Exploring was key to success. At least that what Striden believe. The more he uncovered the more useful he could be later. It's a battle for attention in the end. That's how it was at home and it was probably like that everywhere else. It was all within reason to want to avoid groups. Visually he didn't look the best for the roles he was born into. Striden was too small to be intimidating and he was well aware of that.

Being good at fighting and hunting was not good enough for him. He was going to have to do more than exploring if he wanted to get better. In attempt to figure out a plan he wondered around on the frozen lake. He didn't noticed the light he was creating after each step. He was paying attention of course, just not at his paws. In any case, he proceeded around some ice pillars. He was half in thought and half looking around. Not very efficient when it came to noticing small details.

She left the cozy warmth of the Southern lands to head out North. It was much, much colder up here than she anticipated, so she was practically shivering. She had never come up North before, but with all the packs choking the southern lands, she wanted to get away from the stink in favor of cleaner air. She had never been part of a pack. Never really thought about it. And although her life felt lonely at times, she just wasn't sure about packs at all. All the rules and regulations never really appealed to her. But she never tried to be a part of a pack, either. So maybe she was just ignorant to the whole thing. Whatever the case, she didn't care right now. She had her freedom and that was all that really mattered. She could go where she pleased without permission, do what she wanted without fearing consequences from a higher up. The north was fascinating so far. Or at least, this place was. Molten gaze peered out across the very frozen lake, gaze lingering on the frozen pillars that rose and twisted and arched across it. And when she stepped onto the ice, she slipped and fell on her stomach, sliding several feet forward. Well, she was not expecting that. She had never walked on ice before, so this would definitely be a new experience. She almost thought about returning to solid ground, but she didn't want to wimp out. She struggled back to her feet and slowly walked a little further onto the ice. She noticed then, that each small step she took brought a glow that shone beneath the ice. With wide eyes, she craned her neck down for a better look while gently lifting one paw and placing it back down. The ice beneath her foot glowed again, and she couldn't help but smile. She then decided to see if she could make the ice glow even brighter, so she gathered her feet beneath her and jumped up into the air -- much like a fox would -- and as soon as her front paws touched down, the ice glowed bright blue! But then...her feet slipped out from under her in an instant, and she landed ungracefully and went sliding across the ice faster than before, like a hockey puck. She tried to scramble to her feet as she slid, but each attempt only resulted in her tumbling around like an idiot. Well, looked like she would have to wait until she came to a full stop if she wanted to gain control of where she was actually going. "Talk" "You" Think

While in thought, Striden had the occasional slip to get his attention back to his surroundings. Not once did he fall and not once did he notice the glow under his paws. After some time it was starting to be clear that there was nothing at all on this frozen lake. No food for the prey, not much shelter at all. In grand conclusion the area had no worth. Not if slipping around was considered fun though. He wasn't a kid anymore.

Eventually he noticed he was alone out here in the frozen lake. He saw something sliding ahead and then out of sight. Curious as to what that was he stepped carefully but quickly around the ice pillar to try to spot it again. And there it was, a wolf who clearly never skated on ice before. This would be a good opportunity to show off a bit. However he couldn't resist cracking a smile of the display ahead.

Time to be his best. He decided to pick up speed to try to catch up. Of course he was aware of what would happen if he went too fast. Therefore he stopped accelerating while still being a good distance away. Although Striden was trying to be perfect, he was still slipping here and there but managed to stay in control. Unfortunately that would take away some grace and elegance points. Maybe the wolf over there wouldn't notice. He should be able to get close and be at a complete stop. Damn, he still slipped a bit at the end. But anyway, he spoke to make sure he got the full attention. "Hello there."

