Greatwater Lake Acres upon acres

Thistle had never been this far away from the Bay before. She put her paws in front of her, but inside she was quivering  both with fear and excitement. She had always been the sort to settle, settled home, settle for her lot in life, and it seemed that it had done nothing, but hurt her in the end. So, she was tired of settling. Today she was heading as far away as she could to sniff and look. If Charon felt the need to be an alpha so badly, and he wanted to run the pack so be it. She would help him where she could, but she was done telling him what to do. So with those thoughts in mind, she began to explore, helping where she could to find a new home. She wouldn't go far, perhaps just a day's journey so she could get back soon.

She stared at the great expanse of water, sitting near it's edge. She placed a paw across it just once. It was different, so very different than the sea. It was still, and deep and dark. It was strange to her, she knew what it was, but she wasn't used to it. She was used to the always ebbing flow of the tide. The large creatures that broke the surface, and the loud crash as it hit the rocks. This didn't do that. So she sat like that just studying it, taking time for herself for a change.

Exhausted from the constant travel, Hiraku knelt down by the water's edge to drink. His sleeping habits, as bad as they were, finally became routine and he was able to think a bit without lashing out at everything he met. With a weary grin, he sunk to the ground. He really has been through a lot in this valley, but now, it seemed a bit...normal. He sighed; sooner or later, some curveball will be thrown his way. He looked around the lake, noticing a nearby wolf.

Scent-wise, it was too far away, but presumed it to be new to this place. He got up and slowly walked towards the wolf, still cautious of a possible attack. He met enough wolves in this place to know some of them were relatively-nice. He was still pretty far away, so the wolf will likely react to him as he walked up.

Thistle had not know many foxes or coyotes. A few one who had been kind to her, when she had been round with babes. So it was with gentle surprise she saw a little fox she believe approaching her fairly easily. She smiled at him and wagged her tail once, just ot show that she wasn't expecting to be attacked or attack him. Then she simply waited and watched him come closer with slight wariness, but also small bit of wonder. She was curious.

She smiled softly to herself surprised. It had been so long since she had actually be curious about something, it was a welcome change. More proof that she was slowly getting better, slowly coming from beneath the black cloud of loss and grief.

As he got closer, the fox quickly identified the wolf. Brown-furred, she smelled similar to that of the sea. I light grin involuntarily grew on his face; he may know about Floki, and appeared quite friendly. Hiraku remained friendly as he walked up, closing his eyes to not show his depressed self and to avoid the gaze of the wolf. "I haven't seen you around here, but then again, I have only been here for a month or two. My name's Hiraku, you?" 

There was an odd feeling he had that he didn't notice beforehand. He felt a servile attitude towards the wolf, though she had done nothing to him. Maybe it's the wolf's prevalence in this area, along with his confrontations to some of the other wolves and his brother's death. That thought also struck him as odd, as he could just think about his death without batting an eye anymore.

Thistle saw the small grin on his face and she returned it. I am Thistle Cloud. It is a pleasure to meet you Hiraku. What brings you here? She looked around taking in the grass and the area. It was different here, and she wasn't quite used to it.

are you enjoying the day? I'm mostly just exploring. Thistle cloud grew quiet and looked around, unsure what to say or how to act. Settling down she sat on her haunches and waited patiently to see if he would hold a conversation with her.

"Just traveling through, running around here and there for a safer place to live. Today has been rather nice, better than the storm I ran into before I entered." He then added, "By chance, do you know any of the safer places here?" He glanced out on the lake and remembered something he used to do. He was likely rusty, but he was probably more coordinated then back then. Spying a few stones buried within the mud, he turned his attention back to Thistle Cloud.

"Out of curiosity, have you ever tried to skip stones across the water? It's something humans would do by lakes, and my brother and I managed to find a way to do it as well. Do you want to see?" He spied the area around for that white wolf, feeling safe to not see it.