Emer had managed to cover a fair amount of land in Alacritis so far and yet the girl was still no closer to developing any kind of plan for what exactly she ought to do next. Currently she was starting to regret heading North, Autumn was drawing to a close it wouldn't be long at all before Winter was here and it seemed the Northern parts were certainly a little cooler in temperature to say the least. When the cold weather set in properly, she wasn't quite sure what she would do. That idea of joining a pack seemed more and more sensible though she had no idea about any of them, apart from the brief encounter with the young girl from Valhalla that seemed like a rather long time ago now. That being said she couldn't deny that the exploration wasn't enjoyable. She wasn't exactly the most adventurous of wolves and yet seeing the various sights had been a rather interesting experience for her. Now she had found her path crossing with that of a mountain. Climbing up the slopes certainly didn't seem to be a rather wise idea in her mind, no matter what sort of view she would possibly get. These were foreign lands and the coating of snow upon the ground didn't make her believe clambering over rocks was the greatest idea in the world. Though there was an almighty roar as the water tumbled down the mountain to the pool at the base, Emer found she was far more comfortable in her current position. Golden eyes wandered from the ground, following the opposing direction of the waterfall until they landed upon what certainly didn't appear to be the top. It only confirmed her previous thoughts, she was better down here. For now she would rest, plan her next moves. Heading away from the North would probably be wise, though she could relax for a little while before starting her journey once more.

The days became shorter, while the nights became longer. Arayne could feel winter in the air, and she knew it wouldn't be long before the deep freeze set in. But she was ready. Aside from her painted caverns, she knew the locations of dozens of hidey-holes to shelter from blizzards in, as well as the movement habits of many herds. Oh, she knew she was in for a tough winter, that much was true. She was a lone, inexperienced traveler, used to humid and temperate forests, not icy and dry tundras. But optimism was her only refuge now, and she was going to give the Starving Season her damndest. Thirsty, she had followed the roaring sound of water to the falls, slipping down the rocks (it wasn't too unlike jumping around on the mossy rocks back home, she thought) to the pebbly shore. Blue-green eyes went upwards to examine the crest of the waterfall, shuddering at how high it was. She'd hate to fall from there. She dipped her head to drink, only then noticing the other female. Her head went up again, water droplets hanging off her chin. She blinked in surprise, noticing how similar their coloration was, although the similarities ended at their eyes. "Hello," she called over, "this isn't your pool, is it?""Speech"

Despite the thundering noise of the falling water, Emer certainly found that the area was somewhat peaceful. Alone for now, there were no sounds bar that of the waterfall who found that she was now already growing used to the sound, it too falling towards the back of her mind. Though she still had no plans on staying permanently here, for now she could certainly cope. Her gaze had dropped from the top to the bottom of the falls now, though her mind had switched off into her own little world for now, feeling more drained than she had realised from her travels. She had no idea that another had disturbed her moment of solitude until the other wolf spoke up. "Hello, this isn't your pool, is it?" With that her mental state of nothingness was swiftly broken, mind torn back to the present and her surroundings as her attention turned to the fellow female. Indeed they had similar coloured coats, in fact she bore more resemblance to Emer than her brothers. They certainly were not family though, and she wasn't about to suddenly relax in the other's company. However as the girl's odd question registered in her mind, confusion quickly pushed away any worries. There was no scent of a pack around the pool, she had never heard of a loner staking claim to a piece of land, the idea that this could possibly belong to anyone let alone herself was a somewhat ridiculous idea to Emer. "No." She answered simply.

Arayne's shoulders, originally held high with apprehension, relaxed. At the other's confusion over her asking, she laughed, "I've walked into somebody's private turf before," she explained, "so I wanted to make sure I didn't just do it again." She dropped her head again to drink, feeling the icy water hit her gut. When her thirst was slaked, she lifted her head and shook out her mantle of neck fur. "I'm Arayne, by the way," she said with a smile. "The world's worst nomad." Her eyes snapped upwards as a cracking noise echoed across the rocks. A group of small rocks, loosened by ages of water erosion, had broken loose and were now plummeting towards the pool. She stepped backwards as the rocks crashed into the water, sending up large splashes, but not anything large enough to catch the two wolves. She shivered. "If those cliffs are volatile now," she said quietly, "I wonder what it'll be like when the thaw hits." "Speech"

"I've walked into somebody's private turf before, so I wanted to make sure I didn't just do it again. I'm Arayne, by the way. "The world's worst nomad." Not that such a thought even entered Emer's mind, though you certainly couldn't be a very good nomad if you kept going where you weren't supposed to. Instead however the thought that did occur to the autumnal girl was simply that perhaps she could rival Arayne for such a title. A similar realisation had hit her upon meeting Royale and now it was simply being reaffirmed. Still she had nowhere to go, no plans for the winter and being here simply reminded Emer that she was quickly running out of time to make life a little easier for herself. "I'm Emer." She introduced herself in return, though opted not to mention her own failures. This time she wanted to push that thought from her mind, perhaps pretend for a little while she had something figured out. There wasn't much time for any other niceties however, a distraction grabbing the attention of the two girls in the form of falling rocks. "If those cliffs are volatile now, I wonder what it'll be like when the thaw hits." Emer dreaded to think in all honesty, though was now more glad than ever for her idea to stay down here rather than attempting a climb. Instead she preferred to recall that peace from before, not that Arayne was proving to be a bad interruption, Emer still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the other wolf though she seemed nice enough. Small talk was far from the girl's forte however, and so the silence reigned again for now.

Arayne nodded, memorizing the other's name. Any hint of aggression had dropped from her demeanor, satisfied that this was merely a loner like her, here to drink. She waited briefly for a reply from Emer, and when none were forthcoming, she plopped herself down on the pebbly shore and began licking on a healing scrape on one foreleg. The injury had been sustained in an attempt to cross the mountains and get back south before the truly cold weather set it. She had barely crossed a mile before she slipped and went up to her chin in a snowdrift, scraping her leg against a hidden rock as she did so. She'd wait for better conditions before trying again. She kept one ear trained towards Emer in the event she spoke again, but seeing as she had little to say, Arayne wouldn't press her."Speech"

Arayne's new thoughts were indeed correct. Emer was just a loner, a harmless lost loner with no clue at all what she was doing. The small girl was far more likely to hurt herself doing something ridiculous than even think about bringing harm to another. No one so far had presented any danger to her either, she was rather fortunate really in some ways, she may still be at a risk due to her own lack of planning, but at least she had only met friendlier wolves so far. Emer was a wolf of very few words, it certainly wasn't often that she found herself starting conversations and unless the other had a lot to say circumstances like this one could easily find themselves unfolding. They'd fallen into a silence and Emer found herself wondering if perhaps she had met another as quiet as herself. In which case, as rude as it may have seemed perhaps it was simply best for them to quietly part ways soon. She certainly didn't want to stick around the North any longer than she needed to, even if that was her only plan of action for now.