Since settling into the hospitality offered by Valhalla, the charcoal colored fae was quick to return to her strength. And while she may not be quite back to the condition that she was once in, sitting idly by wasn’t doing her any favors either. The drive to move led her to be prompt in her resolve to get out into the land beyond the wall- a structure that was representative of safety, but also influenced a feeling of stasis. A state lacking the forward momentum that she craved. However, almost immediately, she was met with the heat of the western deserts. The further she went, the more dramatic the scenery became.
Pillars of rock and the deficit of canyons rose from the arid environment as if all signs of life decayed away from the backbone of the world. As she covered ground, the acidic medium beneath her paws slowly turned to sandstone. There was generally no cover to be found other than the occasional outcropping that could be used in desperation. But it was desperation that she hadn’t yet reached. Cassiela found herself tracing the trenches that had been molded by the gods. Wind brushed, and water swept, her steps fell into the path of least resistance towards the heart of the desolate valley. Gradients from scarlet to white were painted in layers consistent in each gulley and free-standing spike that surrounded her. Seemingly haphazard, but something told her there was a reason behind the patterns.
After a while of traveling, she passed an exceptionally large shadow cast by a monolith of sandstone. She found herself drifting into its shade. Allowing herself to settle on her haunches as she took a moment to rest. She never thought there would be a time when she longed for the tundra … but here it was.
Tora stared openly at the tall structures, scowling. Looked a bit primitive if he had to guess. Like a piece of art left to dry in the sun somewhere, the red-white paint-like pattern is obvious. Tora didn't sit long in the shadow of a thin column. He moved on, going further south to where the others called Auster. Boreas had so far become boring to him. Movement, however, caught the boy's attention. He stared to the side, spotting a woman there.
He was content to leave her be.
She was resting, looks like. No use bothering her over nothing. He began to drift toward her, veering off to the side to allow her space. That's when he tripped. "Gack!" he stumbled and tripped over his lanky yearling legs. Looked like a very stupid dance as he struggled to keep himself upright. Embarrassment burned on his vibrant coat, threatening to turn him red. He didn't look at the woman, refusing to as he righted himself.
His fur spiked uncomfortably. Stupid fucking rocks!
You wouldn’t think the shade would be capable of bringing that much relief. The ambient temperature was still smoldering, and the rocky surface trapped the warmth from the sun just to radiate it back into the atmosphere. Yet, the monolith broke the contact of rays into her near-black coat, and it did help. She allowed herself to lower to her belly and elbows. Adjusting her weight to a hip as she reclined herself further. It was only then did she notice the masculine form of another at the opposite side of this particular gully.
It seemed to be one of those passing exchanges where both parties were aware. But silently were willing to agree to not engage, in which she casually adverted her gaze to pretend to focus on something that caught her attention in the direction that she had come. However, she left an ear tuned to his direction just in case. Honestly, she was content with this settlement. But the one thing, she couldn’t do was ignore the sudden racket that echoed from behind her. Cassiela’s emerald gaze flashed back towards the direction that she had spotted the tawny-colored brute- this time, much closer. And she just managed to catch the tail end of his blunder, slipping up on the loose substrate beneath him. Amusement was her initial reaction, but her ingrained pull to be meek and cordial prevailed. She quelled the threat of laughter to speak up. “Everything okay?” She called just loud enough to be conversational at the distance that divided them, all the while still maintaining the gentle concern that one might get from a stranger.
Tora bristled uncomfortably, eyes narrowing as the woman asked if all was well. He was more embarrassed than mad at her, hell... He wasn't mad at her at all. Females typically got a pass from his attitude anyway. He 'tch'ed softly and looked to the side again, refusing to meet her eyes. He could almost anticipate her amusement about the situation. "Yeah." He hid his fading pain about tripping over himself. A bruise could be there in the morning but otherwise, he was fine physically. No use getting pissy about it. Especially not to a lady who didn't mean anything nor do anything to warrant it.
