WHOOOOOOOSH! The sound of the erupting geyser vibrated through the surrounding air and spread far and wide. Even those wolves near the Wall that seperated the North from the grassy plains of Alacritis could hear it from the wide distance. For the ones who were in the same vacinity of the geyser, Lord only knows they hoped to keep their ears attached to their craniums. The only one who didn't seem bothered by the loud eruption was Eria. She wasn't one of those wolves that intended on riding the shooting spout of water, but that didn't stop her from visualizing it. Eria had been a member of Glaciem for a short while, but she was already starting to love it. Her training hadn't begun yet, but she knew that once it did, her playful antics would die down. Growing up meant that some parts of her life had to be put aside for the appropriate times. It was a sad concept, but she accepted it all the same. As she stopped to watch the water descend, she sniffed the air around it and then walked closer to it. A part of her brain was telling her to stay away, but her natural curiosity took over, as always. Cautious steps were taken until she was two meters away from the base of the geyser. She heard a rumbling and felt a rough vibration beneath her paws, and her eyes began to widen in slight fear. "Ohhhhh sh-" she said, only to be cut off by the next WHOOOOOOOOSH!! that erupted through the air. Water that fell away from the rising water reached Eria and her hind flank. It felt like a hot rod iron, causing her to yelp and run from it. Where she was running to, she didn't know. Who she might run into, she had no idea! All she thought about was the pain from the sudden strike of hot water and how she had to get away from it. Speech,

The loud wooshing noises made him curious as to the origin of the sound. He had never heard anything quite like it. He was quite unsure of what he would find as he let his large paws carry him closer to the origin of the uproar. His eyes were graced with the answer even before he would have guessed. A large column of water was suddenly thrust into the sky yards ahead of him. He startled a bit and jumped back a pace before he realized he was not in any danger yet. He was sure if he was much closer the spray would reach him. He shook his head before he started walking again, determined to find a better vantage point. He had to observe these odd phonemes. Before he got but a few strides another pillar was let loose, this time a bit closer. He startled again, but this time he was hit by something. He heard a yelp before he was barreled into ad he unintentionally let his own squeal loose. Kypsis was sure he had been hit by something a lot worse than pretty she wolf. He had no time to think though because as soon as she hit him he felt his body being ripped from his feet. He was tangled into the other wolf and he found himself in extremely close proximity to her on the rough ground. Well.... um.. hello.

Well, it was obvious that she didn't pay attention to what was in front of her. Landing into an unknown male was the obvious reason for that observation. The impact that came from hitting him caused her mind to focus, even though it was a late reaction. Once the air had stopped holding them up and they landed on the ground, Eria had recovered from the pain of the geyser's hot water. She looked over her left shoulder to see where the throbbing still resided. Lucky for her, there wasn't any burning of her fur, leaving her rump intact. A sigh escaped Eria as she felt relief from knowing that she wasn't bald on her bum. When the stranger talked to her, her ears perked and she slowly turned her head. Surprise crossed her face and she immediately rose to all four paws. Her tail flicked behind her with a tense wave as she sniffed him. Since they were in such close proximity, it didn't take much of a whiff to know that he wasn't a part of her past's horrors. With that mentally settled, she slowly relaxed and a smile crossed her face. "Hello to you, too..." She shyly looked to see him in a position that made him look awkward and realized it was her fault. A soft gasp escaped her mouth and she raised a paw to her lips. "I am so sorry!" she hastily apologized. "I didn't mean to run into you the way I did. That geyser.." she gave a glare to the direction of the cascading water, "some of its water slashed my rump and my first reaction was to run." Speech,

Her attention couldn't have been farther from him as she ran him down, even after their collision all she could do was check herself out. Maybe she hadn't even noticed that she had collided with him. There had to have been something wrong, she was paying much to little attention to her surroundings for nothing to be the matter. As he said her name she was able to fid her paws once again, still seemingly unaware of what she had caused. He could tell that she was not part of a pak just by her scent, as she did with him. He realized he was in quite an awkward spot, and mimicking her movements he brought his feet back underneath him. Suddenly it was as though her eyes had been opened and an apology flooded his ears. Suddenly his theory was proven true, she had been incredibly distracted by what was going on around her. The geysers that had been erupting had managed to spill some of the scalding water. She'd been lucky to escape with all of herself intact, that water was incredibly hot. His fae held a look of oer for her, ut he was reassured that she was fine. Don't worry too much, I'm just glad you weren't hurt by the water. As you know it's pretty hot. He smiled at her before continuing with his introduction, My name is Kypsis, and it's a pleasure running into you.

