Ocean's Breath Plateau when there’s too much talking, i like to go out walking

there's not much to do but stick close to valentine; he's cascadia's lifeline in this new, uncertain land. the anchor keeping her from spinning adrift on unfamiliar waves, the only reason she hasn't crawled off to some dark corner to die. that's why she came here — running from death, from her own failure, the same way she's run from everything else since she was old enough to know how. it's in her blood, if her early memories of her mother can be trusted.
she casts a sidelong glance toward valentine as he speaks, thoughts disjointed as she tries to detach them from the past. what had he said?
oh, right. beautiful.
yeah, cascadia agrees distantly, hoping the answer is appropriate for the question valentine had posed. oceanside, though... a painful place to be, right about now. i was thinking... just now, actually, but she leaves that part out. i wanna head inland, scout out a pack to hit. maybe slip into the hierarchy for a bit and figure out what makes 'em tick. that cool with you? she's so used to being the deciding factor, it feels weird to ask permission. but this is what she'd wanted, what she'd needed, what she'd decided over weddell's protests. she can't be the one making decisions anymore.