As Lumi moved south, she entered an area where greenery was abundant. It was astounding to see such rich colors. Nearly all of the trees, a vast forest, were caught below the ice. Luminosa treaded softly, in case somehow the trees had fallen in. It would be nice, though, wouldn't it - to be frozen among such brilliantly preserved trees? The doe found a small patch of greenery above the snow and munched it thoughtfully. She wondered if the trees knew they were frozen or if it would be like being in a deep slumber. Some animals also found themselves in such a state during cold times, so Lumi naturally thought perhaps the trees were the same.

The petite chimera fae isn't sure why she's this far north. Having come from a lesson down at the Armada markets, she had an idea to go explore what lay beyond the mountain ridge. Once she was past the tall pines, the trees eventually spacing out until all she saw was a blanket of white, she began to wonder if anyone even lived up here. Save for some grouse that lingered in the branches above, there wasn't much for life. Except for a lone deer with a... bow fastened to her head? From afar, she seemed to almost glow in the afternoon light that reflected off of the crystallized ice around them. Gem blinks hard and quickly. Was she going crazy? She squints, taking slow steps closer and closer to the doe. Was this one... different than the other deer she'd seen? Keeping her distance, Gem lets out a quiet but alerting bark to the doe. "Do you talk?" She asks, head canting to the side as she continues to observe the deer with open curiosity. Gem Klein

Over the sound of her chewing cud, a wolf barked in her direction. A barking wolf was not a hunting wolf, she reminded herself. She had been told many times, and yet, now finding unfamiliar wolves, she needed to repeat it in her head. A long fluted ear tilted in the wolf's direction as Lumi pulled free a small branch of evergreen to munch. The tree shivered and dropped snow and ice pellets over her head, but she shook them off gently before regarding the wolf.

The wolf, another young one, asked if she talked. After the doe swallowed her snack, she replied, "Naturally," as if it was the simplest question in the world. As if the wolf was asking if this doe spoke her specific language rather than if she could speak at all. There was no snark or malice in her voice, her statement as clear as the ice below their feet. "Is this a surprise?" Lumi asked, tilting her head in a way that made her bow droop away from her face, getting caught on a light but frigid wind.

Gem waits patiently for the deer to acknowledge her. She notices how the light, frigid wind plays with the pine needles and silky fabric of the deer’s bow. Around her, the ice glitters, a constant reminder that one wrong step could mean tomorrow would never come. In a sense, Gem thinks it’s a beautiful thing. Dangerous, but beautiful. To be frozen in time with the rest of the field that lay submerged beneath the ice… Oh, she was being spoken to! Coming back to reality, Gem looks to the deer with a quizzical look. Naturally? Her brow furrows as she questions the response. Taking a few steps closer to the whimsical deer, Gem nods softly. “For me, yes,” she replies, her own tone honest and open. “I have never heard deer speak the common tongue before,” Gem continues. She had spent many an hour among the land observing the world around her, but she supposed the fauna never cared to spend much time around her. Gem Klein

The duo toned wolf waited for her to finish her snack and reply. She was looking at the ice around them, the trees below them, and how the whole world seemed still. She seemed as mesmerized by these surroundings as Lumi was and the silence passed comfortably between them. A wind bellowed from above, the tips of trees or bushes swaying above the frozen line.

When Lumi finally spoke, the wolf seemed surprised. She said that a deer speaking common was new to her. The golden doe tilted her head, her ribbon flitting against her neck in the soft breeze. "That's odd," she commented, more to herself than to the wolf near her. "Where I'm from, everyone speaks the same mostly." Her mother was a deer, her other mother a wolf. Her brother wasn't a deer or a wolf and he spoke fine too. "What do deer here speak then? I'll need to learn if I'm to converse with them. What if I come upon a herd?" She tapped her front hooved nervously. How embarrassing if she met deer and couldn't even talk to them in the wolves' land!

Would the trees ever be freed from the ice they stand upon? Would the north ever warm enough to bring more lift to an otherwise devoid land? Or was it doomed to only be the home of grouse for the rest of eternity? Her eyes linger on the tips of the trees that bend in the wind. How the birds nested in the bending boughs, undisturbed by their quiet conversation. Peculiar it was this far north. She wasn't sure she liked it. Gem can't help but allow her brow to furrow at Luminosa's confusion. "Where are you from?" The question blurts from her two-toned lips suddenly and she feels the instant embarrassment rush over her cheeks. Her ears fold backward as she clears her throat. "I'm sorry, I don't mean that rudely," Gem pauses, eyes flitting from the doe to the trees and then back. "I'm not sure what they speak, but you are a deer... So surely you can speak to other deer, right?" Her own confusion causes her head to tilt as she ponders the conundrum. Well, could she speak to other deer? Gem Klein