It was clearly a pattern at this point, but a pattern she finally accepted. This need to go walking to new places whenever she had a lot on her mind wasn't going away anytime soon, she'd just have to accept it. Her current adventure had her swimming to an island, covered in lush vegetation in the middle of this particularly warm summer. The swim had been a welcome break from the warmth, feeling the water wash over her Cae even dipped her head beneath the surface, eyes squeezed shut to just enjoy the cool sensation. When she inevitably crawled up onto the shore she simply stood, dripping, wondering where to go next. It was interesting how her extended walks had gone from a form of self-punishment to a welcomed release from her overwhelming thoughts and emotions. In fact, Cae even felt pretty good today. Shaking some of the salty water from her drenched pelt, the pale woman trotted towards the trees but flopped down where the sand met the edge of the forest, eyes sliding shut so she could rest for just a bit. It had taken some time, but she was finally starting to feel her age so a quick nap was welcomed before she set to inspecting this new place. Actions   "Speech"   Thoughts

Esmee was enjoying her time in the sun on the sands, similar to the blue tinted female in a way. She had traveled here from the north, bringing a small creature in tow accidently. It was a dove from the nearest island that decided to momentarily break away from its huge flock and follow her there. The single dove fluttered down to land on Esmee’s nose with its sharp, tiny talons. The female went slightly crossed eyed in order to observe the bird, and to make a decision about what to do. Technically the wolf and the dove were from two different worlds; one was a predator, and the other was its prey. It would only be natural for Esmee to fling the bird off of her nose and attempt to catch it with her teeth. There was a rumbling deep within her throat, tickling her vocal chords, just threatening to bubble to the surface. But it was not a growl or snarl as one would have expected. It was a low rumble of amusement instead. Esmee did not try to shake the bird off of the bridge her nose and she let it stay there. The alabaster bird chirped in Esmee’s ears far too loudly, singing songs the wolf could not begin to understand, but Esmee was happy. Not all wolves were barbarians that had to eat everything that they came across. Sure, the chocolate female had to eat like everyone else when the time came, and she certainly was not a vegetarian. However, there were times when even natural enemies could exist alongside one another. In a strange way, they needed each other.

Esmee reclined on silken haunches with the bird on her snout, and just watched it skitter over the apex of her head to her scruff, and back again. Usually there was a stolid expression on Esmee’s face, or one that was contained. As the wolf sat there, her expression was mild, but a peaceful one. She knew that this moment would not last forever, so she might as well cherish it. A short duration after that thought crossed her mind, the dove squawked and fluttered its wings in an attempt to take off. It had to return to the place it belonged, and that was Dove Isle, not this one. The wolf obviously had no wings, so their meeting had come to a close. Esmee stood to her paws, walking with the bird to the water before being forced to stop. Her rose gold eyes watched as it flew home, and she felt a twinge of something sad. They were both one and the same, that bird and her. The only difference was that one could freely fly to its comrades, while the other had to make new ones. ‘I hope to see you again someday,’ Esmee thought before turning to walk back up on the sands slowly.

It was only then that Esmee noticed the other female resting on the isle as well. Well now, what a stroke of good luck. One friend flew away, and hopefully another would replace it shortly thereafter. The she-wolf padded closer to Caelum, and gently cleared her throat to get the other’s attention without startling her. Scaring her would be a fine way to start a conversation. Or not.  

OOC - Monster, I thought I would just post Esmee here instead of posting an entirely new thread. But I can start another if you want. ^^

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"Speech"
'Thoughts'

It was nice to relax, to just be and not do anything. A heavy sigh was the only sign she wasn't entirely asleep as the pale woman lay, unmoving aside from the gentle rise and fall of her sides with each gentle breath. Maybe things would start to be better now, as time wore away at the pain she held onto since that fateful day.

The sound of paws treading across the sand did not escape her notice, but she wasn't too keen on rising just yet. She was finally a comfortable sort of warm now that the cool water had dampened her coat and eased the discomfort of the warm day. Of course, when the other woman cleared her throat Caelum righted herself, pulling her tired limbs to a sitting position, with bits of sand clinging to her fur. No matter, it'd be gone soon enough once she dried entirely. Focusing on the dark woman Cae offered a gentle smile, "Hello there. You out here to escape the heat too?"

Esmee did not mean to disturb the other female’s rest; she was just merely looking to make a friend perhaps. For a moment, the chocolate woman felt a little bad for doing so. But that feeling was chased quickly away by Caelum’s seemingly friendly nature and question. If she was not bothered by Esmee, then perhaps it would be ok to stay a while. She might as well test the rhetorical waters and see. If it did not work out, that was fine. If it did, that was also fine and actually good. It was about time Esmee talked to someone like herself though. She did not always make buddies easily as others could do. Her stoic nature often inhibited that process a great deal. But it was worth a try here she supposed.

