Will close in three days if no one replies.
Had it been summer, Amsu could only imagine the insect hell this place could be. There were webs strewn across every tree, some with spiders still in them, others abandoned from the cold. Dead insects littered the edges of the waters and what little ground there was here. He had to step carefully lest he slip a paw or a whole leg into the freezing water. He was very glad it was morning so that he could see where he was going. He just hoped that the others, if any had chosen to follow him, were traveling by day, or on clear nights, when the light of the sun and moon could guide them properly. He lifted his face to the sun and let its weak heat warm him slightly. He wished the winter were over already. Summer was his favorite season, when the heat baked into his fur, down into his bones, and made him want to sleep all day. Keeping this calming thought in mind, he trudged onward, unsure of where exactly he was going.
Turned out that she wasn't the only weary traveler around here. Winter had a surplus of sojourners, skinny and determined but sure to fatten up in the warmer months. Something about the harshness of it all sure drew out the intrepid and unfortunate. (She wasn't sure which company she belonged to, but she sure hoped it was the former.)
Harper had a pitiful excuse for a winter coat; she shivered miserably even as sunlight began to pour in. She quickened her pace. "Howdy sir, you lookin' for something?" The sun lit half of her face in a charming glow, striking one eye and turning it a remarkable bright yellow, highlighter-style.
She doubted that he had a goal, but she reckoned that she could tag along with him. It was always interesting to get acquainted with wayward winter wanderers.
Amsu turned at the sound of approaching pawsteps and smiled at the woman. She was dressed, much like him, in autumn colors. The colors of fire and of canyons. She would have fit right into his homeland… were it not war-torn. He hoped the marauders that had roamed his desert home for so long were all gone from that place, even if he never planned to return again. They did not deserve to feel the sun on their backs.
“Amsu is searching for a new home,” he said, in his strange speaking patterns and accented voice. He kept his voice gentle and volume rather low. There was a tone of melancholy in it, as well, that spoke of many sleepless, wandering nights and memories of bloodshed. “Is this one searching for anything?”
The stranger, Amsu, was pleasant enough, if not seeming a bit eccentric. Harper wasn't too preturbed, or worried. She'd seen her fair share of strange people with stranger brains. They hung around the fringes of society but by god, they could be friendly as any other guy. She turned her face towards the sun, half-closing her eyes and enjoying the light and spare heat. The air was sharp and bitter up here, and the view was shuttered by fog.
"So we're searchin' for the same thing, Amsu, that's boss!" She said, in the muffled voice of someone juggling the acts of speaking and thinking. She didn't entirely miss how subdued he looked, the weariness around his eyes. Harper didn't possess enough empathy to deal with problems like these so she simply said: "D'you wanna travel together? For winter, at least."
Then, as if being woken up from a shallow doze— "Oh yeah, the name's Harper. Harper Auget." If she were human, she'd hold out a stern hand, but she happened to be a wolf, and so only bowed her sloping head.
Amsu smiled to see the woman turn her face to the sun as he had. The light played off of her fur well, making her look aflame. And then fog shrouded the sun and Amsu sighed, glancing around. This was not a joyful place. His smile returned, however, at her words. Her diction was strange, but, then again, so was his. “It seems we are,” he agreed. Searching for a home, that is.
’D’you wanna travel together? For winter, at least.’
Amsu dipped his head in assent. “Amsu would happy for your company, fire-touched one.” He was describing her fur color then, something that was common among his family pack, for most of the members bore warm colors, a side effect of living in the desert for as long as they had. “Harper,” he repeated, making an effort to commit her name to memory. That was the kind thing to do, considering they would be traveling together.
“We may be joined later by some of Amsu’s family,” he told her. “We are all searching for a new home. Somewhere light-touched, like the desert we left behind. Amsu hopes such a place would make this one happy, as well. But you are welcome to come and go as you please.” He smiled at her, then. He would not force anyone to stay with him, or to take up the life he and his family had chosen for themselves, for theirs was a life of devotion, practicing the Way of Light, and learning all of its beliefs, laws, and customs, was a demanding process for anyone.
Having said all he was going to say on the matter, he continued on, waving with his tail to show Harper that she could join him if she wished.
[Exit.]