Astrophel had been walking at a brisk trot, covering the ground quite swiftly in his desire to head further inland, and hopefully to wetter areas. All this sand and dry heat was a bit much for him, and he longed for a river or pond deep enough to completely submerge himself into for a leisurely swim. His travels had taken him from the dried riverbed to this strange expanse of soft and slick mud. It was an improvement, but still quite undrinkable. He left a trail of pawprints behind him in the mud with the occasional slip here and there where it was particularly slick. After a bit of time his attention was captured by a set of somewhat large rocks with a trail behind them, as if something had pushed them along the slick mud. A closer inspection brought him no closer to an educated answer as he could see no indication of any pawprints behind the rocks. His head cocked to the side as he tried to figure out what had caused the rocks to move. Was it the wind? Surely not, they were far too heavy for that even with the slickness of the mud on the ground. All thoughts of finding some water was gone from his mind as he studied the rocks, wanting to try and figure out this interesting situation he had stumbled upon.

Erish's quiet flapping of her wings led Gilgamesh on his journey toward the west. Unlike the north or the east, he had yet to spend much time in these areas. Not that he had any reason to be here, but figured why not. The surrounding areas were large enough and as long as he stayed out of pack lands, he was free to roam. Wanting to give his legs a good stretch, he moved into an easy lope as his dark feathered barn owl swooped over him. Her happy screeches as gentle winds fluttered her wings made a smile twinge at the corners of his lips. Saving the owl had been a good thing indeed. Turning his course toward the sound of running water, he could feel the thirst gripping his throat. It was definitely time to get a drink of water. Letting his tongue loll out of the side of his mouth as he slowed down to a trot, he could see the lake laying out in front of him. Approaching the water's edge, he lowered his mouth toward the surface and took a quick few sips. When he had finished, he lifted his dripping lips up and surveyed their surroundings. Erish had flown off to land in a nearby tree when she let out an alerting screech. Both his ears pricked in curiosity as a midnight-coated wolf about the size of himself stood in the mud facing a couple of large rocks. The intense look on the stranger's face made Gil's brow furrow. What was so interesting about the rocks on the lake's edge? Were they not rocks? Puzzled, the mottled man approached slowly with a quiet rumble releasing from his mouth so as not to scare the other male. Keeping both ears twisted in a listening fashion, Gil took a seat in the grass on the lake's edge, away from all of the mud. "What are you looking at?" He asks in his deep baritone as his head tilted slightly to the side.

His head turned to look back at the stranger with raised brows. Had he not seen these strange rocks too? Was he not just as curious about them? "These rocks," he said with a motion of his paw at the one he had been inspecting. "They've made tracks in this mud as if someone has pushed them along, but I see no pawprints." It was a little mind boggling, if he was being honest. He felt a little silly bringing up his next point, but it was all in the art of finding out the real answer, as keeping a thought inside was no way to go about figuring out the truth, even if it sounded strange. "I'd daresay these rocks were moved by the wind, but they're so heavy, so I'm not sure." Astrophel knocked a front paw against the rock, feeling and hearing the dull thud the told him it would be very heavy to try and move. But perhaps this other wolf would have a better idea?

Confusion wrinkled his expression as he tried to figure out why the other wolf was so interested in rocks. "They're rocks," he says with a pause before turning his attention to where the wolf had pointed to. Indeed, the wolf was not wrong about what he saw. Streaks of indents in the mud trailing behind the particularly large rocks told a story that they possibly couldn't decipher. Leaning his face a bit closer with squinting eyes, he hummed under his breath. One ear turned to listen to the wolf thump his paw against the rock. "Maybe they're loose and sliding because the mud is slick," Gil's shoulders shrug as he looks back to the midnight wolf. "Why does it matter?" He asks out of curiosity but also wonders at how odd the wolf was.

