Now this was more like it. Why hadn't he been hanging out in the desert this whole time? Everything was hot and the sun felt like it was drenching him constantly. It all made his little fiery heart very happy. His paws shifted and moved over the sand moderately easily once he was used to the way that it changed and slid. He squinted as he spotted a bit of green over the edge of the dune ahead of him. Well, at least this place wasn't completely without some life. It gave him a place to head towards so at least he wasn't wandering aimlessly through the endless hills of sand. He stepped into the shade of the palm trees and made his way over to the water's edge. Well, what a nice little oasis this was. He lapped up the water greedily and went to flop down at the base of one of the trees nearby. His sapphire gaze peered back out over the sands curiously. Really the only thing that could make this better was some company, but he hadn't met too many wolves that would be up for spending their time in the desert. His poor sisters would probably wilt at the idea of making the trek he just did. Speech Thought Others

Yes yes yes! The sun beating down, the soft sand between her toes, the vast stretches of nothingness. It was just like home. Echo finally felt more at home than she had since arriving in what she came to know as 'Boreas'. She moved with easy, slow strides, hips swinging lightly to and 'fro as she moseyed along through the dry, airid land with a contented smile on her face. This was where she belonged, no doubt about it. Maybe she'd venture to other lands, but as far as Echo was concerned the stupid north didn't exist cause she was never going there again!

When she spotted the greenery ahead, at first she considered the idea that the desert was being mischievous and playing one of it's tricks on her again. It was very good as getting wolves hopelessly lost with false promises of water and a break from the heat. As she approached, however, it didn't disappear!

Sauntering towards the trees, she spotted a pool of water, and the brightest fur she'd ever seen in her life! My, my! Sure, it was nice, a bit ostentatious to her, but Echo just grinned and called, "Enjoying the heat?" Moving to take a drink, she regarded him from across the water.

As he peered into the desert he saw a speck of black cresting over the closest dune. He squinted a little and realized as they got closer that it was another wolf. Well, it looked like his wishes were going to be answered. Hot weather, a peaceful oasis, and what looked to be a pretty girl heading his way. He wasn’t sure how this day could get any better. He offered the slender, brindled woman a grin and nodded to her question. ”More than I’ve enjoyed anything in a long time,” he answered honestly. If it wasn’t for the fact that he can’t keep himself in one place for long he’d probably never leave. If nothing else he had a feeling that this would be a frequent haunt of his.

”I’m a little surprised to see anyone else out here, but I’m happy to have the company.” He pulled himself up to sit on his haunches, giving himself a quick shake to get off the sand stuck to his brightly colored fur. Others often noticed how obnoxious his coat was, but she was eye catching in a different way in his opinion. If he had a say he’d pick a look more like hers, but he just had the cards he was delt. Either way he was proud to take after his family since his father told him that the unusually colored fur ran in their family. ”I’m Pyre. Nice to meet you.”

Ivory teeth saw daylight again as he elicited a small smile from her. ”I can understand that. I somehow ended up in the north and saw snow for the first time not long ago.” Shivering at the memory, her thin fur standing on end until she relaxed, Echo declared, ”Won’t be going back there anytime soon.” Flicking one of her cropped ears, the woman tried to bury the memory of snow and all the unpleasantness that came with it. Nope, never again.

Leaning forward, her weight shifting to her front legs so she could stretch each hind leg slowly while grinning at her new fiery companion Echo drawled, ”Well, you can’t hang out near a desert without me showing up, I’m afraid. It’s just like where I grew up.” She didn’t feel much need to elaborate. Telling her story wasn;t something she was all that opposed to doing, but she also really preferred to keep to lighter conversation if she could. At least until she knew more about who she was talking to. He didn’t have anything interesting on him from what she could tell when she first assessed him, so that meant all there was left to do was talk. Why not, right? Not like she had a lot better to do with her free time.

Striding into the water and enjoying the sensation of it cooling her now thoroughly warmed skin, Echo gave him a few wags of her bushy tail. ”Nice to meet’chya too. Name’s Echo.” Reaching the end of the water she could walk through as the pool deepened, the woman ceased her movements and enjoyed feeling the water lapping over her back gently. It was delightful, cooling, but not freezing like stupid snow and ice. Glancing sidelong, she asked, ”What brings you here, other than taking a break from the desert’s heat? Goin’ somewhere? Looking for something?” Her tone stayed playful, teasing even. Hopefully he was up to something interesting. If not, she’d have to ask more questions or make her own entertainment. In fact, she already had some ideas.

