Her trek across Boreas toward the mangroves kept getting derailed and rerouted as she maneuvered around pack lands, desert, and rivers. It was taking her a bit longer to get where she was going and normally she wouldn’t care, but landing in this creepy forest didn’t really make her thrilled for the journey. It was getting to be later in the afternoon, bordering into the evening, when she started making her way into the densely forested land. At first it seemed okay, just lots of thick trees and brush that made finding a path through a tad difficult. However, the further she went the more mist seemed to gather across the ground and the more unsettling it all became.

The sun was quickly starting to set and was just adding to the eerie feeling she got from this place. Elise just wanted to get to the other side as quickly as possible, but the thick undergrowth and the fog made it harder to navigate. It slowed her progress and made her even more eager to get to the other side. It was just so oddly quiet. She didn’t think she’d ever come across a spot in these lands that she didn’t like, but maybe this was it.

One of her ivory forepaws got caught under a tree root as she was trying to feel her way across the forest floor, making her topple over with a yelp, the sound of surprise and mild pain sounding so loud in her ears compared to her muffled surroundings. She fell over onto her side and she blinked with surprise while she gathered her bearings. With an annoyed huff she picked herself up and gave her spotted coat a shake. The sooner she got out of here the better.

After venturing forth to the forsaken volcano Plague was left feeling off. He sought out some sort of closure and only got even deeper into his fog. Since the death of his father his mind felt all sorts of messed up. For the most part he was able to suppress these issues and worries into a dark corner of his brain. But there was times he felt himself slipping. It could be a mild burst of anger or sadness. All Plague knew was that nothing felt quite right as of late. Inky pads met the earth as the phantom slipped through the soulless forest. Green eyes took in the region with reasonable caution. Plague inhaled the various musty scents of the forest. Stale notes of passing travelers and frightened prey filled his nose. What truly caught his attention was the very fresh scent of a she-wolf. In response the beast raised his head and scanned the area with slower strides. Not long after the sight of a tall and slim femme came into view. Fire and ice battled upon her pelt with beaming blue eyes to compliment the war. But, what was truly concerning was the fact that she seemed to have just stumbled to the ground. The stranger lifted herself from the ground with an audible huff. Plague frowned gently and took a few steps forward. With a tilted of his head and offered a look of concern. "Are you okay?"

A voice from behind her made her jump and spin around to look at the pale man that was the source of the unexpected noise. In her frantic twist to see the speckled stranger, she tripped over her own clumsy paws and fell back to the ground with a light thud. Of course someone else was here that she didn’t notice and saw that she had fell not just once, but twice. Her ears flicked back in embarrassment and she quickly got back to her paws again, trying to ignore the dull pain in her shoulder from where she had fell. That was sure to leave a bruise to be a oh so welcome reminder of this ridiculous meeting.

She huffed and used her paw to dust off some dead leaves that had gotten caught in the fur along the side of her neck. ”Yeah, I’m fine,” she grumbled, not really wanting to look him in the eye after all of that. With a sigh she finally lifted her gaze till she found his green eyes. Of corse, on top of everything, he was handsome and that made it even worse. What kind of first impression was this! He seemed to be a bit younger than her, but she liked the speckles of deeper color that broke up the white and his green eyes. ”I just got turned around in this forest and tripped over this tree root,” she explained, hoping maybe it would make her look like less of a klutz. ”I’m trying to get to the other side so I can keep heading west. Do you know the way though here?”

Plague wanted to help her pluck the leaves from her fur but he figured that'd be taken a many of wrong ways. Thus, he remained still and allowed those forest green eyes to watch rather expressionless at this point. Lips formed a line of neutrality but within he was concerned for her well being. Despite his hard exterior he did have a heart even if it was fragmented into tiny shards. He was relieved when she said she was fine which caused his lips to form a slight grin. Sometimes the boy had to remind himself to not be so blank. Their eyes connected and he couldn't help but to feel his cheeks burn slightly. Thankfully a blanket of ebony and alabaster fur covered the blushing skin. Getting out of the pack lands has exposed Plague to the anxieties of interacting with beautiful Wolves. Thankfully he was able to distract himself with her explanation and the question that followed. West. Plague thought over his mental mapping of the surrounding lands and knew the Orchard was directly west of the Forest they were in. But, there was also a pack very close to that area. "I can help. We will have to head towards the Orchard to avoid the pack bordering this forest." Plague looked around and towards the sky to determine where the sun was. After sussing out which direction was approximately west he flicked a glance towards the fae with a raised brow. "This way." A pause. "Are you able to walk on that leg?" Plague looked her leg over before remembering his manners. "I am Plague, by the way."

