Alright so, maybe she had looked the wrong way before… apparently heading around the lake had lead her to another area that Bellamy remembered from when she first arrived in Boreas. Though it had been much more lush, warmer, during that time. In fact there had been a lovely lightning storm… and there she had met a male almost as vulgar and rough around the edges as she herself had been. Heh, she wondered what the bastard was up to… she wouldn’t mind seeing him again. Or Sparhawk… It was funny, really, how she had come to like some of the residents of this land. And now that the Kedieo empire was officially in shambles she was truly free…

It felt strange.

Bellamy pushed onward, across the frostbitten foliage that lead the way towards the edge of the cliffs. She was no longer climbing in search of what had been there in the past but rather to see a new view… her new present, and to dream of the future.

“You’ve been quite quiet, Bells. Thinking a lot?” The badger at her side questioned softly.

Bellamy had almost forgotten that Whiskers had offered to come with her on this trip. She flicked an ear and then glanced down at the smaller creature with a frown.

“Y-yeah…” She furrowed her brow.

“It’s strange… after Narcissa fell… it felt like these invisible shackles were finally released from my body… it’s… odd…”

Whiskers chuckled softly.

“You found your true strength, Bells. It’s not a physical strength.” The badger stopped and looked up at her companion. “...and it’s been in you all along… waiting for you to reach in there and take it back.”

Bellamy stopped too… but she didn’t look towards Whiskers. Instead her gaze was on what lay before her; the edge of the cliffs and the ocean rolling on beneath them.

“I don’t plan on looking back, Whiskers. If this is the strength I needed then I will nurture it… get stronger. I won’t live like that ever again… and… if I can help it… neither will Gavroche.”

Whiskers shook her head with a smile. Bellamy was learning more about caring for others. She might not have been the perfect wolf for a pack before… but maybe now she’d have a chance in one. Trust was something that took time to build and she was starting to see what trust could get her.

A sound behind them caused Bells to turn, however, flicking her ears back as she bristled slightly.

Even if she was learning to trust… it didn’t mean she would let her guard down when approached from behind.

She spun around, fully expecting to come face to face with a stranger.

With the practice raid over, Drachen was free to leave pack lands once again and with Aurielle's permission, he traveled east to explore those strange ruins once more but curiosity got the better of him and he traveled further east to a cluster of tall cliffs. It looked so much like the cliffs that bordered his birthpack and with the salt clinging to the air, he found his dark paws carrying him to the top. His oceanic blue eyes scanned the terrain around him, almost expecting to see familiar pathways and catch familiar scents of his old packmates on the wind, but thankfully none of it was here. He knew it was impossible for this to be a part of Enterra, his homeland, but the uncanny look alike was enough to cause his black hackles to rise along his shoulders. Enzi sensed his subtly change in mood and she landed on a branch above him and dropped a stick on him to snap him out of his dark thoughts. "Ouch." he grumbled, his deep blue eyes lifting to glare at the red tailed hawk.

A moment later he was thankful for her intervention as his noticed a scent on the air, his earthen nares flaring and his dark ears lifting on his skull as he heard a rustle of something close by. It was another wolf by the scent, female, but unfamiliar and did not seem to belong to a pack. Drachen flicked his tan tipped tail and Enzi fluttered off into the distance and gave a screech when she spotted the stranger. Cautiously, Drachen moved forward on graceful paws and pushed through the last remaining brush to come to the edge of the cliff, his oceanic eyes immediately finding the stranger. Quickly, his glanced around to see if she was alone, only spotting a badger by the woman's side, before his gaze lifted to meet the bristling woman's green gaze. Luckily by now, the distraction of another wolf had settled the unease he felt before and his black hackles had flatted, but he made sure to hold himself neutrally, especially with how the woman was seemingly eyeing him now. "Sorry for the intrusion.... I'm not looking for trouble." his hushed tones rumbled, though his weight shifted evenly over his paws to allow him to move freely should this woman find his presence aversive. He was not so naive enough to believe that everyone he met was welcoming.

Bellamy blew air out through her nares as she watched the stranger and his own companion that had arrived. Oceanic eyes met her own of green and the female bristled just a touch more, standing stiff, guarded, as she waited to see how he would hold himself. His words would at least bring a little comfort and, taking a breath Bellamy allowed her own fur to lay flat once more. She was still uncertain, but at least she was no longer in a hostile position. She kept her ears back, however, watching the male for a moment longer before letting her guard down enough to glance at Whiskers as she spoke.

“It… is alright.” She let out a sigh at the end of her words. “Sorry.” Ever since she was grabbed by Narcissa’s goons and drugged back to Lyenne she had been more careful about strangers approaching her and Gavroche. As much as Bellamy wanted to believe they were safe she wasn’t naive enough to think that danger might not strike again one day. If it did… she would be ready.

Whiskers shook her head and directed her dark gaze towards the male. “Manners, Bells. It’s a pleasure, sir. I’m Whiskers, and this young woman is Bellamy.”

Bellamy rolled her eyes and glanced towards the man. “Glad you’re not looking for trouble. I’ve had enough of that shit lately.” She frowned. “So what does bring you here then? Sightseeing?”

