Bitterroot Valley That's what it's always been

She'd not gone far into the territory and already it simply wasn't particularly appealing to her -- it was too bleak here before spring could really unfurl itself. It reminded her of harsher times -- what a lovely memory, was it not? No.

Her pace was quick as she moved forward, looking for signs of something that might make the trip worth it. But how many had gone without a good sign? More than a few. People enjoyed disappointing her, but that was probably their purpose in life.

She was following along the trail that a herd had followed some time in the last week -- not too recent, mind -- but right now none bothered to show themselves. Arbiter would waste maybe an hour or so of her time before turning back to the Bypass again. An hour of nothing, she suspected.

I'm nabbing a bunch of lonely threads with Artax. ^__^

Onward, onward. Jorma's legs kept him moving, and he had all the time in the world to waste. Heading this way, heading that way, heading whichever way the winds of the world blew him. He was no spring chicken, but he certainly wouldn't consider himself old. Sure, he'd seen plenty of this life, but he was certain that he would see plenty more. Years, at the very least. He had plenty of time, and he fully intended to spend it meeting and greeting any wolf who crossed his path.

When he spotted the white and black wolf up ahead, he gave her a woof to draw her attention. Trotting to catch up, his yellow eyes were bright and cheerful. Welcoming, even.

And in the end it turned out she wasn't alone. Her wandering had turned a little aimless in the meantime. Yeah, Arbiter had decided this place wasn't worth too much of her time, and she would have better luck hunting on grounds she was familiar with. She'd just started towards the distant Bypass again when she had spotted someone headed right her way. Not anyone she was familiar with. 

He seemed a kind of cheery sort from this very cursory view. And it was probably a good thing this thread wasn't in the present because she'd be certainly considering whether she wanted to deal with anyone positive. Instead of that, she gave him a tilt of her head, Something brought you out adventuring? Easy enough of a question to turn back on her, but she wasn't exactly a small talk kind of wolf -- it was just another way of asking the same thing she always did.

Just got a lot of time to kill, Artax replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Sometimes, it felt like it was all for nothing, but then again, what else would it be for? Artax had been on this earth long enough to know that nothing was permanent. He'd made friends and enemies, and he'd watched them come and go over the change of seasons. Artax had been one of those to come and go.

You? he asked, tilting his head to one side. Was she on some kind of mission? Running from somebody? Looking for something?

She shrugged a shoulder. I haven't been up this way in years. Can't say I have a reason to stay here just based on the land. So instead I look at the wolves that might be here. Unfortunately this dude had a countdown timer on him, but Arbiter didn't know that. Time to kill before what? Places to be? It probably wouldn't have been Arbiter's choice of words if she had been really left to her own devices -- she assumed time to kill meant some sort of thing at the end of it all. Mutual curiosity, of a sort.

I'm the worst.

Nah, nothing like that, Artax replied. He had nowhere to be, so he was quite literally just passing the time. You got places to be? he asked. He had never been much of a womanizer, but he recognized a strong lady when he saw one. And she was certainly that. There was something about her demeanor that screamed "y'all better listen up."

Not that Artax was much of a follower.

It's no prob, I took extra long on the last round, hah

Mmm. Home, eventually. I'd hoped there was promise up here... But I can't say it's my style. It felt too much of a barren wasteland to keep her interest. He seemed like the the most interesting thing up here, but given the way things had gone so far, she wasn't going to have any luck. Though OOCly of course it's known to of course be a failure, it was perhaps because of these previous letdowns that her question seemed kind of a casual aside, Are you looking for a pack? He was probably actually out here looking for a particularly round rock or something completely mundane, let's be real. She'd love to be surprised, but it was best to expect the negative sometimes.