She left the icky heat of the desert, the girl once again, feeling lonely since she hadn't seen Hyder in some time. What was the deal? Was she just too hyper and friendly that others got annoyed and didn't wanna be her friend anymore or something? Maybe...she was always an excitable thing, even though she hadn't seen her family in a couple of years she didn't let it bother her too much...it was just, lonely. Though it was her heat season, she wasn't at all irritated or upset about it. She had never mated before, had never thought about it, and frankly she didn't even know that she was in heat. All she knew was that she felt funny, and it was because of her distracting thoughts about it, she had gone off course. When she realized it, she had stopped at the base of a mountain that smelled...odd. Was that her? She sniffed herself for a moment. Nope. Not her! So where was it coming from? Peering up at the towering mountain, she could see small bits of burned things floating about in the air, and she was very interested. Scrambling up its side as quickly as she could, it would take her a very long while to reach the top. But once she did, the burning smell grew stronger. Wrinkling her nose, she approached the edge and peered in. Eyes grew as wide as saucers when she saw the lava, it bubbled and gurgled way down below her. It was an amazing sight, and she didn't know what it was...she did know that she wanted to touch it. But how to get down there... "Listen to me talk" 'and know my thoughts.'

The volcano was one place that Aki had yet to explore. It was a challenge, but he had conquered far greater feats than this - and the prospect of an adventure was hard for him to ignore. The brute spent much of the morning scouting at the edge of the forest, where it met the base of the volcano. No wolves had claimed these lands, and especially not the mountain - which in theory would be quite a stupid place to live, but he'd met enough stupid wolves in his time that he wouldn't put it past some of them to try to live in such a dangerous landscape. As soon as he lifted his paws to begin to climb upward, he was too committed to turn back. The mountainous terrain was familiar to him, and though not simple to navigate he was comfortable with the uneven cliffside that he had begun to traverse. His massive paws moved with grace, grappling the rocky slope of the volcano as he moved swiftly from one rock to the next. Despite his alarming size, he was quite graceful with his movements, though he found himself panting slightly as he moved higher in elevation. Despite the slight fatigue he felt setting in, he caught the scent of another wolf nearby. Curious, the massive brute lifted his tusked head to search higher ground. Not quite seeing who the scent belonged to, he would trail after it, taking a moment to catch his breath. It didn't take long for her to come into view, a tiny woman nearly half his height, who looked hardly more than a young woman despite her age which was written plainly in her scent. "See something interesting down there?" he would inquire with a friendly grin, his tail batting behind him as he ambled closer to her. His accent was heavy and undeniable, and though slightly gruff there was no audible malice in his voice. The land seemed to drop off into a rather terrifying abyss below them. Still, he kept a fair distance between them, eyeing her with curiosity. "Long trip up here, mm?"

She jumped slightly at the sound of a deep voice behind her, turning around she saw a huge male with...what were those in his mouth? teeth? Whoa that was cool! Her tail wagged as he got closer, the girl nodding to him. "There's stuff down there that looks like water, but I don't think it's water...it looks and smells different." She turned her attention back to the bubbly, but she finally came to the realization that there probably was no way down there unless she fell. And she didn't feel like falling down there. It was her turn to eye him with curiosity. Purple eyes looked curiously at him, mostly focusing on those teeth of his, but his other question hadn't gone ignored. "Yes, it took me a while to get up here...longer than you I think, because I'm small and you're huge." Yeah, that seemed like a reasonable excuse. Turning to sit away from the heat of the lava, she looked at him for a long moment before the question burst from her mouth. "How did you get such big teeth? I mean, I've never seen anyone with teeth like that and I think it's cool!" "Listen to me talk" 'and know my thoughts.'

The stranger's mannerisms were pleasant; she had an air of innocent about her that he appreciated, and that he could easily feed off of. Tentatively he took a few steps closer, not wanting to startle her, but she seemed as open to company as he was. His grin was genuine, and he found his tail wagging gently as they peered into the abyss together. "It smells.. hot," he noted, his nose wrinkling as he gazed down at the bubbling substance far below. Despite the chill in the air, it seemed that an intense heat emanated from below them - and it was obvious this place was dangerous, despite its otherwise interesting qualities. A joyful laugh escaped his throat at her next comment, though the sound was gruff. "You have a speed advantage," Áki would note aloud, his voice inquisitive - his Finnish accent audible as he spoke a bit more to her. "I am likely not as quick on my paws as you are. Though perhaps my stamina is greater.." he shrugged absently. He was not the most graceful of wolves, though he was used to strenuous and trying journeys, and the one he had made up the volcano had been far from the most difficult he'd embarked on. Her comment about his teeth seemed to slip out unwittingly, and he snorted again with laughter. "I was born this way, just like you," he explained it away quickly. "My name is Áki, by the way - what's yours?" he would question, his head cocked to the side as he eyed her.

