Falls of the Hinterlands But something rustled on the floor

For Saga. Feel free to set this whenever in your timeline, since I'm twisting Saena's anyway to make these travel threads happen all at once!

With a snort, Saena heaved herself over a ledge and proceeded to scramble higher up the mountainside.

What's with wolves nowadays? she wondered to herself as she scaled the heights. First Reek had taken it upon himself to kidnap her children as if he had any right to them, and now there was word of at least one more kidnapping. Just when did it become so cool to take helpless children from their parents? Saena's could be half grown by now for all she knew, but she imagined them alone and scared and ignored by the father who broke their family before they could even draw their first breath, and she knew she could stop at nothing to get to them. Not whilst knowing that other mothers were similarly searching for their young.

The forest growing up the mountain slope was scenic, full of beautiful black stone and tall thin trees, but Saena's focus was only on her destination. She didn't stop to smell the roses, as it were. A squirrel crossed paths with her without her even noticing it despite feeling a little peckish. When she did stop, it was at the edge of a pool into which a spectacularly tall waterfall crashed, where she stooped and drank deeply. The roar of colliding water drowned out her thoughts completely, and for a moment after she'd had her fill, she stood there staring blankly at the falls, as if trying to see in the mist the best way to reach Larksong Grotto without being found out along the way.

timeline - shmimeline! ill fit it somewhere.

The forest served as shelter for the night, although the wandering girl did not really require it - nor like it, she came to realize. It was so different from what she had grown up accustomed to; usually, herself and her siblings would curl up anywhere among the shrubbery and the snow, and by morning a blanket would have formed across them. It wasn't a problem to be exposed in such a way, what with the strength of her natal pack and the great expanse they inhabited. It was easy to see trouble coming and thus, to prepare for it. Something instinctual had driven Saga in to the forest for the night, but it was too cramped. She slept for twenty minutes and would wake to strange sounds, or the creaking of boughs, or to the calls of animals she likely had never met, and would startle awake only to drift off after a handful of moments. This repeated for the entirety of the night.

To think that communing with the spirits of this forest would do her good! Alas, she had thought wrong. Not a single image drifted through her mind as she tried to sleep, and so no portents came to her — and it was the first night in many moons that the girl had not spoken with the golden-eyed stranger. It was upsetting to feel this disconnected.

But the day blossomed around her. As tired as she was, Saga knew she had to set out again on her journey, even if she lacked suitable instruction. She paced through the forest for hours upon hours, feeling more fatigued than ever before, and was drawn ever closer to a strange reverberation in the air. As she caught the scent of water, her attention spiked; she sought the scent, and the sound, and traipsed by the falls with her full attention drawn to them. It was a magnifiscent sight — but what caught her eye next was the sharp movement of something small in the underbrush. She didn't know what it was, aside from potentially lunch, but she lowered her head in line with her shoulders, and hastily tried to charge for it. The critter knew the forest better than she, and slipped through the shadows and up a great tangled tree before Saga could do anything besides bumble through the foliage.

With an exasperated moan, Saga stared up the trunk at the escaping squirrel, and then turned her weary eyes back towards the falls.

All that the mist did was bring tears pricking at the corners of Saena's eyes. Whether it was some sort of buried sentiment or the sting of water, she couldn't say. There had been a waterfall like this in one of her homes, she recalled, but she no longer knew which one. She'd had so many homes, and had her suspicions that even her latest would not be her last.

She was startled by the sudden sound of a scuffle, and when a jet black shape darted past far too close for her comfort, her hackles rose and she snarled instinctively. The puff of her chest announced her willingness to fight for her safety, but the figure wasn't aiming for her. The realization did little to comfort her and only served to smooth her hackles out a little as she watched Sjáseiðr shoot into the underbrush in pursuit of... well, Saena hadn't seen it. Maybe she was pursuing nothing at all.

Whatever the case, when Sjáseiðr re-emerged from the brush with her eyes on the falls, a disgruntled and startled Saena grumbled, "what's your problem?"

