Location: Glowshroom Cavern She traveled only for herbs usually, only common things she'd need for a small cut or a stomach ache. But if she was out of her herbs she wouldn't make a long trip and would instead just suffer through the day until she woke up the next, hopefully feeling much better than the last. But if it wasn't one thing it was another. It seemed like a never ending spiral of her mental and physical health plummeting on and off. She had never been in the cavern though she had passed it many of times. She could scent a faint smell of something strange inside. She could identify the fungi smell but the specific kind was unknown to her. She had little else to do regardless and she found herself not far from her loner den land standing outside the cavern. It was awfully dark inside, she could tell without even entering. She was rather flighty herself nowadays and wasn't comfortable going inside not knowing what she would find beyond the mouth of the cave. A natural curiosity she had and her stance would say so as well as she extended her neck forward with a raised paw and took in the many scents of old and new to determine if she should go back home or not. Walk "Talk" Think

It was funny to find himself back here. After taking Poem back to her home in Abaven, Sparhawk had turned around with the intent to instantly return and collect more of the blue clay. He wanted to take a bunch of it back for the woman and it greatly amused him that he thought this way. Sparhawk had the feeling that Poem would make a great friend. Since entering these lands, he was the definition of a lone wolf. It might be nice to have a constant in his life. Someone that he knew was friendly and that he could see more than once. What better way to solidify a friendship than to take that person a gift? Sparhawk was a little surprised to see a small woman hesitating at the entryway to the cavern when he arrived. She was very, very small. Much smaller than him, at least. Since he was going into the cavern, he might as well introduce himself, eh? At least he should make himself known. "Hello!" He called out in his deep tones. The brute continued to move towards the mouth of the cavern. The grizzly bear skin that held his supplies thumped rhythmically against his striped side as he walked. Keeping a respectable distance from the woman, he stopped in the mouth of the cavern as well. "Is very nice in there." With his nose, he pointed towards the darkness. "You can come with me if you want. Collecting blue clay for pots." Resettling his pack, the red and charcoal man smiled. "Am Sparhawk, lady." His Russian accent was thick, but his intent was clear. He was just a friendly guy inviting a timid gal into a dark, unknown cave. With a wink of one red eye, he began the slow descent downwards into the cavern. The woman was in for a very nice surprise if she followed. "Speech"

Aranea was very much taken by surprise when the man called out. Her body jolted and as the giant came closer she pulled into herself with a quick instinct to run away. But he would speak out again, his accent becoming much more clear to her and she would hesitate to bolt and instead find herself focusing on his words. Aranea herself had a somewhat strange accent but it was a lot more legible. She was intrigued for sure but still skeptical of the guy's intentions. She'd slowly go to follow his escort without a word but wouldn't stay silent for long. "My name's Aranea." She introduced quickly as he had and it would have been rude not to. The cave would start to grow dark and she felt rather uncomfortable blindly walking through with a stranger though he showed clear signs of being friendly. "You said you were collecting blue clay?" She questioned, not really understanding what clay was for or what pots were for that matter. As a healer she had mashed herbs together and made pastes but she usually used a strong piece of bark to make the mixture. "I was just interested in any herbs I could find down here." She explained, not sure if he would be able to give her any information towards that. She'd find out herself here shortly. Before or during his response, she ended up bumping into his hindquarters somewhere, a soft whisper of "Sorry," not wanting to interrupt him if he were coming to speak or speaking. She could start to see a faint glow of blue surrounding his frame down the tunnel of the cave and would feel a little relieved of her embarrassment as she knew soon she'd be able to see more clearly. Walk "Talk" Think

The playful, mischievous side of Sparhawk grinned when the woman jumped. Hey, he was allowed to be a punk every now and again. After he introduced himself and began going into the cavern, she gave her own name. It was an interesting one, so he said it out loud, trying it on his tongue. "Aranea..." The man gave a nod after having said it. "Is good name." The woman seemed amazed at the mention of blue clay and questioned him. "Blue clay." He reiterated. "Used to make dishes and pots." She went on to say that she was looking for herbs. The man made a contemplative sound. "Did not see herbs last time I was here. Am no healer though, so maybe you find." He didn't know if mushrooms and moss were important to herb collectors, but if they were, maybe she would find something down here. The path down into the cavern was dark and winding. Sparhawk took his descent slow. Apparently a little too slow. Aranea bumped into his rump and the striped man made a small sound of surprise. Was she getting cheeky with him? Not that he minded, but at least warn a guy, eh? After clearing his throat and shooting a glance over his shoulder to make sure that she was okay, he continued on. Once at the bottom of the path, the cavern opened up. The blue glow was more than bright enough to see by. Sparhawk shrugged out of his grizzly pelt pack, sitting it aside. Coming up beside Aranea, he explained the cavern, careful to keep his rumbling voice soft because of the echo. "The mushrooms glowink. Moss is soft. Good for sleepink on. The clay," he motioned to the hole where he'd previously dug some up. "Nice and soft. Good for molding." He brought his claret gaze down to rest upon her small frame. "You need help with herbs, you let me know." He then flashed the fae a winning smile. Sparhawk was just a good ol' boy these days. "Speech"

