i'm nobody who are you With the new... things... her mother was nursing, Calamity felt more out of place than ever before. They had reclaimed the shrine in her father's honor but she didn't feel any closer to him there at all. She had expected to feel something "greater," but no matter how long she tried to peer into the water's depths, she simply felt empty. Grumbling to herself, Calamity took off from Ashen pack lands at a fast walk. By the time the had begun to sink in the sky she found herself at the edge of the desert. This place rang familiar. They'd grown up around here, hadn't they? Cala wrinkled her nose, trying to wrack her brain for familiar scents. It wasn't quite here. Well, if she kept going, she was bound to be able to find her place with landmarks. Keeping an eye on the sun which was fast beginning to set, she trekked onward. The chilly evening air only seemed to grow colder with each passing breath. "calamity ordains you unworthy"

As was becoming quite common for him, Pyrrhic had grown restless and been forced to take up wandering the wilderness beyond Aerie to tire himself. Sometimes his brain simply wouldn't stop. His thoughts would keep him from sleeping and his restless mind would goad his tired body into moving. He would wander until he was tired, and sleep somewhere out in the wilderness if he couldn't make it back when fatigue finally hit him. It was an aggravating pattern, but at least it worked.

While walking atop a dune Pyrrhic suddenly found himself sliding down its side as the loose sand gave way under his weight. Instead of fighting the slow tumble, he planted his legs firmly and allowed himself to be slid downwards into the valley that separated one dune from another. This had happened twice now and he knew from the first two experiences that was easier just to ride it to the bottom and carry on walking.

At the bottom he unearthed his paws and turned to walk straight down the valley to avoid anymore sliding....and found he'd been pulled directly into the path of someone else. The girl was several yards away from him so he wasn't exactly invading her personal space, but they were more or less on a collision course now. Seeing as it was his fault, he made the first conversational move. "Ah, sorry about that. The sand got away from me."

i'm nobody who are you Calamity flicked her ears backwards at the sound of someone behind her. She turned slowly, lifting her head up to stare down her muzzle at him. With the sun setting behind her and the antlers that crested her forehead she cut an impressive figure, if only for a moment. There was no denying the moody expression on her face. The young female was a princess to the bone, even this far from home. Although some new little grubby things had arrived to usurp her small claim to the throne, she hadn't forgotten that she had been raised as royalty. And also a god. Probably. "Hello," she said coolly, using the point of her antler to ferret out some dirt from between her back left paw pads. "Do you know whereabouts we are...? I'm a little lost." Playing the damsel-in-distress would be fine if it got her some answers. They were close to where she'd grown up. "I'm looking for a large lake shaped like a paw." "calamity ordains you unworthy"

Her demeanor was all around haughty which, comically enough, was at odds with her toe picking. Inclined as he was to think of less of mortals - particularly those who didn't know their place - Pyrrhic was not immediately impressed. His expression was mildly reproachful as he watched her work at her toes with her antlers. How bizarre. After a moment's thought he felt a touch of amusement on the girl's behalf and the corners of his mouth lifted in the barest of smirks. "As a matter of fact I do. Not only that, I know the lake you speak of, but I'm afraid if you have plans of visiting you'll be disappointed."

Pyrrhic let that hang in the air for a second, his smile growing, before he explained further. "We are in Barren Dunes, I believe, and the paw shaped lake you're looking for is to the southwest of here. I just came from it, actually...as it now belongs to Aerie." He was a bit curious as to why she was looking for it.