the sky was clear overhead as they passed back into the rolling lands of easthollow, the scent wrapping forth to embrace them like an old friend and smother some of the wild air that had slowly been trying to replace the hollow's presence upon their fur. although she'd enjoyed their exploring immensely, it felt good to be back, to be home. still felt a little odd to refer to the verdant lands with their proud stones standing sentinel as such a thing but it wasn't hard to imagine, and she was growing more certain that with time it'd be second nature. stretching leisurely in the sun's kiss, she cast a little grin to @West Tyree before straightening with a little yawn. "do you want to call your parents?" she'd finally murmur, assuming he'd like to let them know of their return. her smirk deepened as she added "and let them know that i am a fantastic tour guide and showed you some fabulous wonders of the world" 

yet although jest glittered within sharp eyes, there was a distant sheen to them too; especially as she turned away to regard the lands once more. as tranquil as ever at least, there was always the fear of leaving home that things would have changed for the worst before you returned. still, despite the weariness tugging at her bones; begging for respite, she shuffled from paw to paw restlessly. since visiting west's sister in her lovely pack on the other side of the mountains, she'd decided she was going to go see kavik. in fact, seeing him reunite with some of his family made her wonder how she'd even considered not visiting him over her own doubts that zephyr's words had sparked. she had only gotten papa back and she loved him, it seemed incredulous now that she'd thought about not letting him speak for himself. her heart thudded hard against her chest, honestly after everything, she'd rather see him again and fight than not get to be in his presence again. to hear his voice, see the spark of light in those eyes. a smaller smile pressed against her lips, in the end he was alive and that was all that mattered. so after speaking to whoever west called for and maybe catching a quick nap, she'd head for the borders of whitebark stream. alone.

she arches a brow at the contact, sensing the mischief propelling the bump of their shoulders only to let out a gasp of indignation as he suddenly just took off. a few dumbfounded blinks before he yelled his little challenge and a growl rumbled forth as she gasped a "hey!" and launched after him. she couldn't resist the grin to tug at her lips as the air whipped giddily past her and the grass tickeld softly beneath the thud of her paws, harmonizing with the enraptured beat of her heart. she'd give herself a big A for effort but him and his damn long legs had an unfair headstart anyway so despite the screaming burn of her muscles; the boy's triumphant yell wrapped around her ears as she skidded to a stop with a hmph. yet it seems karma had decided to join in on their little game to some degree as he met the ground with an ungraceful roll and the scowl that had began to blossom dramatically across angular features was quick to shift into a little smirk as her own laugh floated forth to meet his. "the only price was losing your dignity" she'd snigger and would move to try shove him at his attempted stand, hoping surprise would work in her favour despite her much smaller size and send him thudding right back into the grass' embrace. 

it was only when a merry woof sounded behind her would polaris tear bright eyes from west to spot the familiar form of valette making her way towards them after west had finally managed to make his call. she'd offer a politer smile at her greeting, leaning back on her haunches now that any threats of west making an attack on her seemed to be eliminated. especially as valette began showering him in kisses, resulting in a broadened smile from polaris as she waggled her brows, the tease clear as day in that mismatched gaze. when the matriarch focused back on her, she'd dip her own head back and roll her shoulders at the expected questions to be posed before them. casting a side look to west, she'd shrug; smile weaker but staying put stubbornly. "yes i came across one of my siblings, zephyr, he told me everything i needed to know about my family. they're all alive, scattered but, alive" she didn't launch into the details about not visiting her papa, seeing no real need to and preferring not to admit something she already found so shameful. especially because she was planning on departing to visit him in just a few hours. 

not really much else to say on that front so she looked expectantly to west, waiting for him to admit that she'd brought him on the best trip ever.

