Meadowlark Prairie Wanderlust

@Finley :D

The day passed uneventfully, with very little variation to the stark white landscape. The snow continued to fall lightly, piling higher and higher as the hours passed. Valkyrie was becoming weary of how everything looked the same; the sky and the earth where dreary in appearance, the landscape flat and treeless. In the distance, she could see the faintest traces of variation, perhaps a distance forest or rolling mountains. There was no point in running or picking up her pace, for in the thick snow she would surely wear out quickly. It would not be the worst thing to have to hunker down in the middle of the meadow for the night, but Valkyrie was not used to sleeping out in the open. The very thought worried her, and so she pressed on doggedly, led by her warm, silver breath that rose before her snout. It would be a long day indeed! Not only did she have to pass through the field of snow, but she would have to go beyond, and hope to find somewhere adequate to spend yet another lonely night.

So I looked at timelines and realized a few things. Hopefully you don't mind rollin' with me :D

Was that...?

Finley peered silently across the flatlands, eyeing the single dark shape marring the endless white. The scent on the wind told her it was a wolf, which was unfortunate because it was for food that Fin was away from the Caldera in the first place. But this particular wolf struck a chord of familiarity with the Blackthorn, and so she cantered without concern across the open field, hopping over the drifts like a seal playing in the waves.

It wasn't until she was in a dozen or so yards of the stranger that Fin accepted that her initial thoughts were correct - this was no stranger at all. It had been years since she'd seen the girl, and she had only been a few months old then. But still, Fin knew her.

"So you did get taller..." Finley commented as soon as she was near enough, "I honestly never thought that it would happen for ya."  A smirked slipped across her muzzle as she looked at the girl. Valkyrie.

She didn't mind that she had been walking towards a wolf in the distance. It was better to ask a stranger about the area than it was to proudly wander on. As fate would have it, the distance wolf was not a stranger, but someone from her distant past. The words stopped her in her tracks, eyes clouded over with confusion, a frown deepening across her forehead.

"What, of course I would." She scowled, momentarily guarded. She had grown to tower over most, and certainly did so against the grey furred female. A peculiar note resonated within the young wolf, and all at once, she found herself reliving a moment in her childhood. She was just a pup, old enough to wander off on her own, but not old enough to explore beyond the pack borders. Valkyrie, who had started off as a timid little creature was often teased by the older pups. That's where the trouble began.

"You!" Her bright eyes came to life as she recalled trailing after Finley - she hadn't been much older than Valkyrie was now - eagerly exploring at her heels, causing all sorts of worry for her parents back home. It had certainly been an exciting adventure, although upon returning home, she had been promply scolded, and expressly forbidden from doing anything so stupid again. What had become of Finley, she could not recall, although she did not think she remained with the pack for long after.

"And you're still standing on all four paws! Did you stop getting into so much mischief?" She winked coyly, her tone easy, jesting with an old friend.

It took a moment for the girl to realize who Fin was, which had been expected. After all, Valkyrie had been quite young when Fin had known her. She'd been even younger than the twins were now, though not so young that she hadn't been able to take outside of the pack borders to get into trouble. She'd always felt bad for the shy little kid that hadn't had any friends, and so it was Valkyrie that Fin had taken under her wing without really considering just what a terrible place that was back in those days for a young pup.

Finley grinned when realization dawned on the girl's face and she trotted closer to give a proper wolfy greeting. "Sad to say that yes I did," the Blackthorn admitted, the playful disappointment evident (though it masked a bit of true disappointment beneath), "I did that terrible thing where you grow up, find a mate, have kids and become a pack leader, actually. I wouldn't recommend it." She smirked.