Sunset Valley these boots were made for walking

slightly windy & coldish, late dawn-early morning!

Her paws carried her, now. Carrying her across land after land, wading her through river and stream. Her paws, a lighter brown compared to the length of her foreleg, were muddy and sore, but she refused to stop moving just yet. Clenching her teeth, she flattened her ears against her cranium, disliking the feeling of the wind billowing into her eardrums.

On the horizon, she could see a mountain, and looking to her right, the ocean. The faintest pack scent wafted towards her from the west, and judging the strength of the scent it'd have to be a long ways away. Isabella turned her honey-amber eyes to the east, squinting against the light of the sun. The sky was slowly fading from dark purple to red, orange, yellow. A streak of blue marked the time. Morning was approaching, and she had yet to sleep.

Isabella stood for a moment, continuing to watch the sun. The wind seemed to relent for a moment, allowing her to perk her ears, listening for any sound. A bird sung from the treeline behind her, and she wondered, for a moment, if she was alone here.

Pondering, she stood for a few more moments, debating internally whether she should reveal her location to possibly hostile wolves. However, letting her curiosity get the best of her, the girl tilted her head back, a soft howl calling for anyone who might know where to grab a bite and find a comfortable place to rest.

She'd have to be on alert, though, because there was no way for her to know who would approach.

Always one to wander, Waawaashkeshi found herself back in the Taiga. Admittedly she had hoped to see the boy from Redtail Rise, but such things did not seem to be in her cards today.

A soft howl reaching her, Waawaashkeshi's ears twitched and her paws seemed to move towards the sound without thought.

Spotting the figure of a woman she found her tail waving. The scent was unfamiliar, and did not speak of a pack. "You look tired!" She called out, never one to stray from the obvious.

A stranger approached from the distance: a little dot of yellow fur and a visible tail swishing back and forth. Her voice reached Isabella, and what she stated was fact. The woman was weary from travel, and for a moment she worried that her paws indicated bad manners, as her mother so often used to say.

Slowly, Isabella drew closer towards this girl. Noticeably younger, by a little under a year. Golden with green eyes. Like a single sunflower in a dappled field, waving through a blue day. I am, she said, her voice smooth, calm--yet exhausted. very tired, actually. And a little hungry, she wanted to say. But she wanted to give this lass a moment, first. Perhaps she'd introduce herself, and Isabella could prove that she did, in fact, have good manners.

The responder agreed with no malice in her tone, encouraging Waawaashkeshi's more overly curious impulses. "Have you had a long trip? Where from?" A smile crossing her muzzle she began to half-circle the other, analyzing their posture, fur, how well kept they were.

An introduction would be appropriate in this situation, yet the idea had gone over her head. "Ah - I am Waawaashkeshi." Realizing she was beginning to ramble, she said no more.

Rarely did she care for first impressions, believing such a thing to be irrelevant. But the concept mattered much more to her when speaking to other women. A matter of respect for one another.

Being under the girl's perceiving eyes gave Isabella a moment of shyness, making her want to slink back into her fur and hide. Her pelt wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't as clean as she'd like it to be. She stood up straighter. Yes--Alaska. Isabella answered. Filled with an urge to explain her textured, almost wavy fur, the woman quickly added: My family and I frequented the ocean a lot.

The sunflower introduced herself by a long name, one that Isabella knew she'd have trouble pronouncing, though she'd try anyway. Waa-wash-keshi, an attempt at a foreign tongue. I am Isabella Sparrowbeak, but Bella is fine. Only her brothers called her Bella--though it wasn't as if that was a big point of comparison, considering she had never met many others--but she'd allow it for her first acquaintance of this land.

Her stomach continued to ache. It felt as if the walls of said organ were growing teeth; like it was trying to eat itself from the inside. I'm sorry for my awful manners, but is there anyplace we could find something to eat? I'm starving...

She grinned at the offering of the nickname. "If I can call you Bella, then you will call me Keshi." She offered up her own - a name that those closest to her used, a term of endearment in her mind.

The woman spoke of hunger, something Waawaashkeshi understood well. Travelling on an empty stomach was no good. "I know little of the Taiga's packs - but I can catch a bird or a rabbit on my own." She decided. Bella was a friend now, and Keshi would help her.

Lifting her head she searched for a scent, soon starting in the direction of the first one she found. "The winter is approaching - will you find a pack to shelter you before then?" She asked, looking to make casual conversation.

Keshi, a name easier for the woman to remember. She wouldn't want to embarrass herself further each time she tried to speak the gold-one's full name. Full first name, that is. She wondered what Keshi's true full name was, but felt it'd be odd to ask considering she hadn't offered it before. She nodded at their nickname-exchange.

