Getting back to the mangroves had felt like the longest journey of her life. That was a complete exaggeration considering how far she had gone in her adventures away from Boreas, but the trip had taken so many twists and turns that it had felt longer than it really was. As she began to wander though the mangroves she was hit with an unexpected wave of nostalgia. She hadn’t seen this place for over a year and it started to bring back distant memories from her childhood.

It was fairly late in the afternoon and it was quickly fading into a cool autumn evening. She had spent a decent chunk of the morning washing and grooming her fur in one of the larger streams that ran though the trees till the white portions of her coat were once again purely white and the traces of her long journey had been removed from her fur. The spotted woman had rested outside of her childhood den until her fur had dried, letting her mind wander down memory lane.

Now she stood with her pale, dainty paws at the edge of a pool of water, peering down at her own reflection. Blue eyes looked back up at her, the same blue eyes that ran in her family. She never really thought she’d miss her family as much as she did, but being back here brought that out in her.

Boredom, a side effect of leaving Abaven that he had not calculated into his grand scheme of life. While he’d felt trapped within the pack’s walls at the least he hadn’t ever wanted for entertainment. Out here in the wilds he didn’t often come across other wolves. When he did the interactions were usually quick. What the blue marked yearling needed to do was go find the albino bitch again. She offered him an excitement that had been sorely missed in his life.

Summer the raven circled above the massive dire wolf’s head, his blue and lavender eyes took in the scenery around them. Somehow even after everything that happened the yearling hadn’t been able to leave the Eastern lands. Almost a year had passed since he’d touched foot in Abaven though, and he felt satisfied with himself that he held absolutely no curiosity in their current state. If he never looked on his family members again it wouldn’t be soon enough.

He continued through the mangroves, debating with himself about moving even further from the wretched lands, when he heard Summer’s call alerting him to another wolf’s presence. Curious and bored the massive Destruction shifted his path to intercept the stranger.

She was more unique than he expected, a shapely girl of red and white. Her vibrant blue eyes were a deep contract to the bright yellow and red leaves that filled the canopy. He hid a smirk as he stopped at the opposite edge of the clearing. His own vibrant gaze lingered boldly on her thin frame as he waited expectantly for a reaction to his sudden presence.

If it wasn't for the raven's call, she may have not noticed the man's presence right away. She heard the bird's call in the distance, the sound standing out from the other more gentle bird song that she typically heard here. It was enough to pull her blue eyes away from the surface of the water, lifting till they landed on the interestingly marked man that seemed to be watching her. His brash staring caught her off guard and her ears flicked uncertainly. It would have been one thing for him to approach her or greet her, but to just have his gaze fixed on her in such a way made her a bit uneasy. She was intrigued by him because of his unusual blue markings and strongly built frame, but his unwavering gaze made her wary of approaching him.

The polite pleasantries that had been firmly ingrained into her brain forced her to give him a small smile and nod as if to give a silent 'hello', attempting to give him the be benefit of the doubt. It felt impossible for her to assume any kind of bad intentions in the stranger. She told herself that perhaps he had been about to come over to say hello himself when she looked up or maybe their gazes just happened to lock at the same time. She had no way to know how long he had been standing there watching her. It seemed irrational for her to be concerned about someone she didn't even know yet.

The terminally pleasant woman padded around the pool of water in front of her to move a bit closer to him, but she still left a healthy amount of space between them. She was unexplainably friendly, but that didn't mean she was careless. "Hello there," she said to him, offering the larger male a warm smile as she came to a stop once again, putting her own initial reservations aside in her never ending attempts to make friends. At least this time he hadn't caught her tripping over her own paws or playing in the mud like a child like the last few strangers she had crossed paths with so at the very least she had that going for her. Plus, her coat was freshly washed and laying perfectly along her body so she knew she appeared as lovely as she felt for once. Everything was looking up this time, right?

He wasn’t looking for very long before the woman lifted her gaze up to his massive frame. Noir tried to hide his smirk as he noticed the uncertainty in her expression. She wouldn’t ignore him after first glance either, he was awarded a small smile and the gentle nod of her head. The young Destruction put on a polite smile in return and gave her a slight dip of his head in return. Interestingly she shifted, her paws moving her closer towards him. His own dark ears perked as he kept up his grin, despite her uncertainty here she was coming closer.

She left a polite amount of distance, enough that he could assume she was still intimidated by his presence. He couldn’t help but think about any one of his sisters and their endless optimism. A quality he found detestable, but his thoughts would make no hint of visibility. Noir couldn’t deny her appearance, she was a beautiful she wolf and her bright blue eyes struck him unexpectedly. His grin widened slightly, but he didn’t smirk. Noir’s smile looked completely genuine.

”Hello,” he returned, really laying it on thick as he lowered his head even further in greeting. He was growing much too excited about his potential opportunities if he could manage to gain her trust. ”I’m sorry to disturb you.” He lied gracefully, finding that his upbringing in Abaven was more helpful than he would have ever expected. ”My name is Noir,” he wondered if giving her his real name would come back to bite him or not. He feigned an almost embarrassed expression. ”Excuse my staring, I’ve never seen such beautiful sapphire eyes.” Testing the waters Noir took a slow step forward with his well thought compliment.

The compliments she received from the striking man surprised her and made her ears flick back shyly as she smiled a little more genuinely. Perhaps her worries had all been made up in her head after all. Nothing in his grin or his polite greeting told her she had any reason to be concerned. She still kept a bit of distance between them all the same, but it made her relax a bit more. She liked to think that she could be nice and careful at the same time. She really should have been paying more attention to her surroundings anyway so if anything she was reprimanding herself for not being more aware. She knew better, but something about being back where she grew up had her extremely distracted. "Oh, that's alright," she insisted with a soft giggle. "I'm Elise. It's a pleasure to meet you, Noir."

"Do you live here?" she asked just to spark a conversation, looking up at him with an innocent curiosity. She had to admit that he was incredibly handsome with chiseled features and blue markings unlike anything she had seen before. Of course, she wasn't sure if she was really that dazzled or if she just hadn't gotten much attention lately and even his simple compliment had her interested. "I used to live here when I was a pup so I was just visiting to see if anything had changed," she explained with her usual bright tone. She really didn't think much had changed at all and somehow that made her trip out here feel a bit unsatisfying. She wanted to look around and be able to see how time had effected the mangroves and made it different from what still lingered in her memories, but there wasn't much she could point out that had specifically changed or shifted.

He grinned inwardly to himself as she seemed to relax at his word. If it wouldn’t give him away Noir might have erupted into the wicked grin that played inwardly as he felt successful in his first move. Yes, gain her trust and then he could do nearly anything. She kept a polite distance between them and he was careful not to push those boundaries too hard no matter how much he wanted to. She replied to him with a giggle that revealed how much more at ease he’d managed to put her.

Elise was her name. ”A pretty name for such a pretty she wolf.” He told her daringly as she asked if he lived in this place. Noir shook his head, he was being honest he didn’t live anywhere but where his paws took him. ”I’m from Abaven,” the pack was old enough shed surely heard of it if she lived here as a pup. She wasn’t that much older than he was. He didnt add on that he wasn’t a member any longer, but she oculd guess that for herself if she wanted. ”Has it changed then?” He asked her curiously, continuing the conversation.

His mind raced as he kept up his innocent composure, if he did manage to gan her trust what then? What purpose could she possibly serve him? Noir wasn’t sure but he was willing to keep his options open instead of scaring her off so quickly.