teach me gently how to breathe

It was nearly the end of autumn, but this was a fiery season that did not go down without a fight. Unfortunately for Solveiga, that meant finding yourself surrounded by blistering desert sands on one of the hottest days of the season. Her coat was not thick, and she was small, so she knew it could be worse. But the sun still seemed to glare at her from its throne in the sky, and today she glared right back. Solveiga was a quiet girl, gentle in nature, but even she had her limits. Her paws were aching from the hot sand and she needed a drink.

As she walked, her mind was idle, which was never a good thing. It meant thinking of her brother. Where was he? Would she ever see him again? She imagined him somewhere, with the wife and family he always dreamed of having. All to himself. His little sister was never in the picture, apparently. The small female gave a huff and kicked at some sand, but she perked her ears suddenly as she saw it trickle downward into what she had thought was an empty valley between sand dunes. Instead she saw trees at the bottom, scattered around a small pool that glittered in the sun.

"Thank goodness," she whispered to herself as she quickly trotted down toward the water, looking all about for strangers, just in case. But the coast was clear, so she let herself approach the edge, the cool ground near the water bringing relief to her tired feet as she dipped her head down to drink. It had been a long year without him. But she was surviving. It was time she moved on and found a life of her own.

Exploring was one of her favorite things to do. Going to new places always had meant learning something new and sometimes even finding something or someone new. She enjoyed it and it was a great way to pass the time by. Having recently come to the lands of Ardent and finding her extended family in the territory of the Celestial. She had joined the pack with her brother and now she was taking a few days out of pack territory to explore the lands and become familiar with surrounding territories and packs. She had gained some knowledge from her pack about the neighboring packs and the general lay of Ardent. Upon entering the desert she took her time to search the border for any scent of claim. When she was sure she wasn't trespassing the female smiled and moved forward. Her smooth movements took her through the sea of hot sand. Having a darker coat and a thicker coat since she was used to the North, it did not take the female long before she had begun to pant. The thick fur on between her paw pads were helping to keep her feet from blistering in the hot sand, but it made her feel all the more uncomfortable. Even though her pack was in the west, it was not near this hot in their territory. It was comfortable, but this place was almost unbearable.

Huffing the female slowed her pace trying to keep her energy conserved while she searched for any form of shelter from the heat. She should have stayed clear of the west, but her curiosity had drawn her here. Without checking things out how in the world would she have known that she was not suited for this environment. With a slight whine she pushed on, the hot sun beating down her back and her panting becoming faster as she tried to keep herself cool. This was not working out at all! Although if she could just find some shaded shelter she could wait until nightfall when it would be much cooler. Quickening her pace she felt as though she could smell water, hopefully her head wasn't playing tricks on her. It took her a few more moments before she crested the dune and down below was the spot she was looking for. Wagging her tail she made her descend, hurrying to get to the water to cool herself off. Her eyes caught sight of a pale coated wolf already soaking it's paws in the water.

She moved under one of the palm trees calming her pants so that she could speak. She wanted to make sure it wouldn't be a bother to the stranger if she took a dip to cool off.

"May I share the water? I really need to cool off," she asked before panting again and waited for an answer.

teach me gently how to breathe

Solveiga sighed gently in relief as the water from the pool made wet her hot, dry tongue. In fact, it felt like the water cooled her entire body as it went down her throat. Finally, thirst nearly quenched, she prepared to lift her head. It was then that a voice from beneath a palm tree broke through the silence and made her flinch. Her heart went wild for a brief moment, because she hadn't been expecting anyone and somehow hadn't heard them approach. But they sounded very friendly, so she was sure she had nothing to worry about. Her baby blue eyes searched for the source of the voice and found another woman in the shade, her fur thick and dark and Solveiga certainly did not envy her for that. Not in this kind of weather.

"Absolutely," she replied, stepping further into the water herself to cool off her back paws. "You're free to do as you please. Go ahead and cool off, that dark coat probably isn't treating you well today." Honestly, Solveiga was a bit surprised at herself. That was a very lengthy greeting by her standards. She was getting a lot better at this conversation thing.

Her reply had been a much needed relief for Acapella and she moved over to the water and waded in. Immediately she felt relief from the heat and it felt so cool compared to the hot rays of the sun. She shouldn't have wandered into these parts and just stuck close to the pack, but her curiosity got the best of her once more. She laid down in the shallow water allowing her dark coat to become soaked and she enjoyed the relief she felt.

