Since running into her cousin, Novella had certainly found that urge to explore had reappeared. Perhaps the fact that it seemed the war had ended, also aided a little, putting her mind at ease that for now things were somewhat peaceful, the calm after the storm. There was no way her previously innocent state of mind would be returned, though it was probably for the better. At least now she could understand why Symphony had been so mad to see her suddenly in Alacritis alone when as far as she had been aware, Novella was back in Ahlon. Her travels still hadn't taken her beyond the East, not wanting to wander too far from her home in Ludicael, though she was certainly a little curious to see what else lay around her and even who else she might meet. Satu was here after all, apparently nearly the entire family had found its way to the lands and she couldn't deny it'd be nice to see them again. Truth be told it was more in hopes of finding Myth, Legend or Howl for it had been a while since she'd seen her siblings. That being said, anyone else, provided they weren't a threat of any kind would surely be nice to meet. The hot springs were a place that Novella could confidently say she'd never seen anything quite like before. Volcanoes too fit into that, though they at least could pass as a mountain from afar. These pools of water were so strange though, the steam rising and feeling of warmth as she grew nearer was very odd considering that Winter had now arrived, surely it wasn't possible for them to be this warm? Curiously she paused near one pool, mis-matched eyes casting a confused look at the water, still unable to decipher what was happening and not entirely sure whether she wished to get too close to them.

Short, gray limbs carried the pup through the snow as she wandered away from the stone garden that she called home. Unlike some pups she wasn't so much seeking adventure as she was trying to find something interesting. Everything was just so dull where they lived. Snow and rocks. Rocks and snow. That's all she ever saw around their den. So, while their mother was distracted, Senka wandered off, trying to find something new to look at or someone new to meet. The trees that she had been walking through for a while now suddenly stopped and she looked up so that her violet gaze landed on the pools of water. But unlike every other pool of water she had seen lately it wasn't frozen. It seemed to be completely liquid. In fact, it was not only not frozen, but steaming. She blinked and padded over to the edge of one of the pools, peering down at it curiously before dipping in a single forepaw. It was warm! The corner of her mouth curled in a slight grin as she stepped forward till both forepaws were submerged in the warm water, her tail waving gently from side to side. If there was one thing she hated more than anything it was the cold so this was perfect for her. A wolf's scent broke though the slightly odd smell of the pools, catching the pup's attention and making her lift her eyes from the water. She spotted a fea on the other side of the small pools, an ivory wolf with what looked to be some sort of marking on her face. Senka did not speak, she merely lifted a mildly curious eye-brow and watched the stranger, wondering what she might do or if she would look up and see Senka standing there. Speech Thought Others

Though she had found a nice home in the forest with large trees, Isabella was not happy there. There was no water, no connection to the Ocean she loved so much. That and a recent scent had put her on edge, a scent she had learned to avoid when young, the scent of a mountain lion, cougar, puma, whatever one called the big cat she knew they were silent killers. Not yet skilled enough to live where one of the cats were she sought out a different home, preferably one with water.

Her need carried her to the East, a land she had yet to travel in. Following the scent of water the fox colored she-wolf had found this strange new land. Her small form moved on with her head ears and tail high aside from the occasional lowering to the water. The water was warm, so much so it gave off steam and it smelled of minerals that reminded her of a spring.

The emotions did not show on her of course, except slightly in her eyes. Wandering around the steamy place she found a secluded spot to lay down close to the water. Letting her tail dip in it, she lay as flat and hidden as she could on the ground. The steam helped to hide her, the ground helped to hide her fur but her icy blue eyes stood out like glowing moons. Calmly she let her tail fall into the warm water, it was rather soothing."Hot water that does not flow, well I suppose in some way you still must be a child of the Ocean. Perhaps the rain that falls here is special. I do not see why not. If a beach with no water can exist then hot water with no sand can exist as well." She said to the water thinking she was alone. It was only when she spoke to the water that her voice held emotion, joy at finding it, respect for a part of the Ocean and a bit of wonder.

But of course, she was not alone. Though the scents of the water she picked up the scent of one, no two wolves, both female. The first was a wolf around her age, maybe a year younger. This wolf had interesting colors, white with a colorful markings on her face, a somewhat silver back and two eye colors. Isabella was proud that she could hide so well, but it was no doubt this wolf would notice her sooner or later if she did not already from Isabella's talking. Deciding to make herself obvious he stood with a small huffing noise. Eyes on the stranger she took in what she could learn before turning her head to the other scent to find a gray and white. "What is one as young as that doing out alone?" She thought to herself.

