Falls of the Hinterlands the old dream comes again to me

all welcome! in need of interactions for aneira.
summary: aneira followed the river that separates the strath from the rest of the land to find some waterfalls. the ivory female thought she was alone; but is she truly alone?
time: afternoon; date tba.

the silver woman left the safety of the strath to get some time for herself. nothing special happened since her arrival in asterism grove; she tried hunting there, but something just felt wrong. so she crossed the river where ruenna told her some weeks before, and ran upstream, letting the cold autumn wind guide her steps.

before her emerged some waterfalls; it was peacefull there. the sound of the falling water relaxed her and helped her clean her thoughts. aneira strolled on the edge of the river as her gaze shifted around the water in search of some fish. the gravastar was not used to fishing; she wanted to feel safe when hunting, something the water could not provide. truth be told, the solid ground did not offer much safety as well; but to her, it was enough.

her white body slid down the bank into the water. it was cold, but it did not bother the woman at all. she was used to such temperatures; the strath provided it's inhabitants a constant type of weather due to it's special position between the high peaks. she liked it there; even if her lack of socialization proves the statement wrong.

her attention shifted from place to place, but no fishes around; perhaps it was due to the sound produced by the falls. either way, aneira decided to enjoy these moments of silence. the afternoon sun warmed her pale body half below the surface of the river.

With all the recent seismic activity, rock-slide that had nearly drowned Sugar Glider and roughed Elfie somewhat, Wraen had a reason to be somewhat restless. Now, as the tracks of large game herds had grown stale and thin, the future began to look dim and she felt it unfair that so soon after her ascent to the leadership she would have to face so many problems that she could not possible affect at once. 

She had walked down to the place, where the rocks had fallen in the river and blocked it's bed, making the stream to find a way around it. Forest floor right next to it was flooded and the only good thing out of this sudden appearance of swamp-lands were some fish that had been stranded out of the depths and were ready to be picked up and hastily eaten. Walking further down to the falls, where the riverbed allowed more room for expansion, she spotted another wolf. 

The white-coated she-wolf was a stranger to Wraen, but smelled of the grove, which listed her in the "greet politely" category. "Good day," she greeted from afar, approaching the other, until she came to a halt few feet away from her. "I am Wraen, Sovereign of Firebirds. What has brought you close to our claim?" she asked calmly.

i apologize, i only saw this now !!
also, sorry for short reply <3

the voice of another wolf made her ears twitch. aneira thought she was alone, but as it seems she was wrong. her blue gaze turned to the stranger that greeted her. she was grey-pelted, like most wolves the magnetar had met before.

"good day wraen," her body rose slowly from the water, "i am aneira, magnetar of asterism grove." silence, as she reached solid ground, "i apologize. i followed the river up to this point; i did not mean to cross any borders," had she crossed a pack's territory? there was no fresh scent of any pack wolf, even if it was, the waters would wash it away before she could find it.

firebirds; the silver surely heard this name before but she was not sure where. aneira was ready to leave, if wraen before her wanted her to. as it seems, her relaxation day was over.

A wolf from Asterism Grove. A quick inspection of the other's form and facial features told Wraen that the lady was in no way related to the Redhawks/Redleafs/Blackthorns or either of the mix of two. She looked positively exotic and had that kind of icy beauty that both impressed and made you shudder inside as well. It was not a person you made friends easily. Wraen was not even sure, if it as someone she could ever feel free discussing any subjects other than the ones of business.

"You are not trespassing, but we are very close to our claim," Wraen explained. "With all sorts of people meandering around the wilds, it makes sense to be extra careful," she added, thinking about that brute, who had attacked the black wolf's son. "Have you been with Towhee's pack long?" she asked the next diplomatic question on her list, because she felt that there was only so much time she could detain this wolf and therefore it should be spent usefully.

“I understand,” a nod. she was not trespassing, just as she thought; in her mind, this was a win, a win that fed her ego and confidence. As her wet fur draped over her petite frame, she sat, icy gaze locked on wraen.

“Not long, a month or so.” Words ran out of her lips like ice. But it was true statement; aneira was not hailing from these places, her home was far away, the frozen mountains who blessed her with this snow drape over her back.

“I assume firebirds and asterism grove are allies?” perhaps they were, perhaps not. wraen was aware of her kilonova’s name, and due to the fact firebirds was quite close to asterism grove, aneira thought her assumption was, again, correct.

"We are allies, yes. My late leader Wildfire was a sister to Towhee and Phox," Wraen shared the brief history between the two packs, feeling glad that there was a subject she could discuss easily. "And Blackthorns have been living with Redhawks for so long that they are considered family members as well," she added. The bond between the two dynasties was remarkable.

"The nature of our agreement, however, is more liberal than you would see with other packs," she thought it was important to explain the idea behind "sister-packs". "We plan to train the youth together and, if winter is harsh, merge our forces for bigger hunts," she went on. "Any friend of Asterism Grove is a friend of ours, though we like to know their names and credentials first."