He couldn't help but laugh when she expressed just how awful going to the north had been. It sounded like he was listening to himself talk. "Oh, trust me, I'm right there with you. I took two steps into the north and realized it was a bad choice." If or when he decided to finally pick a certain place to call "home" he imagined it would probably be somewhere near here. If he could find a place that would be warm as much of the year as possible that would be ideal for him. Since it seemed like his new acquaintance seemed to feel the same way he could assume she would share that sentiment. Her brief, glancing comment about where she grew up made him curious. It was the same part of his mind that made him go into the north even though he hated it. The mystery and curiosity drew him in. For now he let it go, but he stored that away to ask about later. He grinned a little and replied, "Well, remind me to hang out in the desert more often then," with a sly tone to his words, finishing the statement with a chuckle. He watched her settle down into the water and pondered joining her. As much as he loved the warmth that spoke to his fiery persona, the cooling water did look pretty inviting. As sly and confident as he was he still didn't want to push his boundaries too soon so he remained on the shore for now. Maybe once they knew each other a bit more he could think about getting closer to her. He hummed thoughtfully at her series of questions she posed for him. "I can't say I had any real agenda in mind. Enjoy the heat, relax in the shade, meet someone new... Oh, well, what do ya know. I checked off everything on my list." He chuckled and lowered himself down onto his stomach so that his forepaws dipped into the edge of the water. The cool water did feel pretty fantastic on his travel-worn paw pads. "Don't really have any family or friends to answer to since my sisters are off doing their own thing. Haven't really messed with being in a pack or anything like that... I guess I'm just here out of sheer boredom and lack of anything else to do." A slightly more honest and real answer than the first. He shifted his gaze back to hers and smiled a little, asking, "What about you?" Speech Thought Others

It made her feel better to know she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t stand the bonechilling temperatures of the north. Though, she figured Pyre’s fur was more suited to the task of keeping him warm. Hers was all about keeping cool. Not ideal for freezing temperatures.

His little quip had her raising a singly brow, smirk drawing her lips faintly to one side. He was a smooth one, she wouldn’t deny that. ”I suppose if I had to entertain on the regular I could do a lot worse,” she teased, jokingly appraising him once more. He wasn’t unattractive, though she hadn’t really paid attention until just now.

His jest earned a snort, her gold eyes warming with amusement. ”Well, clearly you’re gunna need a new list. Maybe if you ask nicely I’ll help you make a better one.” Taking in the serious answer, she decided they were in similar predicaments, though he at least had someone he cared about here. If she wasn’t busy being admittedly a little bitter about how the events that lead her here went down, maybe she’d want to change that. For now, companionship was about all she was interested in. Anything else, no thanks. Not on the agenda.

Sinking a little lower by bending her knees, Echo shifted so she was almost up to her chin in the water. It felt fantaaastic. Thinking about it for a bit, she eventually sighed, ”I dunno, I mostly wanted to get here so I could get back to a familiar climate, but after that I haven’t any plans. Warm up, maybe do some exploring, meet new faces, steal some shit, go for a swim, catch some dinner, find a place to keep warm at night. The usual. You know the desert does get pretty chilly when night rolls around, so if you stick around you might wanna find somewhere to hole up in the evening.” The girl grinned, eyes dancing with mischief as she wondered if he’d call her on that little detail she skimmed over so nonchalantly in her to-do list.

His amused grin grew wider as she fired her own little comment right back at him. He could make smooth lines all day long, but it wasn't any fun without an equally snappy response. He chuckled and shifted his position a little so that he was resting more on his side, lounging casually while keeping his gaze on her. She had a unique look and attitude that he hadn't seen in anyone else thus far so it was easy for her to hold his usually fleeting attention. "I can't say that I'm all that great at asking nicely, but I'll give it a shot for you," he replied to her comment about helping him make a new to-do list, smirking as he did so. He was listening to her own version of an honest answer, idly nodding in agreement to each thing she listed... But then he did a bit of a double take as he ran down the words she said in his head. Steal some shit? For a second he wasn't sure he had heard her right, but when he saw the mischievous look in her eye and her grin he was absolutely certain he had heard her completely clearly. A grin pulled at his lips before he bust out into laughter. "Wait, wait, rewind a bit there. I have some questions for you. What shit are you stealing, who are you stealing it from, and can I help?" His tail wagged gently, patting the sand under him with soft thumps as he tried to picture them as sneak thieves. He was pretty sure he had never been sneaky a day in his life, but he could definitely see a little, dark colored girl like herself sneaking in under the cover of darkness and no one being the wiser. "You must have quite the story, Echo," he added with a slight grin, assessing her with an interest that he'd never had for anyone before. "Part of me wants to hear it and part of me wants to leave you in this mysterious aura thing you have going on." Speech Thought Others

Wasn’t he fun? Never one to admit aloud just how deep her weakness for a little entertaining banter might run, Echo snorted and shot back with a roll of her eyes that was quite obviously exaggerated, ”Oh, how generous of you! Aren’t you a sweetie?” Sticking her tongue out for good measure, but adding in a playful wink to keep it light hearted, Echo suppressed the amused laughter bubbling up within her and substituted a few slaps of her tail against the water.

