Spring seemed hesitant to grow here in the forest, beneath the bare, draping branches. The ground was still frozen and hard, and only the barest few shoots had dared to show themselves in the scant sunny patches. Several would never know their full blooms, because Jasper had uncaringly crushed them to laze in said sunny patch, and had no regrets. Winter had been a long, unusual affair. Strange tales had filtered out from this part of the world, refugees bearing impossible ailments. Once word came that it had somewhat abated, Jasper knew she had to investigate. At least for a little while, and if it turned out to be just as fucked up as the refugees claimed it was no fur off their back to turn right back around. So far, Jasper hadn’t come across much. Some interesting new plants, a few new species of bird that hadn’t seen fit to frequent the regions of her youth. Maybe she would stay for a least as long as the spring migration, to see if any other marvels trailed after, but beyond that it was hard to say Jasper had a plan per se. Investigate, learn, keep out of trouble, move on was about all she could reasonably commit to, and that suited her just fine. So as she rolled to her feet to continue her way through through the still-dormant grove, letting the willow fronds tickle across her back as she went, Jasper kept her ears pricked and nose pointed into the wind. It wasn’t long before a stranger’s scent crossed her path, stilling her paw steps… Nerves tightened in her stomach. Maybe she should go?… "Talk" "Listen" Think

Caelia was relieved to see the sunlight once again. It'd been dark for so long that she practically forgot how good the sun felt on her face - however subtle it might be. Since things had gotten really bad she hadn't felt inclined to leave Valhalla's lands at all but now she felt a little less wary of venturing out. She had a job to do, after all, and the world didn't stop turning no matter how losses they had endured these last few months. It was hard to not think of Justice who had died and left her children behind, no much older than she'd been when her own mother had died. Her life had been made lesser without her, and even now she wasn't sure she was living up to her legacy. A quiet sigh, barely even audible, fell from her lips as she wove between the willow trees. This spring was proving a more bitter one than ones she remembered prior, but the lack of sunlight no doubt had something to do with that. She could only hope that eventually the world would go back to normal, or at least some semblance of normalcy if nothing else. At least the sun was a comfort, something she often took for granted living in the far west, especially in the seasons when they hoped for rain the most. Today was a mild day though and Caelia was comforted by it. Even the scent of a stranger nearby wouldn't perturb her. Though she feared coming across someone who was unwell - somehow she'd made it through this entire thing unscathed, and she wasn't about to change that now - but she was curious nonetheless. She'd taken her new position within the pack seriously, and now that the world was beginning to shift back to something more familiar she fully intended to get out and learn what was going on in the world. "Afternoon," Caelia called out once the stranger came into view, giving a slow nod of her head.

Before Jasper could adjust course and make herself scarce, the stranger appeared like a wraith from between the willows... Or Jasper had just severely let her guard down, but the pale coat wasn't doing the other wolf any favors. Her soft voice might as well have been a crack of thunder for all that Jasper flinched, never mind that 'Afternoon' was perfectly polite... The more rational voice between her ears scoffed as Jasper tried to swallow down the cotton suddenly lodged in her throat. She did her best to shake off that instinctive ick and turned her head towards the voice with a tight smile. Catching sight of the stranger she tacked on a nod, too. "Afternoon," Jasper rasped, coughed, felt her skin begin to burn beneath her pelt, heated by chagrin. She cleared her throat. "Ah, apologies. You startled me a bit." There, that was sort of normal, right? Passable at least? How hard could it fucking be?! Jasper quickly turned her head to the side, pricking her ears as if a sound caught her attention, just briefly enough to squeeze her eyes shut. What a mess. She let a stilling breath slip quietly between her lips. She was far from home, and maybe getting used to things like this would take her farther yet. She could do with reminding herself of that more often. Of course, as the breeze snaked between them Jasper caught a fresh wave of the older shewolf's scent, along with other wolves and the unmistakable amalgamation of 'Pack.' Panic trilled fresh and sharp through her veins. Whipping her head back around, eyes wide, Jasper choked out, "I-I'm sorry. I haven't trailed onto packland, have I? I didn't mean anything by it, I swear-" She began to backpedal, two stumbling steps to add some more distance between them. Shit, shit, shit. Jasper's ears and eyes swiveled from side to side, looking for wherever the stranger's companions would surely be hiding, with little more holding her there other than not knowing which direction was the best way to run. