Well, that probably couldn't have gone any worse. Asharya grumbled to herself as they walked, kicking herself for being such a damn freak. She'd only wigged out in the first place because for some reason it felt weird to go seeking Cael out in the first place. Bumping into Abaven's alpha had not been on her to-do list for the day. Or the season. Or the year. And then the old bat had to go and pry, and although Asha still wasn't completely sure how Cael felt about her heritage, there was an undeniably awkward silence hanging over them. She opened her mouth a few times to try and break it, but somehow the words never came out. Everything she thought to say seemed stupid on a second review, so the pregnant pause stretched on and on. Eventually it came down to her ego rearing its ugly head. She had never felt a need to hold back before, so why the fuck was she starting now? Asha let out an irritated huff and launched in. "I get it if you're mad. I don't know the details, but I do know my cousins and your pack have a history. Abraxas wolves have a knack for making enemies, I get it. But listen, I love my family, alright? And you're fun to hang around with so I don't want it to be an issue. I wasn't trying to hide anything. It's just nice sometimes to be able to build your own story, instead of everyone making assumptions based on a legacy." She huffed again and snapped her jaws shut. That was way more than she'd intended to share, but once she got going there wasn't much of an option to stop. It sort of felt like this might be the end of her adventures with Cael, and Asha was surprised to realize how much that thought sucked. She would get over it, probably. The other shewolf was just a dumb mortal, right? As an Abraxas wolf that should be a no-brainer, but Cael was a fun dumb mortal. Asha grew more and more grumpy with how the day had gone while she waited for the other woman to deliver the final blow. "Talk" "You" Think

The entire walk away from Abaven her face had been scrunched up in a pensive expression. There was way too much conflict happening in her brain right now and it was not a terribly enjoyable experience to find herself so... unsure. She didn't want for this to ruin what seemed like a budding friendship with somebody who was just as chaotic as she was, but she also wasn't sure if she could ignore the elephant in the clearing either.

Asharya seemed glum and preoccupied too which didn't help. Cael had unintentionally avoided any eye contact with her for most of the walk so she hadn't noticed much of what the other girl was doing but, well, the mood was pretty easy to read. Anyone who saw them could probably tell from a pretty good distance that they might wanna steer clear and avoid whatever could be brewing. Finally, after what seemed like absolute ages Asharya broke the silence and Cael's eyes darted to look at the fiery woman as she rambled on for a bit. Oof. Why was her stomach still in knots? "I... I mean, I, well..." she stammered, sounding like an idiot for a moment until she collected her thoughts and shook her head to clear the chaotic scrambling of her brain. "I'm not mad... I mean I believe you that you weren't hiding it. Not very characteristic," she mused before trailing off.

After a lengthy pause, Cael decided to sit her ass down where she was, which sadly was in a pretty uncomfortable spot on a weird rock with a patch of sunlight in her eyes so she had to duck her head down a bit to see Asharya as she went on, "It's just... It's not even Abaven. My family lost their home twice to yours. The second time, my parents were too old to leave Abaven. So... I don't know, I guess it's hard to explain, but I grew up with them always looking like they felt a little bit trapped and that sucked." Normally that little bit of sharing would have to be drug out of her by force, but Cael supposed Asharya deserved some honesty. "And then Archon, well, I thought he could be like a friend or something but then he basically left because he decided Abaven and everyone in it was worthless or something and Shaye is still dealing with Malleus and... It fuckin' sucks to feel like there's always somebody around looking down on you," she huffed, trying to erase any emotion from her voice and failing hardcore. This family, man. Would she ever escape them entirely? Seemed like the answer was no. Maybe escape was the wrong approach then.

"I'm not mad at you though. We... can still like, hang out and stuff. It was fun last time," she muttered, dragging her paw through the dirt and rocks, watching the smaller pebbled bounce away for a minute before she looked back up at Asharya.

