Herbalists' Cache From chance to providence

Since Diane knew a river lie to the west of Porcupine Ridge, a gorge snaked northeast of them towards the ocean, and a vale with more mountains beyond marked the south, she decided to find out what loomed on the other side of the Thunder Dome. For much of the day, she traveled quickly (read: nervously) through the previously claimed area, unsure of why her nerves jittered as she went. Once she had reached the opposing base of the inactive volcano, she began to feel herself relax, causing her to look over her shoulder and marvel at the peak. It didn't look harmful— and nothing had happened during her traipse across it. She had barely seen any prey, let alone any other wolves. She shook herself free of the nervous thoughts, and decided to keep exploring, using what little daylight was left to journey a little further.

She took drink from what reflectionless puddles she found, and felt satisfied that she was not nearing the ocean or any bodies of water that she could smell. Night was descending upon her as she began to smell the wetlands she was approaching, and Diane decided to return home. She didn't realize at first that she had come so far— and seeing how far away the Thunder Dome was disheartened her. She decided to rest in the quiet winterwood for the night, burrowing a small hole for herself among the roots of a squat pine. Only realizing how exhausted she was at that moment, Diane fell asleep with relative ease...

The first tendrils of dawnlight touched her face, rousing the curled-up wolf from a deep, but uncomfortable sleep. She didn't move at first, knowing at as soon as her muscles started churning and the blood got flowing, she would realize just how uncomfortably she had slept that night.

He hadn't slept that night. Goober could say that he hadn't done so because he was restless, but that would not have been the truth. He had slept in the day before until well after midday, and it had made it impossible to sleep that night. In lieu of sleep, Goober had wandered around. He knew that, eventually, he would join up with a pack, but he was in no rush to do so. There were enough scraps to be found that he could make it work, and his ever-so-chipper outlook on life meant that he wouldn't be falling into depression anytime soon.

Goober continued on until he came across somebody who looked like she'd just woken up. It wasn't the least bit surprising, considering the time of day, and he bounded up to her without a hint of reservation. "Good morning!" he greeted cheerily, tail wagging and tongue lolling out (like it so often was).

Diane had barely (achingly) pulled herself from beneath the pine before becoming intensely aware of the hard and quick-paced pawsteps coming in her direction. She whirled to face the bounding wolf, all grogginess suddenly gone from her body. The hair along her spine prickled, fear hitching to her like a cape; but what fled from the stranger's mouth, accompanied by his overall body language, was so non-threatening that Diane was momentarily displaced in her feelings— trapped between flight and adorning his infectiously cheery mood.

"H-Hi!" she bumbled, having shrunk back at first, but slowly she untucked her ears and pressed them forward interestedly. Her tail waved marginally, finding that only a few moments spent in the company of this unidentified wolf was more than enough to brighten the gloomiest day. "Good morning, sir. Were.. were you looking for someone? Something?" He carried no prominent scent with him, but she thought she'd ask anyway. Why else would he bound up to a complete stranger like that unless he needed something?

Goober often forgot that he could be frightening at times. Well, not exactly frightening as much as startling. He tended to jump into situations with full force, not hesitating or stopping to think that not everybody wanted somebody in their face all the time. The wolf was just so happy to see everybody he came across that it never really dawned on him until after the fact. The stranger, a female, seemed a bit put off by his approach, but she didn't attempt to eat him or flee (yet).

"Nope!" he replied, "I'm Goober. Basically just got here, and I was happy to see somebody else. What's your name? Are you looking for somebody or something?" he asked, never once considering that it might be a bit rude to go diving into somebody else's personal matters. Then again, she had asked first, so perhaps it wasn't so bad after all.

"No, Sir Goober. I'm afraid I haven't any reason to be here at all, but I am very pleased to meet you," she smiled back, finding his chipper demeanor quite infectious. "My name's Diane." Her tail banked from side to side, and she took in the male with a more confident eye, now that her initial jitters had ebbed far more quickly than they usually did. He was an average wolf all around, but his expressive face lit up his features of earthly drab so brightly that he appeared to her a more unique wolf than any she had met so far in the Wilds.

