it had been a hot minute since the pale wolf had seen her Moonspearian friend, and she had almost forgotten how much she had enjoyed his presence. Floki was laid back and cool, but he was also fun and a good conversationalist. she found a similar friend in Constantine, both polar-opposites of Casmir. 

she wandered the territory now, doing her best to learn the ways of the land. by now, Aria could walk Donnelaith with her eyes closed-- she knew every nook-and-cranny and every tree that sprouted from the ground. Moonspear was not Donnelaith, and she found herself getting lost every now and then. she'd yet to make a den, the ground was too cold and there hadn't been a warm day to try yet, so for now she merely looked for an ideal spot, and doing her damnedest not to get lost.

her attention was stolen from her task (or maybe lack there of) when her name was called. her ears perked and she turned to see the tan-legged male as he began to move towards her. he moved so well on the mountain-- and while Aria liked to think that she was well-adapted to most terrains, it'd been a while since she'd spent a lot of time in the mountains. 

"hey!" she chirped, tail waving as nudged his cheek. her nose scrunched up slightly at his joke, ears pivoting as she looked him over. "you think so?" she asked, glancing to her flank before focusing back on Floki. she sat, hoping he would too. the pale girl didn't really have much to do today besides map the territory, and that couldn't be done in a day anyway. "how've you been?" she asked him, "it's been so long."

"i'm certainly a stranger to it," she said with a shrug, studying something off in the distance. "i grew up in a forest, left and lived in the forest, lead in a forest... and now i'm on a mountain," she added, smiling. Aria had spent all of her life on flat-land-- and even though the cold weather was no stranger to her, the height change surely was a change in lifestyle. her gaze fell back on Floki, looking him over for a moment. it was then that she was reminded he was not born in the mountains, though she wasn't sure where he grew up. 

"a pack moved into stavenger bay," she then said, curious what he'd think of that.

Aria shrugged, frowning a bit. "they didn't seem bad..." she began, sighing softly, "but i was not their biggest fan." she shifted, rolling her shoulders and focusing on Floki for a moment. "they plopped themselves down right on our borders and made allies with a pup in our pack, rather than me, and some of their wolves came to our borders and expected passages to their territory and medicine from our caches and--" she paused, smiling weakly and shaking her head.

"they left a bad taste in my mouth," she said finally, biting a cheek. 

 

she shrugged. "oh well," she said with a small smile. his next comment made the pale theta smile a bit wider, more genuinely, and she laughed. "whaaaat?" she teased, "this old place?" it was a joke though, clearly, Moonspear clearly was a wonderful place. his offer to explore was met with an eager nod, her white gaze finding his and her paws trailing quickly behind him. 

"let's go, captain," Aria replied, bowing playfully for him to lead the way. 

"you've been here that long?" Aria asked, but truthfully wasn't that surprised. Donnelaith had been around a hot minute, and she'd been there around the beginning as well... it was shockingly easy to simply remain somewhere for a while-- ironically enough, seeing she'd left. 

her gaze followed his, and the girl looked out over the mountains at the view Floki gestured to, her ears cupping forward. she bit her lip, holding back a response about the sentinels, and how gorgeous the trees looked in the peak of summer, when all the greens so beautifully combined to make a shady canopy in what seemed like miles above her. the mountains were pretty, sure, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't grow partial to the flat, foresty terrain. "you're right," she murmured anyway, falling back to silence for a moment before glancing back to him, "how does it look not covered in snow?"