Despite her efforts, she kept tumbling around until eventually she just stopped fighting it. Instead, she remained still in the hopes that the momentum she started would eventually end, so for now, she just watched as her body made a blue trail on the ice beneath her. She kept her gaze there, and before she realized it, she had finally come to a stop. She sighed in relief as she took a few moments to sit there and debated with herself on whether or not she should try to get up again, but then her ears lifted when a voice greeted her. Her head lifted in an instant, molten gaze finding an alabaster male standing pretty close. It seemed she had come to a stop just a few short feet from him, and then her ears flattened in embarrassment. Had he seen her struggling on the ice? She felt heat rush to her cheeks as she thought about that possibility. The usually graceful queen had probably just given witness to how clumsy she was on the ice... "Er, hi..." She looked up at him, then at the ground around her for a moment. Dare she try to get back to her feet? She thought about it but ultimately decided to remain where she was for fear that if she tried to get up, she would slip again. And she was not inclined to give this guy another show of her clumsy footwork. She was definitely not in her element or comfort zone, so she crossed her forelegs and tried to compose herself. "You didn't see any of that, did you?" Chances were he did. But if he didn't, maybe she could save some face. "Talk" "You" Think

With everything coming to a halt, it was much easier to get all the details in. So the obvious warm color coat made it clear that she was very unlikely to be from around here. Then again, he wasn't from around her either. He did see some blue in the ice but he had doubts. At the very least this female seemed to be built for speed. Yeah being light on ice doesn't help much.

Striden couldn't help but smile when she asked if he saw. By that point it was already too late to lie about it. He chuckled before making his answer. "I saw a..." Then he was interrupted in mid body expression by slipping and falling on his side. Welp, guess that's just how it's going to be. Being perfect was too hard. So after he landed he simply stated. "Nope. Saw nothing." While his whole body shifted to showing that he was no longer amused.

She saw the smile. And she knew he had witnessed her stumbling and slipping around like a fool. She inwardly groaned, the woman pouted. "I saw a..." Oh boy, here it comes. She was about to groan louder with embarrassment, but then she was surprised when the alabaster male ended up slipping and falling onto his side. She snorted, trying to hold back her laughter at the man's mishap. One paw moved to cover her mouth as she tried not to giggle. Then he claimed he saw nothing, and though she didn't believe him, she didn't care so much anymore. He didn't look amused anymore, and she couldn't help but let her laughter out. She giggled with amusement as he shifted onto his side, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Well, I definitely saw that! She wore a look of pure amusement, her tail lightly beating on the ice as she looked at him. Well, it looked like they were in this boat together now. "It's hard walking here. I've never walked on ice, so it's..." She carefully slid her paws beneath her and tried to stand. Her limbs were shaky at best, but she managed to stand on all fours for a moment. "Aha!" Proud that she managed to stand up, she straightened herself out, only...the moment she did that, her feet slipped out from under her and she ended up sprawled on her belly. "Ugh, I take that back..." "Talk" "You" Think

It's a bit upsetting to not be able to pull off the perfect act. Yes, Striden was fully aware that he messed up right in front of her as he got her attention. She was laughing, He had mix feelings about that. It was nice to see a smile instead of something else. In all honesty she probably was feeling the same as he was now if he put himself in her place. She slipped again which made put him more at ease. If she was willing to let herself fail in front of him then perhaps he could allow the same in return.

Striden shouldn't ignore the fact that her fall made some blue glow appear in a single wave. That was when he understood he wasn't just seeing things. While he could be laughing at her right now, he was more fascinated by the lights. He turned to be on his belly before tapping the ice with his paw. Blue glows. Pretty cool actually. But more importantly, he'll first explain how to walk on ice. "You need to either to keep your weight at your center or keep your legs straight." To demonstrate he he placed all his paws firmly on the ice and push up together equally to allow him to stand back up without issue. "See? Pretty easy." However he had the intention to blow air in her ear as soon as she made the effort to get up. Just messing around which made him put a smirk on his face.