His express of concern caught Eria offguard. They had just made introductions and he was saying he was glad she was okay? Weird. Eria wasn't used to having someone else show compassion towards her. However, she let her inner conscious sniff at the new emotion and welcomed it after a few seconds. The external result was another few wags of her tail and her face recovering from the shock of the accident. "Thank you for being considerate," she said, reclining to her haunches as she kept her gaze with his. She couldn't help but smile as she thumped her tail against the snow that seemed to fly with each beat to the ground. "I'm happy that it wasn't worse, because I knew it could be, knowing how clumsy I am at times." There was a glint in her light ocean blue gaze and she perked her ears as she waited to see if he would speak again. He did; he revealed his name. Eria nodded and said, "The pleasure is all mine. Nice to meet you, Kypsis. My name is Eria...short and sweet, I suppose." Speech,

He watched her visibly recover from their collision, a smile found its way to her pretty maw. He kept his own welcoming smile glad that she felt so comfortable around him, he mirrored her action and let his tail wag happily. He let his haunches sink to the ground, relaxing a bit with her. She kept her gaze on him, and he let her have a soft one in return. He knew he should have been born a girl, there wasn't a tough bone in his body. He cared for strangers so much it could be considered a fault, and trust was something he handed out freely. Hopefully that personality trait would not get him in trouble some day. She nodded in approval of his name, and he glad to hear her reply with her own. She was called Eria, it was as delightful as a name as she was as a wolf. He smiled brighter at hearing it, "Short and sweet it may be, but beautiful too." He leaned in to give emphasis on his last words, for it was true. She had a lovely name. "What brings you all the way out here anyway?" He asked because he wasn't quite sure why he had arrived at this particular location. Maybe there would be some easier prey to catch. With the winter looming over them most of his food sources were sleeping the winter out.

"Well, thank you, Kypsis!" she said brightly, letting the commpliment fall upon burning ears. She didn't mind having a few sweet words directed towards her now and then. It was something she wasn't used to, so enjoying the now would keep her from searching for the attention later. "Your name is great, too. I have never heard of the name 'Kypsis'. Where does it come from?" Wow, she was definitely being social. As he asked his question about what brought her to the North, she had her answer ready. "Oh, not a big reason, really...except, to me I guess it is." Her smile made her cheeks look like a chipmunk's at full capacity. "I recently joined Glaciem, a wolf pack that lives in these parts." A note of pride was evident in her voice. "I think it is the best decision I have made since I started traveling Alacritis. I was looking for a home, and...one day, I came across a woman who made it possible." An image of Crusade appeared in Eria's mind's eye and she couldn't help but think positive things about the elder female. "For the moment, I'm still learning my way around the packlands and the areas around it." She leaned her head to the side in an innocent manner. "What about you, Kypsis? What brought you out here in the dead of winter?" Speech,

Her questions were welcomed as she asked them, glad she was so curious about him. He didn't have anything to hide from her, and was glad to give her all that he knew. Well, I couldn
t tell you where it came from, I've just had it my whole life. My mom always said she loved my name though. He let her continue to explain her purpose in the land. Her pack.
He had not heard of the pack she spoke of, he was sure he had scented them though. He had guessed they lived close to the area but he had not found exactly where. She was there doing the same he was. Exploring. Well, dear, I was just walking. I don't ever really go anywhere with a purpose. In fact I haven't really found a purpose. I just survive and do my best to do what is right.

"Well, it is good that you haven't made any rash decisions regarding your future without thinking about it," Eria said. Her said belief encouraged her to continue speaking, which was what she did. "The world is so big, you have plenty of options to choose from on where you want to go." Eria's tail flapped out and around her form before resting on the ground. It settled in the snow before rising and sweeping white confetti around them. "Your mother had good taste when she chose your name, Kypsis," she said, complimenting his unknown maternal figure's ideals. "Did she have names just as lovely for your siblings? Or were you an only pup?" The memories from her childhood flashed in front of her eyes, showing the loving licks and nuzzles her parents had bestowed on her tiny form. She yearned for those days again, to relive them and remember the basking glow she had from both mother and father. "I am sure she loved you with all of her heart..." she softly said. Speech,

He smiled at her words, they were kind and he was thankful for that. He was happy to answer her question, even though it took him a minute to remember them. He felt kind of bad, but he had never spent much time with them. They tried to play with him but he'd just always wanted to explore. And run. "My mother, Poppy named myself along with my siblings, Marble and Gifta." He thought about his mother for a moment, she was a white she wolf. He had always thought his mother had been beautiful. "I believe she tried to love me. I was always running away though. I didn't stay with my parents for very long." He was oddly comfortable telling her all of this about himself. He hadn't told anyone about his lineage.

