Valkyrie eyed the fallen tree with a critical eye. Its upturned roots lay nearly bare thanks to the merciless northern winds and its massive trunk was smashed and broken from its fall onto the ice. But at its base was a dark and promising hollow that Valkyrie thought would make a decent resting place. She poked her head inside and, finding it acceptable, began to dig out the debris that had collected in there. It was strange to think back to where she'd been about this time last year. She'd been a child then; warm and safe in her grandfather's care. Valkyrie liked to think she was much changed since then. While she still had a lot to learn and couldn't claim a large advance in wisdom, she was far from the dependent whelp she'd been then. While she'd yet made her mark on Boreas, Valkyrie's plans were coming together nicely. If she had her way, Hjarrandi's exploits would be the stuff of legends. Poems would be told about them for generations. While it was nice to think far into the future, Valkyrie's present situation deserved more consideration. Winter was coming and she and her followers needed to be ready for whatever the north decided to throw at them. This would be her first winter away from home. Not only was she in charge of her own well being, but of those who had decided to throw their lot in with her. Perhaps if they could recruit a few more able-bodied wolves they'd be able to take what they needed from the packs who called Boreas home. Or, perhaps, braving the winter together would bring them closer and by spring they'd be ready for raiding. Either way, she had more recruiting (and thinking) to do. Valkyrie paused in her musings as her claws scraped ice. She leaned further into the hollow and inspected its floor before turning her attention to the tree trunk above. It was wormy and the outside looked like the slightest touch would crumble it. Valkyrie wasn't keen on sleeping directly on the ice so perhaps it would be best for her to direct her efforts upwards. With claws outstretched Valkyrie reached for the underside of the log. Her cat-like nails tore it with ease and sent small pieces of bark raining down upon the exposed ice. Satisfied, she sprawled out on her back and began to work at the bark with both front paws. Soon she was covered in bits of debris, but she didn't care. When she was done she'd have a warm and snug hollow to sleep in. Her thoughts sooner returned to her previous contemplative musings. She thought back to the family she'd left behind. The friends who had chosen to stay and make their fortunes in the homeland. She didn't begrudge them their choice, but she couldn't help but think of them wistfully. Only Eldi had chosen to come with her, to brave this vastly different land. She had no doubt he would make a name for himself here same as her, that he too would go down in history and that stories would be told about him. She did wonder, though, how well his spirit would be captured in those poems. Would their descendants hear of his humor and good nature or would they only know of his bravery? She hoped the complexity of his character wouldn't be lost. "Perhaps," she thought with a ghost of a smile, she'd get the ball rolling with a good story of her own. Her smile faded as her thoughts took on a more melancholy note. She wondered if her mother lived here. If someday she'd meet her. Perhaps she should have felt abandoned by the woman who'd birthed her, but how could she when it was so clearly meant to be? Without her mother's choice she would have grown up without a clue about her heritage. She would have been naive to the ways and religion of her people. She would have missed out on so much. It was for that reason that she didn't loathe her birth mother. Valkyrie did, however, feel a lingering curiosity towards her. Towards both of her parents, really, as she didn't know much of her father either. What she did know was that both were born in Boreas and that both had history here. Perhaps someday the gods would see fit to reunite them. Just as quickly as her mood had fallen, it rose again as she began to daydream about future exploits, about the things that would bring prestige to her name and wealth to her people. She had to rein herself in and focus on more immediate things, but it was nice to consider the near future and what it might bring her. The coming winter deserved her attention. It would be a test of her resolve and of her ability to lead and she knew instinctively that what happened in the coming months would make or break the next year for her.

// Cast: awaken

It's funny to see how different the world was after a change of life. Upon inspecting the buried trees and ice around here, it was safe to say that the location was only a temporary area. Basically there was no way things would stay as they were. That didn't meet the place wasn't worth exploring, just maybe there were secrets that would only appear during this season. He just needed to tread carefully.

While mapping there area wasn't his fort, he was able to locate trails here and there. A compass that points to potential encounters. Striden had a good level of confidence right now so he was indeed ready to face whatever would be thrown at him.

He started to half follow a trail. He was no expert yet therefore the only detail he could see was an arrow pointing in the direction to whoever it was connected to. He was making steady progress though, it was only a matter of several seconds before he finds the end of the trail. Striden was only following his hunting instincts for the challenge of it. That did not mean he was not pay attention to his surroundings. It was quite obvious that he was curious enough to reach the end of the trail. He was actually having a bit of fun in the little adventure.

Valkyrie continued to dig at the dry underbelly of the log. Wood shards and fibrous bark continued to rain down on her as she worked, but apart from the occasional sneeze Valkyrie seemed to not notice them. Every once in a while she paused to sweep out the debris, but once the hollow was clear she flipped over onto her back again and continued to dig.

 

Footfalls gave her pause and Valkyrie peeked between her forelegs to see who was approaching. She was surprised to lay eyes on a rather small wolf. There was a certain maturity to his features that hinted at adulthood, but if not for them Valkyrie would have assumed he was a child.

She regarded him curiously but made no move to rise. Instead she gave a simple greeting. "Heil og sæl, stranger."

""

Striden was close, close enough for the one he was looking for to greet him before finding her. However he was quite surprised with how she spoke. He didn't understand anything but the last word. Was that english with some strong accent? What ever it was it was very unfamiliar to him. He didn't want to look like an idiot though, so he'll just proceed as if it was a greeting.

In any case she didn't get up therefore this female must either not think much of him or was carefree. Which was it he wondered. Time to say something before it got awkward. "Praise be, my lady." He said with a basic nod. Now we were even right? "This place is unusual, do you live here?" He asked without too much thought.