5 feet apart

The stranger greeted her politely enough, though his next words brought something of a sad smile to her face. She had been having a lot of those days lately that were a bit much, but she was learning and growing into her role as a leader. While they may not have much, her band did have each other despite some of their bonds being newer than others. It was the sudden and vicious loss of her brother that seemed to hold her in a vice made of despair and misplaced aggression. It wasn't the stranger's fault that she ran down this rabbit hole in her mind, his words had resonated a bit more deeply than perhaps had been intended. "I have had a bit of a year, actually. I am not sure warm water could wash away my woes." No, grief seemed as if it liked her just a bit too much.

Maybe it was some sort of curse, losing her family in reckless genocide on her first birthday, losing her brother so close to her second birthday. It was enough to make a wolf's head spin, though Atreyu did her best to hide these feelings from the tri-colored pup. Wanting to change the subject off of her sadness and hardships, the spotted dire woman smiled and nodded as he remarked he was testing the waters. "I wonder what makes the water bubble like that, do you suppose it's some kind of chemical reaction?" She would definitely not be putting herself in these waters, if that was the case. Looking over the pup, she subtly scented him as well, wondering where he had come from - judging by the scents that clung to his pelt he belonged to a pack. Being relatively new to the land had its downsides, not knowing the packs by scent was one of them. Perhaps, one day she would get to know each of them, for now she had to focus on her own band. Holographic eyes meet the mismatched red and green with her question, curiosity plain in her expression.

"Talk." || Think || 'Hear.'