Her ears slightly flattened as he spoke of his family. She was happy that he had his parents around when he was growing up..it was just the fact that hers had been taken away and she didn't have a choice but to deal. The sound of another splash from the geyser distracted her right then, making her head turn towards its direction. She glared at the unseen object before looking over at Kypsis again. "Perhaps we should walk a little ways? I don't want to risk a stray drop scalding my hide again." As she rose and began walking, she replied to his small window of his family's past. "The love you had from your parents must have been a wonderful thing, Kypsis..." She looked up to the surrounding trees, not really taking them in. "And you were able to return home if you wanted to...that must have been amazing." Her eyes misted over, looking like faraway storm clouds. "Do you still keep in touch with your siblings?" Speech,

Her thoughts of where she wished to be was certainly well founded. After getting such hot water on her rump he didn't imagine she wished to spend any more time around the geysers. He smiled sympathetically and nodded, it would not be a problem to leave the spouting field. As they started their walk her words became ever more distant, like she was not even in the same place as he was anymore. He wondered about her words. "I have not seen any of my family in years." He thought about them, he never really missed them. "What about you Eria, may I ask about your family?" He didn't want to ask the wrong questions.

His question about her family made the memories flood to the frontline. She felt them hit her like a stone and her chest began to heave from the pressure. Eria breathed in deep, long and slow each time, hoping to not fall out from the inquiry. Tears threatened to rise and fall from her eyes, but she pushed them back with a squint for both opts. When she finally calmed down, she looked Kypsis in the eyes and began to speak. "My family...they are all gone," she softly said. Her voice was quiet, filled with sadness and a small amount of guilt. "I grew up with my parents in our pack for the first year of my life. After that, a group of rogue wolves appeared one night and slayed everyone from our pack..." The tears then gently fell and she didn't stop them. "My parents were the last ones to be killed, but they were able to push me out to safety and tell me they loved me before they passed on..." A shuddered sigh escaped her lips and she regained her composure as well as she could. "I have been on my own since, but the memories I have still take me back to the happy times I shared with them." She softly smiled and sniffed to get rid of the stuffy nose that had come with the tears. "Sorry if I made you feel awkward," she said as they continued to walk away from the geyser. Speech,

He knew that his question was regrettable as soon as he started to speak, her demeanor changed incredibly and he felt bad about it. Her family was something that she had held so dear, but was quite ripped away from her. The opposite of how he had grown up. He had never spent much time in his families presence, always preferring to be on his own. He couldn't let her keep walking as the tears fell from her face, he was surprised at such emotion she was showing a stranger, but she couldn't help it. He let himself come closer to the she wolf, since she would show him such emotion he had to give it back to her. He stopped walking and just pushed his weight gently against her body, a comforting shoulder to cry upon. Not awkward, just concerned. He smiled at her, hoping he could help in making her feel better. speech,

The act of compassion from Kypsis was enough to make Eria cry even more. She was touched by his actions, so she let the dam that had protected her emotions for so long break. Her dark head leaned into his shoulder, tears matting her face and his own fur. Her body shuddered with the sobs that came from the bad memories resurfacing and she slowly reclined to her haunches with a heavy THUD. If she wanted to try and stop the water works, it would be an impossible feat. All she could do was continue, to let them flow without hesitant actions. About four minutes later, Eria was all cried out. The tears stopped flowing, her body ached from the sobs, but she was all right. Kypsis's words of comfort reached her ears and as she pulled back with the glassy gaze, she sniffed and stuffily said, "Well...that is enough for me right now, Kyp...Thank you." She raised a front paw and wiped the tears that were still sliding down her cheeks. Another loud sniff came from the dark fae and she breathed in deeply to regain whatever decent composure she had left. There was no shame or embarrassment from letting Kypsis see her walls crumble. Knowing that he wouldn't judge was another comfort and she took hold of it as the body tremors subsided. "I don't usually tend to completely break down in front of people I just met, I should tell you that now." A wet smile broke across her face, lighting up its features and ensuring the truth that rang from her words. "I am thankful that you were so sweet about it, though." Speech,