Her name was unique on his tongue and on the inside she felt a small bit of joy in it. She would hear his words but would focus more on her steps and the glow coming from behind him until they were in a better sight still distorted by the blue glow of the cavern. Her eyes scanned the walls and ceiling of the cavern, a little bit of amazement showing through her sad eyes. As he pointed out a few different things, Aranea would drag her eyes to each item mentioned. She moved closer to him to touch the moss with her nose and sniff it lightly, moving her attention to the dug hole with this "clay" he spoke of. Her head tilted in interest to something new but she was also wondering, "Do you come here often?" considering there was evidence of at least someone else here digging for this clay. She'd turn to walk around and explore the small area of the glowshrooms, her nose sniffing them to see if they would be of any use but she sensed a sourness to them and decided it would be better not to give it a try. She'd come across some Salvia growing from a few cracks in the walls but she wouldn't bother to gather as she felt no more use of taking the hallucinogenic, in fact she preferred to stay away from it. As she turned to join the giant brute, she'd stop by to smell his pelt-pack, she'd seen many of odd things carried by wolves but having this pelt as an accessory she couldn't not feel impressed by it. She'd wait by his pack, "I don't see anything useful for me here." referring to the herbs but she'd continue, "Did you want my help with anything?" She was rather friendly herself and she was realizing that this giant, scary look brute wasn't as scary as she thought. She only hoped during their encounter and in the mist of the blue glow, he couldn't see the hurt through her eyes. She didn't want to burden anyone or drag them down with her depression and the obsession over her past. Walk "Talk" Think

Aranea asked if he came here often and Sparhawk chuckled. "Yesterday is first time." He admitted to only having been there once. The hole that he'd dug yesterday was obviously still there. He didn't think that it would miraculously have been closed. That was where he would dig up more blue clay. Taking an oiled fur from the grizzly pelt bag, the striped man placed it beside the hole. As the small lady moved around the cavern, Sparhawk began to dig, extracting giant gobs of the blue clay from the ground. He piled it atop the skin, losing himself in the process. When she approached and spoke, his ears swiveled towards her. Could she help? "Almost done. No need for both to get dirty." Pulling his paws from the hole, the redwood brute wrapped the clay in the oiled square of skin. It would be quite heavy, but he was quite strong. Again he was dirty and would need to go wash the blue muck from his legs and chest. Ears perked again as he looked upon Aranea. "You want to stay here? I go to the water to wash. You welcome to come with." Ever the gentleman, he would do everything to accommodate the lady in his presence. If she wished to stay, he could sit here for a while. If she wished to follow, he would provide happy company. "Speech"

His mention to getting dirty felt a bit silly to her. Aranea may have looked like a pretty little princess, but her whole life she was much more like a tom-boy. Sure she took care of herself and her body but she wasn't one of those prissy little girls that cried when they stepped in the mud. Of course Sparhawk was just being a gentlemen hence how he was done his errand by the time Aranea was done exploring the small part of the cave but she just found the comment a bit amusing. "I wouldn't have minded." She stated in a friendly tone. Sparkhawk would mention leaving the cave to wash and Aranea wouldn't hesitate to follow after him. Being inside the gloomy cave with a stranger she had to admit was a bit uncomfortable. Of course back in her young days she was a bit of a flirt and a tease but she was well past that now. Having kids in her teen years pushed her into a quick maturity she didn't ask for. "I'll come along." And she would go with him to the exit of the cavern. Outside she went immediately to the river nearby, assuming Sparhawk wouldn't pause even to see if she made it out in one piece. She'd step inside the easy flow of the stream with all four paws in a more shallow area for herself a little pass her knees. She wanted to wash any residue from the glowing shrooms inside in case they were dangerous to the skin. Her nose stuck into the water just slightly and blew out some air since she was walking around touching the heads of the shrooms. Her sad eyes looked to the giant where ever he was landed without any embarrassment from creating the bubbles in the water. "Are you from the continent?" She asked curiously mostly thinking of his strange accent, "I'm not from here myself. But I've lived here for the last five years or so." Walk "Talk" Think

Aranea admitted that she wouldn't have minded getting dirty and Sparhawk chuckled. "Ah, but I would. Too pretty to be covered in dirt." He was a gentleman. He couldn't ask a lady to get all mucky now could he? Besides, he'd extracted the clay quickly enough. Help hadn't been necessary.

