She wasn't running away. She... just needed to get out of the cold for a minute. Just a few days by herself to sort out the puddled mess her brain currently felt. As tempted as she was to stop at the Hallows to say hello, Celeste continued until her paws gave out. Exhaustion riddled her body as she plopped down near one of the beaver dams. The rush of water and a cool breeze felt nice as the warm autumn day roasted her dark fur. Rolling to her side and letting her tongue fall out of her mouth so she could get her breath, Celeste nearly fell asleep like that.

The heat of summer already appeared to be diminishing, though not quite gone, and for that Hage was thankful. He had come to realise that either extreme of the temperature scale was largely irritating, and that he much preferred a more moderate climate to simply exist in. The trees were still far from browning, but he looked up at the Aspen's nonetheless. It was a nice view, and he wanted to enjoy it. His casual hike was interrupted as the breeze brought the musk of wolf with it. Silvery grey eyes managed to find the source in the form of a flopped over wolf beside a beaver dam. His brows raised in curiosity, tail flicking behind him as he contemplated what to do. Say hello? Leave? The wind was in his favour so there was a chance he could escape without being noticed... but it was such a nice day that he was actually considering having a conversation with a stranger. It seemed Fuji's talkative mannerisms had begun to rub off on him. "Hello," he simply said once he had padded closer, still keeping a respectable distance between them.

Dazed and daydreaming, the petite girl lazed by the small river. With her eyes half closed, she barely moved when she heard the man approach. Staying still as if she were a statue, Celeste only peered at him as his own musk entered her nostrils. First, it was the scent of Tojo-Kai. So he was familiar with her lover’s father. Interesting. Secondly, that faint Iga scent of her home really peaked her curiosity.

Opening both eyes fully now as he spoke, she assessed him silently. The patchwork yellow on obsidian base was all too familiar of her uncle’s coloring. ”Are you an Akizora?” She questioned first and foremost as she patted the needle covered ground beside her as if to ask him to join her.

Green eyes peered up at him, though she did not speak at first, and he wasn't about to say more without further prompting. As far as Hage was concerned the ball was in her court, so to speak. When she finally spoke, and in those dulcet tones of his homeland, he regarded her with a curious gaze. Her pelt was not made up of the usual koi splotches, and yet her response indicated she at the very least had knowledge of his family. "I am indeed. Akizora Hageshī, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The formal words fell from his lips with practiced ease. Her invitation to join her did not go unnoticed and he sidled closer to lay beside her, forepaws curling comfortably beneath him as he stared expectantly at her.

Ah. His name is unfamiliar but they are indeed related. “Akizora Seresute,” it had been far too long since her birth given name had been spoken. Her gaze trails him a he comes to lay closer to her. Celeste allows a moment of silence so that she can listen to the small river. Indeed they were cousins, but she wondered why she had never met the boy before. Releasing a quiet hum, she returns her attention back to him. “What brought you here? It appears many from the homeland have escaped to these continents.” Her statement is perhaps not obvious to some, but to him, it should be. There was no coincidence that more and more Nihon wolves were suddenly showing up.

Her given name was unfamiliar to him, but then again there were quite a few of them who left home at a young age just as he had, so he was not entirely surprised. Clearly they were some form of cousins, and that was enough for him. The specifics weren't important. A koi was a koi to him. The silence between them was comfortable for him, and his gaze followed hers to idly watch the river, the trickling of water providing a serene ambiance. Her next words echoed his internal thoughts, and he shrugged with one shoulder, offering up a soft hum as he mulled over how to express verbally to her his reasonings. "I wanted to forge my own path and see more of the world than just where I was born. I cannot say why for everyone else, however." It wasn't as if he had felt stifled or even under too much pressure back home, but he wanted something a bit more in life than the same area where he had been born and raised. "And you?"

Their companionship was comfortable to her as she sat beside him. Gazing at the lazy river running before them, she wondered if she ever would make it back home. Apparently, more than she had realized were leaving. Had things gone south since she had left? It had been a while since she had even thought of home. This was home now to her. "That is a good reason to leave," Celeste muses quietly, her own chin nodding softly before she steels for a moment. Why she had left their homeland had not been spoken verbally before now. She hesitates before contemplating. What would it hurt now? None of them were ever going home so no one would actually find out. "I had been a princess before here. My parents... their kingdom was dying. They needed new blood. More excitement. I wasn't fit enough so they sent me away. I was meant to come here and find someone to bring back," her words are quiet as she kicks at a pebble. When she first arrived, she had forgotten who she even really was. The memories had come back slowly to her, but she had never cared to share them with anyone. It didn't matter anymore.