Made to run for our lives
05-08-2021, 11:23 AM
Pale feet carried her into the steaming pools of water with a pleased sigh. She walked further into the hot spring pool until she was able to settle down onto her stomach and have the warm water come up to her neck. Her paws were worn nearly raw from travel and her legs and muscles ached from the constant, rigorous training she had been doing to get her body back to the form it had once been in. There was progress being made, distance being put between herself and her past, but it was a long, grueling process. She wasn't often one to stop and rest, but when she happened across these hot springs she decided it was as good a reason to force herself to pause. If nothing else her coat was sorely in need of a bath with the pale, dappled tones being coated in grime from the miles she had crossed and her legs splattered with mud from the unseasonal thaw.
She found a rock that jutted out from the surface of the water and scooted toward it so that she could rest her head on it to fully relax. She wouldn't close her eyes and her ears were still very much alert to listen for anyone approaching, but her body at least was loose and enjoying the warmth seeping into her bones. She let a slow sigh out through her nose, her mind working and thinking in the momentary downtime. She needed a plan. She had scented a few different packs as she worked her way through the lands near by, but it was impossible to tell how one stacked up against another. It tempted her to simply walk up to their borders and start questioning them about their pack and their ways, but how was she to know if they were the sort to attack on sight or if they would try to take her captive? There was no distinguishing marks from their borders to warn her one way or another. At least the outright violent, bloodthirsty pack near her family's had the decency to hang heads from the trees near their territory as a warning.
Her toes worked and flexed against the bottom of the pool as she began to work through her thoughts, slowly rolling her shoulders with a grimace as she tried to stretch out a knot in her muscles. At least it was summer and the weather was making a turn for the better so if she didn't join up with one of the packs she wouldn't be in that bad of a spot. The lands around here seemed plentiful enough with prey. But did she want that? Without the structure and tasks to keep her focused what was she training for? She frowned with a huff. No, she needed to find a new home. Getting back to her family was a lost cause at this point so she just needed to keep trudging forward and see where she landed.