"Where are you from originally?" she left off with another question that Aneira was free to answer or refrain from doing so.

“I see,” blackthorns, redhawks.. they were names the silver has never heard before; but the history between the two families was definitely interesting. And, of course, that was understandable; a wolf might try to infiltrate one of the packs by claiming to be part of the other. A strange yet not impossible idea. Aneira however, was not going to test it.
 
Aneira shifted her weight, hiding her emotions under the pale mask she calls face. Azure gaze fixed wraen, a sudden coldness both in her eyes and tone. But it was not coldness; it was sadness. Her only purpose of coming here was to find her parents; but nor her father, nor her mother were nowhere to be found.
 
“I was bought into this world far away, in a pack called ‘high mountain’. I presume you have no knowledge of such place,” who would? All high mountain members fled after the king’s murder, those who remained watched as their king’s legacy perished. Her parents were between those who remained; they let their own children watch as the mountains fell. And soon, high mountain was no more.

Wraen was tempted to point out that the term "high mountain" was probably not the best name-choice for a place, if you ever wished to have it known and remembered in the history. Just look at Teekon Wilds - two mountain ranges with so many hills and peaks that they all could be deemed high and mighty. 

What puzzled the agouti she-wolf more was the cold and collected demeanour that hadn't changed a bit during the course of their conversation. Where it not for a smell, sense of warmth coming from a living body and the voice, she could easily see herself speaking to a block of ice or a marble statue. It did not make talking easy, because you wanted to feel any emotion coming from the other. A slightest crack, imperfection in otherwise flawless pattern.

"Not from the name alone, no. Can you tell more about your home? This place - and I don't mean just this corner of the wilds, but those that range beyond these mountains and the next - is a melting pot for people of different origins and though not often there are chances that you meet a person and later meet someone else, who knows him or her," Wraen did not have high hopes of ever meeting anyone, who knew this Ice Queen, but she was not in a habit to leave people entirely hopeless.

“Ah, of course.” the ivory female cleared her throat, prepeared to tell more about her homeland; but it if it was true, or not, remained to be seen. She was sure wraen had no knowledge of it, and maybe the name was not so inspired. But who was she to judge?

“It is a pack in the far south located on a high peak, led by a king, ‘king of the mountain’ as he liked to call himself,” aneira was not fond of the late king, and had mixed feelings about his death. “with time, this king grew mad. In a successful attempt, his second in command killed him, and took over the mountain. He renamed it ‘cleardawn’.” Sudden silence.

the ivory female sighed, azure gaze turned away from wraen. “There is no one around here that has any knowledge of me before i came here,” eyes met wraen once more, with a sudden irritated expression, “and i’m positive about this.”

Wraen supressed a smile, when "the king of the mountain" was mentioned - a nickname she had given to late Charon Ostrega. Obviously, the story was in no way related to him (though - a mountain, a kind of madness, usurper - weren't it similar? Was Hydra's ascent to the throne so innocent after all?) and she managed to tuck those thoughts away, in order to entertain herself later. 

"You probably know best," she shrugged, not going to argue about the very possible assumption that in a place as big as Teekon Wilds someone from Cleardawn could have come here as well. If not now, then definitely in the future. "What are you planning to do - are you staying with Asterism Grove forever or have other plans long term?" was Aneira going to raise an army and going to reclaim her former home?

extremely late and short response !!

“I will stay with the Grove,” a pause, “for now.” She glanced around, searching. Aneira was sure she will stay around for some time. Winter was approaching, and living alone in an unknown world would be suicide.

“Perhaps I will continue on my way, after winter.” Of course this stay delayed her search a lot, but it was better than starving for weeks.

It was probably not the best idea for Wraen to ask this question, because her curriculum vitae was quite impressive with the number of packs she had been part of for a while and then decided to leave for various reasons. If she had learned anything from her past experience, it was the unpredictability of life. You could build blue castles in your mind, but reality had a way of slapping you across the face at the most unexpected times and change one's flow of life entirely.

"Very well then," she thought that she had kept Aneira busy with formal matters long enough and that a diplomatic farewell was in place now. "It was my pleasure making your acquaintance and perhaps we will see each other again soon," she dipped her muzzle politely as she said this.

thank you so much for the thread ! <3

Tail twitched as Aneira moved away from the water, azure gaze still on Wraen. This female asked too many personal questions, making her feel suspicious about her true whereabouts. Still, her scent was unrecognizable just as the name. But she brushed them off, and continued to move.
 
“Of course,” a nod; the ivory maiden was, somehow, pleased she met her. But revealing her provenience was something she shouldn’t have done; it was a mistake. She secretly prayed this conversation remained here, drowned by the river.
 
She gave Wraen a last glance, and off she went to her home, Asterism Grove.