In response to the blue tinted female’s question, Esmee tilted her head slightly in thought. “Greetings to you too. I am sorry for disturbing your rest,” Esmee responded. “Actually, I had not really realized the heat until now. Is it hot where you are from these days?” she asked. That fact Esmee was not hot was actually kind of surprising to her, seeing as most winter born wolves probably would have been before then. Most were made for the cold not for the heat. Perhaps keeping her busy kept the hot weather off of her mind. And the swim to get here helped no doubt. “I came here on a whim, played with a bird a little just because, and then ended up here.” Esmee felt like she was talking far too much for such a simple question posed to her. What would the other she wolf think of her playing with birds? She fell silent a moment, shuffling her paws in the sand. Oh well, it was too late to take it back now, and Esmee liked birds anyways.

Finally after a brief moment, Esmee spoke up again, trying to bridge the gap from before as best as she possibly could. The only way to clear the air of awkwardness was with words it seemed. “Do you mind if I join you here? I understand if you want to have your solitude. Where better to have peace and quiet than a beach, right? But seeing as we are both here at the same time maybe…” Esmee asked. This “making friends” thing was harder than expected.  

An easy smile pulled at her lips, eyes softening as she listened to the other woman. "Ah, don't worry about it, I enjoy having someone to talk with. You're not disturbing anything," Caelum replied. She hadn't realized how much she missed just having a friendly conversation, so this was a welcome break from her relative solitude. "It is, the summer heat hasn't been too forgiving as of late."

She grinned at the bit about the bird. My, didn't that sound familiar? Though she wasn't sure where her own little feathered friend had gotten off to. He liked to just do his own thing most of the time, but every so often the tiny creature would shwo up and stick to her like sap. "Birds are funny creatures, I do enjoy them," she mused. Some time ago that might not have been so true, but since she came to find herself claimed by her little warbler friend Cae could appreciate how silly they were sometimes.

Perking up, Caelum eagerly leaned a bit forward as she quickly replied, "I wouldn't mind at all, in fact I'd like the company. You haven't been here before, right? Perhaps after I catch my breath a bit more from the swim here we can take a look around. I'm sure there's lots to find." Her tail thumped gently against the dirt, posture projecting friendliness, an open invitation for the other woman to freely come and join her. Having someone to chat with really would be nice. She could clear her mind a bit more, maybe make a friend out of this stranger if things went well.

"Oh! I'm Caelum, by the way. What is your name?"



Walk. "talk" think

“Oh good, I am glad,” Esmee said in response to Caelum’s first words. There seemed to be instant weight lifted off of her shoulders. Initiating things was not Esmee’s strong suit, one that she would readily tell anyone. She was grateful not to be chewed out by the other she wolf, and actually felt welcomed by her instead. Phew, that was a big sigh of relief. Ordinarily, Esmee would have just let sleeping wolves lie, and went on about her own devices. The island had plenty to offer her in the way of amusement after all. But there was something about Caelum from the start that Esmee knew was good. That was why she even tried doing what she did in the first place.

Esmee nodded a couple of times in understanding about the heat. She could empathize with what Caelum was going through. Some summers were absolutely wretched, but ,thankfully, not this one for Esmee particularly. That was just the life that wolves had to deal with she supposed. Most, if not all, wolves had thick coats. Of course there were exceptions, and a minute fraction that did not, but they did not count here really. The only three solutions to that seemed to be shedding, swimming, and shade. Which was probably why it was a good idea for them to take advantage of the shade for the time being. Esmee was not currently hot, but there was no reason for her to start, right?  

Those rose gold eyes of Esmee’s widened a bit in interest. She liked birds too? Well, would you look at that, they had something in common! And now the chocolate brown female did not feel so out of place. “Yeah, I think that the birds are great too. They seem so…oh I don’t know…free,” the wolf said happily. The awkwardness that Esmee was afraid of was dissipating without any hitches. Maybe making friends was easier than she expected, if it was right wolf to make friends with. Perhaps she just had to force herself to get out of her comfort zone a little more. Esmee would just have to wait and see what kind of results she got to confirm that notion. And that might be easier said than done.

