Arrow Lake Is an impossible dream

She had followed the river in, and now that she was along this unfamiliar lake, she was quickly deciding that this was as far as she would go. It was almost tempting to just move back to the spire, but there were enough wolves around from the scent of things that she wasn't too keen. She liked the peace and quiet.

Again up to the shore of a river, again she stopped to drink, licking her lips, then seeing who might be wandering the shores. Who even lived here these days? Not anyone she knew, pretty sure. Stretch. Maybe a little bit of a jaunt along the shore before she turned home. Maybe take a different path along the way. Still things -- people -- to find, but would they be here?

The rogue had wandered through the peaks and summits of the mountains for some time before she ventured down to the long lake. She had been here before, or at least somewhere near here. Curious as to what the connection had been, she followed the lake past its nestled spot in the mountains to where it was fed by a river. She squinted her eyes at the horizon, vaguely recalling the landscape from the year before. Yes, up north from this lake was another, a hotspot for ducks for whatever reason. That's what it was.

Satisfied with her conclusion, she resigned herself to follow the river this time. See where it led her. (not that she had much else to do). She sauntered along the riverside, humming melodiously to herself.  

It was to her luck then that she was not alone along the river today. A graytoned woman walked in the opposite direction to her, looking about. Howdy, she smiled lazily at the woman.

And there was someone out and about today. Another woman, perhaps a similar build but Arbiter was of larger size. A point in her favor, if it even mattered later. And this stranger smelled like she was alone. So what did that mean? Whether someone was worth attempting to recruit or too much trouble for that. At least unlike some of the others she didn't see anything visually a turn off in a sense. Well, other than the fact that a woman wasn't going to do anything for Arbiter having pups later on -- totally the wrong parts there.

Still, a slight nod of her head in greeting as Arbiter looked the other over briefly, What brings you here? Her introductions always cut corners -- no front-loaded introduction, just a question to satisfy curiosity before she made decisions for what might be said in the future. It wasn't due to an outright dislike of talking but more a desire of wasting time. Time was a thing that was always limiting, especially now.

Orson looked the woman over, just as she did her. Noting that the woman was more than a match for her in a fight, something began to dawn on her. This woman, she looked familiar. A bit like the young misguided boy that she had met a while back. Maybe a relative? They were near where she'd met the boy. Orson didn't know whether to bring it up or not. I'm just wanderin'. Lookin' 'round the land here. You?

But Spook didn't necessarily share everything that happened to him with his mother -- there was no look or even guess of familiarity there. She just watched, analyzed, like usual. A slight roll of her shoulder. Seeing who's even here. If anyone is worth it. If not, I go home. It was a very cut and dry thing to her, but it was always easier to cut the world into nice little black and white chunks -- usually things did a good job at compartmentalizing themselves that way anyway. Every once and a while a shade of grey, but not as frequent in her world as there were in others'. The question was whether this woman would place herself neatly in one of those categories or not.

The stranger seemed to be a to-the-point woman. Those types tended to be hit or miss for Orson. Some had a higher tolerance for (her) shenanigans than others. Well, I hope I'll be worth your time, She bobbed her head in a little flourish. Name's Orson, by the way. 've been makin' my way 'round these parts for a while. But yer a local? She smelled of others — the scent of other wolves became the background of the woman's scent. Must be yet another pack somewhere near here. How many were there? Had there been this many last time she came round? It didn't seem like it.

Mmm? Brow raise and a tilt of her head. Well, setting the bar already, was she? It was amusing when people made little promises like that. What did it say about how they saw themselves? We'll see how you do. I'm Arbiter. Unsurprisingly, her introduction was brief, but at least for now she held her pack name for herself. Short term at least.

Local enough, but not recently to these mountains -- I was last in this range over a year ago. It's not home any more. Sunspire was a memory. An okay one, she supposed, but ancient history. All of those wolves were there were now gone as far as she knew. Seeking something about it?

Sounds more like a title than a name, Orson pointed out, curious if it was true. You go around arbitratin everyone you meet? she said, playfully calling back to the woman's first sentence to her. 'm mostly curious bout it. I'm thinkin bout stickin round, but I'm not entirely sure. she thought back to the offer Merrick gave her. She couldn't turn down living with bears, now could she? If I do it wouldn't be here specifically.

Arbiter spoke with a curious cant of her head, Isn't a name who you are? Doesn't that allow for a bit of overlap in the two? She left a nice little pause there. Let Orson think about it rather than directly answer her next question. In her family, names were there for a reason.

She looked around the area, maybe making a bit of a show of it, but not too over the top. Certainly hope it wouldn't be here -- doesn't seem like many around. I thought a pack had been out this way, but I suppose they're another that's gone. Looking for something in particular? She had no idea what had happened to Stigmata's pack. They were gone. So it goes. Not that she particularly missed them but she was more curious what had happened to them. Did she even remember the pack's name? No.