The child hadn't known of Fiori, but could Asteria expect her to? No, she hadn't been put off of her quest. She hadn't been put off of her quest yet. No, for now, the star-soaked creature would move forward. She'd continue, all the while exploring. The world here, this Boreas was so strange. A stranger to these lands, though Asteria felt as if she knew them better than she could ever explain or articulate. Selene had spoken of the Mangrove, of the Falls... of how beautiful they were. Fond as she was of beautiful places, Asteria was looking forward to seeing them. That, and she was looking forward to being the closest to having a home that she'd ever really come. Home. What a concept. All this searching left her a bit lonesome, but that came pretty easily these days. Head held high, back to the breeze, striding carefully through the warm autumn afternoon... lonesome was a good word for what she was feeling. Selene said that Fiori was in the east, but it was occurring to Asteria that Boreas was far larger than she'd even considered. East, but how far east? Sure, she was moving in the direction that the sun had come up this morning, but did she need to go north too? Or south? It was hard to establish her bearings, honestly. Directions. Asteria would need to ask someone for directions. New as she was here, really, the star-soaked creature was learning. Learning and growing. After a moment of scenting the wind, she was able to catch a stronger scent... packlands. Well, that would be as good a place to find someone to ask as any. That, and they were in the right direction-- east as well. Adjusting her course just a bit, the creature made her way towards what smelled like the pack border, noting the unsettling starkness of the trees as they sprung up before her. Bone white, stark, pale... unlike nothing she'd ever seen before. How strange. Right, the border. Asteria was too distracted by the strange landscape to call out, but she still had the sense to stop and wait at the marked border. "Talk"

Kitsune made her way along the pack's border, lost in thought. Her world felt different now, without her father in it. He had always been a bit of an enigma. Stoic and emotionless, but steady as a rock. Dependable, until he wasn’t. The hole he had left behind in the pack, in her was indescribable. She loved him, but she hated him too. He hadn’t been torn away. Fate hadn’t taken him from her. He had chosen to leave. He had walked away, like Kitsune and her siblings and her mother meant nothing to him. She had known he was stoic, but cold? Truly, and utterly cold… that had been news to her.

She almost didn’t realise another wolf was at the border until she was just about upon them. So much for the warrior she was training to be. She startled for a moment, and then the Princess drew herself up. This wolf hadn’t called out, had she? Was she lurking at the borders? “Good day to you” the girl said “I’m Kitsune Tachi Oritsu Abraxas, Princess of the Ashen Empire. What brings you to our border?”

"Speech"

The trees... they were so strange. The land around it too, it was as if the place had been sucked dry of its lifeforce. She's never seen anything like it, and Asteria isn't quite sure if she'd like to see anything like it again. A strange ache, a pull, at her sides. She shouldn't be here. She's been sidetracked from her goal. Maybe it was one of the places that was filled with fae creatures, dangerous and deceitful. No, that couldn't be it. They were just stories, and she wasn't superstitious... was she? No. No, she didn't believe the tales. Asteria would put them out of her mind for now. She'd put them out of her mind for as long as she could, honestly. A voice. The voice of a girl, one that drew Asteria's gaze away from the trees. She had been lurking, yes. The girl had an unsettling way about her, one that came from being on her own for too long. Looking to the red girl, she took a long moment to study her. A name, longer than any Asteria was accustomed to. A title that went with it. Empire? Selene hadn't spoken of an empire within these lands, and yet here she was, looking at the very princess of it. Still, the star-soaked creature remains relaxed as she studies this princess. A nod of her elegant head to acknowledge her words, her question. "Good day," the pleasantry of it all was strange to her, Asteria's tone gentle despite her voice cracking a bit over the words. Is that what not speaking for so long will do? Social situations always managed to feel stilted, forced. Those with a princess? Right. Manners. "I'm Asteria. I was actually hoping for directions, I'm looking for Fiori." Right, her name. After all this time, her own name felt strange in her mouth. How often did she need to say it? Rarely, if ever. And here she was... here she was. Asteria knows that this is Boreas, as long as the last child hadn't played some sort of cruel prank on her. She didn't think that was the case. If this was Boreas, she had to be near enough to Fiori for this princess to know where it was, or at least know someone who did... right? "Talk"

Kitsune waited patiently as the other wolf returned the greeting. The Princess seated herself delicately before the other wolf. Curling her tail over her toes as she sat primly there. Looking delicate, and innocent. Not at all like a force ready and willing to burst into action if the stranger stepped one paw out of line on the Ashen borders. This was her home and she would protect it. Like her father was unable or unwilling to do.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ASteria. Who’s Fiori? She can’t be a member of the Empire, I know the names of everyone here” if not their faces. She raised a delicate brow at the stranger. Wondering what led the other to think her friend could be here.


