Resignation or Liberation? …Farewell and Encounter…

Vanta's crystalline gaze squinted open a sliver as a voice called out in reply, one that was as strange to her ears as the scent was to her nose, and clearly more aged then the puppy she'd encountered in the red woods. She could not look upon the woman's form long before the bright light of day swelled the pain too high, her eyes squeezing shut tighter than they were before. "Thank you." Vanta murmured uncomfortably to the compliment, her rear paw reaching backward to draw herself a step back away.

Something about the tenor in the old woman's voice and the grin that split her jaws had Vanta's instincts screaming, and though she'd been raised better than to abandon an aged and lonely wolf, this stranger lacked the gentle warmth she had come to expect from the elderly. "My name is Vanta, my parents are nearby." The pup lied cautiously in return. She was breaking the rules, but she was not about to let this stranger know as much. Vanta's soft heart gave a squeeze of fear and indecision, her kind nature and willingness to help others was warring with the prickling feeling upon her crystalline nape. "Do you need help with something? Are you hungry, or hurt?" She tried to open her eyes a crack once more, shading them with her paw.