The north. It was a daunting place, cold and unforgiving, at least that was what she had believed growing up. What she got instead was a beautiful land filled with blooming flowers. The summer was brief in the north, it shortened the growing season. Everything blossomed at once, in a break neck race to beat the cold. Azalea stood dumbstruck, but not because of grass and flowers. Jaw agape the female held her ears back, head tipped to take in the impressive structure before her. It was an unknown contraption like nothing she ever witnessed before. A land formation that glimmered in the sunlight. Vines crept up the side, large purple flowers on them. She closed her jaws, licking her lips as she stepped toward it. In the afternoon light the structure was beautiful, whatever it was. Up close she could see that it was not made of stone. Tongue flicked out to give it a taste. Azalea made a face, definitely not stone. There was a mangled entrance not too far from where she stood. Perhaps this was a new type of stone that she had never heard of because it only exists in the north? She figured that must be it. Upon reaching the entrance she saw there was a hole in the roof of the strange cave and the walls were very thin. "What an odd cave," She thought, not sure if she should go in or not. Speech,

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Since escaping from her mother's womb, Arella had always been antsy. Always wanting to explore, never fully content lounging around at home -- and today was no different. Nimble paws carried her from the heart of Valhallan territory, pushing her slender frame onward and further from her mother's den. Today, it was hot and humid, and so she veered to the north, expecting relief from the unrelenting rays of the sun. As she wandered rather aimlessly -- for what felt like hours -- a familiar scent reached her nostrils. Azalea! The girl was a sort of off-handed part of her family, in a way, but she didn't understand how. She had only seen the girl, never actually gone out of her way to talk to her. Perhaps that ought to change? With a brief shake of her head, she continued on further, nose nearly kissing the ground as she trailed after her scent. Where it brought her left her awestruck. A massive structure rose from the earth itself in the far distance, unlike anything she'd ever seen. Jaw slackened, her expression one of pure disbelief. Despite how strange it was, she was rather interested. Behind the black-furred girl, her tail had begun to wave joyfully, curiosity overtaking her. With a bark of excitement she would bound forward, searching for her fellow pack-mate, letting loose a gentle howl.

Paw lifted from the ground, slowly inching forward as she tentatively made to enter the bizarre cave. A nearby howl caused her to jump, heart hammering into her chest. Azalea's eyes looked around wide, not seeing anyone but certain the call was for her. Kicking it into reverse she backed away from the black void and walked toward the front of the craft. Her ears were pulled back, head lowered. She was cautious. "Who goes there?" She inquired as she came into view. Not far away stood a slender gal, short and with a dark coat. Azalea knew her and thus stood dumbstruck, head to one side. "Arella?" She questioned. It was one of Erani's children. Now yearlings they were plenty old enough to wander on their own as Azalea did but she wasn't aware that any of them actually did. She didn't know much about Erani's children but then she didn't know much about Erani either. Her tail and head lifted, moving closer at a light trot. There was a hop in her step. "What on earth are you doing here?" She asked loudly, her tone purely curious. As she drew to a halt at a conversational distance the pretty female waved her tail lightly. Speech,

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Just how the two were related, Arella was not totally sure. She knew her momma was basically the mother of Epiphron and Chrysanthe, who in turn was related to Collision.. and Azalea was Collision's daughter, right? As the girl came into sight, her tail began to wave happily behind her. Slowly she bounded forward, her face a picture of unabashed joy. She had never really spoken to Azalea, but now was as good a time as ever -- right? "Hiya," she exclaimed, laughing as she approached further. "This thing is so weird, huh? Any idea what the heck it is?" Gladly she approached her further, noting the slightly confused look on her face -- but not wanting to irritate her with her sudden arrival and onslaught of questions. "I was just wandering and caught your scent. I hope you don't mind that I followed it," she commented conversation. Her gaze wandered though, fixing itself on the large structure before them that seemed to jut up from the earth itself.

The bubbly child came at Azalea with overwhelming joy. Happy, it seemed, to see another Valhallan so far from home. Azalea was not outright happy, in fact her polite nature was just a front. When it came to meeting most wolves she was not happy, she was really nothing. There was no joy in seeing wolves she really didn't know but she also didn't have a sense of fear. At times she was cautious but mostly she was just... there. "Hiya," There was an airy laugh to follow the greeting and Azalea dipped her head. "This thing is so weird, huh? Any idea what the heck it is?" The red head followed the blue gaze, nodding in agreement. "I am not sure, but it has to be some odd type of stone... at least that's my theory. Just over there is a cave entrance, goes right inside of it." Thought she knew little about the ship her tone didn't let on. If Arella were younger or just plain gullible then she would believe every word of it, surely. "I was just wandering and caught your scent. I hope you don't mind that I followed it," Azalea sighed lightly, too faint to be heard by Arella. "No, no its fine." There was a pause, her mind smirking delightfully as an idea came to her mind. "Why don't we check this place out? You scope out the cave and I'll check to see if there are anymore." She looked expectantly at the wolf, two seasons behind her in age. "I already checked it for scary animals, none to be seen, sniffed, or heard. Totally safe." Of course it was a lie. Azalea had checked the entrance but who was she to say what was inside? Best to let her new companion go in first while she "scoped out" the rest of the strange rock. Speech,

