It hadn't taken long for Satu's restless paws to carry her once more from the safe bosom of her new pack to seek adventure. No one had said it was required for her to stay within pack territory, but there was still a feeling of guilt for wandering away again so soon after joining. Not that she was planning on abandoning Ludicael! She was just so restless after so long being chained to duty in her old family pack. She had found herself wandering much further than expected, all the way to an area with beautiful rolling hills and a strange - and exciting - unearthly feel. She could see the huge bodies of bison wandering among the hills as well, though she stayed fairly well clear of them. Her soft brown coat blended fairly well with the brown of the winter-killed grasses, allowing her to skirt around them pretty much unseen even as she bounded along, following the wind and her whims. There was adventure to be found here, she just knew it. All she needed to do was look for it. "Speech"

?Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight.? Kili had lost track of his brother yet again. Honestly, it was no longer something he worried over; he knew his sibling would track him down eventually. While they were both rougish, Fili always had had a head for the important things, where as Kili was more than prone to being swept away by fantasies. Always the more excitable, the more unpredictable. Maybe in a year, when he was his brother's age, he would be wiser. For now he planned to enjoy his folly. He lay atop a tall knoll, the highest in the plain, overlooking all that was below him. He had been following this herd for quite some time, and while they would shy off if he drew too close, he was too small to garner real fear. More's the pity, he thought balefully. Nothing would liven my day up quite like a stampede. So he contented himself with watching the lazy brown beasts mill about. Their large, broad noses made for excellent tools, and Kili wondered if he too could find food that way. Your food can run, his brother's voice sounded off between his ears. Kili rolled his eyes, stood, and shook out his coat. Enough laying around! He wanted to do something. Mid-shake, his bright cerulean eyes fell upon a new sight. It had not been there before, but surely now it had become a wolf! Grinning from ear to ear, Kili bounded down the hill, rounded a corner, and came to a skidding halt before what he then saw was a fae. "Kili of Durin, at yer service!" he said proudly, bowing before the dusky fae. "Any chance you've seen a sandy wolf, my size, grey eyes?" If he was lucky she had, and he'd be able to find Fili before Fili found him. He smirked at the thought. "Talk." Think. "You."

One minute Satu was bounding through the grass, her imagination ranging far from her surroundings. The next a wolf had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly announcing himself as "Kili of Durin, at yer service!" as he bowed, then asking a question about another wolf, which Satu hardly registered as she attempted to stop her forward motion. She nearly managed it, skidding nearly to a halt before her paws tangled themselves and sent her sprawling gracelessly into the other wolf. "I am soo so sorry," she wailed in embarrassment, trying to untangle herself from the heap she'd fallen in. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" Her woolgathering and adventuring had gotten her into trouble before - such as falling into the river that brought her here from her homeland to begin with - so it wasn't that unusual for this to happen, but smashing into a random stranger was definitely not the best part of her day so far. "Speech"

For all that Kili expected the stranger to flee, curse, or attack his sudden entrance, he did not expect her to duplicate it. The young fae barreled into the smaller frame, sending him flying tail over snout, and kicking up a massive gout of snow as he did it. The white power filled the air around them, and all that could be heard was the girl's frantic apologies and Kili's roaring laughter. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, trying to calm his breathing as he lay there, belly up in the snow. He wriggled in it, liking the sound of it crunching under his back. When he finally did roll himself upright, and shook out his fur, he gave the fae a quick once over, making sure she was okay as well. Kili was the smaller of the two, but perhaps the older of them (much to his despair.) The girl had a youthful, excitable look in her eye that his brother often claimed to see in Kili's. He liked her immediately, and as excitement began to course through his veins, he found himself leaping upwards and falling back into the snow with a solid thump, sending yet another cloud of ice crystals into the atmosphere above them. He came up laughing again, and said to the fae, "See, I'm right as rain! Or snow, rather. So what is your name, slips?" He hoped she wouldn't take the nickname amiss, he meant it in jest, but some wolves had serious souls. He did not think, or hoped rather, that she would be one of them. "Speech" Think

The stranger didn't seem to be bothered by her rather violent "introduction". On the contrary he seemed incredibly amused, roaring with laughter as he wriggled around in the snow. Satu couldn't help it; she giggled a little too. It was pretty funny, actually. Then the stranger leaped into the air, flopping back into the snow in a miniature blizzard, and Satu laughed outright at his antics. She looked him over, still concerned, but he really did seem all right. He was a few inches shorter than her, but much broader, more muscular, so she doubted she would have done much damage with her slim body. Feeling a bit better and less like an awful, insensitive person for smashing into him, she flashed him a bright grin. The joking nickname he tossed out would have made her blush pink beneath her brown fur, but she wasn't offended but rather amused and a little embarrassed. After all, that is exactly what she did. "I promise I don't usually meet new people this way," she laughed. "My name is Satu. And I think I caught yours as Kili, right before I tackled you, right?" "Speech"

?Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight.? The fae flashed Kili a bright smile, and he immediately was at ease. It was encounters like these that he looked forward to. He returned the fae's grin with gusto, and listened as she explained her actions. He waved her off and said, "Life is full of surprises, who am I to question the form the take?" He shook out his ever-mussed fur once more. "Nice to meet yeh, Satu. Must say, I prefer Slips though! It's got a certain ring to it." His snout wrinkled up in a grin, and he chuckled again. Kili turned and trotted up to the top of the nearest knoll, and scanned the horizon in every direction. Still no sign of his brother! He was safe for now, then. Kili eyed the slope beneath him and took a running jump down it's side. He locked his legs and let the slick power underfoot carry him down to the bottom. As he slowed his balance wavered, and he floundered for a moment, finally breaking into a trot to avoid wiping out again. Turning towards Satu once more, he cocked his head and asked, "So what brings you round these parts, Slips?" She had the faint scent of other wolves on her, and he wondered if she might not be in a pack. "Talk." Think. "You."

Well, if nothing else this Kili was quite the charming young rogue, and Satu found herself quite enjoying his company already. His friendly, high-spirited attitude was lifting Satu's own spirits, and had quite washed away any residual guilt for having gone off from her pack. He surprised her when he turned away, trotting up the hill right next to them. Satu hesitated, wondering if she was expected to follow or she'd be intruding. It had been a rather abrupt turnabout. But then Kili had simply taken a quick look around and skidded right back down the snowy slope again. He almost ended up on his face this time, provoking a laugh from the younger wolf. "I'm familiarizing myself with the land around my new pack's territory. It's very strategic," she informed him with mock solemnity before grinning sheepishly at him again. "Really I'm just exploring. I got bored. I can't help it! I like adventure too much to sit still with the rest of the pack. And how am I going to tell a decent story if I never get to experience anything?" She cocked her head to the side, regarding him quizzically. "What about you, Kili? You seemed to be looking for something. Or someone? What are you looking to find way out here?" "Speech"

?Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight.? Kili's brows drew down in confusion at the fae's rather... Well, logical response. It was certainly not something he would expect from their encounter so far, but he realized soon enough that a joke was upon him. He laughed his easy, quick laugh, and smiled as she went on. An adventuresome lass, eh? He came upon few enough of those. The small male turned himself broad-face and puffed his fur out, sucked air into his chest, made a silent mockery of all that was noble and prideful. "Well, the gods are hard at work today! It just so happens that my misplaced brother and I are adventurers of finest caliber." Kili danced from paw to paw, excited. By the sound of it, this fae would surely have stories to tell, and he was more than eager to hear them, as well as to tell his own. "You like stories, eh?" he said with a grin. Once my brother and I took down a bull moose, all on our own." Well, it was a very old moose. And it had lost it's antlers already. And might have been wounded already. But did this sweet looking fae need to know that? No, no she did not. "Talk." Think. "You."

Satu stifled a giggle at Kili's ridiculous pose. "You definitely look like you've been adventuring," she teased, reaching over to pluck a grass stem from his rumpled coat. "Did you really take down a bull moose, just the two of you?" There was a note of awed excitement in her voice as she asked, her ears pricked and her tail waving in interest. That really would make a fantastic tale, especially with the right embellishments... He and his brother must be amazing hunters, especially if the brother were as short as Kili was. "The most adventurous thing I've done was fall in a river," Satu admitted. "Well, fell in a river and then got really terribly lost and attacked by a jay and... well, that got me here, anyway. I'd always wanted to really be an adventurer," she added wistfully. "Instead of just telling stories about pretend adventures." "Speech"

Satu's interest and questioning of the rugged male made him blush. He couldn't lie to a fae, it wasn't chivalrous, but neither could her lose face to such an attractive companions. "We truly did," he said quickly. "But, perhaps it wasn't as grand as I could have you believe. I'll spare you the boredom, and my ego the blow." He laughed, and smiled, and his eyes glittered with mirth. "Not nearly as exciting as falling into a river of course," he teased. "Forgoing my ego for a moment, I have a story that might bring a smile to your face." He went on to regale her of the time he and Fili had been hunting in a thicket, and instead of catching he had been caught. His coat and gotten terribly tangled in a mass of briars. He had tugged and pulled all to no avail, and finally a young fae had emerged from the darkness of the woods, as his saving grace. It hadn't been enough to get him free before his brother showed up, of course, and he suffered the ridicule even to this day. "Long story short," he said between bouts of laughter, "Is that if you have siblings, abandon them! They're absolutely good for nothing." He chuckled again, shaking his head at the antics of the past. "Speech" Think