Aspen Wreckage

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The young adventurer had traveled a bit farther north than she had been before, hoping to expand her horizon and get a better understanding of the land. She had been drawing a map inside her head ever since she first set out on her journeys, but it was always so evident that the world was far larger, more vast that her paws could not travel it within a few days time. It would take her months, years even to travel across all of Boreas, not to mention the continent to the south; Auster. Yes, Aspen had much work to do, but she was determined too get it all done in due time. For if she was to give up traveling, then what else was left? Why stay in one place when the entire world was waiting for you?

Charcoal coat slipped across tall grass, reaching even over her shoulders at some points. But every now and again she would jump up over the grass and see her destination, a little closer each time; a dazzling lake where she could soak her simmering body and escape this relenting heat from the summer sun. Arctic blue eyes glanced up to the clear blue skies in annoyance. Not one. Not a single cloud to spare her from this heat. She let out a loud huff before pushing forward, ears twitching at the hum of insects all around her, seeming to play a well orchestrated melody that only ceased when her frame passed them by. Finally Aspen would breach the waters edge, the water sparkling with the light of mid-day sun and nearly blinding her unsuspecting gaze. She quickly dropped her gaze to the water just before her paws, gentle waves lapping against the bank and begging her to take a sip. Which she gladly did.

"Speech"

Since he hadn't seen much if any of his smaller companions recently, Atlas had taken it as an opportunity to go out and do more exploring like he'd planned weeks ago but never gotten to. He'd swam to shore the previous evening and spent some time perusing the shoreline the next morning and found disappointingly little in the way of vegetation. Forced to wander inland, he began following his nose to fresh water, glad to find a place to drink as the heat of midday approached and warmed his thick pelt.

His gait was a slow, meandering walk, giving him time to study and enjoy the scenery for a while. He'd passed through this area, but Atlas was always interested in seeing if he might notice new details in a place. He'd recently found places on his island home that he hadn't discovered previously. The island was smaller, so it made sense that there was even more to glean from the rest of the continent. When his multicolored eyes settled on the lake ahead he quickened his stride, moving straight into the water first to drink, and then to begin ripping large clumps of the reeds out from the shoreline and devouring them with a contented sigh.

He did notice the lone wolf's scent before he caught sight of her briefly, but for the moment he was rather enjoying the veritable feast before him and was happy to remain quite and allow himself to keep eating just a bit longer.

Aspen Wreckage

---

The feeling of fresh, cool water trickling down her esophagus had Aspen in her own personal heaven others just wouldn't understand. Eyes fluttered close for a moment as she payed close attention to the sensation rolling down her inside, cooling an otherwise baking body. When blue optics opened once more, she was surprised at what exactly had stumbled into her view. A rather large, strangely marked, moose of all things. Normally, wolves would take one look at a moose and think dinner, but Aspen was a lone, peaceful wolf who survived hunting smaller game. But interest was still peaked as she let her eyes engulf the large mammals form, her head slightly tilted. She had never spoken with a moose before... so why not now? What's once more thing to cross off her never ending list of strange adventures? Trying to act as casual as she could, Aspen would offer a small smile and a wave of her tail in greeting as she spoke. "Good afternoon, come to escape the heat as well?" It was a bit of an obvious question, but to be fair, the young charcoal girl was a bit nervous and didn't quite know what else to say to a moose. Her next question surely would have been 'how's the weather up there?'

"Speech"

It wasn't terribly often that the wolf would begin conversation. On occasion one might pipe up, but normally as long as he only bumped into one at a time they preferred to keep their distance. Probably habits learned from experience or simply common sense. Usually it was he who spoke the first words, so when the wolf greeted him Atlas turned his head curiously her direction, still munching on a mouthful of vegetation. His expression amicable, the bull quickly swallowed his leafy greens and offered a dip of his head before responding, "Indeed, I have. It's been a bit too warm for my liking." Swimming was his personal favorite means of cooling off.

Turning his body to better face her, he added, "I'm Atlas. What's your name?" It was probably better to not address each other simply as 'Moose' and 'Wolf' after all.