Alpine Lake and so it begins

For @Aria -- thought they could start seeking out their fortune, lol. Minor PP, let me know if you want me to change!

With Dante and Osprey leaving, Constantine had felt even more unsettled than before. He refused now to consider thoughts of his brother – that Casmir had flung him aside so carelessly because the two disagreed with one another, and he had determined that he needed to escape for a bit. Deirdre’s decisions as of late were not something that settled well with him, but he was grateful to know that Emaleth had returned – perhaps, when Aria and Constantine did seek to claim land elsewhere, his pale sister would seek to instate her own littermate as her right hand and Beta.
 
So he had sought out Aria, coaxing her to leave for only a few days. There were no longer pups within their ranks – Deirdre would do what she wished to do either way, whether they were there or not. With the girls entering the adult ranks within weeks, it was time they sought to solidify their own plans, and so the dark wolf followed after the pale queen.
 
The direction they chose left him uneasy only in one sense – he did not wish to settle close to Silver Creek. He spoke nothing of this yet, though, and casting a nudge to his company, the fiery-eyed Mayfair released a gentle sigh. “Nothing feels right anymore,” he confided to her.

It was weird. Donnelaith had not yet been handed to Deirdre, but it felt like it was already hers. The position had slipped so quickly through her paws and, though she knew she was not truly ready for leadership, Aria had wished so desperately for it to be hers. But, before the final departure was announced, the pale queen left with Constantine to find their new home. 

He spoke to her, and she was drawn from a discussion she was having with herself. Her pale gaze found his face and she studied it for a moment before moving closer, pressing against him as they walked, her steps in sync with his. She wasn't sure what to say at first, but fully agreed. Her only choice in words came as an attempt at comfort, though after she spoke she wasn't sure they were. "You get used to change," she murmured, ears falling slightly. "You get used to the change and then it becomes your life, and you forget how it used to be."

Her words were not necessarily comforting, though he believed she had meant them to be in a way. He could not imagine a life where his siblings were not part of it – including his brother, despite his anger toward him. “You speak from experience?” The question was gentle in its own right, his eyes glancing to her to see if she held any reaction at all. It only occurred to him then that despite how the two had sought friendship from one another after Lasher’s death, he knew very little of the pale she-wolf at his side.

Her gaze avoided him, instead focusing on the path before them. "Ah," she said, more of a noise than a real word, "I mean, yeah, I guess I do." Her shoulders rolled forward in a gentle shrug. She hesitated to continue, not even sure what example to use, or if she should even use an example. Did it matter? He seemed to care. She let out a breath. 

"The last time I fell in love, it was too fast. Almost immediately. And I fucked it up," she said, her ears lowering. "It's one of many changes but... you get used to people being in your life and then they just leave. It was probably my fault, but, it was a shock." With a pause, Aria turned her head to look into the area, her pale eyes scouting it-- more by forced distraction than caution. "I wandered for weeks trying to find him-- and when I finally did I wished I hadn't. I don't think about him anymore, I readjusted, remembered that I managed before him can manage without him. And now I'm here, everything is different, but it feels normal now." She finished slowly, sucking in a breath before glancing to him sheepishly.

"I'm sorry-- I didn't mean to overshare..." she muttered. 

He was surprised by her admission – but refrained from commenting too in depth on it. As a wolf who had never been in love before, nor considered what such an emotion would bring to his life, he still was not foolish enough to perhaps link Aria’s self spiral as linked to her past. She held little confidence in what she did, despite what airs she tried to put out to the world – but perhaps this new place would change that for the better.
 
“You didn’t,” he offered, sweeping his muzzle out to give her a gentle nudge to the shoulder in friendly deference. “But for what it’s worth, he sounds like an ass.”
 
Little did he know that the ass was his twin sibling.

She gave a light chuckle, shrugging. "Joint effort," she muttered in return, flicking her tail. She debated telling him who it was-- tossing his possible reactions up and down. She eventually decided to drop it, unwilling to have him leave her as well-- because that's how it always seemed to go. 

"I never asked," she began quietly, turning the topic away from her. "Why did you leave Donnelaith to begin with? Where did you go?" she asked, her pale gaze turning to him.

Bemusement flickered on his features for only a moment ebfore they faded – someone had broken Aria’s heart, and while he was curious to which wolf had done so, he did not query it, allowing her privacy. There was no point in dredging up terrible memories.
 
“I had left Blacktail Deer Plateau,” he clarified, his heart lurching as the words left his muzzle. That had been home – he never would have thought that his family would see fit to move.. and to become an entirely different unit of wolves altogether. “I was younger and I wanted to explore the world. To see the cultures of other packs. It was enlightening – I mostly stayed with a group of wolves called Tartok.. battle militia.” He paused then, giving a light snort before shaking his head. “I almost wonder if that’s why Deirdre assumed so quickly I hoped turn Donnelaith into something else?”
 
Releasing a sigh, he shrugged his shoulders then, ambling forward as they explored the territory further. Thus far, nothing of interest had gathered their attention to claim. “But I realized that home was where family was – but when I returned, father had moved everyone to Donnelaith.. and everything was different.” He paused once more, his eyes glinting as they scanned back to his companion. “Not in a bad way. But I wish I had asked him of the changes before.. before it was too late.”

She didn't speak while he did, but nodded along quietly and listened. She wasn't sure what to say, so she just nosed his cheek gently in the hopes that he knew she understood. She almost mentioned how they were leaving family again, but she couldn't risk him wanting to leave. Besides, she knew that he was already aware of that, and it was part of the reason they were trying to stay close.

"Did you ever return?" Aria asked him, pale gazing falling to him. "The plateau, I mean."

His ear flickered at the sudden silence that spanned between the two – though he did not find discomfort in such a moment. Instead, he relished it, if only that he had managed to find a companion to place him at such ease. He could not recall the last time he held such a friendship.
 
“Only for a moment – I thought to look for them there on my return, and it was abandoned. I consider myself lucky that I found my way to the coast.”

Constantine mentioned he merely wandered past Donnelaith and recognized it, and she agreed that that was a stroke of luck. Briefly, she wondered what might've happened had he not found his way back, a twinge of fear racking through her. Their current situation might have been much more devastating-- and she couldn't imagine what she'd be doing if she were alone in this. 

Aria nodded, her tail waving. "What if we went back?" she asked him with a tilt of her head. "Just to visit-- I've never been," she added, smiling a bit. 

Her offer to visit their home was a tempting one -- and with a dip of his muzzle, the swarthy wolf was quick to agree. They were exploring potential areas for now, but a stop at his birth home was not something he would be quick to dismiss. If anything, it could potentially help him find some solace in his father's missing presence. "Sure," he noted quietly, allowing a gentle smile trace upon his lips before it vanished just as quickly -- his eyes drifted from his companion and to their surroundings -- thus far, they had not found a place that truly called to them that did not have neighbors that lingered much too close.

"Okay," she murmured softly, nudging her friend. She'd be silent for a little while now, letting the Mayfair man take the lead. Her tail swayed thoughtfully as they went, praying that maybe the old plateau would be a safe place to settle.