"No, your right this dark coat is not treating me real kindly in this territory," she replied before looking to the light colored female. "I'm Acapella Adravendi and thank you again for sharing the water."

Curious as to where she had come from, where she was going, and even if she was a member of someone's pack. Acapella refrained from asking to many questions for now, still unsure if the female was even up for having some company, or if she wanted to enjoy the water in silence. Either way Acapella was more then happy to do whatever the female pleased. It was the least she could do for being friendly enough to share the cool waters.

OOC: I know we technically started this thread before Solveiga became a Celestial member, but let's just say that it takes place later, and then she and Acapella can meet each other as packmates for the first time :)

She watched with a slightly amused smile as the darkly colored woman waded into the water and visibly seemed to relax from the coolness the water granted her. "Better? Solveiga asked with a gentle laugh. She padded a little closer and settled on the shore of the little oasis, her tongue escaping her mouth a bit as she began to pant a little. Good heavens, it was hot. Maybe she could afford to take a dip herself. She was seriously considering doing so when the stranger spoke up, giving her name. Solveiga pricked her ears a bit with recognition. Adravendi? "Are you of any relation to Regulus Adravendi?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. How interesting that would be. The family must be quite large, with all of the relatives the crimson male had managed to mention during their walk to the territory that day she first joined. He had many younger siblings, and his mother and father all in Celestial alone. Who knew where else the bloodline had spread?

As her dark coat soaked up the water she felt consistent relief. It felt really nice and it was cooling her down fairly easily. Her ears perked as the female spoke up again and she smiled her tail wagging underneath the water.

"Much better, I wasn't expecting it to be this hot today," she replied with a smile.

She then asked her if she was related to Regulus. She must have met him before to be asking that question.

"Yes I am he would be......... Let me think a second here," she stated as she let her mind run through what was his relation.

Thinking it through with how her father used to explain it she could remember that Surreal was her second cousin. Regulus was her son which would make him her third cousin.

"He is my third cousin with how my father explained it," she replied. "Have you met him before I'm assuming?"

She was curious if she was a friend of his, from a different pack maybe? Either way Acapella was open to getting to know this women and maybe she could even make a new friend.

It took a moment for the woman to think about how she was related to Regulus, which made Solveiga chuckle. Yes, their family must be very large. Nothing like the small family unit Solveiga had been raised in. Throughout her childhood it had only ever been her and her brother, with their mother raising them alone. She wondered what it must be like to have so many other wolves share in your bloodline. She imagined it would be nice. It would feel like you always had a support system in times of trouble, which is exactly what Solveiga missed during these past months after her brother abandoned her. But she had a support system now. Celestial. Her pack was her new family. After her moment of thought, Acapella said that Regulus was her third cousin, and Solveiga nodded with interest. "Yes, I've met him," she said with a chuckle. "Actually, the day we met he convinced me to join his pack, and I'm so glad that he did," Solveiga said, rising to her feet and deciding to wade into the water a bit after all. Ah, yes, that felt a lot better. She smiled as the water cooled her body temperature, and as she got closer she realized that she knew the scent on the fur of the other woman. "Oh, you're from Celestial too? I guess we hadn't met yet, small world isn't it?"

She smiled at her words knowing that Regulus would continue to be a fine leader for the pack. She had only seen Surreal's range for a short few days before the first pack meeting had been called and the throne was handed to him. She was rather impressed by how he was running things so far and had high hopes for him to continue to succeed. By what this female had stated, he was already reeling in new blood to the pack and this was vary good, the pack needed more members.

"Well welcome to Celestial, it's always wonderful to have new faces around," she said with a smile, her tail again wagging within the water.

She waded in further and Acapella smiled, even for a fair skinned women this heat had to be rough on her so she was glad that she was joining her in the water. The next words made Acapella laugh, amused by what Sol had said. Indeed it was a vary small world.

"So are you liking the pack so far? Who all have you met?" she asked curious of what she thought of everything.

The cream colored girl smiled at the warm welcome she was given. "Thank you," she said, and when asked if she was liking her new home so far she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I love it. I've met a few so far, including you, Báine, Kavdaya, and Laisrén," Solveiga couldn't help chuckling at the memory of that particular encounter. Pups were so cute, and so fun to be around. "I've seen many others in meetings, but I have not met with them personally," she said. The water continued to relieve her from the heat, so she walked around in the shallows and let the water move around her. "How long have you been in Celestial?" she asked softly. Normally Solveiga was perfectly fine with silence, but she knew some found it to be awkward so she tried to stimulate conversation when she could.