A bird's got to leave the nest, or something. Though it seemed Ash had already done that and it went the wrong way. The longer she stayed cooped up in The Hallows, the more she felt like a burden. That wasn't true probably, and she told herself that often. But she couldn't shake that feeling. Anxiety maybe. She had been away from her family for so long and even though she felt like she could fit right back in where she left off, she still didn't feel like she fit in at all. Still in her head probably.

She had taken some defensive courses with Art just to make her a little more comfortable to make her way outside the pack borders. It still took a lot of time and courage. There were no signs of her captors though so she tried to put herself at ease as she made her way over. Gentle, careful steps as The Hallows went out of view. And with each passing step after, she started to feel more like herself. Somehow more free as the lands outside weren't shrouded in this darkness portrayed in her mind. Becoming the adventurer she once knew herself as. She didn't bound for the hills or anything, but she did live in these moments and take in every breath like it meant something to her. She hoped it would be like this every time she left The Hallows.

She still avoided the south western lands and made her way east. Lands that were just a glimpse in her memory. In age she could see more, and in experience she could appreciate what she had today. Making her way towards the base of the falls and finding a sense of tranquility beneath them. Maybe she liked the time alone though she knew deep in her heart that's not what she wanted. She wished she could have had Bowen or Art out here. Though that played again into her internal struggles. For now she'd just take what the world had to offer.

"Asheila Carpathius"

The trip back to her homeland had been cut short before it began. She knew in the back of her mind that it would have been a fruitless venture anyway, but there was a part of her that didn't want to believe what she had learned from Mercury. She wanted to believe that some part of it would still be intact and that she might be able to find even just a few of her loved ones still waiting on her. The only issue she hadn't realized at the time was that this continent, Auster, and the northern continent of Boreas were only linked to one another and not to anything else. She had attempted to swim out to any of the islands she found as she circled the two land masses in hopes that she might be able to see another land mass in the distance from those shores, but there was no luck. Because she was washed ashore here she had no way of knowing which way she came from and that didn't help her chances.

It had been many weeks since she left The Hallows at this point and now she had landed back where she started at a territory just outside of the castle dwelling pack. She was conflicted over whether she actually wanted to return to the pack that she had briefly called home. She had grown close to Mercury after he rescued her from the waves and even more so after the truth was uncovered about their shared home land, but she couldn't quite shake this feeling that she was intruding on his space here and becoming too dependent on him. It was one of the reasons she had struck out on her own without consulting him. She felt guilty about the way she had left so quickly, but she had been afraid that he might try to talk her out of it. She missed him and the space she had made for herself within the Hallows' walls, but she had settled into a small den here by the falls for the time being and in a way it was nice to be out in the forests and trees once more that were not all that dissimilar from the ones she had known back home.

Anthea sighed softly to herself as she laid on the bank of the stream that flowed through the cedar trees. The sound of the falls crashing near by filled the silence so at least it wasn't too quiet. It was almost strange being alone for this long, but just as she was considering that fact she heard a sound in the foliage and brush behind her that made her head turn toward it. For a moment she wasn't sure if it was someone else or maybe just another animal rummaging around for food, but she could at least tell it wasn't big or loud enough to be a bear. That kept her from jumping to her feet immediately and instead just sat up onto her haunches. A moment later a woman painted in various tones of black and gray appeared from around one of the large trees. "Oh, hello," she greeted her with a little smile. She didn't immediately recognize the other woman, but the breeze that brought her scent in her direction told her she was from The Hallows so at least she was confident the stranger was the friendly sort. Glad for a bit of company, she gestured for her to join her as she added, "I'm Anthea. What's your name?"

"Anthea Dásos"

Her heart jumped as the voice rang out, but it wasn't very blunt and loud. The rest of her stayed completely still as the rush of panic stayed internal until she looked towards the woman who was close by and was immediately put at ease. Not a face she knew from the dark parts of her past, and that was all that mattered. She was polite enough to return the gentle smile, but didn't jump at big conversation. She moved to join the woman who wasn't too familiar, but familiar enough.

"Asheila," She was usually more formal than that, a hello, a how are you doing. Maybe the girl could tell she was a little tense. Because of the journey outside or maybe just because of the social interaction. She was still stuck somewhere with talking to others who weren't her immediate family. "I recognize you from The Hallows." Not that they had ever met which made her have a slight blush, "I do a lot of day watching." At least she wasn't the only member of The Hallows that Ash would know from sight alone. Names? Comedic.

Though she didn't quite smell like the Hallows at all, and Ash didn't really keep tabs on how often she saw wolves walking through the court yard. She could have asked why she left or hadn't been around. But she wasn't one to poke around in other's business just the same she didn't want them poking in hers. It was something she didn't like to relive so she wouldn't question Anthea for any reason. Maybe this would be a short encounter. Though Ash secretly liked the company outside too.

"Asheila Carpathius"

The other woman's immediate reaction to her voice made her wonder if she should have been more obvious with her presence and she immediately felt guilty for not doing so, but it seemed like once she actually saw who was speaking she calmed down quiet a bit. That was a relief at least since Anthea certainly didn't mean to cause her any kind of worry. Asheila introduced herself simply and Anthea smiled as she was about to do the same, but before she could Asheila added that she recognized her from The Hallows which had her two-toned eyes widening with surprise. "Really?" she asked, quickly searching back through her memories as she tried to figure out if they had already met, but then Ash added that she did a lot of day watching. "Ah, that makes sense," she replied with a chuckle, mostly just relieved that her jumbled memories weren't to blame this time around. It didn't bother her at all that Ash had seen her around the pack and recognized her from that, she had just been surprised since she felt like she made such a small impact in her short time there.

"I'm Anthea. It's nice to actually meet you, Asheila," she said with a grin. It had been far too long for someone as social as her to go without some kind of interaction or conversation so this was a nice surprise in among her quiet day next to the falls. "It's been a while since I left The Hallows. I only just got back to this area recently," she admitted, figuring it would probably be obvious from the lack of the pack's scent on her that she hadn't been there in some time. "How is everything? The pack still doing well?" She couldn't imagine that a pack as big and well established as theirs would have fallen to the wayside in just a few weeks time, but crazier things had happened–as she had lived through and experienced herself. Luckily it didn't seem like any natural disasters or catastrophes had happened here, or at least not from what she could tell from her peeking at the border.

"Anthea Dásos"