Hot? Her eyes widened as she peered back down, she hadn't thought about that. Now that he mentioned it, it was too hot around here for the season it was. Taking a deep sniff, her snout wrinkled at the unwelcome scent of heat and ash. Yucky. Purple and blueish gaze eyed him with straight curiosity, her? Fast? Maybe. She hadn't thought about it, but she did get around alot. There were too many places to see and so little time to do it. Her tail wagged, paws nearly dancing in place when she listened to him laugh. "Weelll...we could always race and find out!" She giggled at the idea. When he told her he was born with those teeth, her look almost gave away her shock...Okay, maybe it did give it away. It was written all over her face. She never knew that wolves could be born with such huge teeth, they reminded her of the curved canines that sat inside the mouths of mountain lions, but she hadn't dared venture any closer to compare size with the big cats. They were too mean. "Huh...who would have thought!" When he introduced his name, her tail wagged even harder. Did this mean they could be friends!? She bounced up to her feet, tail wagging madly behind her as a huge smile found its way through. "Aki! I'm Ashelia! But you can call me Ashe if you wanna." "Listen to me talk" 'and know my thoughts.'

If Áki was good at anything, it was living in the moment, in the now. It was easy to feed off the energy that was emanated by others, and to shift his demeanor accordingly. This woman was carefree, perhaps to the point of being childish, but it brought a smile to his face nonetheless. Being serious all the time was far too boring - life was meant to live, to enjoy, and he was happy to be around others who understood that like he did.  "Perhaps we'd better race when we make it back to the ground," he suggested with a teasing snort.  "I wouldn't want you pushing me down there," he would joke, gesturing to the pool of lava below. It was unlikely the smaller girl could actually push her in, but it didn't stop him from joking about it. The brute was content to shrug away all conversation regarding his tusks, or teeth, or whatever they were. Only when he'd come to Alacritia had it become a focus of conversation, a strange thing for him, though things here were.. definitely quite different. "Well, Ashe, it is a pleasure to have met you,"   he spoke earnestly as he moved a few steps away from her, his crimson gaze sweeping the rocky terrain he had found himself in. "Perhaps you'd be inclined to join me for a bit longer?" he suggested with a slight tilt of his head. "I feel like exploring a bit more of this place."

Her tail wagged as she watched the cat toothed male, dual hued eyes brimming with delight. She bounced on her paws at the suggestion of a race when they got to the bottom of the mountain, a challenge! A fun challenge! And she would accept! "Yes Yes Yes!!! Let's do it!" She giggled, then her demeanor would shift to a little frightened at his mentioning of her pushing him down that huge, fiery filled hole. Rapidly her head would shake, tail abruptly stopping. "No no no! I wouldn't, and even if I could, I probably couldn't! You're big, and I'm small. I don't think I could make you even budge!" Oh god why! Things went over her head much too often, poor little girl. Though she was full of naivete, it never stopped her from thinking twice, saying everything that came to mind and her pushing him in was definitely something she wouldn't do...compared to him, she was a chihuahua and he the great dane. She tilted her head at the male, admiring his girth and his accent. It was an odd one, but she liked it! "It is nice meeting you too! I like meeting new friends!" Her tail would wag again, watching him with earnest when he moved. Stay with him huh? Like an exploration buddy? Yes yes, that sounded like a great idea! Her expression would show much delight, a wide smile growing. "Oh! I'd love to! It's been a long time since I've had anyone to explore with, where do you wanna go?" She had so many questions swimming in her head now, especially if they were going to be exploring together! And maybe he could even be her guardian, or body guard, or just scare away the bad guys. Not that she ever thought about those, because hello mega blonde moments. But she wanted to get to know him, where he was from and why his voice sounded funny. Maybe it was too rude to ask right now though. "Listen to me talk" 'and know my thoughts.'

A joyous chuckle, loud and full of mirth, escaped his jaws at her excitement. Her naivety was endearing, though he was certain he couldn't spend too long with her before growing.. exhausted at her constant childish wonder. There was time for seriousness, and time to reflect and be somber - and he wasn't sure she had the ability to do either of those things. Still, it was enjoyable today, and he decided he didn't mind spending today with her. "We'll save the race for another day then," he explained, winking at her, slightly dramatically.  "For now, let's make our way down this hill. It's a bit warm for me up here." His coat was thick from surviving the harsh winters of the north; this volcano was simply too damn hot for him. And calling it a hill was a drastic understatement. The brute nearly laughed at himself for calling it such.  "Maybe we can find something interesting to distract us." Offering his new friend an inviting smile, he would back away from the sharp drop to the pool of lava, beginning to move down the volcano's side. He'd been on more treacherous journeys, but it was dangerous still - the landscape was uneven and rocky, and unpredictable in some spots - and his gaze would fix on her as he waited for her to join him.