These two strangers, even the pup, could be a potential threat and as such she kept an ear on each of them while her eyes lay somewhere in the middle to go quickly to one or the other. What struck her as odd was the pup did not smell of many other wolves while the white wolf did, no doubt a pack wolf. Either way, the two of them did not smell of each other. Isabella wanted to speak, to know if she was safe with these two stranger so she decided to take a simple rout And strike up a conversation. "Greetings. I am Isabella VentFlurrer. Do either of you know what this place is?" Her words were not as warm when she spoke to the water, they were cold, not so much as to be hateful but enough to be calm and sound like the diplomat she was.

Carefully the young girl continued to study the water as if the answer would magically come to her. There was still an awful lot that Novella had to learn about the land really, the oddities like these warm pools were new to her, just as the ocean once had been before finding her sister and Ludicael. An explanation of sorts was all she needed, for the pools themselves were providing her with no further information than the stark facts that she had already deciphered; it was warm. In the corner of her eye she managed to spot the shape of someone else approaching. Head lifted and her gaze now rested upon what she quickly realised was only a pup. She was younger than her nieces and nephews, that much Novella could easily decipher but certainly wasn't aware of how much so. Even without an exact age however, she decided that the pup was probably too young to be on her own. That led to the immediate thought, in some ways hope that the mother or father was close by. As if on cue the voice of another wolf suddenly met her ears and head turned to look in the direction, eyes searching for the source. Sure enough they soon rested upon the form of another wolf, though she didn't seem to be paying much attention to Novella or the pup, at least not immediately anyway. When her gaze finally rested upon them there was not one of recognition, nor any question as to why Novella was so close to her daughter. The three of them she concluded were perhaps all strangers to one and other then. "Greetings. I am Isabella VentFlurrer. Do either of you know what this place is?" Came the introduction as the older woman approached her and the pup. Now closer the thoughts were confirmed, Isabella's scent certainly didn't match that of the pup. "I'm Novella Destruction." The girl announced, her own tone holding a little more warmth than Isabella's, though for now she still remained a little wary. She may have had a name, but this woman was still a stranger to her, Novella had certainly been observing and learning you couldn't just trust anybody. "No, I don't." Her attention shifted back to the pup for a moment now, certainly not wishing to exclude or ignore the fact that she wasn't with her parents. " What's your name? Do you know, or perhaps your parents might? Where are they?"

Senka watched as another fea appeared, the older feas introduced themselves, and the pale colored one asked her about her parents, like older wolves tended to do. She watched their short conversation with little interest. She sat back on her haunches and waited till this pale wolf, named Novella apparently, looked at her and questioned where her parents were located. Her mauve colored eyes looked at the woman as she shrugged and answered, "I don't know. Mother was off chasing after my brother I think and I've never met my father." She glanced over to the other fea, wondering who she had been talking to before she began talking to them, before looking back to the one with golden marks on her face. I don't know why it's warm. I'm just glad it is. I hate being cold." Speech Thought Others

As the cream woman spoke and introduced herself as Novella she nodded in a form of greeting and recognition. "A very interesting name. Quite pretty." Though it was a complement, or at least her attempt at one it came off in a matter of fact way. As Novella spoke to the pup Isabella turned her eyes on the pup as well. The other woman did not seem a threat at the moment and cold as she was Isabella was not heartless. She was worried for the young one out all alone.

A pup who had a mother and brother away from her, for who knows how long and who did not know her father. The pup looked healthy enough so she was either with her family recently or knew how to hunt. Still, she could no simply guess one or the other and let a pup starve. "I am glad it is warm as well. It is a shame none of us know why the water is so warm but maybe the Ocean has something to do with it." Her words were for both of them so she looked at both while she spoke. She paused, thinking over the words and how they could be confusing. "The Spirit of the Ocean I mean, I have looked to her all my life. All water is connected in way way or another, even if just by rain. I have even heard a wolf state that all life came from water once. Oh excuse me, I am rambling."

Not one for conversation that was a lot for her so she paused looking at the pup. "What is your name, if I may ask? Do you have a warm place of your own to stay, or a pack? You seem very healthy so does that mean you know how to hunt?" The words were no different from before but there was a sort of softness in her eyes when she addressed the pup.