she blinked gratefully to the cordial woman, shoulder's sagging a little with pressing weariness despite the lingering smile placed firmly upon her lips. the motherly aura valette gave off was sometimes both like a caress and a bite at the same time, offering her warm safety and care and yet a stark reminder that her own family lay scattered on the breeze and that she was still essentially an outsider to this tightly knit group. blinking hastily, she looked back to west and felt her heart lift from it's moment of melancholy at the joy to dance from the swipe of his tongue. her smile deepened, a much more fervent supporter of the joy it indicated as nitid eyes prowled back to the matriarch at the query she posed. 

it reminded her to seek her advice and wisdom on the land she'd travelled to gain her the mastery she'd told her about that day within the stone's watchful gaze. tipping her head curiously she murmured "we followed a passage through the mountain that seemed well used. it brought us safely through the rock's bordering a sheltered vale that was occupied by a pack and finally back down into the flatlands where we located west's sister's pack, the one with the lush lands surrounding their river" her gaze had taken on an ardent gleam as she recalled the journey and everything that they'd witnessed. looking back to west she tilted her head and asked "i think the mountain's were really the most significant thing? before that we went north, all very beautiful with some impressive forests but all quite similar to what is around here anyway..." but she left the sentence open as she trailed off, blinking to her earthen companion lest she'd forgotten something. after all, things that she was well used to might still be new and exciting for him considering it had been his first trip outside of the territory.

it left her feeling a little guilty that she was set to leave once more but she could not bring herself to voice such a fact aloud, it wasn't like she'd be gone long anyway.

ebullience decorated the smile pressed upon her lips as she watched west exclaim their finds to his mother, the swish of her feathery tail consistent as it wagged lazily behind her. amusement sparked within the lustre of her look at his information about all the different prey situations, intrigued as to how such a thing had failed to capture her attention in the slightest. but she was immediately appreciative of his comment about the river reflecting her gleam upon the trees, always pleased to see anyone perceptive of the little beauties the world presented to them each day. still grinning, her gaze would only shift from her travelling companion when valette spoke up, eagerly attentive at her query. her nose would proceed to scrunch up in concentration, brows furrowed with determination to impress the master ranger. 'the mountain i believed to have crushed my family' was surely enough of a landmark for her to remember but that was not thinking with the mind of a scout, she had to be able to gather and present the information in ways that would help others. "we went for that peak, the huge one you can kind of see from here. so tall that the top is always dusted in snow even in the height of summer! of course we didn't even attempt to go near the top, we wandered around its slopes to the other side uh..." thinking of the comment on fauna she supplied "not a lot of animals there but there was these ones with cool curling horns! like fuzzy, stout deer and um, then we walked along this ridge that overlooks the vale. it's a lot scarier than it looks because its got all these crazy little peaks as if the whole thing is spiky but inbetween them there's actually lots of nooks full of verdant life and little streams" 

her gaze was simply ecstatic at her breathless finish, enjoying being able to recall and supply the information of their travels almost as much as she enjoyed partaking in them. "she was very nice, ira, her pack made me quite curious to try this fish..." she arched a brow to west, curious as to whether he had any such desires. she'd found the glint of their scales in the sun kissed waters mesmerizing and had felt a stronger draw to them than she ever had to gently staring deer. stretching her tired muscles out, her chin remained tipped in pleasure at the praise, unable to resist basking in it a little.

she nods enthusiastically alongside west's added touches of describing the curious animals roaming the treacherous slopes as if they were simply strolling along the flatlands. how they'd mastered it she did not know, in fact it was rather infuriating above all else to see these lumbering creatures with hooves maneuver the lands with much more ease than their pawed comrades. surely they were more prone to slip? but no, they'd seemed so at ease that she'd bet they could do it with their eyes closed and wolves with even claws to help with stability looked so graceless in comparison! she frowns, dumbfounded. 

blinking, she glances back to valette at her suggestion, intrigue deepening as she followed up with how she could know such a thing. "yes that definitely suits them! bighorn sheep...so i guess that means they are a type of sheep then, that makes much more sense i knew they couldn't be a type of deer" her head tilts as she adds without a lack fervour "that's cool you lived on a mountain" it does make her wonder a tad ruefully where her own parents had visited and lived before settling at swiftcurrent creek, it was all too easy to forget the lives they would've lived before their kids were so much as a thought. and her mind continues forth to childishly add that papa's whole 'new and improved family' might grow up not even knowing of the creek. 

