Big Salmon Lake it's time we tried to find the sunrise

Tehama was not quite so lost in her dreaming of mountain meadows and alpine forests that she did not hear the sounds of another behind her.  Her ears swiveled back.  The muffled sound of grass underfoot, followed by the distinct lapping of water, told her another creature had come to the lake to drink; the weight and character of the footfalls told her it was moderate in size, and not hooved.  Not breakfast, then, the female deduced, and she half-turned.  A few wolf-lengths behind her was another lupine creature, larger than she and with a similar tawny coloring but cast in red tones where Tehama herself skewed more toward greyscale.  Admidst the red of fur was the rust brown of blood, a macabre anachronism for such a pleasant and sunlit morning.

Tehama tilted her head curiously, but moved neither closer nor further away.  Her nostrils flared, catching maleness and the expected dried blood of some unfortunate beast or other, and she noted the wolf's lack of comingling with the scent markers of others.  Another lone wolf, perhaps.  Tehama considered herself a pack wolf at heart, though bereft at the moment of said pack.  But some, she knew, were dedicated to a life of wandering and solitude.  Te noted the smattering of scars and some deformity or other of ears, and wondered if this was onesuch traveling loner.  Surely he had known of her presence before approaching behind her, so Tehama supposed he wasn't opposed to being noticed and engaged.

"Do you know the name of this mountain?" Te asked, nudging her muzzle with curiosity towards the highest peak to their northwest.  "Or this lake?"  The silver-eyed woman turned more towards the russet-streaked male, tail held neutral behind her.  She had lifted her voice to carry the distance between them, but her tone was pleasant, inquiring.  If he were a local, surely he could inform her.  If he, too, were but a vagabond, perhaps the question would break the ice, and in a less mundane way than typical conversational platitudes.