"Just tripped." A very heavy pause, the silence uncomfortable and annoying at the same time. He finally look at her again, taking in her ashy features neutrally. She smelt, faintly, of a pack. A place Tora didn't know at all since coming to this place. He almost dared the woman to make a snide remark but reeled in his glare. He stared neutrally at her. He wanted to say something cool, impressive even... But it had died when he admitted he tripped. Instead, the boy kicked a rock to the side. Pouting, no doubt, in his mind. Why did he have to look like an idiot around people?
The charcoal-colored fae half expected to not get a response- it seemed as if his ego had been more injured than anything else. But the tone of his voice found her in a half-hearted explanation. One that she gave a slight nod in acknowledgment. Not wanting to draw any further attention to the fumble that he clearly wished didn’t happen- even though, she felt there was no reason to take it so seriously. She continued on with a different follow-up question. “How long have you been traveling? Anything interesting out there?” She asked genuinely curious, gesturing in the direction that he had come from. She wondered just how much more desert she was going to have to cross before finding anything of … well … life. And if this individual had any insight into that, she would graciously accept any input.
Even though she had just settled against the heat of the stone, she found herself being pressed with the urge to rise. Out of a sense of social respect over anything else. And with that in the back of her mind, she returned to a sitting position. "My name is Cassiela, by the way." She offered. She was sure that this exchange was going to fizzle out as quickly as it began. But an introduction felt like the proper thing to do.
The woman was strangely keen to speak with him. She didn't bring up the, ah, accident and he was grateful for that. Tora's ears pinned against his head briefly as he saw her approach, wondering why she bothered. It wasn't like he was... talkative. He didn't give her much to go on, but she was still... trying. This is why he liked females more than men. Males were quick to act tough and blow the shit out of proportion. Females were kinder, gentler... He narrowed his eyes somewhat, feeling somewhat relaxed.
Even if he kept his guard up. "Not really" Tora replied, twisting his body to face the woman with a scowl. Not at her, but mostly at the lack of anything interesting. He was an expressive young man "there's this lake, but everyone's seen a lake" He shrugged "mostly sand and more sand." He sniffed casually, the motion quick but telling him once more... She belonged to a pack. The woman did introduce herself by a name he didn't know. Western names were funny and interesting, but also too stuffy and weird.
"Tora..." he shuffled a bit, still hating his name to this day "you live near here?" He asked, trying to keep the conversation going best he could "I mean. Ya don't have to tell me! It ain't my business where you live. It's kinda rude to ask a lady that anyway..." He tried to puff his chest out like an ape and act big but failed miserably "I ain't a creep." He finished, frowning at the woman.
At his acknowledgement that there wasn’t really anything else but desert, she felt the ache of disappointment settle in her gut. In that moment, she debated turning back after she departed from this exchange. It would certainly be something that she thought about long and hard before advancing further. At least she knew the distance she had already crossed. The seemingly endless wasteland before her was a different story. Her ears flicked at the mention of a lake … at least there would be water when she needed it. “That’s very good to know.” Cassiela started. “Thank you for the information.” It was certainly better than blindly wandering the sand dunes.
Tora … It was a simple enough name for her to commit to memory without issue. Though, the question that followed, she didn’t really have an answer for. Or at least, not a good one. Cassiela withdrew a breath to respond, but just as she did, he felt that he needed to make more reassurances. As he finished, she allowed her amusement to tug at her features. “No, it’s fine.” She ensured. “But I don’t suppose I live anywhere, not really.” She lightly added, allowing a grin to accompany her musing. “The pack, Valhalla, offered to host me as a guest. But it is just a temporary thing.” Of course, she thought that if she asked Ardyn to be accepted as a member, she wouldn’t meet any resistance. But she wasn’t quite sure that’s what she wanted yet. Another thing that would require more thought, but perhaps that was an answer that could be found in the arid wilds if she chose to continue. Blinking away the introspection, she refocused her attention on Tora. “And you? Do you have any ties?” She asked, making small talk at this point. But maybe there was more information to be obtained that could be worth her time in the pursuit of knowledge.
He gives a curt nod to her acknowledgement. There wasn't more to say about a lake he just passed. It may look interesting to any wolf if they decided to investigate but - and a big one - he hadn't. So Tora couldn't give information about the lake he decided to just walk right by. She seemed content to leave the conversation at that but was amused further by his stumbles. He felt his cheeks burn and looked away.