The woman slowly brought her paws to sit beneath her again. She wasn't quite ready to try standing again, so she sat there like a fluffy loaf for the moment. She turned her gaze to him as he started tapping the ice, noting the fascination he seemed to have for it. She was quite fascinated with it herself, and she wondered why the ice beneath them glowed such a pretty blue. She didn't linger on that thought for long before he spoke again, explaining to her how to get her footing on the ice so she could walk on it. She watched him attentively, soaking it in so that she wouldn't keep falling over. When the male stood up, Paradise briefly glanced at the ice around her before attempting it herself. Carefully, she centered her weight as best as she could and tried to copy him. But then he blew a little in her ear which surprised her, making her shake her head a bit while she was halfway up and she fell again. "Hey!" She wasn't mad about it, and she knew he was playing around so she swiped a paw his way before trying again. She did it slowly, however, fearing that she would fall over again and she was reluctant to ask for help. When she did as he did, her feet actually stayed under her and she didn't slip. Her tail stuck straight out, though she wanted to wag it, she feared she would end up unbalancing herself. "Ha! I did it!" She beamed, a wide grin splitting her lips. She looked at him then, a sparkle in her eye for her accomplishment, however simple it was. "Thanks uh...what's your name?" "Talk" "You" Think

Ups! There was always that little worry of accidentally causing injury. Odds were she was fine so really it was all fun and games which got a smile out of him. Her reaction was fun enough, and she wasn't even mad at him. Striden being the clever boy knew that it certainly meant that she'll get him back one day. It would be what he would want, he wanted some way to train after all.

She made it up back on her feet. She was definitely quite proud of the achievement. Striden smirked simply because what she did was only the easiest part of it. Moving, turning, stopping, he couldn't wait to see that. He responded to her. "Don't thank me yet." He said while still smirking pretty obviously. He started taking a few steps to slide forward. "Striden. Striden Finale." Then turned to face her while sliding backwards now. "You can also call me Raider." If anything, he was indeed trying to act cool and skilled, to be worthy of the name he had.

Was she proud? Yes. Yes she was. She felt silly feeling so proud of something so simple as standing up, but she was standing on ice. Foreign flooring that she had never dealt with until today. She was almost afraid to take her eyes off of her feet, feeling like if she did, she might fall again. But she couldn't just stare at the ground the whole time, no. Despite her normal attitude, she was in a rather good mood now. At first, she wasn't. But after running into this guy and getting some advice about how to stay on her feet while on the ice had changed her mood considerably. She turned to look at him, eyes narrowing slightly as he smirked. "Don't thank me yet." Her head tilted slightly, wondering what he meant by that. She watched as he took a few steps and sliding forward while introducing himself as Striden Finale. He turned around to face her way, though he continued to slide backward. She grinned, clearly amused by this. "You can also call me Raider." She nodded and stored the name away to remember it later. He seemed so experienced on the ice, and she wondered how he got to be so good at it. Practice maybe? She had never thought about coming up North to skate around, but, there was always a first for everything, right? "I'm Paradise Elementas. It's nice to meet you, uh...Raider." She started to wag her tail, and for a moment she was losing her balance but quickly recovered enough to keep her legs under her. She stood there with all four legs spread pretty wide, unsure of what to do next. Though she watched him to see how he did it, she didn't quite have his confidence to try it herself. "Talk" "You" Think

Paradise Elementas. An interesting name, but too long for comfort. Much like his, others just preferred to call him by his nickname. It was easier. Therefore he thought of a nickname for her based on her name and appearance. Not the easiest thing to come up with so he'll try things out to see if they stick. Here came his first attempt. "Nice to meet you too, Little Flame." He was expecting a reaction but there was a lot of way it could go. However it was amusing to see how focused she on just standing. She obviously didn't know what to do next.

He leaned to his left and side stepped which was changing the direction he was sliding. Pretty much letting himself start doing circles around her. She was watching, maybe she understood what he did to move around like this. Meanwhile he continued to think of another nickname to see if he could find better. He was still messing with her thus making that smile that could say that he wasn't going to make ice skating any easier for her.

"Nice to meet you too, Little Flame." Molten gaze turned to him, a slight grin playing on her lips for a moment. She had to admit, she loved when she got attention. And this male hadn't been the only one to compare her to fire and flame before, so he only ended up boosting her ego. She watched as he started to move, head turning to follow where he went as he then started to skate circles around her. "You look like you've been doing this for a while," She commented. She was slightly jealous, but who was to say she couldn't get better at it then him after she figured it out today? Slowly, she sort of started to shuffle her paws a bit. Eventually pushing forward a little with her hind legs, though her legs were still sort of stiffened as she worked on keeping herself on her feet and not falling on her ass again. She alternated between watching her feet and watching Striden's feet, and eventually...she started to get the hang of it. She propelled herself forward, though she only dared go straight for now. Afraid that if she tried to turn, she'd do it too fast and fall over. "Talk" "You" Think

A while? Striden had certainly been dealing with ice often enough considering where he came from. He decided he wasn't going to say anything about how long he's been on ice. It always discourage to hear others say it took them ages. So instead he simply agreed with a nice "Mhmm."