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Apparently her presence had startled the stranger. Truthfully she always moved with that much ease - she was light on her paws, built for stealth and swiftness rather than brute strength, and in these unusual times she moved even more cautiously. Ears swiveled curiously toward Jasper as she slowed her pace, inquisitive but not overly so. Already the stranger looked like a startled little rabbit; the last thing she needed was for her to flee, or worse, freeze completely and sink them both into a heavy, awkward silence. Fortunately she spoke, returning her simple greeting with the exact same word. Caelia forced the faintest of smiles, giving a somber nod. "Ah, it's not a problem. Don't really blame you with how things have been," she commented, shrugging off the apology with ease. Caelia really couldn't blame the younger woman for being on edge when she'd felt quite a bit jumpier than usual as of late. "And no, you're not trespassing. My pack's pretty far from here." Now if she'd been lurking near Valhalla's borders she might have a different attitude, but she made no claims to the lands out this way and didn't think any other packs did either. "The name's Caelia, by the way - Caelia Adravendi." Maybe she'd heard her surname before, if she was from around these parts, but maybe not. Coming to a halt and keeping a safe distance, Caelia reclined to her haunches for now, content to take a moment to rest while she could. She doubted she'd be out this way for long and she intended to enjoy it, no matter how short-lived her trip away from home might be.

Turns out this stranger, Caelia, took the fact that Jasper was an absolute nut job remarkably well. Jasper could barely hear her reply over the blood roaring in her ears, but it was clear the older she-wolf wasn't following the script. No bared teeth or hissed insults, and she was staying put rather than lunging forward... What the hell was up with that? Jasper blinked a few times, fast and hard as if they were hoping to wipe this whole scene from their eyes and start fresh... But when she opened them again and again, Caelia still stood there, still giving no indicaiton she wanted to run her off or press her into pack service. It took longer than it should have for Jasper to get herself back on a more rational track, and all the while voices from home whispered in her ear, calling her 'Freak,' calling her 'Coward.' After them came other unsavory individuals she'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with after she left, but by the end there was just one pale stranger, now resting on her haunches. It was probably some kind of ploy... But as panic began to ebb away, exhaustion quickly took its place leaving Jasper wobbly-legged and quick to sit down as well. So quick she hardly noticed she'd done it. With a steadier heartbeat Jasper began to retroactively parse out what Caelia had said while she was too busy losing her shit to properly take it in, and one phrase stood out in particular. ... With how things have been.. Jasper's curiosity peered cautiously out of the cave within her mind, not quite certain yet if the Panic Monster was done making a scene. "I'd heard a few stories about the sickness from refugees," she remarked quietly. "I've never heard of anything like it." She cleared her throat. Jasper still wanted pretty desperately to be anywhere other than right there at that moment, but the other woman had been exceedingly placable in the face of all her nonsense. Maybe some good manners were due. "I'm Jasper, by the way. It's... Good to meet you?" The lingering uncertainty definitely made that seem like a question in all the wrong ways, but it was out there now. Jasper let the woman's surname drift in one ear and out the other, ignoring how she said it like it ought to mean something. Jasper left hers off as well. It was a dusty thing she never used, something given to her by the woman who'd died hours after arriving at the pack's borders. She was having a bad enough day already without tossing that in the mix. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Compared to herself, Caelia would classify most wolves in the 'sort of nutjob-y' category, so someone a little more jumpy than mos - well, it didn't come as much of a surprise to her. She'd seen far weirder than Jasper these last few months anyway. She was just glad for the sun again, and no amount of awkward, skittish antics would worsen her mood now that it finally begun to lift. If anything the stranger was a little amusing to her, looking like Caelia might lunge at any instant, though she didn't make even the slightest threatening movement. Jasper was a curious one, that was for sure. Only the faintest hint of amusement gleamed in her eyes as she watched from a comfortable distance, observing as she tried to find the words to respond to her. Hell, she even relaxed enough to sit down, which was reassuring.. no doubt for them both. "Yeah - me neither, if we're being honest," she admitted carefully. "Nothing at all. Seems to be fading now, but all of it still makes me wary." The seasons had their periods of unpredictability - she remembered the long winter, and in her youth the volcanic eruption, but these last few months had been by far the strangest of everything she'd experienced. The very thought made a chill run down her spine. "Not that I was touched by it - the sickness, I mean - but I lost packmates to it." As she got older death seemed to become more and more a regular part of life, though it still stung to lose those familiar to her, even those she wasn't terribly close to. For someone who hadn't endured it, it was impossible to explain just how dark it had all been - both physically and metaphorically. "You're new to these parts, then?" Caelia asked, figuring she was based on how she talked about things.

