Silver Moraine i don't understand - in the future i'm not pretty?

Yami was feeling ambitious and self-important since returning to Kiwi's side and setting her attention back on forming Skairipa. Recruiting was rather slow going, but with the return of prey to the Wilds, she wasn't super concerned about it. She and Kiwi made a perfectly good team. If they had to live out the rest of their days just the two of them at the Peak, that would be perfectly fine. She didn't need anything else.

Kiwi, however, obviously did. She knew how her friend longed still to create a dominion for them and to claim her former home. Yami didn't totally get it, but she didn't need to. If it was what Kiwi wanted, then she would do what she could to help see it done. To that end, she had abandoned the mountain that day to do what she could beyond the borders. Find some recruits, hunt some food. Whatever. At the end of the day, they could call it helpful and look forward to the next.

With her nose to the ground, she eventually found her way to a split in an evergreen forest where the ground gave way to a rocky gulch. She peered down the cliffside and then turned her paws to trot along it, her nose twitching all the while as she settled her mind on hunting for prey instead of packmates. Prey was way easier anyway.

Artyom ventured beyond Whitebark that day, content to allow his mate the opportunity to better rest her wearied body. Their travels to the Southern territories had been tiring for her, made more difficult by bouts of nausea and discomfort that the ranger could not even begin to understand. Dawn had said this sickness was supposed to be a good sign, one that he held firmly onto, but he could not deny his quiet worry that the strain on her would result in tragedy.

So he hunted for her, despite knowing that the sterling Alphess was not the sort to sit back and accept the offerings of her comrades. Fiercely independent, Dawn was more than capable if fending for herself - but her doting mate wished for nothing more than to pamper her. Although she'd accepted his proposal of mateship, Artyom vowed to never stop showing that he cared. 

He did not pick up on any scent of prey on the migraine that afternoon, for instead the biting breeze brought that of his own species. The golden hunter studied the land until his dark eyes located the source: a young she-wolf made of ashen and earthen hues. Artyom paused in his tracks to observe her movements for a further moment before he offered a chuffed alert to his presence.

Yami hadn't had any luck with coming across a trail by the time the stranger came across her, so she didn't mind being interrupted. She stiffened as she became aware of him, but relaxed after taking a few moments to check him out. He was pretty easy on the eyes and certainly looked like he could handle himself in a fight. He didn't actually appear to be looking for a fight though, so she let a smile slip across her lips as she prepared to greet him.

"Hey," she called, allowing her tail to wave a few beats, "You wouldn't happen to have come across anything tall, brown and hooved lately, would ya?"

When the stranger lifted her head to look his way, Artyom paused. He offered a few sways of his pale tail and briefly tilted his ears back to communicate that he meant her no harm.

She returned the gesture, and each corner of the gilded ranger's maw tugged upward in a pleasant smile. He made to close the space between them, though eased to a halt some comfortable distance from her own personal bubble. "I have not - not in that direction," he laughed at her comment as he gestured over a shoulder. He had not intended to hunt deer, not on his own, but he figured two sets of fangs made things considerably easier. "Perhaps we can help each other?"

Yami hadn't expected the stranger to have any information to offer. It was really just meant to start the conversation, which turned out to be successful. She quirked a brow playfully, intrigued by his suggestion that they help each other. She didn't have much hope that they'd find anything, but she was alright spending the afternoon with a handsome stranger.

"That'd be great, actually," Yami answered with a bright smile, "It's just my friend and I and we haven't had much luck finding anything bigger than a beaver lately." Probably an exaggeration, but did it really matter?

So she was without a pack, but not alone. Artyom could not deny the sorry feeling he felt for loners in the wilds - he'd experienced enough of that life himself to appreciate how difficult it could be. "Hopefully we can fell something bigger than that then, hm?"

The pale ranger moved off, turning from the ridge and beckoning his new hunting companion along with a cheerful woof. "My name is Artyom," he introduced, figuring they could partmake in small talk while they searched. His earthen gaze swept the snow for any sign of prints, but the surface appeared untouched.

Yami nodded her agreement. She didn't have much hope that they would manage to catch anything, but she couldn't agree more that it would be hella nice to do so. She smiled at her companion thoughtfully. He seemed like a sweet man. Someone she ought to fall for, but also someone it was impossible for her to be romantically interested because of all the reasons she should be. Bitch had some problems. But anyway.

"I'm Yami," she replied as they began to move along the ridge. "You seem like a pack wolf," she added after a few steps, just to make conversation, "What're you out on here on your own for?"