The rivers that ran from the highest peaks of the mountains Yao had so admired seemed to filter to this one place. It was a large centerpiece in this valley, a huge mass of freshwater glittering on the green and brown of the grassland surrounding it.

Yao wondered how he could paint this visage to his family. It was far different than the land that they had inhabited. He pined for home, as he always did, but he could not help but appreciate the beauty that was put before him. How could he not?

Watering holes always attracted life. He knew this as a hunter by nature, but it always escaped him until he was confronted with another wolf. Like he had met the sheepish woman by the stream, he found another woman partaking in the waters that had intrigued him. She was earthen like he was, though lighter and marked with more red than he. She was tiny compared to him! Almost of a height, but barely tipping the scales. He hoped that she wasn't obscenely submissive like the last tiny woman he met. Jambo, he called to her out of habit. Eh, hello,

He was hyperaware of his posture, trying not to look too intimidating, in case she was frightened or was threatened. His body language mimicked hers, with a lightly wagging tail and gentle smile on his face. Are you from around here? As a newfound member of a pack, he felt that it was his duty to be informed not only of the goings on of his own people, but of those who lived nearby their borders. War was always a possibility, but trade and cooperation was much more important. Better to prevent and prepare than instigate.

No, he said, his tone jovial. I just arrived here a few weeks ago, So much had changed since then. It seems that this place would be his home, if only for a little while. The wolves of Neverwinter had been so accommodating to him. So far. Where are you from then, if not here?

Whitebark Stream. He faintly remembered what Mal had said when they first met, about his enemies in those mountains. Was that pack one of them? Or led by those who were? Those were Mal's worries and concerns, though, not his own, but still...

I am a part of the Neverwinter Forest pack, he said, looking back to where his new home lay. I came to explore. This land is still unfamiliar to me. I've not yet been to those mountains. he admitted, glancing at them.

He had always wanted to visit the mountains and see what lies beyond. It was something he had always meant to do, but he had lingered beside the Forest instead. Perhaps one day he will ask Lenny to accompany him to venture there. Surely she must know, or have an inkling.

As she described the packs, he suddenly wondered if either of them were remnants of the ones who had maligned Mal. Empire? he said. He vaguely knew the word and what it implied, but it was a strange name for a pack. Most were named after the land around them, even his own.

She didn't know much, unfortunately, but it served to make the group more intriguing. He wondered just how much power they truly had; if they were truly worthy of the title of Empire. She claimed to know some wolves from the pack, however,though the relationship was very recent. Thank you, he said. I do not know much about here. Anything is welcome,