The other wolf didn't seem nearly as interested in the rocks as Astrophel did, but he did lean in and inspect the rocks a little bit. Sure, rocks weren't the most interesting things in the world, but he had a good chunk of curiosity in him that made him wonder about the world in all its glory, even down to something as mundane as rocks. Especially these rocks, they left him with a puzzle to solve that he didn't have an answer for. Maybe he never would. But that was all part of the fun of figuring things out. He pursed his lips in thought at the other wolf's suggestion, his gaze moving between the rocks and the trails behind them. It was a good guess, but the ground was too flat for that, surely they'd need some sort of a slope in order to slide around with how heavy they were. His thoughts went back to the wind again; perhaps it was a combination of the wind and the slick mud? "It's pretty flat here, can rocks slide on the ground if there's no slope?" Astrophel looked back at the stranger now, ears flicked forward at his question. He gave a half shrug, mouth opening in a grin. "I suppose it doesn't really, just interesting to think about."

Gil's eyes narrow at the wolf quizzically. He did have a good point. Glancing around, Gil noticed that indeed the ground around them was flat. While he wasn't the most interested in rocks, he too began to wonder why the rocks seemed to have slid from their place. "Earthquake?" The mottled man questions, but knew that no earthquakes had happened in this area recently. Deep down, he wondered if it had anything to do with the ooze plague. Everything had changed during those times. Their entire world had been flipped upside down so it was not beyond his reason to believe rocks could slide around by their own accord. A quiet and thoughtful hum buzzes in his throat as he thinks about it some more. How had he been convinced to think about rocks again? "Why don't you jump on it and see if it sinks or moves?" Gil asks as his gaze turns back to the wolf beside him. At least this time, he wasn't in a bullying mood and was genuinely asking to be helpful in the experiment.

He thought about it for a few moments. Earthquakes certainly had enough power to move these rocks around, but they were more unpredictable the more powerful they were, and these trails were far too straight for an earthquake to be the cause. He finally shook his head. "I'm not sure if an earthquake can make them move quite like this." Astrophel found this to be a fun challenge to think through, even if it was likely neither of them would find the answer. Sometimes it was not the answer he was after, but the process of getting there, or even just attempting to figure out an answer. His head canted to the side at the idea the other wolf posed, brows furrowed in a look of thought. It was worth a shot, at the very least. Maybe it would lead to a new set of ideas. With a grunt he heaved himself atop the rock, perched carefully on all fours. It was large enough that he didn't have to worry about a paw slipping off the edge and tumbling off, but he still had to put effort into balancing as it didn't have the smoothest surface. It didn't seem to sink much more into the slick mud from what he could tell, but his field of view was hampered slightly by the rock itself, so he took to craning his neck to look at where the rock met the ground. "I don't think it moved, couldn't feel anything." He gave an experimental hop, hoping that would trigger the rock to do something, but it didn't budge.

This new wolf he had encountered seemed interesting in the way that Gil wondered why he even cared about moving rocks. They were rocks and nothing more. It wasn't as if a door would secretly pop open if they did the right combination of steps. Staring quizzically as the other wolf hopped up onto the rock, his ears tuned in to listen. Even as the wolf looked around and pondered if the rock moved beneath his weight or not, Gil couldn't help but chuckle a tad. "From here, nothing has happened," he commented from his place on the ground. "Jump on it some more. Maybe you're not heavy enough," Gil posed the suggestion with some humor. He needed a good laugh if the wolf ended up slipping off into the mud.

The other wolf confirmed that the rock hadn't moved, and it was with a heavy sigh that he gave a few more experimental hops, even trying to shift where he touched the rock in the hopes to make it move, but he was quite unsuccessful. "Maybe you're right, maybe I am too light," he said with a bit of a playful smile, hearing the humourous tone in the other wolf's voice. Perhaps this was just an enigma he was not supposed to solve this day. He hopped off the rock, doing his best not to slip on the mud as he landed back onto firm, well not completely firm, ground. "I'm Astrophel Kaian, it's nice to meet you," he said with a warm smile, dipping his head in a show of respectful greeting. It was always better to err on the side of being too polite, than not polite enough, or so he had been taught. "What brings you out this way, if not for these strange rocks?"