He was sharp, but not as quick some of the wolves back ‘home,’ if she could even call it that now. Loving the way her words caught him of guard, she was unable to hold back the cackling laughter that surged from her lungs, filling the space around them. When she composed herself, she gave him the smoothest, slyest grin she could manage. Acting as though she were inspecting one of the nearby palm trees with interest, Echo cooed, ”Oh, ya’ know, the usual. Shiny things and items of great value. You might’ve found yourself a target if I saw anything on you. Don’t worry, I checked as soon as I walked up.” glancing back over at him briefly to gauge his reaction, she murmured, ”But, you could totally help, we just need someone to steal from” prancing a circle in the water to motion at the lack of someone’s, she sighed, ”Might take a bit of legwork, though.” He might be a hindrance when trying to take shit… But then again, with fur that eye-catching, he was kind of the perfect distraction… Echo sensed opportunity.

If only he knew the half of it. Whether or not her story was interesting wasn’t something she usually spent a great deal of time pondering, but, yeah it might be kinda different compared to the residents of these lands. Shrugging while she strode through the water in lazy, meandering patterns, Echo hummed, ”Mh, I guess you could say that. I’m not exactly from around here, after all.” Coy as ever, the mysterious girl raised a brow, clearly eyeing him as she debated something internally. Eventually she broke the silence and motioned for him to approach her, ”Tell ya what, if you race me across the water I’ll tell ya’ whateverrrrr you want. Anything at all.” It was quite the deal, but Echo figured living in a new place meant it couldn’t hurt to share whatever she felt like. No one from her place of birth was going to find her here, right? So she could tell him all about her thieving ways. So long as he didn’t warn potential marks, they were cool.

This was the first time in a long time that a conversation with anyone had been this entertaining. Sure, he could spar and find other things to do with wolves he met to pass the time. Activities were pretty easy to come by and entertaining on their own. Conversations alone were rarely this interesting to him. "Well I'm glad I left my gold and jewels at home then," he replied when she mentioned that she had checked him for any valuables when she walked up, as sarcastic as ever. He couldn't quite imagine the type of wolf she might steal from since she was the first one he had ever seen wearing jewelry, but he was still intrigued all the same. He watched her move through the water, catching himself examining her slim form as she turned and wandered through the water. Her saying that she wasn't from around here felt pretty obvious when she said it, but at the same time Pyre had only met a few wolves from here and they had all been fairly varied. She could have told him that she had been born and raised in these lands and he probably would have believed her. His gaze went back to hers once he noticed her eyeing him for a moment, but before he could ask what she was thinking she proposed a challenge. While he was positive she would be much faster than himself he was never one to turn down a challenge. Besides, more information about her was a tempting prize. "I'll take that challenge," he replied, his teeth flashing briefly as he grinned. He got to his paws, rolled his shoulders, and stretched his toes through the sand as he stretched a little to wake up his muscles. "Where shall our start and finish lines be?" he asked, letting his sapphire gaze drift from her for just a moment as he eyed the area around the oasis. Speech Thought Others

Shrugging, she chirped, "Well, you seem okay. Maybe if you were lucky I might restrain myself." Doubtful, was it even possible for Echo not to take pretty valuables when she saw them? Nah. He didn't need to know that though. Especially since there was a disturbing lack of wolves around here who carried items she could snatch.

She'd be an even worse dirty scoundrel than she already was if she said she didn't see his wandering gaze. It was sort of nice to feel... appreciated. Her thoroughly soaked tail slapped the water again as he accepted her challenge. "Excellent!" Gliding through the water closer to shore, she stood where the water only came up to her shoulders and looked back out over the glittering body of water.

"Let's see... From here to, uhm," Glancing around the far shores, Echo searched for any decent and definitive mark they could race towards. Nothing... nothing... bingo! "Oh, that rock on the far side!" It was a smooth red rock that jutted out from the waters that gently lapped at it. A decent swim, not bad for a race! Glancing over to Pyre she teased, "Ready to show me what you got, flame boy?"

