She was finally wandering back to Imperium after sparring at the battlefield and then heckling the Abaven alpha, her body pleasantly tired and sore, and her mind restful. She was feeling good, full of energy still though it was finally tamped down to a manageable level, and as she trotted along her tail wove back and forth, the rhythm almost hypnotic as she moved. She was, surprisingly, looking forward to returning to her pack. She hadn't had any sort of respect for authority since she'd lost herself from Tortuga. After all, her mother hadn't come for her, and her mother's alpha Taurig hadn't even given her disappearance a thought, and it had taken Cascade a year to finally make her way back. Alone, with no help. Still Valen seemed different somehow. The part of Cascade that was an incurable cynic was just waiting for him to fuck up, but the truth was that she enjoyed spending time with the tall dark boy. Fleetingly she wondered what would happen when Valen finally got himself hitched to someone, but a grin quirked her muzzle at that. She'd just have to make sure anyone who ended up with her Valen was good enough, and by good enough she meant crazy enough to fit in with the rest of them, and who'd treat Valen right. And by right she meant... well, you got the picture. The sleek Saxe paused for a break, dropping her haunches to the ground beneath a tree, the rest of her body following in a boneless and content flop. Good a place as any for a break, eh? ""

 

The monochromatic boy didn’t know what brought him wandering back, away from the island that was his chosen prison. Maybe it was his unexpected neighbor. The island was big enough for them to live in relative isolation but they were bound to run into each other after a time and then he’d feel obligated to converse with the clearly pregnant woman and that had not been what he wanted. He almost felt the need to watch out for her, she seemed to be alone and that heavy with pups he was worried for her, again not the isolation he had envisioned for himself.

So it was that he took frequent trips to the mainland, seeking the old haunts he had stalked when he had been younger. The willows were just as he remembered, the snow clinging to the ground mirroring the first day he had wandered here… not that he would allow himself to dwell on that day, one more face he hoped to erase from his memory accompanied it.

Long slender legs carried him with his accustomed ease, the snow doing little to hinder his progress. He stopped beside a tree, the draping branches offering a sort of curtain, cutting off any full view of the world outside it’s circle. A dark shape moved near the base of a tree just a bit ahead of him and despite himself he felt curiosity. Pushing through the branches his hazel gaze searched. She was blocked by her own partition of foliage but there was no mistaking the shape of a wolf and Soren silently cursed himself, unsure what to do. Had she spotted him? 

image by Trynx

 

Oh dear, it seemed she had spotted him. Her muzzle swung to point the boy's way, head cocking to the side curiously. "Hello," she called out, without a thought as to who the boy could be or what he was doing there. Not that she ever really did care that much about who she spoke to... she wasn't picky about her companions, not when everyone was as bad as the next. Only a few had managed to elevate themselves to more than that in her mind, but she saw no reason to treat anyone badly for something they really had no control over. Easing herself to her feet she wandered over to the young man to capture him - figuratively speaking - before he could take off. He looked to be that sort. "What are you up to? Bit of a vacation out in the willow trees eh?" Her teeth flashed whitely against her ebony muzzle as she grinned at him. "What's your name, kid? I'm Cascade." He wasn't a kid - hell he might be older than her, they were close enough in age that she couldn't tell - but the way he hesitated induced her to heckle him about it a bit. Just for funsies. ""