Once out of the cave, he had made sure that Aranea exited as well before entering the water. The water ran cloudy with blue clay as he washed it away from his thick legs. A wordless little hum rumbled in his chest as he cleaned the muck from his fur. A tune was never far from the man. He was either humming, singing, talking or sleeping.

Words brought his ears swiveling towards the woman and he released a laugh. "No, no. From far away over the snow and ice." Deciding that he was clean, Sparhawk leaped upon the same flat rock that he and Poem had dried upon the day before. Here he would repeat the process of letting the sun dry his big, striped frame.

"And you, Miss Aranea? You from here or somewhere else?" He attempted to draw get into conversation. She seemed rather sad, though he didn't know why. It would be rude to ask, so he would simply try to spread his happiness to her.

His humming was a bit soothing to her, not normally what she heard from strangers but it was gentle enough to where she barley even noticed. His mention of over the snow and ice made her think he was from another continent, but Aranea wouldn't prod him if that was all he wished to say about it. She crossed her paws, rubbing all sides to wash her paws and legs, and would follow after Sparhawk when she was ready. She wasn't much eager to jump in and follow him but was growing calmer and less alert as the time passed. She wouldn't join him on the rock but would instead lay beside it in the grasses, facing him slightly. Her tail curled out from her body as most of her fur became wet from the stream and her tiny body. "I swam here from the east, I ran into some trouble where I'm from." Funny how this part of her past she cared little about and welcomed the story to almost any stranger, that was if they got her talking. "They shared different beliefs than me, I ended up leaving for my own safety before things became out of hand." Ironic how she found herself in her situation with her lover and her children though. Wouldn't that be considered dangerous, having pups so young and in the end her mate abandoning her? Guess she was more oblivious and immature than she thought. Walk "Talk" Think

She swam all this way? "Swimmink is impressive. Where I'm from, we don't swim much unless it's through snow." He gave a good natured chuckle and licked a few droplets of water from one thick red foreleg. Had he ever actually been swimming? The man tilted his head, casting a sidelong glance at the sky as he pondered the question. "You know... I don't think I have ever swimmink. All shallow streams so far." It was a funny thing to think of. He didn't doubt that all wolves in this area knew how to swim simply because there was a lot of running water here. They didn't have much of that in the north. Ahhh, so she had been run off. He could understand that. Hadn't something similar happened to him? He gave a shake of his head and clucked his tongue. "I am sorry this happen to you. Life is more than belief. Some things should be unbreakable, but they are not." He wouldn't share his own past. He never did. He could tell her that he understood though, so that's what he did. "Speech"

Aranea chuckled to the thought, which may have been a bit surprising due to her mostly unemotional encounter, "I was a lot younger then too." Her chin raised in thought, "I wasn't scared come to think of it, it was just tiring. Can't say I wouldn't be scared of what was below me today." It was a bit funny to her too that he was apologizing for her going through such a hardship. Because that wasn't the lowest of her life. It seemed to be back then, in the before. But her uprising and abandonment of her birth pack was no longer a stain on her heart. Instead it was filled with the sorrow and hatred of her previous lover and father of her children that he stole from her. Aranea would listen to Sparhawk's wise words but would find herself lost in her normal pitiful thoughts. She'd rise with a slight shake for any excess dribbles to fall from her fur. She wasn't completely dry but wouldn't care in the slightest. "I should head back home, I don't want anyone to come searching for me." It was a bit of a joke but being so new in Torin's pack she didn't want him to become skeptical of what she was doing outside for too long. She knew she had to pay for the mistakes she made in her past, even if it wasn't for him but for her. "It was nice to meet you Sparhawk." She'd make a friendly exit from the joyful view of the stream and grasses outside of the dark cavern that held little importance to her. She couldn't say she'd ever come back here but at least she knew what was inside the cave. -Exit Aranea- Walk "Talk" Think