Novella needed no approval for her name, it wasn't as though she had chosen it herself after all, she was rather pleased with t though in all honesty. Her parents had chosen well with the names of their children, although it seemed that they had perhaps lacked a little creativity with her own. She had surely been named for her mother, and built more in her likeness than any of her other children, it was of course rather fitting. A small nod was given in acknowledgement of the compliment all the same, not really sure how to respond to it; 'Thanks it was my parent's choice' just seemed far too obvious to say. She had never met anyone to rename themselves, and she certainly didn't plan upon changing her own ever. Instead her attention was fixed upon the pup. The small grey girl gave no name for them to call her by, though it was good to know that at least she had her family somewhere around, hopefully they weren't too far away Novella wasn't quite sure what to do even if they weren't anywhere around, take her back to Ludicael? She herself didn't think she could care for the pup properly, although she was perhaps a little more experienced at caring for others than some her age, what with her brother's difficulties and now having her nieces and nephew around. No, her thoughts would of course be for someone else in Ludicael to look after the girl, she was sure someone would step up to the role rather than leave her alone. She hadn't really expected the pup to know why the water was warm in all honesty, though it had been a rather smooth transition into asking where her family was if she did say so herself. Perhaps Song or Symphony would know, Novella would have to ask one of them later, although not something she wanted to shout around for fear of making herself look rather unintelligent, her elder sister's certainly knew more than she did about things. That being said she had to restrain herself from scoffing as Isabella commented upon the water perhaps being warmed by the ocean. Novella of course had seen the nearby ocean, knew for a fact it certainly wasn't warm like this. The woman's further explanation didn't help her case too much though, the Spirit of the Ocean, who had ever heard of such a thing? It surely didn't exist, her father was one of the smartest wolves she had ever known and he had never spoken of such a thing, not even in a single one of his stories. She covered herself rather well though, a straight face remaining in place and silence keeping her thoughts to herself. Fortunately the little lesson on the Spirit of the Ocean would end there and instead Isabella would shift her attention back to the youngest of the trio, once more requesting the girl's name and where her pack was. She wasn't from Ludicael, at least Novella didn't think so anyway, the scent was different and she had of course never seen her in the pack. It was a good point though, if there was a pack they could return the pup back to safely it was better than going on a wild goose chase for her mother.

Names, parents, abilities. What was it about adults that were so inquisitives, so needy for information that didn't really pertain to them? Also, why was the woman talking about the water like that. Senka couldn't understand it. Water was water, right? Moving past the weirdness of it all she finally answered, "I'm Senka. And yes, I can hunt a little bit. My mom is very concerned about my siblings and I knowing things. Useful things at least." Her expression could only be described as bored. The most interesting thing here it seemed was that is was warm, which was something she appreciated at least. "Hmm, to sit here where it's warmer and try to talk with these women, or go back to mother... Warm always wins." She decided that maybe, at the very least, she could get something out of this impromptu visit. Some entertainment perhaps? She turned her mauve gaze back to the one that had introduced herself as Isabella and asked, "What did you mean by Spirit of the Ocean?" She played the part of curious pup pretty well, watching the fea intently waiting to see what she would say in response. Speech Thought Others

The one called Novella did not speak much yet the pup did so Isabella kept her eyes on the pup who introduced herself as Senka while still having some of her attention on Novella. She was satisfied the pup knew something about hunting, at least if she was able to find food she was able to be alone for a while. Her ears lifted a bit as the pup asked about the Ocean Spirit. Her tail wagged for just a moment and her eyes seemed a bit brighter as she thought of how to speak of the spirit she loved.

"The Spirit of the Ocean is neither a kind nor a malevolent one yet she gives life. The Ocean is the most vast water in the world, endless and full of life. I have even been told by another life first came from the Ocean, first as small things that changed into large things over time. Now, it is well known that water of the ocean is not good to drink, so the Ocean Spirit sends water to the sky to come down in other places as rain, making lakes and rivers we can drink from. This is why all rivers lead to the sea, they go back to where they came from. The Spirit of the Ocean also watches over all who swim in the ocean. She hold no favor for those in he water yet if you respect her and know that she can either be kind or cruel she will care for you when you need her."

As she spoke of the Ocean her voice was a little warmer and her icy blue eyes were warm with joy for the Spirit she always turned to when times were harsh. "This water could be warm because she wills it so. A place for the weary and tired to come and relax and feel at peace."

For a pup on her own faced with two strangers, Novella couldn't help but feel that Senka was remarkably calm. She didn't seemed fazed in the slightest, not even really appearing that interested in things. The white woman probably would have once liked to think she'd expressed a similar fearless nature at a young age, though never faced with such situations there was no way of knowing. She could say for certain though she'd been a little more enthusiastic about things thank the grey pup before her now. The question wasn't really one that Novella cared to get an answer from. She wasn't exactly the most verbal about her beliefs, though Isabella and her ocean weren't about to shift them from the Gods. Still, politely she would hold her tongue, sit quietly and listen. Isabella certainly seemed quite pleased to be able to speak about her ocean spirit, a topic she was clearly rather fond of discussing. It was close enough to Ludicael that perhaps one of her elder siblings had come across it. Perhaps they would have a more suitable answer for her than Isabella. So, time to move away from the topic for now. "Well whatever the reason, perhaps its best to do just that then. Relax and enjoy the warmth for a while."