Valhalla...? Some sort of weird word. "I only saw one or two packs on my way here" he told her quietly, frowning "don't know their names though" He didn't stick around to find out - outside of Tojo-kai but he kept their dirty little secrets "some down in Auster - that's the continent below us..." he gave a nod to the area around them. Boreas. Tora took small comfort in knowing he wasn't the only new wolf here. He didn't know much, but at least he wasn't alone.
He was confused why Valhalla hosted a wolf that wasn't going to join yet. But he resisted asking. "Nah" Cassiela directed a question to him, which Tora shook his head "I don't have a pack. Just got to this place. Too soon to make a decision bout anything."
As he shared more information, she found herself committing every word that rolled of his tongue to memory. She was somewhat surprised that there seemed to be several packs nearby based on this stranger’s assessment. Valhalla resided in the nearby plains. But beyond their territory, she hadn’t really found any other land that she would consider having long-term sustainability for a group. At least not yet. So there obviously was something else more forgiving than desert in the distance. Tora didn’t know what they called themselves, but to her it didn’t matter. Specifics weren’t important at this point. “I see …” She trailed off, trying to recover herself from the depth of thought. Though, he was making that increasingly difficult with the more knowledge he divulged.
“I’m going to be honest, I had no idea this place was that big.” If Ardyn had mentioned Auster, she didn’t exactly remember it. Perhaps he would have more insight as to what it all entailed- she caught her attention before it slipped away from her again. “I recently .. uh … washed up here myself. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m not too familiar with things yet.” She finished, somewhat sheepishly. However, she did get the impression that Tora hadn’t been around that long either- which was comforting to some extent in its own right. When he denied having any attachments, she nodded gently. “I completely understand,” she began. “I don’t want to offer things that aren’t mine to offer … but Ardyn- the alpha of Valhalla- is very generous and kind.” The anomalously large, fire-lit brute coming to mind. “He’s a good contact to have, and he gave me the impression that it wasn’t uncommon for them to offer assistance to travellers if you find yourself down that way.” She finished. It wasn’t an offer so to speak. More of an implication than anything. What Tora did with that was on him.
Tora's turn to listen. The woman seemed a bit shocked the land was huge. He frowned, thoughtfully though, not rudely. "Seems to happen a lot" he rumbled at her apology "wolves washin' up here, that is..." From what he gathered, there were two continents and also both islands... How the hell did people just randomly show up? Was it like being spirited away? A portal of some kind? Spirits? He didn't know shit. All he could do was hope to make some connections and survive. He felt his fur ruffle a bit, uneased by the situation.
She mentioned an alpha, someone with a funny name too. Ardyn. Are-deen? Who knew? "I'll, uh, keep that in mind. Thanks." Though it was clear the suggestion of a pack connection was a bit... uneasy too. Tora felt his fur lie flat despite his awkwardness at refusing to accept help from a community. He worked better alone, allowing himself to roam and not call any sir or ma'am his boss. He didn't like folks that sit on a throne anyway. Especially ones that claimed to have pure blood, superior breeding... It didn't sit well. He scowled inwardly.
Guess they have those types everywhere. "I'm gonna go find shelter" Tora said, angling his body away from Cassiela "when the sun will set, this place will be freezing" He frowned again, moving from the location "see... ya around. Thanks for, ah, talkin' with me." Safe travels and all that business. /exit
It was a curious thought to imply that wolves often found themselves in this place by one means or another. Especially if they came by unknown means such as she did. It left her wondering if there was something special about this land … or if it was just the way that the currents pulled. Who was to say?
Tora was polite in answering her pseudo-introduction to Valhalla, but she could tell he didn’t seem interested in the idea. Which was entirely okay. She wouldn’t press the matter any further. Silence trailed between them and slowly began to settle. Cassiela glanced away for a moment. Only for her attention to be realigned at the tones of his voice once more. Announcing his next intentions was a clear sign of his interest in departure. Once she gently nodded along with. “It was nice meeting you Tora.” She replied softly. And with that, the ashen fae pressed forward in the direction that she had been headed previously. Hoping to see for herself what lies ahead.