I see, while she yearned for deer--the sitka deer specifically. Oh, how she missed home already--bird or rabbit would be enough to tie her over for a little while. That's alright. Both is good. Silently grateful for her new friends help, Isabella let a small smile creep upon her face, tail giving a small flick.

Though her intention was casual conversation, the pack scent on Keshi's pelt alongside the wording she used almost made Isabella feel that she was being recruited. I'm not sure, she said. It'd be beneficial, yes, but she wanted to ensure she wasn't being forced to commit to anything just yet. Maybe, just for a little while. But I'd like to keep moving eventually.

You are in a pack, yes? I smell it on you. How do you find it?

"Yes, far on the other side of the mountains." She stated, thinking back to Moonglow for a moment. "I followed a friend there - Nasamiituuq. She once visited my birth pack, I was intrigued by her stories of Moonglow." Her tail waved as she spoke of her dear friend. She would have to find a gift for her before she returned.

"My suggestion would to be to venture into the mountains, if you are able." She paused momentarily to observe their surroundings. "The scents of two packs have grown there - recently formed. A new pack should not reject you."

Spotting a plump rabbit, her unfocused gaze was quick to lock onto the creature. It was as though a switch had been flipped, and now the girl was no longer the dainty damsel she portrayed herself as.

Perhaps she was right at the mention of a new pack. Isabella thought back to the scent that had come upon her earlier, the one to the west. Perhaps, eventually, she'd pay them a visit. See if, maybe, they'd be willing to take in a stranger for the winter. You may be correct. she hummed for a moment.

But at the silence of the sunflower, Isabella grew quiet, too, drawing in a breath through flared nostrils. A rabbit. She could see it, now, as she stayed completely still. She did not wish to startle it. The extroverted behaviour that Keshi had once displayed was now that of a huntress. Isabella dare not move, waiting for the moment to break and for the gold one to start the chase.

Maybe this meant there was a warren nearby, and that Isabella could fetch one of her own. She salivated at the thought of tearing into something warm and meaty...

Body lowered, she remained focused on her target. Completely still.

As though a shooting arrow, her chase began with a start. Rabbit startled, it was a rather easy catch. Boringly so. But nonetheless she was glad for it.

Light returning to her eyes, she trotted back to Isabella and placed the rabbit in front of her. "Eat up!" She grinned, clearly rather pleased with herself.

Isabella's tail swayed gently behind her as she watched Keshi dash off for but a moment, returning back with a trot and a new look behind that verdant gaze. She was quick to offer up the rabbit, but Isabella wasn't so certain. Are you not hungry? She asked, concern flashing through her otherwise--forcibly--put-together expression.

As the huntress, you should eat first, she nudged the rabbit closer to the sunflower. Especially since I can hunt on my own. Quickly, to make it understood that she wasn't ungrateful, she tacked on: --Thank you, though. I appreciate that you'd go out of your way like that..!

If Keshi offered again, though, it'd be rude for her to decline.

"I caught it for you - I rarely hunt for myself." She responded, giggling as though Bella had said something she found funny.

Pushing the rabbit towards the other, she smiled brightly. "I prefer to scavenge for my food. It tastes better that way."

Keshi's preferences may be odd to some, but to her this was a benefit. Hunting for others was often a good way to show her affection.

A strange preference, but one that Isabella wouldn't comment on as she lowered her neck, muzzle tilting downwards so she could pick away at the snack before her. She nipped gently, quickly, at the hare, fliting her eyes up to Keshi for a moment to murmur -- Thank you. -- before continuing to eat.

Moments later, the hare was down to its thin bones, and Isabella flicked her tongue out against her lips, brimming with satiation. She pushed the bones into the grass, trying to hide them, as if having them laying out in the open made her seem like a sloppy eater. Thank you for that, she says. erm, again. She chuckled nervously.

Is there anything I can do to repay you?

Waawaashkeshi shook her head. "We are friends, yes?" She asked. "That's all that matters."

She smiled, tail waving. A 'friend', she was always glad to have such things. "I should begin my journey back home, but I'll visit you in the mountains." She decided, nodding to her before giving a quick, playful nudge to the shoulder of the other.

Without waiting for a response she turned away, trotting off.

Yes, she answered. Her first friend of this land. Such a connection would be remembered. We are friends. Isabella smiled at the nudge, and watched with an almost-sadness as the sunflower girl trotted away. Safe travels! She shouted after her, before she, too, started moving.