As soon as he agreed that he could help her navigate out of here she was relieved, giving a soft sigh and a smile. She highly disliked this misty, creepy forest and any ticket out of here was a welcome one. "Oh good, thank you! I think I know the Orchard, that's not far from where I'm headed. It's been a long time since I've been here though so hopefully it's familiar when we get there." She gave her spotted coat a quick shake just to make sure no dirt or leaves were still clinging to her. The ground seemed oddly damp so it made the fur on her side a bit messy and clumped, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. It would dry soon enough - or at least that's what she told herself to just make her stop obsessing over how silly she must look. The shake jostled her shoulder and made her wince a bit. Gods, how could she be so clumsy?

When he questioned if she would be able to walk she was quick to nod, flexing her leg to prove it was in proper working order. Her shoulder was certainly sore and she felt a slight twinge of pain in her ankle from where it had gotten hung under the raised tree root, but it didn't feel like anything was broken or even seriously sprained. If anything it was just a bruise and maybe a strain of some kind. "Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry about me!" The last thing she wanted was for the stranger to worry about her on top of everything else. She was already mortified as it was. When he introduced himself she realized she hadn't done so either and her ears flicked with embarrassment. First falling all over herself and now completely forgetting her manners. She didn't know if it was these odd surroundings throwing her off or what, but she wished she could just rewind this whole day and try again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Plague," she replied with a smile and a small dip of her head, quickly recovering the graces that her parents had taught her. "I'm Elise."

She turned her attention toward the way that he had determined was the way they should go and followed along beside him. She was extra careful about where she placed her ivory paws as they went, favoring her injured leg a bit and limping just the slightest amount from time to time. At first she was quiet, not sure what to say to the handsome wolf at her side, but the weirdly quiet forest that surrounded them began to make her uneasy again. Just in an effort to have some kind of sound in her ears, she asked him, "Do you live near here?" She could smell a pack mingled in with his own scent, but she didn't have the faintest idea what packs were near here or where any of them were really. She had still been pretty young when she set out on her own - far too young to care about things like packs. Her father had taught her some of the rules of a pack and how to be polite when approaching them, but she had never lived in one herself. She had been born long after her father's pack had been dissolved.

The red and white She-Wolf made it clear she knew the Orchard which made him feel relief. He was good with navigating the lands due to his nearly constant exploring but he wasn't any sort of master. He'd have to do a lot of guessing mixed with some memorization to get her much further then that. But, he also didn't want a seemingly injured babe wandering the soulless forest or anywhere else for that matter alone. He did know that there was river that bordered the Orchard and the pack that claimed those weird structures. Would she be able to swim? Or maybe she'd find a safe place to cross. Plague decided not to worry too much for now. Plague was glad to hear she wasn't too hurt. He witnessed the bending of her knee and he offered a small nod. "I am glad, though if you are in too much pain I can get help from a healer." Lucerita or Iolarie would help a Wolf in need if he asked them to. But, he also didn't want to call them all that way if it was indeed just a twisted ankle. After introductions it fell quiet. Plague was not good at talking, especially to pretty girls. Since becoming a yearling he felt as though he was aware of his admiration for beautiful Wolves but he didn't really care to do anything about it. Nor did he know how. Thankfully he wasn't too awkward, just hushed with slight nerves. It helped that the spotted fae asked him a question which he answered promptly with pride. "Directly south, actually. In a pack called Ashen. We hold hold a lot of territory in the south with our Armada." Maybe the rogue had heard of the pack before. "Are you from around here?" He assumed she wasn't a resident of the forest but she clearly knew of the Orchard so that was something at least.

She kept an eye on the ground in front of her to make sure she didn't have another mishap, but still gave him a few curious, interested glances while he spoke to make sure it was clear that she was paying attention. Ashen, hm? It wasn't one of the packs her father had told her about in his stories, but that had been some time ago and a lot could change in even just a year or two. He seemed quite proud of his pack and it made her smile. There was certainly nothing wrong with being proud of something like that, especially since it sounded like his pack was quite strong and established. She was also happy to have a name to put with he pack she had been navigating around. It was taking a good bit of effort to relearn the lay out of Boreas since it had been so long since she had really explored it.

"Sort of," she replied when a similar question got turned toward her. "I was born in the mangroves near the hot springs, but I left when I was pretty young and I just got back to Boreas recently. I haven't actually settled anywhere just yet... I guess I just wanted to visit the mangroves first and go from there. I'm not expecting any of my family to still be there, but you never know." She felt like she was rambling a bit too much, but it felt like the only way to fill the silence she was so uncomfortable with. The denseness of the forest seemed to slowly be dispersing which she assumed meant they were reaching the edge, but she couldn't tell exactly how far that was.

"Does your family live in Ashen with you?" she asked to keep the conversation going and to subtly learn a bit more about the handsome wolf that had so kindly offered to help her out. She didn't really know where she wanted to end up living once she was through with her exploring, but learning more about all the packs she came across and the wolves that lived there seemed like a good idea just to have that knowledge for future reference.