She had pets be her best friend before, but not a sibling. Her eyes growing wide with hope, Annaleise crept closer to Murtagh, shivering as she inspected him from the small distance. "Oh... Can I touch your big brother?" The wolf looked like he had soft fur, and she realised a bit late that he could also speak for himself. "Oh, um, I-- can I touch your fur?" Directing her second question at Murtagh, her small fingers clenched into a fist, wanting very much to touch the do--wolf. She had always had an issue with meeting dogs, and always wanting to immediately pet them.

Biting her lip, Annaleise reached out, sliding as close as she dared to Murtagh, her hands gentle as they came in contact with the wolf's thick furry neck. It wasn't soft like a pet's fur as she expected, but thick and coarse, designed to keep out all types of weather. Her fingers burrowed deeper into the thick coating of hair, the tips wriggling in a scratching motion.
Most other little girls would surely be terrified, but Anna was rather taken with this overgrown puppy.

"I'm Annaleise." Growing bolder now, Anna continued to pet the great wolf, admiring him openly as she went along. Sidling closer to Sylvi as she went along, Anna reached out to clutch at Sylvi's hand, hanging on tight. "I like you. You can be my new best friend." Honestly, Anna liked anything that fascinated her, and an elder girl that didn't immediately scold her for being present was something to be cherished. "Why are you out here, anyway?"

Taking the smile as a good sign, Anna sidled a bit closer, enjoying the feeling of holding hands with another person. Her ultimate safety blanket was being able to clutch at the hand or leg of another person, even if they continually shook her off. She just couldn't help it. And anyway, it was even more exciting that Sylvi had not pulled away.
Her eyes wide, Annaleise listened raptly, able to sympathise with the other girl's dislike for school. It was boring, and there were too many activities to do outside.

Her gaze switched back to Murtagh when he was mentioned, almost as if taking in his size for the first time. Yes, he would definitely be big enough to eat a person. Her face lit up in surprise and wonder, quickly asking, "Oh! Has he ever eaten anyone?" Sylvi had said that he was only likely to eat someone that had done something wrong, but Annaleise couldn't help but tally all the naughty things she had done recently. "Perhaps they know they've been bad, and they think he'll be able to tell, and eat them!" Envious of Sylvi's companion, Annaleise wished that she, too, could have a giant wolf to stay by her side and eat people she didn't take a liking to.

Annaleise lit up considerably more when the fact was confirmed. She admired the wolf even more for that, and her affection for the creature grew. He only ate scary people, and Annaleise could commiserate with that. Though scary people probably didn't taste the best, she could bet that not many people missed them once they were gone. Once she was big enough, she wanted to start eating the mean people too.

"One day, I'll be big like him! I wanna eat scary people, too. They deserve to be eaten." With a frown, Annaleise delivered her last sentence. Though she had not met a whole lot of scary people, she was certain that they were out there somewhere. "I can turn into a dragon. Well. Sometimes. I'm getting better at it, though!" She had heard many times that dragons take decades to mature, but she didn't like that one bit. She wanted to mature now.

"Have you ever eaten a people?" Turning the question to Sylvi now, Annaleise's curiosity mounted, wanting very badly to know what a person might taste like. It was a morbid thought, and she gleefully determined to bring this topic back to her teachers, if only to inflict that pained martyr expression they adopted when speaking to the tiny girl.