Alpine Lake Alone, For now

It was not her intention to seem so clearly oblivious to the customs of these wilds in her attempts to fit in, but it looked like it wasn't working very well. From what she was taught to be a gesture to respect her previous status, she'd now been told was simply a way to say "hello" on his part -- Ellie felt embarrassed once again with the assumption and placed a paw over her muzzle, which was beginning to warm considerably. "WhyyesIsupposeitdoes." the girl muttered quickly while looking away.
The owllete soon cleared her throat and brushed away any signs of a dagger going straight through her pride, straightening her posture and letting her eyes was over the friendly stranger. He was tall, pale, and handsome like Exer -- the man she'd once been previously engaged to -- yet that arrogant, icy blue stare that always aggravated her was replaced by warm kind eyes of tawny hue. Funny how two men who looked so similar could act the complete opposite of each other -- and perhaps she could blame Exer for being the reason why she would now scratch blue eyes off her preference list...
Wait -- what had she been thinking from a stranger!? No, Ellie was not head over heels for this man she'd just met; but it was refreshing to know that she could now breathe without Exer breathing down her neck about how "unladylike" she acted is all.
Sir Ash spoke of his homeland -- and she felt a bit jealous that he'd been able to recite a direction from which he'd come; northeast. Eloise had traveled for so long in so many different directions, simply saying "North, East, West, or South" felt like a lie. An exasperated sigh deflated her breast bone. "Firwood", she'd mention simply -- and as for where Firwood was from here, she could not tell. Was this homesickness, she'd felt? "A place I'll never return to." -- if so, she'd never admit it.
"Has home treated you well, Sir Ash? Why do you find yourself so far from it?"