It wasn't impossible to hear the voice above the din of the falls, but at first Saga didn't notice it at all; then, as she sagged in defeat and began to turn back in to the depths of the forest, she caught a glimpse of the pale woman from the corner of her vision, and gasped softly. oh, oh i'm so sorry, i didn't see you, her head ducked as she spoke, speeding through an apology in her too-soft voice. Then, thinking perhaps she would be drowned out by the falls too, Saga slunk a few steps closer and raised her voice again: I thought I saw something to eat. It was foolish of me, I should have been more aware, but she had let her stomach rule her for those fleeting moments.

Her ears sloped forward in a futile effort to hear the whisper-quiet words Sjáseiðr spoke, but Saena could only watch her lips move. As imperceptive and dense as Saena could be, she'd not developed the ability to accurately read lips, so whatever was said went unheard. As the shadow-wrought female stepped forward, her voice became stronger, and the pale wolf let her ears fall to the sides once more.

"I've been there," she reluctantly admitted. She remembered the famine. Not clearly, and with many inaccuracies, but she recalled that infernal hunger. Her belly pinched at the thought. "I'm a hunter," she announced loudly, "maybe I can help you, if you can help me in return." A minute tilt of her head punctuated the offer. She hadn't missed the corded sinew of Sjáseiðr's figure. The woman was surely strong, strong enough to traverse mountains, and if she'd been in the area long enough then she might have information about getting through it quickly that Saena could use.

The offer was a surprise, more so than spotting the squirrel. Okay, she emphatically agreed before further discussion could be had; her ears tilted forwards and she looked far more alert now, less like a surprised child. but I.. How can I help you?

Before her was this pale woman, older than her and (from Saga's perspective) hardier. She looked to be much bigger, and the harsh look of her eyes made Saga a bit nervous — like she'd been around the block a few times. Compared to little ol' Saga, they couldn't be more different. And Saga picked up on that — or maybe weighed their differences and felt inadequate because of them — and she couldn't imagine being useful to someone like this. Her ears slicked back with the negative thoughts. I'm rather new here, after all.

If Saena caught on to any of Sjáseiðr's uncertainty and insecurity, she didn't acknowledge it. Already her head was turning so she could survey the waterfall and the slope beyond it. It was one hell of a long climb, and who knew how far across the mountain went? She hadn't noticed it when she'd moved her pack into the wild hinterlands, but now it was probably the quickest way she could go. Looping all the way around to the coast would take far too long, she reasoned.

"I need to get over this mountain," explained Saena with a flick of her nose in the direction she was already facing. "I have something very urgent to do over there." There was far more to the story, but her eyes sought Sjáseiðr now and she canted her head just a little. "Do you know the fastest way over it?"

I don't wanna hang you up for too long, since I'm struggling with activity and being sick. So wanna fade here? We can imply Saga walked with her up some of the mountain and told her the way down or something?

The mountain? she parroted, as if the concept of the massive stone abuttment was some kind of foreign, alien thing. But after a moment of looking dazed and confused, she cottoned on, and looked resolutely at the obstacle as if to silently say, challenge accepted. I can show you some of the paths I've taken, sure. They can be a bit tricky and steep, but... I'll happily lead you wherever you want, and maybe later — once you've done your urgent thing — you can, I dunno, owe me one? If what Saena mentioned was true, that she was seriously on some kind of important and urgent mission, Saga didn't want to step in the way of it. She knew time could be of the essence.

Then again, maybe this woman wasn't keen on owing anyone anything? Maybe Saga had overstepped her bounds. She shrank back a step and with a nervous lick of her lips, added solemnly, I-I mean, if that's cool.

Sounds good, hope you feel better soon!

"That'll be fine," assured Saena as she glanced up the slope. Trees hid the cloud-lined apex from her view, but she knew it was up there somewhere. When Sjáseiðr offered to sweeten the deal by taking the equivalent of an IOU, Saena bobbed her head. She had every intention of repaying the lone wolf when she returned to the hinterlands, as promised, supposing she could find her again, but there was an urgency to her that greatly appreciated the immediate out.

As the slim black-haired wolf led the way, Saena followed. At the end of their journey higher into the mountains and with instructions to head a little further and then down, the white wolf promised she would help Sjáseiðr with her hunt the next time she saw her and went on her way, not truly knowing whether she would ever find Sjáseiðr again or not, but hoping she did.