The darkened wolf in front of him would hop a few more times and Gil would chuckle quietly under his breath. Whether he was doing it to be mean or not, would be his own secret for now. Watching as the other agreed, in his own humor, that he surely wasn't heavy enough to push the giant boulder around, Gil shook his head. "It would take an elephant to move that thing," he said as he pointed his nose toward the boulder the other wolf had hopped down from. Tilting his gaze toward the male, he nodded his head in greeting. "The name's Gilgamesh," he responded before glancing back over to the rock. Maybe it had slid and he hadn't seen it. No, that would be too silly. When Astro spoke again, one of Gil's ears turned to listen. "I tend to travel quite a bit. Keeps me healthy," he rumbled with another smile over his placid expression. After the Long Night, he noticed he smiled more often. While it had soured others into a dark depression, he had found a new light to live in. "And you?" Gil asked out of politeness.

He hummed under his breath, lips pursed, as the other wolf commented that it would take an elephant to move the rock he was stood upon. The wolf was probably right, which only made him that much more intrigued. But alas, he was not an elephant, and it seemed this was a mystery he would be unable to solve. At least for now. Astrophel waved his tail behind him as the other wolf proceeded to return the greeting with a name of his own. A noise of agreement rumbled from his throat, even though his own travel had a more direct purpose than simply for the sake of exercise.  "I'm actually looking for someone; a woman that looks a bit like the night sky while the aurora borealis is on full display. She goes by Andromeda. Have you by chance seen her around?" He was hopeful, still confidant as ever that he'd find her someday soon, and that they could be reunited again. But it'd be alright if Gilgamesh hadn't seen her or heard word of her being nearby, he'd simply keep looking then.

He watched Astrophel's expression curiously as the silence stretched out between them. It took a few moments before the inky-colored male confessed. For a moment, his own eyes squinted harshly at Astro as he described a similar wolf to that of Modesty. Could Astro have met the one he had feelings for during the time he'd disappeared? A sense of relief washed over him as the name Andromeda came out. Gently shaking his head, Gil wondered in such a big place, if Astro would ever find her. "I know some wolves that appear as such, but the name doesn't ring a bell," his voice was genuine this time as he knew how it felt to miss someone.

Astrophel sighed softly and a bit dejectedly. he hadn't had too much hope while asking, but it would've been fortunate if Gilgamesh had seen her around, even just in passing, as that would mean he was on the right track. So far he hadn't caught any wind of her trail since leaving home, but he would hold onto his hope that he'd find her one day, and that they could be reunited. He nodded at the other wolf, a polite smile on his face. "It was a shot in the dark anyway, but if you do happen to catch wind of her and we cross paths again, please let me know?" He gave one last cursory glance at the strange rocks before taking a few steps away, now looking further inland. If he wanted to find her he would need to keep looking, and that meant he couldn't stay here for too long. "It was very nice to meet you Gilgamesh," Astrophel said with a dip of his head, "But I feel I should be off. I have more searching to do." It had been nice talking with him, and he certainly would not be opposed if they met again in the future.

His own body itched to be on its way. He had his own girl to go searching for. Somehow, she always ended up in some sort of predicament. Maybe it was something he enjoyed about her company. Never a dull moment, that is. With a firm nod of his head, he smiled briefly in Astro's direction. "If I do cross paths with her before I see you again, I'll let her know," the mottled man said, secretly hoping himself that Astro one day did find her. Nodding again, his own gaze glanced out to the distance. It had undoubtedly been a nice day doing something silly with no purpose. A chance to relax after such a harrowing time. "Till we meet again, Astrophel," Gil said before he turned to walk back toward the forest behind him. -exit-