Splash! She barely waited to see if he was prepared before launching her slender frame out into the water, dramatic spray flying up around her to announce the beginning of the race. She swam fast, gliding with practiced ease towards the other side of the oasis. Those sly gold eyes held a glimmer of hidden calculation as she slowed, feigning fatigue as she gave her opponent plenty of opportunity to pass her by.

Pyre stepped into the water and sunk down to where she was standing even though the water didn't quite come up as far on him as it did her. It was easy to tell just how much taller than her he was from this perspective considering the water came up to her shoulder and it barely came half way up his own sides. He peered out across the water as she searched for a place for their race to finish, his eyes landing on the large rock at about the same time she mentioned it. He grinned and nodded in agreement. "Alright!" He bent his knees and got ready to take off, his eyes shifted sideways to watch her. The moment he saw her spring forward with a big splash he did the same, hoping maybe his longer legs would give him a slight advantage with his first initial jump through the water. However, as she paddled forward he quickly realized how her smaller, more slender form moved more elegantly through the water. He wasn't one to get discouraged though and he just paddled faster in response. He saw her slowing down a bit and he pushed himself harder to catch up. As he came up along side of her he grinned and used his muzzle to splash a little wave of water at her face before he kept on swimming, his gaze focused on the prize of the big red-hued rock. Speech Thought Others

Gliding through the shimmering waves was easy enough for her - she'd rather enjoyed swimming when she tried it after getting banished and all that junk. It had been the first time she tried such a thing. Perhaps losing things wasn't too bad when you gained other things in return. Hm, food for thought. Of course she didn't actually need or want to win, since this guy was proving to be pretty interesting and she rather wanted to sit and chit chat a while longer. It really helped her attempt to pretend and lose when he splashed at her and she actually paused, spluttering and glaring indignantly at him as he pulled ahead.

Reaching the rock after him, Echo would haul her dark form onto it, shaking hard in an attempt to send as much water spraying at Pyre as possible. Turning and smirking at him, she would sigh in mock defeat, "Well, looks like you won. You're the new swimming champion, my flame-colored friend."

The woman paused so she could stretch out over the rock, letting her lithe form drape over it as she got comfortable. When she was good and ready she crooned, "Now, ask me anything at all, master swimmer. I'm an open book."

There was no doubt in his mind that this victory wasn't without some give on her end. She swam so easily that he was sure she could have beat him with no problem, but he still appreciated the fact that he got to learn more about this mysterious woman now. He pulled himself up onto the rock in question and gave himself a good shake to get as much of the water out of his fur as he could. At least they'd have this warm, sun-baked rock to lay on while they dried off. He turned to look at her just in time to get a face full of water as she shook off right next to him. He sputtered a bit and gave her a bit of a glare, but his grin gave away how not mad about it he was.

"A title I will wear with pride," he commented as he flopped down onto the rock near her, shifting to his side and leaning on his elbow as he stretched out on the warm rock. At her invitation to ask her anything he hummed thoughtfully. "An open book, huh? What a power to have." He chuckled softly and then seriously pondered what he might ask her. "What got you into the thieving business? Is it a family business?"

"Talk"

Echo simply smiled and laughed at him as he was showered with the spray from her shaking. Poor fool, probably had no idea what he was getting into here. Batting her dark lashes innocently, Echo gave him an innocent 'oops' look before settling down.

Shrugging a shoulder, she just waited. Perhaps it was a lot to let someone ask you anything. For Echo, though, knowing she was in a whole new land where her past was many miles away meant that it didn't matter what she shared. No one was going to understand the gravity of what she did, not really. They didn't have the same customs, and the prey was far more plentiful here than back where she came from. It was like a different world entirely so what did it hurt to let someone else know a bit about her. Maybe next week she wouldn't even be the same person she described here. You never could tell.

The question had her smiling thoughtfully as she considered how to respond. Her tail slowly traced it's way back and forth across the mostly smooth surface of the stone, ceasing as she rolled onto her side facing Pyre. "Hm, the trouble is that many aspects of my life are deeply interconnected. Asking one question is like opening pandora's box; you expect one thing but a million things come tumbling out along with it." a small yawn parted her muzzle as she paused. Apparently all the travel and swimming was getting to her. "Alright, let's see. I suppose simply necessity. Where I come from, the prey is horribly scarce. There aren't enough smaller prey animals hanging around the cities where the wolves congregate, so those who can hunt in big groups and are able bodied have a far easier time hunting. If you are not so fortunate, you struggle to get enough to eat. I struggled for a while on my own, until I met someone who taught me it was easier to steal and trade the stolen things for the food we needed." She trailed off, growing quiet as she began to wonder whatever happened to said 'friend'. After the way they parted, Echo wasn't sure what happened to her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. Honestly, Echo was still fairly convinced she was betrayed and it changed how she looked at her memories.