Listening toe Cael's tirade was hard. It hurt, but it also twinged a bit because on top of it all, Asha could only be so sorry about what her family had done. Pyralis had raised her to be aware of power. Someone always had it. Even as a rogue, you were at the whims of packs moving through the area, at risk of them forcing you out. Wolves who tried for peace were without fail spread to the wind or overtaken, time and time again. So why shouldn't someone be in power? If there was one thing the Abraxas line was capable of, it was leading. Either for good or for ill, it was what they had been made for. Asharya couldn't bring herself to look down on their history, mottled as it was with dark and light patches alike. But she was sorry for Cael. It was hard to hear that their activities had such a strong impact on her life so far. It did make things feel more personal somehow, even if Asha wasn't sure she'd change the course of history even if she could. Malleus' pack was strong, and that was what mattered. Listening to her go on, it seemed more and more certain that she was a lost cause. Asha was already mentally tracing the route back home in her mind when there at the end Cael said at last, "I'm not mad at you though." Asha perked up. "We... can still like, hang out and stuff. It was fun last time." Even though Cael mumbled it, Asharya heard every word. She tried to keep a level face, but ended up smiling despite herself. "I'm glad," Asha sighed. In her mind it sounded confident and unaffected, but the words that left her were somewhat softer. She coughed and carried on with considerably more bravado, "Anyways, the trick to it all is just showing us you're not gonna take any shit. Some Abraxas are pretty thick skulled, it might take some repeating." She paused, then her smile hooked into something a little more mischievous. It might have been a bit of a deflection, but that was about as much emotional sharing as she could handle in a day. "So do you wanna go stir up those pigs or what?" She hoped Cael could let it drop for now. It was a relief that she wasn't hung up on it, and even though Asha wouldn't be surprised if she had some more questions down the road, for now she just wanted to forget the whole ordeal. Shaye, who? "Talk" "Listen" Think

Never would Cael admit that the relief in Asha's voice made her heart flutter just a bit. Cael nodded at the advice, trying to chalk the weird emotions up to just being happy that she could keep hanging out with Asha and that things would be okay. Cause Asharya was cool. That was all.

"Only if it I can convince you to try and ride one. Wait, scratch that, let's see who can ride one the longest, that sounds even better," she laughed, bumping Asharya's shoulder playfully, tail wagging excitedly at the prospect of the pig-riding competition she was already trying to envision.

Well, today certainly hadn't gone the way she expected it to, that was for damn sure, but now that they were past the worst of it? Asha quietly let out a long breath, and felt a weight lift. It was surprising to see that in retrospect, she had worried about what her surname could bring about. A bit too much even, not that she would admit it... out loud. Either way, both seemed eager to put the whole thing behind them. Cael was quick to shrug her way around any lingering elephants and press on. "Wait, scratch that, let's see who can ride one the longest, that sounds even better." Cael bumped into her, and Asha's stomach lurched pleasantly. She half-turned to side-eye the earthen shewolf, and quirked a brow in her direction. "Ooh, is that a challenge?" Asha stood and swept past Caelestis, close enough for her tail to brush over Cael's shoulder and flick up past her ear. Asharya stalked a pace away and then turned back, grinning more fully now. "Or. Since we've gotten approval from the boss lady, you're always going on about running and exercise and blah, blah, blah." Asha bobbled her head from side an waggled her paw, voice dripping with sarcasm all the while and wondering if it would rile her companion. She winked, and then went on. "Well, we're here now. Why don't you show me your route or something. The pigs'll wait. Probably would be more fun if we have to hunt 'em down anyways." Asha shrugged, as if she didn't really care one way or another, but the truth was seeing more of Cael's home had... more appeal to it now, or at least more than it had before. No need to be looking over her shoulder, no worry about seeing familiar faces. Perhaps she had gotten a bit more paranoid just living on her own after all, but that was a psychological puzzle to be solved another day. She kept her gaze locked on the other shewolf, eager now that more and more possibilities began to flood into her mind. She could help her pack by keeping tabs on the Borean lands, and suddenly hanging out with Caelestis didn't feel like there was always some uncomfortable eventuality looming over their heads. That opened up a whole other pond of fish that maybe she also needed to spend the time thinking about. But for now it seemed like just teasing Cael a bit would do. "Talk" "Listen" Think

"Yuup," she fired back, lifting her head high and giving Asharya the most daring and impish grin she could. The word lost some of it's edge when it faded into uncertain silence as Asha brushed past her, making Cael's skin tingle where the other girl's tail had brushed against her. Oh.

The moment came and went and Caelestis tried to focus as Asharya went on to suggest an entirely different idea. Raising a brow skeptically, Cael listened to the suggestion and took a moment to feign indecision. Immediately she'd though it might be a good opportunity to test how much more difficult her route had become since she'd last taken someone along with her. Way back when she thought she could tolerate a different Abraxas. "I dunno... I mean, if you really want to I guess we could do that." Taking a moment to lean into a bow and stretch out her shoulders, she'd yawn and take her sweet time before continuing. "That is..." padding towards Asha in the direction of the border, she'd lean in conspiratorially and murmur, "If you think you can keep up." Dancing to the side a few steps, Caelestis decided not to wait for a response and just run with this idea. Literally.

Racing back through the trees and over assorted boulders and other obstacles she laughed joyously and rocketed over the border, running a good ways through the territory on the narrow paths that led into the awaiting thicket where her usual start line was.