Alpine Lake Alone, For now

The lake was massive, and easily spanned miles; while it was too large to fully freeze, the banks were frozen solid. He tested the ice - it bore his weight, so he pushed forward, until the ice began to groan. He took several steps back, then used his blunt claws to crack a hole in the thinner ice. From here, he drank deeply, then lifted up his head to belt out his song; he hoped for company, as he was new to these lands. His thirst quenched, Ashlyn moved away from the water, and took to circling the lake.

The lake was indeed small -- nowhere near as thawed as she wished for it to be, but the fae supposed it would only make sense with the seasons. Ellie was never a fan of snow, frost or anything cold and much preferred to hole up home until winter's rage passed away, but that no longer seemed to be an option. The girl was on her own from now on...
Eloise had already begun to miscount the days where she'd actually been gone, but a good estimate would've been around a month, right? Enough time to herself came with some unwarranted self-doubt of course, of whether leaving at the sight of her saddened mother and disappointed father was actually worth it at all. Funny enough though, the only thing she had to do was remember her betrothed's dumb, smug face and suddenly the guilt of arguing with her parents that day was the least of her worries.
Family or not, Ellie would not sell away her life to become someone's housewife.
As she trudged aimlessly through the thick forest, snow crunching beneath dark paws and leaving a trail behind her, a startling howl had caught the dame's attention and nearly made her jump with it's proximity. That's when soft hued eyes snapped in the direction of the noise towards the lake she'd been walking away from, only to see a pale figure trailing it's edge.
"Sir!" she'd call out to them, straining her voice from the distance between tree and shore -- "-you shouldn't be wandering so close to a freezing lake. What if you fall in?"

A sudden call - very near - made the man start suddenly. He slipped on the ice and tumbled onto his right shoulder. Trying and failing to prevent himself from groaning, Ashlyn called back, "Oh, miss, you startled me! Ugh... ouch." He got to his feet, then shook out his cream pelt, hitching a grin onto his maw as he approached her. "But not to worry, not to worry, I'm alright!" He stopped a good distance from her, then offered a bow of his head. "I am Ashlyn, what may I call you?"

For what was supposed to help, Ellie's fat mouth went and did the complete opposite. Her eyes rounded in surprise, lips tightened shut and ears pressed back as she watched the pallid man slip and fall onto his side -- flinching at the sound of his shoulder colliding with hard ice. Shit.
A wave of guilt washed over the brunette dame for thinking she had caused this -- and maybe it wouldn't have happened if she'd just approached the man like a normal wolf instead of yelling out in barren land. When he had turned to speak to her, the pessimistic side of herself expected a glare of annoyance to be shot her way, to which she'd respond by being on her way, and hopefully minding her business next time.
Instead though, Eloise was met with an unexpected warmth she did not feel was deserved, and through a nervous chuckle and ducked head, the girl could feel her tail begin to wag softly behind her. Were all the locals here this kind? Had she been worried about nothing all along?
Her crown would lift to meet the sire's gaze as he approached, now slightly more relaxed form when he'd taken the fall. He'd even bowed his head, which ignited something bubbly in her now excitable eyes. "There is no need to bow your head to me, sir Ashlyn! I am merely a normal wolf, like you." she'd explain with a prideful paw to her chest -- and oh, how good it felt to say that! No longer smothered under the weight of a future crown...
It was clear by her awkward choice of words that Ellie had not interacted with many outside of her own family, but to mention being a "normal wolf" did not seem too odd...at least, to her.
"My name is Eloise. I, umn..." she took a moment to quietly peer around, and turn back with a sheepish grin on her features. "--am quite new to these parts. As you may tell."

Ash's tawny gaze met the stranger's soft olive one, and he chuckled softly, his own tail beginning to wag now. He moved closer, but there was still several feet between them, and he told her genially, "I bow to all those that I meet, miss. It is just a greeting, sort of like a... "Hello, I hope all is well today." Does that make sense?" Ash laughed again, then, when the other wolf gave her name, he told her, "I am new as well, actually. From where do you hail? My own home was far to the northeast of here." It was nice, to meet someone who was also new. He certainly had not expected it to be his first interaction, but he was nevertheless pleased.

