Ara was all too familiar with wondering, with hoping and dreaming of what might come tomorrow. There was no turning back time, and though she had some regret she knew that dwelling on it did little good. Moving forward was the only thing that made things easier. Never easy persay, just more bearable. A heavy sigh fell from her lips as she moved, wishing she could leave her thoughts behind for more than a few moments at a time these days.
Her posture revealed more of her mood than she realized. Her tail hung limply between her hind legs, and her shoulders hunched forward, head low to the ground. Each step was somber, slow and lazy. Though she caught whiff of multiple scents that might be of interest.. the redwood trees had quite a unique scent, and she swore she smelled freshly budding lavender somewhere nearby. But even more indistinguishable was the scent of a stranger, hitting her rather suddenly. Only vaguely curious, Ara's head lifted slightly, nostrils flaring as she searched for the source of it so it wouldn't catch her by surprise.
She was still surprised when he finally entered her vision, somewhere to the side of her, only partially in the direction she'd been heading. Her pace came to an abrupt halt as she slowly turned to face him, a brief look of confusion crossing her features. He looked nearly as surprise as she did, though she felt very much like she was the one that had been caught by surprise. "Oh!" Ara would exclaim, her voice soft, as she assessed the stranger. "Hello there." It took a long moment for her to force a smile - it felt far more difficult than she had anticipated.