Now there was an opportunity worth going for. Striden was going to do circles around her but only until he did a half circle or at least until he was behind her. He stopped before immediately accelerating towards her. With the distance between there was no way to go really fast however the force would very like knock them both down. "Here I come! Catch me!" He called out in a friendly way to make it obvious he was doing this on purpose. As to why he decided to do this? He'll only answer if she ever decides to ask, but he was certainly going to have some fun here.

She had to admit...this was pretty fun. She was glad she came up North, otherwise she wouldn't have ever done this. But here she was, trying her paw at skating across the ice. Each small step she took formed a glow beneath her and she couldn't get enough of it. Focused on trying to stay on her paws, she wasn't really paying attention when Striden decided to circle around behind her. It wasn't until she heard him "Here I come! Catch me!" She barely managed to turn around to face him before he came careening towards her. Eyes grew wide, the babe ducking her head as the male collided with her. They were both sent sprawling across the ice with Paradise falling on her back with the male practically on top of her. They slid a few yards, and when they came to a stop, she took a moment to collect herself. He was likely playing around, which she didn't mind, it was just unexpected. She hadn't played since she was a pup, and that was a long, long time ago. "Mind warning me a little sooner?" Her tone wasn't angry or annoyed. She was amused, evident by the bit of laughter that bubbled past her lips as she lied there. Well, now she would just have to get back up all over again. "Talk" "You" Think

Like a shooting star! Well maybe not as fast as he imagined. Striden knew that he would likely crash into her which was the case. His mass and speed was enough to topple her over on her back. He definitely had to hold on to her with his front legs if he were to keep sliding forward instead of possibly being sent back. It's was fun, especially since he had a little victim to play with.

He wasn't trying to hold on anymore just a little after they stopped together. He didn't laugh but there was certainly a big grin. He got back on his feet purposely doing so to stand above her. That was also the moment she spoke to him. He reacted in a sly manner, "Nah, nice catch though. Little Fira." He was still trying to find that nickname that would be prefect for her. Why was he calling her little though? They were about the same in size, he was just stronger. Maybe experience. Striden kept thinking about stuff while looking at the surroundings as Paradise was left to decide how she would proceed.

She picked herself up as the male picked himself up. Only this time, she did it more fluidly then before. She was getting used to the ice, her eyes narrowing as he denied her request to give a little more warning. Her tail wagged though, clearly she wasn't mad or upset about it. His nickname for her changed, causing one sleek brow of hers to rise though she didn't question it. She basked in the attention, posture high and mighty as the world seemed intent on giving her a title fitting of a babe such as herself. "I try my best," She smirked just before attempting to skate away from him. She was a little clumsy at it at first, but eventually, she started to get better and better, even daring to lean to her right as she directed herself behind one of the ice pillars.

Ears flicked as she listened for him, just in case he tried another sneak attack on her again. She would not be caught unaware this time, and as she circled around the ice spire that rose towards the sky, she glanced up for a moment. It was fascinating, and she didn't think she could get enough of the north. The ice worked to create beautiful displays, and she couldn't help but admire the beauty it held for her. Her gaze returned to him as he came back into view, the babe propelling herself a little faster until she zipped right past him. She turned herself around to face his direction as she slid backwards, a smile on her face and laughter bubbling from her lips. "See? I'm better already!" She called out as she continued to slide away.

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Paradise was on the move again, he thought maybe she would be leaving or something. She came back around passing him. Striden watched with a little smile. Indeed she seemed to have grasp the basics. He wondered if she was aware of how to stop. She'll figure it out soon enough, it didn't take a genius to solve that. The light shows was still interesting to see but right now he should probably move on. He had his fun.

