Maegi had once been afraid to venture outside of the woods. Even now, she felt some trepidation. Her travels had started out purposeful and ended up in disaster--but wouldn't she have had the same result, going after Ramsay and Euron? Perhaps she wouldn't have ended up at the island, but she still would have been set adrift, cast away from home for moons and moons.

But she must be brave. Almost a year had passed since her birth, and it was time to grow up and face the world. So, with her slow, hobbling gait, she left the trees, heading across the prairie with a determined set to her face.

She began to regret the decision to head toward the mountain when she started to climb it, huffing and puffing just a quarter of the way up. The forest that blanketed the slopes was pretty enough, though, and she stopped to rest, lapping at a trickle that ran down from. . .well, wherever and whatever the top was.

Maegi lay down, chin dripping, and wished that the stream was big enough to fish. But then fish made her think of Undersea, and Rokig, and she got sad all over again.

So she thought of nothing, instead.

A voice startled her out of her meditation, and she jumped slightly, twisting her head to glare at him. A pale wolf, dusted with ebony. Green, impassive eyes. She hadn't seen him before, and wondered why he disturbed her now, instead of simply moving on.

"You tell me," she retorted, voice a little husky from disuse. "I've never been here before. Was trying to get to the top, but--" She jerked her chin upward in illustration, gazing up the slope. There was no end in sight.

"Who are you?" Maegi countered, tilting her head slightly to peer his way. "Anything I can help you with?" Her voice was still markedly unfriendly, though cooling a bit now after the fright he had given her. Inwardly, she cursed herself for being surprised in the first place.

"I see," she responded, looking a bit dubiously over his face. The man had an air about him that came off less than sincere; she would watch him carefully, in case he turned out to be a threat rather than simply a curiosity. She rose to her feet, anyway, not wanting to be slumped over if he did strike.

"The locals," she repeated. "So you're not from here? Are you traveling, or. . .?" What was his story? Did he have a habit of talking to strangers? Maegi sat patiently, quietly, waiting for his response.

She pursed her lips, letting out a muffled hmmm sound. How much did she tell him, if anything at all? "No," she answered his question to start, keeping brief. Then, looked down the slope, down the direction from which she had came. "Woods to the east of here. I'm just exploring."

Then she stared back at him, ears sliding forward in intrigue. He looked healthy enough, and wily, furthermore. He would fit right into the trees and swamps of Blackfeather Woods. Better even than some of its current members. It was a curious thought, although the lifeless character of his eyes still gave her some pause.

"I'm Maegi," she introduced herself, figuring she should at least get that out of the way.

She dipped her head in acknowledgement of the compliment, she, too, smiling faintly. "Well, let me give it a try, at least," she shot back in what might have been a joke for most wolves; for Maegi, it came out challenging, almost acidic in its intensity. Her tail moved behind her, a slow metronome, counting the beats of her heart. Her eyes locked with his.

"You would fit in well in Blackfeather Woods," she remarked, and regretted it immediately. She had meant to keep things under wraps; now he knew her name and that of her home, plus the rough location of it. And he had her scent as well. Stupid, stupid. "That is, if you're not just passing through on your way to something better," she added, trying to mitigate any damage done by her slip.