The Sunspire exploring

She wandered along the mountains, exploring her new home. It was the first time she had settled anywhere since she left her birth pack. She had been alone for so long that being around a pack again made her nervous. Honestly, she thought she wasn't going to go back to pack life. She hoped she would stop feeling like an outsider so much.

When new wolves joined, she liked to give them their space. To settle in and acquaint themselves with the mountain, it would take time, and it was just not something she could help them with. But she would be watchful all the same.

Amekaze had been looking for a good game trail when she happened upon Spiralux's, so she followed after that instead. While her budding hunger still loomed, and the idea of a hunt did appeal, her tracks weren't turning up anything good so she could revisit that idea later. For now, she'd steal a quick second to check in on the newest Sunspire wolf since she was not far.

Turning her ears forward when she caught sight of the other female, Amekaze watched the newcomer while she approached. "Have you seen much of the mountain yet..?" she asked in way of greeting, though her tail swayed gently through the air.

Spiralux glanced around. "Didn't I already see this?" she wondered to herself. She wasn't very good at directions. She turned in a circle before wandering ahead again.

She was so lost in thought that Amekaze's sudden appearance startled her and she tripped. Regaining her composure, she bowed her head in greeting. "No, not yet. I've been wandering around and trying to see as much as possible but I think I've gone in a circle." Spiralux admitted reluctantly to her alpha.

Upon realizing her, Spiralux's footing faltered and Amekaze's ears pulled back. Perhaps she could have made her presence more known, or foreseen that the new female would have been preoccupied. Either way, she recovered, and Amekaze chuffed softly as there was no need for concern -- she was fine, seemingly. "The paths can be difficult to learn," she then breathed. "It does take time."

She swung her muzzle towards a nearby pathway, one subtle in the mountain's landscape. "When I was learning the mountain at first, I often followed the creeks." she offered, but then again, that had always been her tactic for exploration. Doing it on the mountainside as well had at least given her a place to start.

"I was hoping to find something to track down.. but no luck so far. Want to join?" she asked once she found herself feeling like moving. While it would be good to get to know Spiralux better, standing still in one place was evidently not appealing to the dark alpha today, and she would happily do both at the same time.

Spiralux looked away, momentarily embarrassed. "I hope I learn soon, it's frustrating not knowing where I am. Everything looks the same." She glanced around. "I didn't think of following creeks, I'll have to remember that." Spiralux murmured.

Looking back at Amekaze, she nodded. "Sure, I'd love to come with if it's not too much trouble." It would help her get around and it would be great to be around someone who knew their way. She hoped she could help out.

Spiralux expressed her frustrations and Amekaze nodded almost sagely; as she had said, it would take time, but perhaps the note about the creeks may help her. "It was a tactic I learned worked well when I was a loner," she said with a hint of a smirk, and of course, it had carried over into the packlands when they had first been learning the Sunspire. Even now when she traveled, she used it to decent success. "It may all look the same for now, but you will learn more the more you travel the lands.. even if it does not seem like it at first." This was as Ame believed, anyway. "Have you lived on a mountainside before?" she asked, then glided into motion, hoping Spiralux would follow. She had accepted her offer, after all, so Amekaze was quick to move.

She kept an ear angled towards her company, but scanned the scenery for signs of a trail with the rest of her attention. Her interests were on deer, honestly, although it was yet to be seen if she would be lucky enough to find a trace just yet.

Spiralux listened to Amekaze's advice, nodding. Amekaze started to move away and Spiralux followed. "Yes, I grew up in the mountains. It's nice to be back in them. It feels much safer." Being out on the plains had been hard for her, she felt vulnerable out in the open. "What about you? Before you came here?"

Spiralux lifted her nose to the air and tried to pick up the scent of any game.

She assumed a jog and found a path. Eventually, it split, she after a brief pause to sniff, she chose the one that climbed a little higher in elevation than the other option. Meanwhile, she nodded thoughtfully. Safer. Spiralux's thinking was similar to her own, of course -- Amekaze favored the mountains for their particular sort of sanctuary above all things. The heights helped, too..

"A mountain first.. then a creekside for a short time, but I do prefer the mountains." She was certain in that, and it only felt natural to return to them eventually somehow. But, she was pleased to know Spiralux had come from one before. Surely, she had to have experience in hunting on their terrain -- but of course, this was assuming her loose tracking did turn up anything.

She periodically sniffed as they followed the path, she wanted to find something to show that she would be helpful to the pack. She kept an ear towards Amekaze and listened to her. Spiralux nodded her head in agreement. She was happy to have met someone who came from a similar territory as she had.

She turned her head in Amekaze's direction. "So what kind of animals do you get up here? Maybe there are some that are similar to the ones I grew up with." She asked, maybe she would get to hunt things she was familiar with.

Amekaze didn't need long to answer. She'd lived here long enough to have a good grasp on the prey here. "Mountain goat, deer, bighorn sheep, occasionally moose.." she started with; they were the big games here -- the real prizes to bring down. "Lately, I have noticed more raccoons too.. and of course the typical rabbits and chipmunks." They were nearly everywhere. For as small prey went, they didn't have much else overly unique to a mountain.

She, of course, fished a lot in the summertime but knew this was not the typical approach to hunting. Recently she had been craving the deer, though, and considering they were evidently plentiful enough for her to smell them often, it only seemed a matter of time before she'd sate that. "It does vary a bit by the seasons.." she added. Spring and summer were plentiful, winter could be a little sparse, but it all depended on a great many things. Last winter, for example, had been easy but the same could not be said for two years ago..

Spiralux nodded. "Sounds good." She was used to those animals. She sniffed at some plants, picking the scent of deer but only faintly. She nodded her head in the direction of the scent. She looked at Amekaze to see what she would decide.

For a time, she was silent on the trail, mostly focusing on sniffing and tracking instead of the conversation at hand. There was a spot that almost made her questioning the loss of this path, but soon, after a new turn on the path, she found it was fresh and true. She slowed up, smelling deer clearly and .

"Feeling lucky?" she smirked back at Spiralux. "I think we are close," she mentioned. "Last I saw them, they looked healthy.. but who knows, we could always give them a run.." A full-grown deer could prove a challenge, especially here on a mountainside where they could seize advantage easily. But, even if they could only injure the deer, it was better than nothing at all. She'd stalk it and bring it down later on once any wound had festered, but there was always risk involved. It could happen to them, too..