He didn't say anything, instead he started moving in his own direction with the intention of getting off the ice and back into the snow. At the same time this was a little experiment. Striden was trying to imagine what would happen next. He had a guess, a simple one. She would probably attempt to return the favor. Time to start the finale. He accelerated but kept his head turned to watch her. What will she do? the expected or the unexpected?

He didn't say anything to her. Instead, it seemed he decided he was done skating around. She watched him as he made his way back to the snow bank, the girl slowly sliding around as she watched him. Well, looked like play time was over. She decided to continue for another minute, this time choosing to slide beneath an archway. She looked up at it as she passed beneath the ice, noticing how wide and solid it looked. She wondered if there was a way to get up there and walk on top of it, and then perhaps use it to slide faster across the ice. She decided she would try it another day. So she looked back towards the snow bank where Striden was and changed her course his way.

A thought struck her. She could get back at him for skating into her earlier! A smirk played on her lips and her eyes narrowed. Oh, she would get him back good. She lowered her body to the ice, making herself as streamlined as possible while she moved each leg to propel herself as fast as possible. Ears pinned back, her tail streaming behind her, the babe aimed straight for him. Her goal was to tackle him into the snow bank, and as she drew closer she was sure she would succeed. But...that's now how things would go for her.

As she got closer to her target, she didn't notice the smaller pieces of ice that were scattered around the edge of the ice. She lifted a front paw for a moment, aiming to bring it back down on the ice to continue her momentum forward. But when she did that, she ended up stepping on one of those frozen pieces which made her lose her footing. She was going too fast, her feet unable to keep up as she was practically flying forward. Her legs were going every which way, the babe gasping and eyes growing wide as she realized she was about to crash. "Ah! Watch out!" While her intent had been to push him into the snow bank, she wasn't intending to crash into him at full speed. She tried to turn herself away from him, only barely managing to do so. Her feet tripped on the bank, and she was sent flying over his head and into the snow drifts several feet beyond. She landed heavily on her back in a deep drift, the snow forming a sort of open cocoon as she lied there. Well...that was not how that was supposed to go..

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Striden had doubts for a little while. Perhaps she would continue skating out on her own and that him leaving was irrelevant. That was not the finale he expected. He had really believed she wouldn't let him go that easily. He shrugged it off and decided to go on his merry way. There were more important subjects to worry about than playing on ice.

He quickly discovered he was being too hasty in his judgement. A glance to her call before ducking in that same instant. Suddenly there was a wolf flying over him into the snow. That was actually pretty funny, to the point he snorted outwards in attempt to hold back his laughter. To follow up in the amusement he spoke with a bit of laughter. "I saw a shooting star! That's one wish granted." He was eyeing her after getting back up to make sure she was alright. Snow had no doubt made the landing safe. "That was a pretty good finale." He commented with a smile.

Orange painted ears perked forward for a split second before falling back when she heard Striden laughing at her. She was embarrassed. She had made a fool of herself all day in front of a guy. She felt her cheeks flush with heat, and she was sure that if she were as pale as him, it would be noticeable. He peered over the snow at her, the babe still lying on her back with legs in the air as her molten gaze watched him. She huffed before flailing to her feet and climbing out. The only way she thought to save herself from the embarrassment was playing along if she were to save face. Yeah, that would work, right? Maybe. Hopefully. "Thank you, I was planning that the whole time." She dipped her head in a mock bow as she cleared her throat. Now that they were done skating, she supposed it was near time to head off. Or maybe...if he still wanted company, to go see what else she could find in the North. Of course, she wasn't going to ask or beg him to follow her around. Or to accompany her. She had fun with him though, and part of her worried that the rest of her journey might not be as fun. He had spunk, she could tell. But then again, being in heat for the remainder of the season would make it hard to keep a guy around. Her tail flicked as she thought, and ultimately she decided to leave it up to him if he wished to join her or go his own way. Perhaps they'd end up running into each other again at some point. "I had to admit, I had fun today. I haven't had that much fun in a long time." She stated with a grin. "Talk" "You" Think