She stopped studying, feeling as if she was spending an overly long moment to take in everything she visibly could about him. "Have you seen much of this place yet? I was hoping to explore the area some..." she said tentatively, perhaps implicating a margin of hope with the hopeful tone in her voice.

He giggled when she called him "Sir" Goober. He had never been given a title before (at least not one like that), and it amused him a great deal. "Pleasure to meet you, Lady Diane," he replied, putting himself into an exaggerated bow. If she was going to be formal, Goober was determined to kick it up a notch. She went on to ask if he'd seen much, and Goober shook his head.

"I literally just got here," he confessed, "and I'd love to be your exploring buddy for the day!" Unfortunately, he couldn't really commit to more than that. Goober was much too free-spirited to settle down upon first meeting somebody. He yearned for adventure and excitement.

Lady Diane. She couldn't remember the last wolf to call her this, and though she dredged up painful memories in trying to recall the identity of such a wolf, she found that she wasn't saddened by the reminder. It was perhaps her first pleasant reminder of home since arriving in Teekon. Her tail was wagging in steady ticks, her teeth gleaming in a broad smile, and she wondered if he had been raised in a society like her own. Goober (a name she thought was no more strange than a name like Diane) then affirmed to her what she had been shyly wanting, and the way her face lit up was response enough without her having to verbally give it.

"Oh, sir Goober! You read my mind," she exclaimed, dancing lightly on her toes. "I'd love nothing more as well." Her words turned softer, expressing more gratitude than excitement now. While she would have explored some on her own, she felt exponentially better with such a giddy companion. Even though they had just met. Something about him put her at immediate ease, and Diane wasn't loathe to be rid of it so quickly. "What brings you here?" she asked a beat after they had started in a indiscriminate direction. And though she asked, she had the general impression that Goober was a breezy wolf— traveling with no distinct path or purpose. Besides his obvious calling to spread joy, of course! (LOL)

"Little o' this, little o' that," Goober replied, "Just looking for some adventure, I suppose." He would probably settle down—at least temporarily—after a time, but for now he was content to see his options and check out the area.

"And you?" he asked, turning to her with a raised brow. Perhaps she was here with some grand purpose. Maybe she was going away from something, rather than toward it. There was always the chance she was simply in the same boat as him: looking for adventure.

He began to trek west, meandering and sniffing at their surroundings as he went.

"Adventure," she breathed, repeating the word like it was the name of some omnipotent god. The girl thought she had been on adventures before— child-like games, really— but honestly she had never left the vast stretch of The Cove before the disaster, and even then she ran almost straight to Porcupine Ridge, and hadn't branched very far from there since her arrival. There was a brave notion in her chest, that she would like an adventure, to see the world and meet its various cases of wolves, but she was much too much of a homebody (and too greatly frightened by too many things) to ever go very willingly. "I've never been on a real adventure," she told her companion, tail waving as she traipsed at his side. "I'm just exploring. Just trying to see the places around my home on Porcupine Ridge. Where.. where are you from?"

He grinned when she repeated the word, tail waving back and forth in a happy wag. When Diane admitted that she'd never been on a "real" adventure, Goober scoffed. "Something tells me you're not giving yourself enough credit," he said with a wink. Goober had never met a wolf who had stayed in one place their whole life, and he wasn't really sure that was possible. The world changed, and the wolves who lived on it were forced to change (or die, in extreme cases).

"Several days travel from here," he answered easily. The name of it didn't matter, and probably wouldn't have made a lick of a difference.

Diane smiled softly, shrugging a thin shoulder in a modest way that seemed to befit her. She and Goober chatted easily as they went, sniffing at the bare growth and sharing one another's company in stories and laughter. At some point she mentioned the Ridge, and asked if he would like to join them, but Goober was not interested in settling at that time. Though disappointed, Diane was not discouraged from his company, spending most of the day and evening with him before they parted ways.