If she had to think back on it Samara wasn't actually sure how she got up here; but as she peered over the edge of the boulder, to look down at the water lapping at the boulder she managed to strand herself on. Great! Just great. The tiny woman was already having one heck of a day. She'd stumbled upon this continent only a short time ago and while she'd picked up the faded scents of her siblings she hadn't managed to track any to the scents to their owners, eventually losing them all. So that had been a failure and all that walking had set her joints to aching.

The woman had almost just totally given up when she'd gotten lost in the desert chasing Deathbelle's scent. Her short limbs making travel over the sands very very hard and the insufferable heat of the day not helping her sensitive joints. So when she'd found the lake Samara had been a bit too overwhelmed by her sudden relief.

She'd somehow managed to drag herself up to the top of the rock in the center of the lake, after quenching her thirst of course. Then she'd taken a short nap, allowing her swollen joints time to recoup. Now that she was awake though? Well she'd managed to totally get herself stuck, the drop into the lake was too high for the tiny woman and considering she wasn't totally sure how deep the lake was she wasn't sure she'd want to risk it anyways.

Samara settled on her haunches, breathing a huffy sigh and cast her gaze around half-heartedly unsure what she could even do.

Speech

Aramis needed a break. He needed fresh air and open sky, away from the confines of the Valhalla dens. He'd hidden away in the darkness too long, curled up with his mother as the two of them nursed their emotional wounds. After all, being kidnapped wasn't exactly the easiest thing to walk away from. Aramis knew that there had been days both he and his mother had nearly lost hope. He was just grateful to be home, alive and relatively unharmed. But months had passed. Months. His wounds had turned into scars, healed but not forgotten. He wished he could say the same for his mother. At this rate, he wasn't sure she would ever fully recover from the emotional trauma they'd experienced. But her emotional trauma was beginning to affect her physical health, as well. This was what finally pushed Aramis out of the darkness and into the world that waited beyond. He'd searched for herbs to ease her pain, increase her appetite, do anything to make her healthy again. But today, the poor boy just needed a break. The summer sun was a comforting blanket of warmth as Aramis padded quietly away from Valhalla territory. He'd be lying if he said those first few steps hadn't been a little terrifying. This was the first time he'd set off on his own, since the kidnapping. But he was grown now, his body larger and more capable than before. At least, he hoped so. He set off with plans to lounge by the lake and soak up the sunshine, and perhaps do a bit of browsing for herbs. But those plans went awry as he approached the lake and saw a woman perched on top of a tall boulder. She looked stuck. And no wonder: it was a long way down to the water below. Aramis was nothing if not compassionate, and his heart immediately went out to the poor young woman. He had to help her, somehow. His iridescent coat danced in a thousand shades of blue as he ran forward through the sunlight. He splashed a bit gracelessly through the water at the base of the boulder, offering up a soft yip to get the woman's attention. "Excuse me?" Aramis called out. This was new for him. He rarely spoke to strangers, especially after... "Do you need help?"

So wrapped up in her circumstance Samara had managed to miss the approach of another wolf, that was until he spoke and Samara jumped. Her eyes growing wide as she swung her gaze towards him. Slowly she allowed her fur to settle as she drew in the stranger, taking a moment to look at his coat in wonder as it seemed to shimmer right before her eyes. Samara allowed her mouth to open in a gape for a moment, glad she had the time to quickly slip on a well-worn mask.

Then she shook her head, allowing it to look like his words were finally clicking in her head. She glanced down at the rock under her paws and the water just beyond that. Warmth filling her face as she mimicked bashfulness. "Yeah, you could uh, say that." She said, her voice high and woven with embarrassment as well as a weak attempt at humor.

She shuffled on her paws, clearly nervous as she glanced down again. "I'm willing to consider any ideas you might have." It was so much easier to play the role of an innocent damsel than that of a prideful strategist, especially when faced with the fact she was nervous about just jumping down. Plus she did need this man to help her and maybe, who knew, he could be helpful afterward too.

Speech

He awaited the young woman's response with a look of genuine concern on his face. His tail flicked worriedly from side to side, stirring up more shades of blue in the sunlight. He was a shimmering gemstone, a rare sight for anyone. Sometimes Aramis forgot just how strange he must appear to others. But if he caught the maiden off guard, she quickly regained her composure. She replied, her voice high and clear as a birdsong. Did his heart flutter? Perhaps. But he wouldn't admit it. He continued to look up as she glanced down again, and it was clear she was nervous. "Don't worry," he called up, giving her a reassuring smile. "We'll figure something out!" Aramis stepped back a bit, water lapping at his ankles as he looked around for something that might give him an idea. It would be nice if there were a smaller boulder near this big one, something to act as a stepping stone... but sadly, no. Perhaps the boy could find vines or a very long stick for her to hang onto. Then he could help her maintain her balance while she climbed down the least precarious side of the boulder. If that was going to work, he'd have to start searching. Aramis waded into shallower waters and began searching the shore of the lake, hoping to find something that could do the trick. "My name is Aramis," he said, deciding it wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce himself and start up some light conversation while he was searching. He poked at a long piece of driftwood with his nose, only to find it was much too soggy for his purposes. He glanced up at where the maiden sat on her perch, and curiosity got the better of him. "If I may ask, how did you get up there in the first place?"

My hero. Samara thought sarcastically to herself as Aramis promised to help her. Not that she wasn't actually glad she was getting aid. She just couldn't help keeping an internal snarky commentary, it was a bad habit she'd picked up to keep from going insane on some of her longer elaborate plots. Aramis seemed to be gazing around as if looking for something to help in her escape from the stone. "I'm Sam." She said, responding to the man's introduction, choosing to use a nickname rather than her full name.

Aramis asked her a question and Samara fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I honestly uh... don't know." She said, giggling nervously and trying to sound abashed. It was another truth though she was playing it up. "Hard work and determination?" She said, trying to play it off as a joke.

Speech

Eventually it became clear that he wasn't going to find anything useful in the shallows or on the shore. So Aramis stepped out of the water completely, flicking each foot individually to rid himself of as much excess water as possible before moving onward into the sand and dirt that lay beyond the lake. He still wasn't far from the boulder, though, and he paused to look over his shoulder as the woman – Sam – told him she wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten up there. Something about hard work and determination. At that, Aramis had to laugh. "Sounds about right," he replied, before continuing his search. After nosing around for a few more minutes, he found a long piece of vine draping from a tree. He quickly trotted over and gave it a good tug, to ensure that it was strong enough to support the weight of a wolf. It hardly budged, which was a good sign. But that meant he still needed to find a way to get it dislodged from this tree. Measuring out a decently long length of the vine, Aramis then searched for a stone with a sharp edge to act as a sort of knife. Finding one, he returned to the vine and held it taut with his paws as he held the sharp stone between his teeth and began to cut. He sawed back and forth with his makeshift knife until, at long last, it broke free. Grinning, Aramis picked up the vine and came back to the boulder, tail waving triumphantly behind him. He was like a pup, proud to have killed his first tiny insect. Aramis dropped the vine at the edge of the water and sent a happy bark up to Sam. "I've got a vine," he told her. "Is there anything up there you could tie it to?" His plan was to have her hold the vine as she descended the side of the boulder, but for that to work the vine would need to be secured to the top so she wouldn't fall. Another option would be holding the vine himself, but for that to work he'd need to get to the top of the boulder with her. And she said she didn't know how she'd gotten up there...