Tsenu paused, head tilted up slightly as she stared past the long stretch of rainbow sand that had unexpectedly opened her world to outsiders. Behind her, the lands were as familiar to her as her own den, lands that felt bizarrely different with the northern scents beginning to lay their paths over southern tribes. There were now entire territories that were claimed, as though the northern invaders had the right to keep the tribes out of the land that was their birthright. She had not thought she would have found herself poised to venture into an alien land. She had not known for certain alien lands existed, though there were old stories from long ago of wolves washing ashore from distant places. Still, Tsahìk had given to them this duty, to go among the northerners and learn of them so that the Nina'vi might be prepared for whatever may come. To, perhaps, teach the northerners the Nina'vi ways and gain from them understanding and alliance rather than persecution and oppression.

Still, it was kewong, alien.

She hesitated for a long, measuring moment of uncertainty hidden behind the facade of simple caution, before she moved one dark paw forward to set upon the fine sand and shells of the pxayopin fya’o, the colorful path. "Fwa kan ke tam; zene swizawit livonu," she chided herself gently, and moved herself into a determined lope. To aim is not
enough; one must release the arrow.

It was rare that Ara drifted so far from home. She hadn't explored much of the southern continent, if at all -- despite the wanderlust that often ran through her veins, she tended to keep close to home. Even after the years that had passed, she clung on to the hope that someday her family might return to her. The maybes that she had mulled over were plentiful, and she had come up with dozens -- she tried to avoid the more cynical ones but lately it was hard to think otherwise some days. Today was a particularly trying day for her, having left Fiori's lands on a whim, and finding herself farther from home than she typically went. Before her now stretched a vast expanse of sand and water, as far as the eye could see. Squinting against the sunlight, she could see a large stretch of land in the distance. She knew the continent existed -- her brother and his friend had lived there for some time, along with her parents after they had taken Steel from the pack they had all lived in together. A sigh fell from her lips as she remembered, starting her trek over the strip of sand. It seemed to glimmer a thousand different colors before her very eyes, quite a beautiful sight, but it did little to brighten her dull mood. As she crossed the sand bridge, as minutes passed and she found herself further and further away from the world she considered home, she felt strangely.. out of place. Surrounded by water on each side, she felt suddenly quite insignificant and felt the heavy weight of loneliness settle in on her. As land grew nearer, she noticed a dark figure in her vision, growing quite rapidly in size as she traversed the bridge. There was nowhere to go but across -- unless she turned around, but she'd gone too far now to consider it. Maybe she might find some unique herbs here to experiment with and add to her ever-growing knowledge base. Ara's pace slowed as she neared, her posture submissive and showing she meant no harm.