Cedar Sweep sang the sun

A voice spoke, pulling Ragna's attention from the dappled lights. The stranger cast a shadow on the water. It danced in the ripples of the shallows. This wolf's presence was inoffensive, her bearing neutral enough not to bother Ragna. Any assertion of dominance would require and equal response, and a show of submission would only lead to a boring encounter. "Hello," she said, expecting the stranger to move on. The wolf, Shalon, offered her name, which Ragna thought strange to do in passing.

But the wolf did not move on. Ragna took to watching the way the water played with the stranger's shadow, expecting her to leave any moment. When it became clear that she wasn't going to, Ragna turned her head to look again. "Can I help you?" Again the desire for solitude and for company warred within her, and it showed in her furrowed brows and the frown pulling at her lips. Ever the open book, Ragna could not hide her distress, try though she might.