Though Avalon bordered the knolls, Corbie rarely made her way over to that particular territory unless she was on her way through to somewhere else, but today she'd taken a patrol past her pack's boundaries into the surrounding lands to refamiliarize herself with them and scout out any trouble spots that might find their way to Avalon. The knolls were rather peaceful, in their way, with the vast herds of buffalo grazing in the shadows of the massive barrows rising over the otherwise flat lands. Just for the fun of it, she made her way up the side of one - a hill, not a buffalo - to stand silhouetted on the ridgeline and survey the surrounding hillsides. It was a breathtaking, pastoral view that made the herdsman in her giddy with delight, and she took a moment to bask in the peace of it.

Asteria considered that she should maybe be moving on soon. Summer had melted into autumn, and it would get cold here soon. Winter could spell a death sentence for her out here, alone. Alone. Where the concept of alone had been freeing once, now? Hell, now it was just lonely. Freedom was a double edged sword, and that sword tucked itself between her second and third rib. What was with this change of heart? She'd blame the whole process of getting older. On the cold days, she noticed the stiffness in her elbows, in her hips. It took her longer to get going in the mornings, and she covered less ground in a day now. Yeah, she'd blame the aging process and nothing else. The Mangrove still eluded her. Selene always said that the Mangrove was where she'd find the answers, but at this point, Asteria wasn't even sure it existed. Ma really was losing it, in the last few months. Did it exist at all? Did Fiori exist at all? The Adravendis did, according to the young lady from Ashen, but... where were they? Had Asteria come all this way for nothing? In considering her next move, the woman moved carefully up one of the Knolls, peering out over the grassland below. It really was pretty here, though it was a shame winter was coming so soon. Would one more day hurt? She couldn't risk it. Could she? All of that, and the nice man she'd met only days ago... with a sigh, Asteria pushed the thoughts of him from her head, too. She knew better than to pin her heart on another stranger she'd met on the road. Her gaze caught on someone else out, enjoying the view. On the other edge of the Knoll Asteria stood upon, a girl wearing a coat of black and white. Well, maybe she could ask for directions, at least. "Excuse me," Asteria called, picking up a light jog to close the gap between them. "Sorry, I was wondering if I could bother you for directions." She paused, offering a soft smile with her request. Asteria left space between them, held herself in earnest as she addressed the stranger. After all these years traveling, the unpredictable nature of strangers would always be at the front of her mind. Though she'd been brought up as a wild thing, Asteria has manners. "Talk"

Corbie was a little startled to be hailed suddenly, but turned toward the stranger with a smile of welcome. She wasn't at all offended to have had the peace of her contemplation broken, and in fact welcomed the presence of the stranger as much as she had the solitude of the moment before. The dark-coated female who approached was older than Corbie, and while she may have been a touch wary she was not rude about it. "Certainly," Corbie said, her tone and body language alike friendly and open as she turned away from the ridgeline towards the other female. "How can I help you?"

The black and white woman before her was pleasant, and for that, Asteria was glad. It was hard to know exactly what to expect when she'd been traveling for this long. Though her guard remained up, she did relax some as the woman seemed receptive. But now came... actually asking her question. According to the red girl she'd met on her first visit to Boreas, Fiori was no more. So then... what did she ask? "I'm looking for the Adravendi family, if the name sounds familiar." Asteria guessed that she wasn't asking for directions after all, more... for a location? Oh it was close enough. Her expression remained hopeful. Still, depending on where they were, would she be able to make it there before winter? That was feeling less likely. Environmental pressures were difficult, and were only getting harder on her as she aged. Still, she had to try, right? "Talk"

Corbie was curious, head tilted to the side slightly and expression open as the woman approached to ask her question. She wasn't sure it was anything she could help with, but she was certainly willing to try. But it seemed the question was something she could help with, and she smiled brightly at the other woman. If Corbie was any judge of character, she wouldn't think that this woman meant them any harm, so there was no reason to hide it. "Certainly the name is familiar to me," she assured her. "The man who raised me was an Adravendi, and I have kept in touch with his family since he died. You can find them mostly in Valhalla, in the west. They claim the Vericona Plains and Druid's Moor there. Their alpha is Ardyn Adravendi."