To the west Valkyrie had instructed them to go, and to the west she had followed. There was no doubt in the young Finnvi's mind that she would follow Valkyrie to the ends of the earth, so long as her path aligned with that of Eyrun's faith... and so far she hadn't been at all disappointed. The volcano's eruption wouldn't even put a damper on her otherwise quite good spirits; while some might take such natural disasters as a sign they had displeased the gods, Eyrun took it a different way. If it had happened during the festival, or the market, perhaps she might wonder... but none of them had been harmed, and so Eyrun was apt to take a different interpretation of the events that had been unfolding. It seemed just as luckily to her that the tremors and spews of ash that sprouted from the volcano's peak were a celebration as they were a threat or a warning, and so she leaned toward taking a more.. forgiving understanding of those signs.

Either way, steering clear of the phenomenon - regardless of what it foretold - seemed like as good an idea as any. Hjarrandi's prime motive was to survive, and already the winter was proving a difficult one. Keeping their riches safe, in the meantime, might prove even trickier with the migration of wolves away from the dangers of the east. Eyrun could only hope they'd stashed away their treasures carefully. She had no doubt they would persevere through winter, and what would follow would surely be even more rewarding. A grin touched her lips at the thought as she meandered through the wide stretch of grass, surprised that these lands weren't more fertile. But it was winter, after all, and it seemed not a single land could escape from this winter's grasp... surely the heavy ash cloud that hung overhead, seeming to permanently block out most of the sunlight, didn't help. She snorted as she trudged through the dry grasses, sniffing gingerly at the air to see what - or who - might be around today.

So uh... he was probably missed back in Lirim right about now. But when the volcano had errupted he'd been wandering beyond the bounds of the pack and when he'd tried to find them he'd found the packlands abandoned, whatever trace of where they'd gone had long been burried by the ash that coated the ground... and truth was as much as he missed his father he had long been feeling that the pack was more of a restriction than anything else to him.

So while he was worried for his family the truth was he also wasn't sure he really wanted to go back if he ever did manage to find them. Instead he hung around nearby, chosing the once fertile basin as his hideout. There was a small divet in the stone walls near one end he'd squirreled away in.  

Though he'd not failed to notice the group of wolves that had moved in around the same time Anoixi had done his best to give them as much as space as he could, but he knew sooner or later they'd have to cross paths. Or today. As the boy was returning to his little hideaway he was startled to see he'd walked right into the path of another wolf, somehow missing all the usual signs.

She was a pretty woman, only a bit shorter than himself and around his age. As he stopped short, still a safe enough distance away he couldn't help the small

"Oh!"

that left his lips.

"Talk"

Though Eyrun had drifted away from her family back home, in Boreas she'd found Valkyrie and her band of misfits, and that was truly all the Finnvi needed. Already she was proving to be a worthy leader, one Eyrun was beyond thrilled to follow, so long as her ideals didn't shift drastically. With the seasons shifting she was beginning to feel uplifted, knowing the band had purpose and were already profiting from Valkyrie's genius.

Her mind was drifting to these things, wondering what the next few weeks had in store for them, when a stranger crossed her path.. almost quite literally. Her instinct was to react violently, hackles beginning to raise and a low growl beginning to bubble up in her throat, though quite quickly her posture loosened when she realized that the interruption had been an accident. "Oh, indeed!" She exclaimed in return, a strange grin touching her lips as her pale eyes widened. "Bit bold to be hanging out so close to a pack, isn't it?" She wasn't referring to her own group, but she knew another was taking residence in this basin and knew Valkyrie was okay with it, and so she was too.

The woman tensed for a moment and Ixi felt himself grow rigid but quickly enough the she relaxed, seeming even a bit amused by his sudden apperance. She agreed with his exclamation and despite himself Anoixi felt his face flood with heat. She questioned him further and the boy shuffled slightly, suddenly much more self-concious.

"I mostly try to stay out of everyone's way."

He said, his voice soft with his embarassement.

"I've been managing to do that pretty well... until now I guess..."

He dropped his gaze, and pulled his ears back a bit, shrinking in on himself a bit.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to step on any toes. I'll leave if it's an issue."

"Talk"

His stunned expression was oddly amusing, even if she didn't quite know how to take it. Torn between being defensive and amused, she settled somewhere uncomfortable in the middle - her posture was borderline defensive, despite Anoixi not showing any threat to her, though both her eyes and voice brimmed with undeniable laughter. "Mmm, probably a good idea," she noted conversationally, a single brow raising as she studied him. Even she knew better than to go poking around near a pack, even if they hadn't fully settled down yet... well, at least most of the time. Sometimes it was worth the risk, depending.

Suddenly she laughed, amused at the way he shrunk back from her. "These lands aren't mine. You come and go as you will. Can't guarantee any of the others will feel the same,"Eyrun added, almost conversationally, the laughter slowly bubbling away. "What's your name, anyway?" He was a bit larger than her, but she wasn't threatened by him, given his rather submissive posture. Though the truth was, she was a bit too reckless to be intimidated by anyone.. even if they could, and might, be a threat to her.