Tense silence passed between the two and Drachen held the woman's gaze, carefully watching to see how this would play out. She was quite a bit bigger than he was, something that was uncommon but nothing he couldn't handle if this came down to a fight. But something in the woman's posture just seemed... defensive... like she was expecting something or someone to attack her. He knew that feeling all too well, the last time he had felt that, he had ended up jumping over a cliff into the sea much like the one behind her. Slowly the woman relaxed, Drachen's tan tipped tail giving a small wag in encouragement before stilling again. His black face gave a nod of acceptance as she muttered an apology. The badger beside her then spoke and Drachen turned his attention to it, giving the creature a small but friendly smile. "A pleasure Whiskers... Bellamy." his soft voice replied, giving the two a nod of greeting.

That seemed to break the ice enough for the woman to speak again, her gruff response causing him to chuckle deeply and a smirk dance on his tan lips. "Yes, sort of... This area reminded me of a place i've been recently and I wanted to make sure that it was not the same place." his eyes drifted to the cliff edge behind her. It looked so much like the one he had jumped off of that stormy night nearly a season ago now. His looked at the ground between them, almost expecting to see his blood painting the stone in red. Quickly he shook out his thick pelt, flattening the hackles that were itching to rise at the memory of his half brother's demonic cackles and screams of frustration as he plummeted into the raging sea. Drachen blinked and looked at the two once more as he replied "I'm Drachen and this is Enzi." his tan snout dipping towards the red tailed hawk that had landed beside him, her golden eyes staring at the strangers. "Sorry, she doesn't talk much." Good thing too, she's a major jerk. he added in his might, holding back the eye roll and snort that wanted to escape him. "And you?" he asked with a tan brow arched curiously over a blue eye.

Bellamy couldn’t help but find some curiosity from the male’s words. An area that reminded him of another… wanting to make sure that it was not the same place. Her gaze traveled away from Whiskers as she took a couple steps towards the cliffside, her ears flicking forward for a moment. The cliffside had reminded her a bit of her mountainous home when she came here the first time… not quite the same… but alas it had not been part of the same mountain… She chuckled softly and turned to look back at him as he gave both his name and the name of his companion.

“Drachen and Enzi…” She tested the names on her tongue and gave a nod. “I’ll be sure to remember them.” She wasn’t sure if the names would be necessary to remember, considering the pack that the male smelled of was not familiar, and thus not Winterfell, but still… that was what you were supposed to say to those you met, right? “...and don’t worry. Sometimes it’s better they don’t talk much. Wish my other companion knew the value of silence.” She shook her head with a smile. “A tasmanian devil named Ears. He’s currently helping watch over a wolf for us.”

Whiskers scratched at an ear. “Bells has been here before… though it is not a place that we’ve really seen prior to that day.”

Bellamy glanced towards her companion and then towards Drachen. “The cliffside reminds me a bit of my old home in Lyenne. My family and I lived on a mountainside overlooking the sea… and while this is not quite the same I find a sense of nostalgia here.” She gave a grin. “Though the real beauty such places present are when the storms rage. Lightning cracking the sky, illuminating all beneath…”

The woman's comment that sometimes it was better that their companions don't talk much make the man give a soft snort of amusment and glance at his hawk who clacked her beak in annoyance towards him. "Stupid wolf" he heard Enzi mutter under her breath as he looked away and his tan lips twitched upwards. The bird was a gruff and sassy little thing but he knew Enzi adored him deep down. Drachen's dark ears twitched with slight interest when Bellamy said that her other companion was watching over another wolf though really that information was not really anything important, he still filed it away just in case. His oceanic blue eyes then traveled back to Whisker's as she told him the Bellamy had been here before, the mention of "that day" had his head tilting slightly to the side in question but he brushed it off. He was not here to pull information out of another wolf.

His claws clicked softly on the stone as he moved forward to the edge of the cliff, still a length or two away from Bellamy in respect of her space, and looked down at the foaming sea below. Had a storm been raging, he could have mistaken for this place to be the cliffside of his birthplace in Enterra. He shook his head when Bellamy's words almost completely mirrored his thoughts. "This place reminds me of the cliffs next to where I was born..." a dry chuckle left him as his face grew stern before he continued "If it was storming like you suggested, I would thought I had been transported back." He could almost still hear the way the wind screamed around him as he plummeted and feel the shock of the freezing sea water closing over his head when he fell into the sea.

This cliff was about as high as the one he jumped from and it was by sheer luck he had survived. "I still cant believe I didn't get shredded on the rocks." he said mostly to himself, his fur bristling slightly as it really came clear just how impossible it was that he was alive. Drachen blinked a moment later as if clearing the memory from his eyes and stepped away from the edge, now satisfied that it certainly was not part of Enterra, and flattened his fur. "Storms do have a unique beauty to them." he replied. He used to really enjoy storms but ever since that night if thunder cracked a certain way, he could almost feel phantom fangs scraping on his skin and taste the iron of blood on his tongue as he fought for his life.