She needed to study. If she wanted to be useful to Fiori at all, she would study as much as possible, to prove herself to Leo and all who had their eyes on her. Even though she was small and fragile, she would do it. And starting today she would begin to travel around, studying weather patterns and charting the stars. Even tracing the borders that separated each of the packs. Well, for now, the packs closest to Fiori.

"Oof!" While being so mentally enthusiastic, she had tripped down a hill, tumbling through the multicolored leaves and landing on her side with a thump. A slow, quiet groan left her lips, and she hobbled to her paws slowly, shaking her head to clear herself of the dizziness. Once she steadied herself, she trotted forward, gazing through the trees to name the types of clouds that hovered overhead, and whether they were higher or lower to the ground. As well as watching which well they all moved, in order to identify the direction of the wind.

redbud nook

She had been here already, but that was no reason to return. There were fond memories here; why would she not return to the place where she had such good memories? It would be ridiculous to avoid it. And so, she found herself here. A smile formed on her maw and her eyes closed and head lifted - it was so peaceful, so serene here. There were less blossoms before with spring being almost half over, but there was still plenty of them.

She was shaken out of her reverie when a large thump occurred to her righ. Head dipping down and eyes flying open, she spun, eyes searching for the reason of the noise. She crept closer, soundlessly, darting from tree to tree. It didn't take long to find the source of the sound: as she pressed herself against the bark of a redbud, she spotted a black wolf, spotted with white, staring intensely at the sky. Green eyes searched the land around the wolf, and Lillianna had to resist laughing as she spotted scattered petals and leaves at the base of the hill that sloped in front of her.

Yeah, falling down a hill would do that.

Lillie approached the black wolf, breathing in the scent: it was... somewhat familiar. She couldn't recall from where, only that she had smelled this before. Ah, well. A wolf with her head in the clouds - probably literally, if this wolf had the choice - wouldn't be much of a threat.

"Hello," she called out, still several feet away from the black woman. It'd not be good to startle her, after all.
"Speech"

Arivae stopped in her tracks when her eyes got glimpse of a cloud that was very familiar. Hmm...she knew the name, but how did one pronounce it? She turned her eyes downward, pulling her lips in and groaning softly. It was a cloud that was centered in the middle of the sky...not too high, and not too low. It looked like scattered puffs of cotton, or, from where she stood...steps to heaven. Arivae smiled weakly. She could recall the cumulus cloud, and the massive one, called the cumulonimbus. But she just couldn't remember this one! What strategy had she used to remember it...? There was wind, altitu- alto! Altocumulus! Feeling so accomplished, Arivae jumped to her paws, grinning.

But a foreign voice to her left had shattered her joy. Startled, Arivae spun around and lowered into a sloppy-looking defensive stance, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. Her knees trembled, but her eyes narrowed fiercely. Which, turned out to be all for nothing. Standing there was a moderately-sized girl, with russet fur and black ears. Even a little white located on her muzzle, circular-shaped. Her voice seemed friendly enough, once she thought about it. The dark girl slowly rose from her stance and giggled nervously. "Er, hi there!" She greeted her, tilting her head and grinning crookedly. Arivae lowered herself onto her hindquarters, her tail thumping against the ground frantically.

Okay, looks like attempting not to startle the other girl failed. Miserably. Whoops. Her tail wagged tentatively, even as she eyed the girl's sloppy defensive stance. It looked like her own. Which was how she knew it was sloppy. But then, the girl became unstartled - and giggled. Her head tilted at the giggle, though her own tail blurred behind her in greeting. "Hi?" Her greeting came off a little confused and surprised - she had never met somene so friendly! Regardless, the girl took it as an okay for approaching, and she bounded forward happily, slowing her approach so she could sniff the other girl more closely, because... well wolves did that.

"Speech"

After being reassured that the stranger was no threat, Arivae relaxed herself, her bright blue eyes widening as the young girl bounded closer. She sniffed her a bit, and feeling a bit uncomfortable, the dark black and white girl stood to her paws and crawled backward. Then, she seated herself again and gazed up at the russet-colored woman. "What are you doing?" Arivae asked curiously, cocking her head to the side. She pressed her paws together and curled her tail around her hindquarters. Ah...it didn't really matter. She needed to study a little more, even if there was someone new here. They seemed sweet...maybe they could help her!

"Uh, nevermind. I'm Arivae Destruction...it's nice to meet you." She stood to her paws and nodded casually, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. The small girl turned her gaze to the sky, studying the clouds, before turning back down to the unknown girl and grinning weakly.

The girl blinked at the other. "Simply walking around, exploring," she explained, a small smile on her face. This girl was... certainly interesting. Lillianna wasn't quite sure how to deal with her, though going along with it would work rather well. Ears flicked at the name; Arivae, huh? Interesting. "I am Lillianna. Likewise." No last name, for she lacked a family. "What are you doing?" she questioned back, also rising to her paws. Her gaze followed the older girl's up to the clouds; her head tilted in slight confusion. What was up there? A bird she didn't see? It didn't seem to hold the other girl - Arivae, she corrected herself - Arivae's attention for very long.

"Speech"

Lillianna. It was certainly a pretty name, Arivae loved it. But judging by the scars that ran up and down this girl's face, her past wasn't as beautiful as her name was. At the thought of what could have caused such scars, Arivae frowned and tucked her tail over her little paws, glancing at the ground for a second. She really should be focusing on studies right now, not talking with strangers. But she needed and desperately wanted friends. Who knows, maybe Lillianna could turn out to be one, in the future. Arivae stood up and stretched her back, before trotting backward and spinning around. She turned her head to the sky and took mental notes as the red girl continued speaking.

