This place was just awful. Already Kaija found herself regretting coming this way. This wasn't like the cool swamp full of birds or the glowing mushroom place. This place was even more dry than the land surrounding Valhalla's territories, utterly barren and - more importantly - just plain boring. Even the farthest reaches of the west hadn't been able to escape the cold of this season though, and even here it hung dry and heavy in the air. As she ventured on, a little gust of wind swept up some dirt and aimed it directed in her face, and she spit it out and shook her head, meanwhile trying to brace herself against the cold. Kaija was hardly accustomed to the cold, despite the Jarvela blood that ran strong through her veins. All she'd ever known in her short life so far was the west; and this winter, at least from what she'd heard, was uncharacteristically cold. Trying to ignore the gust of wind she pranced forward, hardly having gone out far at all on the strip, pawing idly at a small crack in the dirt. She flinched slightly when the simple action made the seam in the ground widen, splintering and cracking before her as she reeled backwards. Okay, maybe coming out this way hadn't been such a great idea...

Come down, come down sweet reverence

After a week in the bitter cold of the north, Jynn headed toward the southwest and the hopefully warmer weather that would await her there. What she got was slightly warmer but just as equally unpleasant. She squinted through the wind that was whipping just across a barren land scarred with deep cracks and canyons cutting across it. The sky was dark, covered with thick gray clouds but she didn't believe for a second that they'd let loose rain or snow. She wrapped the hide flaps of her helmet tighter around her face, trying to shield her eyes as she moved forward.

There were a few dead plants here and there, black skeletons of what had once been alive. She wondered how long they'd been like that. "Umm.. Jynn, I think we have company." Jynn looked down at Tahmores and then squinted through the clouds of dust to see a young wolf. "Hey," she called out, "You ok over there?"

Already she was regretting her decision to come this way, but Kaija was too stubborn to admit even to herself that she'd screwed up. Nah, she'd come this way to see what was out here, so she was dead set on doing just that... albeit begrudgingly now. The wind kicked up even more and she braced herself against its chill, using her claws to bear down into the dirt, as if she was afraid she'd be swept away with the wind. Might be better than trekking through the barren wasteland, though...

Someone's voice cut across the wind and she whipped her head around to see who it was. Adventuring always felt a little less weird when she wasn't alone, and she was glad she had at least a fraction of a chance to be rescued now if she ended up doing something stupid. "Uh.. hey!" The pup called back. Kaija was still definitely a child but she'd already begun to grow into her adult frame, however pup-like she still seemed. "I think so. This place sucks though. But I wanted to see what was out here!" Carefully she avoided another, even wider crack in the dirt - all she saw below was darkness, not that it was quite big enough for her to fall into but it still made her feel weird. "Whatcha doing out here?"

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn was relieved that the girl seemed to be in good spirits. She wouldn't know what to do if she'd found a sick or ailing pup out here in the middle of nowhere. She had very little knowledge of healing and had no idea if there were any packs nearby though she assumed if a pup was out here there had to be a pack somewhere here in the west. Jynn nodded. "You're right, it does suck. I'm just out exploring, I wanted to see what was out here to but it doesn't look like there's much here." She reached out a paw and swatted at a dead plant that seemed to crumble into dust at her swipe. "I wonder what happened to make the land like this. My name is Jynn and this is Tahmores, I think I'm ready to get out of here, what about you?" She hoped she could find her way back out. The wind kicked up dust and made it hard to see where they were going.

Kaija nodded a little too enthusiastically at her words. So it wasn't just her, an adult thought this place sucked too. Why was she here again, then? Oh yeah - because she'd made a wrong turn and somehow ended up here, and she was too stubborn to just head back the way she'd came. "Nope, nothing at all. Just cracks and dirt." She eyed one she'd stepped over, gaze following the splinter, alarmed at how long it stretched on for. Kaija had no idea how a place might become like this either but already her mind was running wild with stories.

Maybe a big monster had crumpled everything here in its path and that was why it was all dead and dry! Already she could picture big paws crushing everything beneath it as it passed, The idea gave her chills. Were there things in the world that big? She hoped she never saw one... at least not up close. Maybe from far away would be fine. "Hi Jynn and Tahmores," she stumbled over the name of Jynn's companion slightly. "Wait, are you even a wolf?" Kaija was still young enough that she had little filter if any at all. "You're so skinny and your legs are so long," she stressed. "I guess we can leave. This place still sucks," she concluded, squinting into the distance but deciding there was probably nothing any further that she desperately needed to see.

Come down, come down sweet reverence

Jynn had to agree with the girls assessment. There really wasn't much here to investigate and she was grateful for her long legs that made it easier to step over the large cracks that cut through the land. She wondered what caused the cracks. Did the earth get so dry that it simply split apart or was there another reason?

She chuckled at the girls question. "Well, I guess I'm not really a wolf. We're similar but maned wolves are a different species. Someone just thought we looked like wolves and the name stuck." She couldn't really explain why things were called what they were called. She simply rolled with it.

Jynn nodded. "Yea, I've had enough of this. Maybe we can find something cooler."

She was just glad this stranger was treating her like an actual person rather than a child. God, she hated that more than anything. She hated her questions being shrugged off and ignored - or worse, answered like she was stupid and didn't know anything. Kaija nodded swiftly at Jynn's explanation. Ok, so not really a wolf but sort of a wolf. That kinda made sense and explained why she looked so different with her long, long legs. Anyway, she was glad that the older wolf seemed just as eager to get out of here, deciding that was an even better idea when she just narrowly avoided catching her paw in one of those cracks.

"Yeah, let's go!" Kaija exclaimed, picking up her pace a bit as she turned and went to go back the way they'd came. But honestly she didn't trust her own sense of judgment too much and she glanced sideways at Jynn for some direction. Though she was stubborn and headstrong, well.. she really was just a kid and needed some guidance, even if that guidance came from a complete stranger. At least she seemed fun, that was reason enough for Kaija to trust her to lead them on an adventure.

-exit!-