"Speech"

A delicate girl before her, dainty, lithe. She wasn't unlike Asteria in that way, though she has her youth and her beauty to rest on. Asteria could be the vision of this princess many, many years in the future, though the star-soaked creature has seen adventures wide beyond her years. Is that what she gets for not having a home? She gets adventure. She gets to live every moment, every day to the fullest. She gets to see, she gets to do she gets to thrive. Was Asteria thriving? Despite her nearly-advanced age, she was in decent health. The yearling before her is a strange reflection, though, of the youth that had slipped away in her travels, in her exploration. And in all her travels, she was still treated to new sights. New strangers. New everything. This place, this Ashen Empire (or what she'd seen of it so far) was so... strange. The unsettling trees were something else. Within their shadows, what secrets did they hold? Far behind the princess, where the long-coming dusk had started to cast its shadow, there was a faint purple glow that seemed to paint and color the distance. No, she wouldn't stare or pry, but it was strange. All of it is strange. That's okay, Asteria is strange too. Who's Fiori? the question came. Asteria faltered, but recovered as quickly as she could. Not a member of the Empire, no, what she sought wasn't someone but something. "Fiori is a pack, my mother said that they were in the Mangrove and the Falls to the east but I don't know how far to the north or south," she explained after a moment. A woman her age, speaking of her mother... the information was old. They could have moved, she hadn't considered that. "I wanted to talk to Lionel Adravendi, if he's still..." she trailed off, offering a hopeful albeit uncomfortable smile. Her mother had been quite old the last time Asteria had laid eyes on her, and if Lionel was the same age... well, still, she could hope. "Talk"

That was even more intriguing. This older lady had appeared on the Empire's border, and spoke of places and people that did not exist in Kitsune’s world. Was she raving mad? She seemed rather put together for someone whose mind might be gone. Kitsune narrowed her eyes at the other woman for a moment.

“I can name every pack that exists in Boreas and Auster. There is no Fiori. There's never been a Fiori for the year and a half I’ve been alive. In the packs that currently exist, there's no Alpha called Lionel Adravendi…” She paused, thinking for a moment. Going over her lessons of the packs and the Alphas as they had been drilled into her since she was young. “I believe the Valhalla pack has Adraveni’s.” She admitted, wondering if that at least would be good news for this stranger. “I could lead you to Sunset Falls and Lovers Mangroves, but no packs live there. I’m sorry.”

"Kitsune"

The princess narrowed her eyes as Asteria's heart dropped to her knees. There is no Fiori. It seemed that with her words, time ground to a halt in the space that surrounded her. Everything existed in a vacuum, and there were too many feelings. Too many feelings all at once. There's never been a Fiori for the year and a half I've been alive, Kitsune's words drove the breath from her lungs. All at once Asteria felt like she was drowning and on fire. She'd come all this way. She'd come all this way for nothing. But that wasn't true. The places still existed. The Sunset Falls. The Lovers' Mangrove. They were real places, but they were empty. The possibility of a home had slipped through her fingers once more. It was more than disappointment. There's no alpha called Lionel Adravendi, the words came. There was no alpha by that name... had he passed his legacy onto someone else? Asteria perked up at the news that there were Adravendis here. Hope lived on, a fragile dove within her chest. "Can you tell me where this Valhalla is, and in what direction?" Hope. Fragile, fragile hope. Hope would keep Asteria's course chartered. The princess offered to take the star-soaked woman to the lands she sought. It gave her pause. One beat of her heart. Another. Did she want to see it, even though disappointment hung heavily over her heart. Selene had always said it was among the most beautiful places she'd ever seen. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble," though her voice cracked when she spoke. Today was not a day for crying in front of strangers, Asteria was sure of that much. "Talk"