It was not her intention to seem so clearly oblivious to the customs of these wilds in her attempts to fit in, but it looked like it wasn't working very well. From what she was taught to be a gesture to respect her previous status, she'd now been told was simply a way to say "hello" on his part -- Ellie felt embarrassed once again with the assumption and placed a paw over her muzzle, which was beginning to warm considerably. "WhyyesIsupposeitdoes." the girl muttered quickly while looking away.
The owllete soon cleared her throat and brushed away any signs of a dagger going straight through her pride, straightening her posture and letting her eyes was over the friendly stranger. He was tall, pale, and handsome like Exer -- the man she'd once been previously engaged to -- yet that arrogant, icy blue stare that always aggravated her was replaced by warm kind eyes of tawny hue. Funny how two men who looked so similar could act the complete opposite of each other -- and perhaps she could blame Exer for being the reason why she would now scratch blue eyes off her preference list...
Wait -- what had she been thinking from a stranger!? No, Ellie was not head over heels for this man she'd just met; but it was refreshing to know that she could now breathe without Exer breathing down her neck about how "unladylike" she acted is all.
Sir Ash spoke of his homeland -- and she felt a bit jealous that he'd been able to recite a direction from which he'd come; northeast. Eloise had traveled for so long in so many different directions, simply saying "North, East, West, or South" felt like a lie. An exasperated sigh deflated her breast bone. "Firwood", she'd mention simply -- and as for where Firwood was from here, she could not tell. Was this homesickness, she'd felt? "A place I'll never return to." -- if so, she'd never admit it.
"Has home treated you well, Sir Ash? Why do you find yourself so far from it?"

Ash pondered her question for a moment, his gray brows knitting together as he frowned in thought, then answered, "Oh, I've fond memories of home, but I suppose I like to travel." His natal pack had been small, just him, his siblings, and their parents. He thought better than to ask why she wouldn't return to her home, so instead he said, "Would you care to see the sights with me?" He gestured to the lake that he'd been circling before she'd found him. "I'm just wandering, but it can get lonely, and it's not as fun adventuring when you're by yourself."

His words told of a casual life -- nothing that would ring bells of alarm other than the frown that so briefly etched his features, but Ellie only assumed it was in thought and not in malice. Another pang of jealousy hit her - Ash looked to have been able to leave his previous life without any memories of spite. In comparison to the threads of hatred she'd left home with -- in tangled strings of events, she couldn't say she'll ever forgive them for. Some part of her understood that they'd only been trying to help and love her in their own way, but their ways were outdated and they could never understand that from the perspective of a parent.
Call her intitled -- call her problems trivial in comparison to those who suffered far worse. Eloise could never see it that way. In her eyes, her freedom was being stripped from her, and it was time to grasp freedom of her own...
She blinked her round, olive eyes at him at the request to follow along and smiled -- a gentle, soft curve of her lips. "I suppose it would be rather lonely..." she agreed. The pale sire's company so far has been refreshing -- after this past month had been filled with nothing but family drama and run-ins with not-so-friendly people, a little adventure didn't sound all too bad.
She circled around the man, snaking her frame so that she was now at his side rather than standing in front of him. 
With an encouraging bump to the shoulder, she turned to beam up at him "Weeellll? lead the way~"

Sorry for the delay/shortness! This also seems like a good place to end but I would absolutely love more!

Ash grinned, wide and warm, as Eloise agreed to travel with him. His tail swayed gently, and he laughed as she bumped him in the shoulder. "I would like to explore the hinterlands for now, but perhaps you could pick where we travel to next?" His tawny eyes were bright with excitement, and he gestured southward. He struck out confidently, leaving the lake behind him, and he glanced back to ensure she was following.