When There's Something Strange In Your Neighborhood... [AW]

Emerald eyes flashed as the woman blinked against the harsh light of the setting sun. The blazing colours were brilliant to behold, but the glare of the sun forced her to tilt her head earthbound, even through the cover of trees. Even so, with the brightness overhead, the shadows were growing longer the further the sun dipped, and in their darkness crept a mysterious chill, in spite of the lingering heat from the day. There was something inherently eerie about these woods, and Sterling realized now that it was why she'd never stepped foot here. She'd only come here today to distract her mind, to keep herself busy - and with the gnawing wariness she was beginning to feel as her surroundings seemed to repeat themselves, she knew she'd be occupied finding her way out of here tonight, if not out-running phantoms. Yet still, for the moment, it weighed on her mind that she hadn't been back to Talis, hadn't seen her sister, or her parents, in such a long time, and she hadn't even told them why; she hadn't told them she was leaving in the first place. Not just her immediate family, but her entire pack, including her Alpha. Fear had kept her from approaching their borders, even though she had lingered in Auster for some time now.

As she glanced around at her slowly dimming environment, she was beginning to wonder if her fears of the dark secrets these woods held would begin to outweigh her fears of returning to Talis. Maybe she should have just tried it, instead of running and keeping her distance. She shook her head, chiding herself internally, but her self-scolding was interrupted when the young woman spotted a vaguely familiar form against the blazing light of the sun and the blackness of the shadows. The frame of the massive and somewhat intimidating (in Sterling's bold opinion) she-wolf blended with the burning colours of the sunset glaring through the trees. She froze, catching her breath as though preparing to hide, her body urging her to blend just as well with the shadows and disappear. Another wolf, darker in colour, made his appearance from the darkness, calling out to Pyralis.

This was her chance to make an exit - slowly lowering her dull gray body to the ground, she prepared to slink away, turning her head to peer into the woods behind her. But suddenly, Sterling dug her nails into the ground, and turned back to where Pyralis and the other wolf were. She knew she wasn't going to find her way out of these woods by going back the way she'd come. Even if Pyralis was a wolf that made her uncomfortable in a way she couldn't explain, Sterling knew that she was better off with others, than trying to navigate the maze-like, haunted forest on her own. So she took a deep breath, straightened herself out, and sauntered over to the two, her eyes mostly fixed on the female. "Um.. hey, hi," she began awkwardly, then tried to force herself to sound just a little more confident - she shouldn't be showing so much fear amongst strangers, "We've met before,
uh, at the waterfalls not far from here." Then she glanced to the male, figuring she ought to introduce herself. "I'm Sterling," she said, tail shifting as she now glanced between the two wolves, waiting and wondering how this evening would turn out.