Jade Fern Grove a saint bernard sits at the top of the driveway

she grins a little, refreshed by his excitement as her head bobs in agreement to the proclamation to tumble questioningly from his jaws. "that is certainly the plan alright, i don't think any challenging landscape stands between us so unless something else pops up we should make good time" her weight shifts from paw to paw as little shivers dance along her spine; the chill enjoying getting to sink claws in now that they'd stilled and left themselves open as easy targets to it. the upturn to her lips falters a little at what he says next, ears leaning away as a stiff sigh huffs forth into the frigid air. she appreciates the optimism it's just...well she wishes she could share it so wholeheartedly. a stranger she once knew, small little dove like girl with bright bi-eyes and a disbelief that anything in the world truly intended to be cruel would have agreed without missing a beat. but polaris doesn't know that naive child, the world is a beautiful place indeed but the price to such charm was that it was at times, ultimately barbaric. so the words to slip free from her slender muzzle in a low murmur were "i hope so" because beyond that, there was nothing more she could do. 

she'd planned to leave it at but as she frowned into the lingering silence, heart hitting a little uncomfortably against her chest, she gave into the selfish want to unload just a tiny bit and continued. "valette only heard of kavik and lainie being alive you see and....well it was a really bad rockslide. as if the mountain itself was falling apart and the chances that no one was...well yknow" her voice tightens and she offers up a little flustered shrug; not trusting herself to go any further- it was quite clear what she was getting at anyway. her tail flicks free across the damp earth; feeling a little guilty. she didn't want to ruin the mood or twist the air so that feeling happy would feel wrong for him so shaking herself she let a smile prowl back across dark lips and listened gladly to his opinions on what they'd seen so far. thinking about what else the earth had to offer had always been a coping mechanism of hers and it was no different now as she grinned fully once more, curious at the mention of these other family members. "i've been on the other side of the mountains" she couldn't resist adding, quite chuffed. "not sure if i ever came across her pack though but if you ever wanna vis-"

'polaris'

there is a moment where she is reluctant to turn as the soft voice slips about the fringes of twisting ears. wishing to avoid the pain of crashing hope upon discovering that it was just a trick of the wind. yet as if on their own accord, paws are already shuffling through the debris to twist her svelte figure to search the looming trunks haphazardly until....a little gasp escapes her as she focuses on her; blinking rapidly a few times to make sure she was in fact, not a spectre haunting the gloomy woods but a true solid wolf. zephyr. her chest twists painfully and eyes shine in the slanted light as a trembled "zeph...?" slips forth. 'alive...alive...ALIVE??'

"you're..." it chokes out and despite the clamouring 'alive' wrecking havoc within, she cannot free it to roam the air and complete her sentence. as if waking from a deep sleep, she shakes herself and lacking the hesitant uncertainty of her sibling; flung herself forward to crash into an ungraceful embrace with the silvered girl she'd believed she would never get to see again. but she was here, breathing and solid and alive. it was true, all this time she'd been so damn wrong, she wasn't alone.