Ah, I'm a navigator. She briefly explained, looking back at Lillianna and smiling gently. The girl must have been confused- as Arivae was constantly looking up at the sky, eyeing it for seconds at a time before taking her eyes away from it. I've spent the whole day studying cloud types and weather patterns. Wanna help? Arivae asked, her stubby tail lifting and waggling back and forth casually. It'd be nice to have her help and quiz her on stuff...that'd be nice.

Lillianna's eyes followed the girl, watching quietly as she did... something. She wasn't quite sure what. Her curiosity would be answered, though, as Arivae spoke. A navigator? Lillianna visibly perked up, her body straightening. "I am as well!" she yipped, tail wagging behind her. "I'm a messenger for Abaven, one in training at least," she explained. Her head tilted at the invitation, and she found herself nodding. "I'd love to! I explore, mostly, but I'd like to learn all aspects of navigation." And learning to predict the weather! Learning weather in general. That would be fascinating. What if she could tell what direction she was in simply by the clouds or something like that?
"Speech"

It was certainly amazing to be in the presence of another navigator. Really, it was. She can't remember the last time she had discussed navigational-type things to anyone...better yet, run into a navigator themselves. So when Lillianna had mentioned she was also a navigator, Arivae's gentle smile turned into a large, bright grin. Her tail wiggled frantically behind her, a wave of excitement racking her body. I guess a messenger does need to recognize themselves with the land! Arivae yipped, spinning around to face the dark red girl. She explained that she explored more than she studied weather patterns and such- but Arivae didn't see anything wrong with that. It just meant that Lillianna knew...less than her? Or maybe she knew more.

It'd be fun to teach her a few things, though. Maybe about the cloud she was observing? Who knew? It depended on what came flying her way. Arivae laughed and turned her nose up to the sky, nodding her head slowly. For starters...clouds are really important to observe when you are predicting the weather. And there are ten basic cloud types...Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus, the higher altitude clouds...Altostratus, Altocumulus, and Nimbostratus, the mid-altitude clouds, and finally Cumulus, Stratus, and Cumulonimbus, the low clouds. Right now you are looking at Altocumulus clouds. Saying it out loud made her feel like a nerd. The small girl sighed and turned to look at Lillianna, hoping she got this all.

Lillie chuckled, eyeing the girl and nodding. Yes, a messenger needed to know the land, most definitely. She followed her gaze, staring up at the clouds. The sky was patchy, with small little tufts of white clouds dotting it, looking almost like disturbed water with all the space in between the clouds. She blinked when information started pouring from Arivae's mouth, and her head tipped down to stare at the gil quizically. She got... there were 10 types of clouds, they were important to weather, there were different categories for clouds... and the clouds she was looking at was alto... com... comulus? "Alto... comulus?" she questioned, for confirmation, glancing back up at the sky. Oh, it would definitely take time to learn these. "What does that mean for the weather?" she questioned, looking sidelong at the little hyper scholar.

"Speech"
"Language"

Art by Penguiduck

Arivae smiled easily as Lillianna sounded the long word out. She remembered herself about a year ago, always tripping over the names of clouds and having her instructor laugh at her. It made her feel a little uneasy about the whole navigation thing, so instead of laughing she corrected her with a grin. Yep, Altocumulus. It can be hard to memorize them all- but I'm sure you can manage. She explained, seating herself and letting her tail sway back and forth along the yellow-green grass that fall brought, and the assortment of red, brown, and orange leaves. If there was only some way to make the small teaching easier for Lillianna to understand. Arivae huffed and rolled her shoulders, her small ears pricking to the girl's question.

Well, its rare for them to produce rain...but they can indicate a change in the weather a day or two after appearing. It's also known that if they appear on a humid morning, there will be thunderstorms later that afternoon. She said quietly, trying to remember everything she had learned about these clouds. It was hard keeping track, especially at a young age. But she was glad she was putting it to good use. For her own, and for others. Was there anything else she could say about this cloud type, though? Everything she had said was really all she could recall as far as Altocumulus...

Another laugh from Lillianna. "With lots of practice and review, probably," she agreed. Certainly not without review... she only caught one of those names the first time, frustratingly. She listened quietly to the description, glancing back up at the sky. Thunderstorms in the afternoon, eh? If shown in the morning. It was... late morning, now, midday. "So something might change in a day or two," she murmured, as if testing the knowledge out. She glanced back at Arivae. "It's around late morning now... were they here in the morning? They're still here, so I'd presume there won't be a thunderstorm?" she questioned rapidly, an apologetic smile for all the questions making its way to her lips as she waited - almost eagerly - for the response.

"Speech"
"Language"

Art by Penguiduck

The young dame grinned at Lillianna. Yes, it was a lot of work and practice. On walks she was constantly going through certain things that made her better as a scholar. Even on dates with Tiburtius she would bring nerdy weather things up...and she'd end up being teased. But that was her fault. She was the one who decided to bring it up all the time. Maybe it got annoying? Arivae smirked at the thought and turned her eyes back up to the clouds, then to her new friend, her eyes becoming soft to the nervous expression that played on the russet girl's face. She wasn't going to bite her head off if she asked any more questions. She loved being a teacher...it was fun! Passing her knowledge on to others made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Technically, no. Arivae breathed slowly, blinking. It wasn't too humid this morning, meaning the clouds are there only for the change in the future. The girl explained, licking her lips. Yes, that was right. She was giving Lillianna the correct information...how nice. Arivae lifted a paw and sent it down on a tiny pile of crunchy red and orange leaves, observing them. It was cold...no wonder it wasn't humid. Or...it wasn't humid to her, at least. Did Fall bring humidity? Arivae stopped to think for a moment, before turning back to her friend and giggling. Anything else you want to know?