Pyre smirked a little when she said that telling part of her story was like opening a pandora's box of information. "It's a good thing I have nothing but time to listen then," he replied as he settled in a bit more and got comfortable. Maybe it was Echo's exotic nature that had him so interested. Maybe he just hadn't had anyone that had really put up with his sarcastic comments and fired them back readily in a long time. Either way, he was happy to spend as much time as he could with her until she was simply sick of him.

He listened to her reasons for stealing with curious interest. It was hard to imagine living that way. He guessed he was lucky to have grown up here where the prey was pretty much always available and if it wasn't he could travel to another part of the continent and he could probably find something to eat there instead. The way she trailed off made him wonder if something with that "friend" went south. He could imagine that living like that could lead to some shady dealings.

He felt like her going into those memories was making their conversation take a more serious turn, which he didn't necessarily mind, but it wasn't his real intent. Oh well, he guessed they were going to get to know each other a lot better now. "How about we make this questioning a two way street? I ask one, you ask one," he offered. "Keeps it more like a conversation than an interrogation that way," he added with a chuckle.

"Talk"

He was good company, she could at least admit that much rather easily. This wasn't the first time she had told her story but it was the first time she had rather enjoyed chatting with someone even after it came up. The slight tension and unease that followed digging up her memories was par for the course. Her life hadn't exactly been all fun and games up till now, so it stood to reason that retelling anything from before her arrival in these lands would often turn serious after a minute. Maybe eventually there'd be more light-hearted things to touch on from this period after her new life began. Maybe when she was older she'd have a good finish to the story of Echo.

Gold eyes refocused on the flame colored man as she listened to his proposal. Seemed like a good plan to her, so Echo would nod and smile playfully, "Yeah, okay. Sounds cool." The dark woman would tilt her head to one side a bit, enjoying the sun on her damp pelt as she thought for a long moment. Coming up with good questions probably wasn't her greatest skill, but she'd give it a try. "Have you always lived around here?" she questioned lamely. Yeah, no, this was not her thing.

Pyre grinned a little at her question since it seemed like she had thought about it for a moment but had only come up with a fairly simple one to ask. He didn't mind though. He could make conversation out of just about anything. "No, not exactly. My dad brought us to this area when we were really young, but we mainly stayed further north of here. He was from here I guess, but he met my mom where I was born. When she died he brought us back here." He hadn't thought about his parents in quite a while. He really didn't remember much of his mother, but his dad he knew very well and missed him sometimes. He hadn't seen him in quite a while which was a little bit worrying, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He hadn't seen his sisters in a while either, but he was sure they were fine. He used the same mindset on his father and moved on. "I think he was trying to find some of our relatives, but he couldn't find any of them so we just moved around a lot on our own - my dad, me, and my two sisters."

He paused as he shifted his weight a bit and stretched out his legs with a content groan. The swim had been just enough of a workout that his muscles were pleasantly tired. That combined with the sun baking his fur was entirely relaxing to the point where he was pretty sure he could just fall asleep if he closed his eyes. A yawn stretched his jaws and he gave Echo a little apologetic grin. "Maybe we need a nap break in our story time, eh? What do you think?" He settled his head down on his forepaws as he looked at her curiously. "Or would you rather I keep grilling you for all the details of your life?"

"Talk"

She was glad she at least attempted asking a question, since Pyre managed to take what little direction she gave him and run with it. Echo could appreciate that, made her awkward inability to socialize a little less hindering. His story was interesting too, though maybe a flame-colored man with pretty blue eyes could make anything interesting? Maybe she ought to make him tell her more stories, just to check.

"I see. Moving around doesn't sound too bad to me. Seems like there's a lot to see here." she said, not the best commentary but hey, not everyone could be smooth. Grinning as he seemed to finally be feeling a bit worn out from their little race, the woman shrugged. "Hmm, I don't mind terribly either way. A nap isn't a bad idea. Maybe after you've recovered I can challenge you to a real race" she giggled, slyly admitting she'd definitely let him win this one. A moment later a yawn of her own parted her jaws and the dark woman would set her head on her own paws and find sleep enveloping her consciousness after only a few seconds. Had she really been this tired? Damn.

-exit via sleep-