Arrow Lake If mine could be the name

:D I just couldn't resist! As for running into each other, we'll have see how long that takes!

Sunlight penetrated Andalusia's silken fur until its radiance seeped through her skin and wrapped her body in a warm embrace, lulling her mind to a buzzing rest. Slowly her eyelids fell, and her thoughts spoke gently until they took on life. The soft rumble of her brothers, their laughter and jabs. Chehlia's softness breaking through their raucous chatter. Like when they were young, too young to wander and too young to see there was another world out there beyond even the charred forest where their parents had died, just waiting. Maybe not made for their eyes to see, but that hadn't stopped them from finding it nonetheless.

She could have slept there forever, but her body had plans of its own. A sudden jerk, and the Ostrega blinked awake. The sun blinded her now, and she glanced skyward. The ball remained fixed: her sleep had come for mere minutes - a relief to the Ostrega - yet a thin disappointment crossed her as the sound of her family vanished with a snap and she found herself alone again. Alone, like she'd been since leaving Ciervo in his makeshift den in the southern forests. Andalusia forgot how long ago that was, but she didn't need dates to tell her she was bone tired of travel and this life as a vagabond. She was no loner; she had given herself the need to run, but the more time Andalusia spent beyond the confines of a pack, the more she wished to be among the throng again.

Not wishing to drowse herself off the cliff, the Ostrega shook herself and stretched each leg in turn before sliding beneath the shadowy cover of the crags. She gave herself a shake at the sudden drop in temperature. It would have been warm if she hadn't basked so long. The air here was nothing compared to the balmy heat striking the stone just pebble lengths away, and she eyed the mountain rock with the desire to return. But the Ostrega resisted, deciding it was safer to stay in the shadows where her mind would be alert rather than seek comfort again and risk walking straight off the mountainside in a nostalgic daze.

As her mind cleared, Andalusia cast her eyes downhill until she matched her gaze with a score of meadow marking the land just beyond the lake. Her destination since the start of her climb, and the Ostrega lanced her gaze along the edge where it seemed to disappear against the mountainside. It seemed the likeliest route to the Sunspire - level ground for a good ways, a welcome contrast to the mountain's constant rise and fall. The only question was how to get there, and the Ostrega had a pretty good idea. It wasn't a challenging task in any means, not more than choosing the right towpath, one that would fall at a steady descent and not send her stumbling into dead end. The ones heading skyward were out of the question, despite the chance one could wind toward the valley below. She imagined her chances were better if she took one that actually seemed to lead to the lake. After a moment's pause, she struck out on a narrow path that twisted idly toward the shore. Her choice lay in guesswork and no skill of the mind. After all, the worst that could happen was a dead end.