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Innocent blue gaze was wide as she watched the structure with overwhelming curiosity. Behind her lanky frame, her tail swayed side to side openly. She was always rather bubbly -- sometimes perhaps too much so -- and had no reason to hide her happiness, especially around a packmate. "Hmm, looks too weird to be cave," she mused aloud, her voice light and airy as she let her gaze wander over it. Azalea suggested they check it out, and she nodded quickly, poised lightly on her paws as though ready to sprint away at any moment. She couldn't help but intrigued by such a strange thing. 'You scope out the cave and I'll check to see if there are anymore,' Azalea said. This lady was the heir to the pack, so she had to listen to her, right? Seemed fair. "Okay, miss Azalea," She grinned and padded to the dark entrance that Azalea had been lurking near. She squinted as she peered into the darkness, seeing ... well, nothing. It was rather dark, and it took a long moment for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light after being out in the sun for so long. Faint sunlight that was able to make its way into the vessel glimmered off strange metal contraptions on the wall, causing her to duck her head away and shield her eyes from the brightness that reflected into her eyes. It was not just any cave. She sniffed warily at the dank air, wondering why it lacked the small of animals ... if it indeed was a cave like Azalea had said.

"Hmm, looks too weird to be cave," Azalea held in her frustration that the younger female didn't just agree with her. Surely she was right, what else could it be? It wasn't like Arella was giving any helpful suggestions. The child, however, agreed to enter the cave and this pleased Azalea immensely. Her tail waved rapidly behind her and she turned heel, "Delightful!" She said, rushing back toward the cave-thing. Arella followed, at least she had no reason not to, and Azalea sat down squarely to the right of the entrance. "This is it. Weird isn't it?" Birds sang in the trees around them, one landing on the ledge above them. It watched them curiously and Azalea watched it back. "Okay, I'm gonna go that way and check out the other end of this thing." She looked expectantly toward the dark hole before getting up and turning away. Azalea moved away at an easy trot, looking back over her shoulder to see if Arella would really go inside or not.

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What an interesting lady Azalea was. She didn't seem insanely excited to see her. Instead, she had been rather quick to suggest that Arella explore the scary cave. She frowned a bit, wondering if the Valhallan heir was trying to play a trick on her. Surely not, right? The black-furred girl was certain that she saw the sparkle of mischievousness in the girl's eyes, but perhaps it was merely that the sun was hitting them the right way... She had turned to watch her, eying Azalea curiously, slipping briefly from the darkness of the unknown cavern. Seemed she was the one stuck checking out this weird place. "Yeah..." she murmured softly, curiosity overwhelming her, despite the hesitance in her step. Slowly she slid further into the darkness. Her paws grasped the strange floor of the cave. She heard her paws click against metal, wincing slightly at the strange sound as she ducked her head down and continued inside. She wasn't sure what to expect, and yet she felt the pressure from Azalea, as well as a faint curiosity in the back of her mind. It was hard to see in the darkness of the structure, and she shuffled forward a bit more. The ground was nothing at all like dirt or grass -- much more slippery. And the structure was a bit lopsided, and she found herself surprised at how easily the pads of her paws slid against the ground. Nearly losing balance as she slipped in, she let out a dramatic yelp before pulling back, backing out quickly. "I really don't know what this thing is, but it's damn hard to walk on!"

Azalea stopped as soon as Arella disappeared into the cave, completely lost to blackness. She actually considered keeping on her way, doing the honorable thing of actually scoping out the rest of of the surrounding area. That was when Arella yelled, the sound echoing through the odd structure. A shiver ran through her and her mind screamed at her something along the lines of: "Oh my god, she's dying," before she took off back to the gaping hole. She sprang into the darkness, dust layer the slick floor causing her to slip and slid, bowling right into Arella who hadn't gotten far. "Whoa! Hey. Sorry." Her words were chopped as she righted herself, stepping back from the dark gal before her. "I heard you yelp, are you alright?" Any seriousness that she lacked before, she made up for now. Azalea stared at Arella intensely waiting for her to answer her. Speech,