a good humoured roll of her eyes as she trills "don't judge a poor fish on its smell! maybe they can't help it, i don't think they smell that bad" now that it was in her head, she was quite determined to succeed in fish hunting, especially if it wasn't considered easy. it might be her redeeming moment considering how much of a failure she was at hunting otherwise. "no i haven't but now i'm quite determined to, watch me become the best fish hunter ever" she grins over to west at that, eyes fever bright with the challenge, it would, after all be much more fun becoming the best fish catcher ever if she had an opponent to beat.

a solicitous frown as valette led them through her past, heart aching with pained understanding at enduring such a terrible thing. it was disorientating to try and imagine valette as a pup, in some ways the woman appeared as eternal as the standing stones she venerated so wholly, but she too had wept and given in to that double edged sword of hissing bitterness. however it was oddly comforting, to know that valette had managed to endure something so great and yet still grow to be the influential, eloquent woman that stood before them today. lips do tilt back up into a clement smile when the cordial matriarch pushed forth to speak of steady, she did remember that one! "the father stone" she'd breathe softly, gaze flicking over to where the sentries stood in their brazen glory; the one she spoke of easy to pinpoint due to its magnificent size. 

awe touched eyes wander back to the speaker, tail wagging a little as she found herself as victim as ever to the thrill at imagining getting to be the one that had located the home for your pack. and such a wonderful one at that! and she'd done all that at such a young age, it made polaris hungry; desperate to make something of herself so that she too would have a tale to gift with pride to listening ears. "that's so amazing" she'd exhale at the story's conclusion, rocking back and forth on small paws with pent up excitement from the images her mind had drawn up of the young earthen woman. had it not been for stirring pride, she would surely have gushed some cheesy exclamations of the woman being some sort of a role model to her but she kept ahold of her tongue, although the gossamer gleam adorning the look she cast upon the matriarch really spoke for itself. but she did let herself announce with a beam "i think you've done an amazing job valette! i still can't believe it was you that found this place, that is so cool." 

and much better than living in the mountains in her opinion, she'd enjoyed visiting them with west for sure. their rugged, brazen beauty like nothing else and indeed there was a euphoric thrill to dancing up there with the sky itself but...they just didn't scream 'home' to her, she could not imagine being able to ignore the charge of such whimsical air and feel content and 'homely'. but then she'd never tried living up there, maybe finding your own little crook within the clutch of those rugged claws made it all the better. "i'm sorry about your family though" she'd quickly blurt, eyes still cast towards the distant peaks "that must've been really hard"

ears would twist then at west's spiel, jaw dropping in mock indignation as she puffed her chest and haughtily declared "excuse me i choose not to hunt birds thank you very much! and believe me, i think you'll find fishing to be quite different from hunting deer mister" a wicked grin as she went on to trill "but go ahead and doubt me cocky boy, it'll make it all the more fun seeing your shock when i leave you in the dust" not a chance was she letting him beat her now, she hoped her paws were ready to endure a lot of being wet beause hell she'd practice night and day rather than prove him right. she'd shrug then, looking back to valette; in her opinion it looked easier than normal hunting but she could be far off with that. "huh, that's cool" she'd muse, she hadn't really noticed that water distorted your vision like that. she'd obviously noticed it wasn't the same, that things appeared murkier but she'd never realised quite how much of an affect its rippling surface had. the chase, polaris seemed to lack that enjoyment built into most wolves; perhaps due to conflicted morals whispering their overpowering clamour whenever she tried to partake. it didn't bother her much though, the only issue being the lack of independence it gave her but if she mastered fishing then that'd be sorted! "i am determined" she decided "if the kaistleoki wolves can do it then so will i"