The breeze carried a soothing song for the flaming girl. Something new, something hers, something no one else could hear. Leaving behind the gaggle of kids and smell of corpses Araxina bounced up to a solid wall. Bricks laid with intention grabbed her attention. This was not made by the land, no, the land came in layers. Layers and patterns and uneven lines. These lines... They were far too perfect.

The scents that mingled between the places where the wall had crumbled were varied and rich. Wolves and prey alike would leap through these holes in the wall. She scrambled up on a tumbled stone. The unnatural stone crumbled under her paws near the edges. She noticed it reacted like a hard packing of soil, Interesting, a lot like the edge of their den.

She wondered who she might across out here so close to the borders of her home.

She walked along the unnatural structure, without much else on her mind. She listened to how her feet crunched on the dirt. Strategically placing attempting to place her paws on the ‘crunchiest’ parts. She was smiling to herself, an emotion she wouldn’t dare show around others. It seemed almost peaceful and serene.

She was studying the strange structure. It seemed almost too perfect, like it had been placed here on purpose. Natural structures did not have such straight grooves with predictable shapes, as she walked along the structure she glanced through the occasional hole. Studied how thin the rock seemed to be, well at least compered to rocks structures she had seen in the past.

The sound of crumbling jerked her out of her peaceful trance and she stopped suddenly. Her face falling into its ever familiar neutral expression and her head shooting up to search for the source of the sound.

When her eyes fell upon the source she almost chuckled to herself, if not for the years of carefully calculated calmness she probably would have. It was just a pup! A uniquely coloured little creature. She glanced around, searching for the little one’s guardian and her ears twitched in confusion. Back home the little ones were never left unattended. Where was this one’s keeper?

She approached to a safe distance and cleared her throat, attempting the get the fiery creature’s attention, ”What on earth are you doing here unattended?” Her voice had instinctively fallen into a calm but authoritative tone. Perhaps it had come from the times when she herself had been a keeper of pups back home. Caring for the little one was not a job she enjoyed, but it was one she took seriously.

*Added for Na points

Navigator – Explored a new land (The Wall) - 1/3
Intellect – Met someone new (Araxina) – 1/3

Xina scrambled up to a taller piece, a small flock of her mother's ravens circled in the sky high above her. They would be showing the pack her position. She couldn't get into that much trouble out here, could she? The other side of the wall was not that much different than this side. Rolling plains of short grasses and low ground cover clung to the terrain.

The wet spring had made the soil spongy and soft, and small drifts of snow still clung to the shadows of the north side of the wall. Hmmm... She wondered why the snow clung here so readily, was the sun high enough to melt it? It wasn't like it was sheltered by mountains, not like the polar sound was. Would this snow cling here all the time?

Suddenly she heard from above a clearing of a throat and words that turned the girl's nose to a wrinkling curl. Eyes of molten gold flashed at the disruption and surprise. A calculated gaze observed the adult with a suspicious tone. Who was this woman to order her about? She had her mama's ravens and her dad's hawk looking out for her. She recalled her mother's lessons... Perception, everything was seen through the lens of their own perceptions.

She shrugged at the lady then, as if to say she didn't know and didn't care. What would be her reaction then?

A gentle growl rumbled through Valkeyrie’s throat, her eyes glancing at the sky as various winged creatures circled above the youngster. Most likely planning on making a meal of the little creature. The fact that the pup at simply shrugged at her inspired a sort of anger at the disrespect that she was not prepared to tolerate, but she would deal with it in a gentle manner. After all children were partial to disrespect. It was how they tested boundaries, how they learnt what was right and what was wrong.

She leapt down from her position to stand next to the youngling, hoping her adult size would scare off the birds that seemed to be intent on making the creature their lunch. If the little one was going to ignore her question then she too would ignore the little one. Her body returning to a neutral expression as she stood close to the child as a protector. She would remain with the youngster until someone came to attend to her. She was sure a parent or caregiver would come looking for the little one in time. After all her scent did give away that she belonged to someone.

As she had leapt, she landed on the wet and soggy ground, the mud soaking in between her toes. She glanced around, it was clear the land was in early spring. Small mounds of snow hid from the coming heat close to the base of the wall. She was sure the wet ground came from the mounds of snow that had not been lucky enough to hid from the sun. The overnight temperatures were still below freezing, a fact that had most likely kept the snow present for so long.

*Added for Nav points

Navigator – Explored a new land (The Wall) - 2/3
Intellect – Met someone new (Araxina) – 2/3

The lady had gotten down off the wall and stood far too close to Araxina for comfort. So she hopped up onto another stone, enough to pull herself up on the thin ridge of the wall. She saw that it wove into a pattern that at least followed the dips and twists of the land. It was like a strange tall snake that weaved its way across the landscape in both directions, behind and before her. With a huff she began walking carefully along the ledge, tip-toeing the line and testing her balance. She looked southward, beyond the wall, and saw a smattering of figures in various clumps. Herds perhaps of sheep, and deer and maybe caribou. Would there be any rabbits or squirrels around here?

She looked along the ground, there weren't any trees so maybe not any squirrels. She could see a thick clump of trees and a vast flat land beyond, it looked dirty and without any grass.

The lady was still close.
She thought of how her mother would have handled a stranger. She narrowed her eyes at the lady and wondered if she could finess it as well as Absinth could.

She gave the woman a daring mischievous smile, before tilting her body right over the other side of the wall, as if in a comical deadfall. She flipped into a landing on all fours just on the other side and out of sight. With a squeal of nigh demonic delight, she bolted along the base of the wall, every few steps bouncing off the sheer face of it.

She bounced off the wall and twisted to face the direction she had come from. Did the lady follow? The ravens did.

Explored a new land - The Wall (3/3)

The child’s mischievous smile caught Val somewhat off-guard and she cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner. Before she could say anything though the child flung herself off the wall. Val’s heart caught in her throat as she rushed forwards, catching a glimpse of the child running off. She gritted her teeth, annoyed that the child had pulled such a prank yet she was familiar with children and their… playfulness. With a flick of her ears she dove over the wall to follow the child.

She was easily able to keep pace, she allowed some distance between herself and the pup to let the pup think she was winning. It was always good to build a child’s confidence and she did not want the pup to think she was weak. She watched the birds out of the corner of her eye, astounded that they were still following the pup. Honestly her focus was more on the birds than it was on the child, watching to make sure the birds did not try to take a sudden chance while they were on the move.

It took Val a moment before she realized the child had come to a sudden stop. She tried to stop but ended up skidding through the dirt towards the child. A cloud of dust forming in her wake as she tried to stop herself. Her focus no longer on the birds.

This side of the wall seemed a bit less wet, probably due to the sun beating down on it more than it had the other side. The breeze that she felt was even felt warmer and she was sure that it came from the south, if she was correct that was where the warmth was. Perhaps it was so cold on the other side of the wall because it blocked the warm breeze? It was an interesting thought.

*Added for Nav points

Navigator – Explored a new land (The Wall) - 3/3
Intellect – Met someone new (Araxina) – 3/3