It was a strange comfort to hear that the sickness was as unusual to the natives here as it had sounded from afar. Initially Jasper thought she would investigate the rumors and be on her way again soon after, assuming the whole land was cursed or something. It had seemed plausible. She'd half expected to find wolves wandering around like it was just another Tuesday, so the implication that the ooze was exception rather than rule settled her nerves. There was good land here, and plenty of open space and wilderness to be had. Jasper wasn't ready to put down roots any one place, but it would suck to do so only for the Annual Fuckening to rear its ugly head all over again. She couldn't blame Caelia for being wary either, though curiosity began to boil in her guts, bubbling a litany of questions up to the surface. At least, until the pale woman went on. "Not that I was touched by it - the sickness, I mean - but I lost packmates to it." Jasper's ears flicked back on reflex, as the statement's weight pressed against all she might have asked. What were its symptoms, how precisely had it ravaged those exposed and to what extent, how had it been avoided... Yeahhh, this probably wasn't the time or place, so she mustered what social graces she could. "Ah. I'm sorry for your losses." Caelia's question was simple, but Jasper stumbled over the reply all the same, still caught up in the morning's ever-growing whiplash. "Er, no. I mean, yes, I'm not. From around here." She took a breath and tried again. "Just... looking for greener pastures. I heard tales from those who had fled what was going on. Steered clear at first. Once it started to abate, I got curious." As the words settled between them a new worry crashed through and Jasper's nose wrinkled, rushing to clarify, "Sorry, I don't mean to come off callous. It's just... so unheard of, I had to see for myself. It sounded like a nursery tale to scare pups." Whether that made it better Jasper wasn't sure, but it was true. It did sound like a tall tale. Like something slightly-older Rashan or Moru would taunt her with in younger years, when Jasper was afraid of the dark and abhorred her lonely secluded den. Maybe coming to poke her nose into trouble had been a way to flick her tail at them, whether they knew it or not. She was brave, or at least... Maybe she could be, one day. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Considering that these lands might be cursed didn't seem implausible to her, not be any stretch of the imagination. At least she knew these event weren't confined to just Valhalla, or even the surrounding regions - the sickness and accompanying darkness was widespread, perhaps even reaching a distance greater than she could comprehend. At least she hadn't been effected as immediately as others had been. Losing some of her packmates didn't sit well with her but she'd suffered more personal losses before. She would survive this too, and she gave a half-shrug in response, not wanting to dwell too long on what she'd said. She wondered though if this foretold of their future - an endless cycle of death and loss that would repeat until the end of time, even after she was gone. Caelia was glad to shift away from those morbid thoughts. "It does sound exactly like that, you're not wrong," she started with a faint chuckle. "I get the feeling everywhere has its own share of bullshit, though. I've heard stories of my great-grandparents who fled their home to come to these lands after a volcano erupted... and then the same thing happened here. Just a few years ago, not during their lifetime," she clarified quickly. "I'm not sure there's any greener pastures. Everywhere you go is shit in its own way, just a matter of picking the least terrible." She'd never been quite so candid with someone she'd just met, but the long night had darkened her spirits as much as it had actually darkened the lands. Holding her tongue seemed less important now. "Like the west - it's not too bad here. It's far away from that dreaded volcano and the weather is mostly mild. Hot and dry in the coming seasons, but without the crazy weather the rest of the world gets. Usually," she added pointedly, barely smiling at the thought.