“It is very nice to meet you Caelum, I am Esmee. And I think exploring together later on would be a lot of fun.” she said sincerely. For once, she did not feel the need to temper her happy personality and keep it on lockdown. She felt like she could still uphold her regal side as that was her natural inclination. But that did not mean royals were so bottled up that they could not be happy at the same time. The chocolate and black female was able to smile a bit, and her own tail fanned the air a couple of times too. She then padded up to Caelum’s left side and sat down next to her, watching the world unfold before them.    

Cae smiled sweetly, enjoying the presence of a new and friendly face. For so long she'd neglected to attempt things that once seemed like a normal part of her life, making a friend being one of the most neglected aspects of her life in the past few years. She decided not to dwell on how the sudden possibility made her realize how lonely it was to know so few faces anymore. Most encounters were with someone new to her; it would be a nice change of pace to be able to meet another wolf more than once.

"Very true, they're only a few flaps of the wings away from taking off for wherever they want to go. An appealing concept, though perhaps it'd good we are restricted to the ground in some ways..." she responded slowly, growing a bit quieter as her words trailed off. It would have been even easier to try and simply run from her troubles if she'd possessed a pair of wings like her little warbler friend. That was no way to resolve anything though, time and failure to free herself from the dark shadow of her past had more than proven that sometimes being cornered a bit could turn out to be a very good thing. To have the freedom of a bird sounded like both a blessing and a good way to accidentally cause oneself unwanted issues. Maybe she was just overthinking it, though.

Surfacing from the depths of the thoughts she'd been absorbed with Cae beamed at the younger girl, excited to see how this interaction might progress. "Wonderful, I'm sure it will be very fun. Are you from around here, Esmee?" Cae hadn't really explored many of the islands, and mostly stuck to the southern lands.

The smile that Esmee got from Caelum was priceless to the brown and black female. They were making better progress here than she could have ever hoped or imagined. Friends were something that most wolves craved it seemed, but not all could obtain. Wolves were stereotypically pack animals, with occasional rogue, not the other way around. Esmee was a rogue for the time being, but maybe it would change later on.

“Indeed, just floating on the wind, without a care in the world is enticing. So would getting a bird’s eye view,” Esmee said in agreement. She was wondering what Caelum was talking about when she described staying on the ground though. She could not exactly interpret the other female’s meaning, but took it at face value anyways. Obviously she knew something Esmee did not in that area. However, Esmee did not pry or pick her thoughts apart quite yet. It would probably be a while before that happened honestly. If they developed a friendship that went below surface level, then maybe it was a possibility. In the meantime, Esmee had no answer. Why someone would want to stay glued to the earth all the time, Esmee did not know. But she supposed it was a subjective sort of thing that varied from wolf to wolf or something like that.

“No, I am not from here. I am from the north, from over the hills and far, far away,” Esmee said, a fleck of humor in her voice. It sounded like something out of an old fairytale book, but it was true in a sense. The female’s kingdom was nowhere near the island or the surrounding territories even. Esmee could picture her true homeland in her head, and all the wolves belonging to her maiden pack. She basked in the memories for a moment, but knew in her heart that they were a thing of the past. Maybe one day she would be able to return, and be welcomed with open arms. But that would take a great deal of time and effort, not to mention the energy involved as well. Traveling alone had its perks, but also its downfalls as well.

“What about you Caelum,” Esmee asked in response, slightly tilting her head in curiosity. “Do you have a permanent place that you call home? Are packs trying to swoop in and gobble you up to join their ranks?”

Cae nodded, agreeing that the freedom of being airborne did indeed sound enticing. Still she probably wasn't as interested in the concept as some. Try as she might Cae had just never understood the envy some had for birds. Flight was deceptive, while it seemed it might open up the world, there was nothing up there, right? Being able to move through empty space didn't seem all that exceptional. Maybe she was just being cynical, though.

Tail tapping, Cae tilted her head, "I see,"  she began, soft blue eyes sparkling with interest and curiosity about her new acquaintance, "What was it like there? I haven't traveled all that far north." Briefly she wondered if Zephyr had been north at all during their time apart, but she had to silence those thoughts before they could lead to unpleasantness.

She perked up at the question, breaking into a smile she hadn't realized she dropped before, chirping, "Ah, not really. I have a spot where I tend to stay most of the time, but it doesn't really feel like home. I suppose I'll know when I have a home once I find it." her posture wilted a few degrees when she added, "It's been some time since I left my old home." Fighting off the negative emotions, she'd be quick to blurt out, "Oh, not really sure about joining a pack. You see, once upon a time my- uhm, my mate and I had a pack. It was a while ago now, but I'd be picky about joining a pack ruled by someone else. And I don't really know any of the packs around here."