Greatwater Lake Run boy run! This world is not made for you!

@Chai whenever you're ready!

The rivers that ran from the highest peaks of the mountains Yao had so admired seemed to filter to this one place. It was a large centerpiece in this valley, a huge mass of freshwater glittering on the green and brown of the grassland surrounding it.

Yao wondered how he could paint this visage to his family. It was far different than the land that they had inhabited. He pined for home, as he always did, but he could not help but appreciate the beauty that was put before him. How could he not?

Once again, quite a ways from her home in Whitebark Stream, Chai found herself by a water source. Not a river this time, but a freshwater lake of massive proportions. The trees that surrounded it were just starting to sprout new leaves, leaving a distinct, pleasant little whiff of spring in the air. From her view, facing her were the Sunspire Mountains, beyond which her home awaited her. Ears folding back gently, she sighed. The sight was nothing short of picturesque.

Why was it that she was always drawn to water? Or water drawn to her? Could there be some meaning...some message she had yet to decode? Examining her soft featured reflection, Chai felt oddly at peace in this very moment. In this very place. Lowering her muzzle to drink, her eyes nearly missed the dark figure not far away. She hummed pleasantly in thought. Seems this place hadn't attracted only herself this afternoon.

Watering holes always attracted life. He knew this as a hunter by nature, but it always escaped him until he was confronted with another wolf. Like he had met the sheepish woman by the stream, he found another woman partaking in the waters that had intrigued him. She was earthen like he was, though lighter and marked with more red than he. She was tiny compared to him! Almost of a height, but barely tipping the scales. He hoped that she wasn't obscenely submissive like the last tiny woman he met. Jambo, he called to her out of habit. Eh, hello,

Yet to be known to him, Chai was not by any means, a bold or self-confident wolf. She didn't have a mean bone in her body and would sooner go belly up in submission rather than engage in conflict. Some, like her father, would even go as far as to call her spineless. But she was not so meek that she would roll over to just anyone without just reason. It was more so that she was shy. Timid. Flighty. 

Lifting her head up when a voice called out to her, in a language she did not recognize, her pale eyes met his pumpkin orange ones, blinking softly. He spoke again, this time in common tongue, though with a rich accent. The barest trace of a smile graced her soft features, tail swishing pleasantly. "Good afternoon." She dipped her muzzle politely, taking a cautious but curious step forward.

He was hyperaware of his posture, trying not to look too intimidating, in case she was frightened or was threatened. His body language mimicked hers, with a lightly wagging tail and gentle smile on his face. Are you from around here? As a newfound member of a pack, he felt that it was his duty to be informed not only of the goings on of his own people, but of those who lived nearby their borders. War was always a possibility, but trade and cooperation was much more important. Better to prevent and prepare than instigate.

Glacial eyes drifted across him slowly, reading his body language. He didn't appear hostile, which was a good thing for a travelling pack wolf like herself. Licking her lips clean of any remaining water droplets, her tawny ears rotated as she received his question.

Chai maintained that same ghost of a smile. "Not from this exact region, no. But I have called these wilds my home for just under a year." Yes, that sounded about accurate, if her memory served her well. She tipped her nose into the wind slightly, hoping to catch a trace of a scent. She thought she caught something faint of wolves, but couldn't place it with a name. "Are you?" She presumed not, but just had better make sure.

No, he said, his tone jovial. I just arrived here a few weeks ago, So much had changed since then. It seems that this place would be his home, if only for a little while. The wolves of Neverwinter had been so accommodating to him. So far. Where are you from then, if not here?

So he was new. Chai remembered when she was unfamiliar with the Teekons as well, feeling so lost and unsure of herself. She had been through a lot since then. Maybe she wasn't the most well traveled wolf in the land, but at least she had been around. 

Clearing her throat, she started with the basics. "Initially, I was from a distant land far to the west of here. Since then, I've been part of several packs. After a brief absence, I returned and now have a home with Whitebark Stream." She gestured to the distant Sunspire Mountains in the distance behind them. "Our claim is a ways over that mountain range. I'm just out doing a little scouting...a little leg stretching." She explained. 

Whitebark Stream. He faintly remembered what Mal had said when they first met, about his enemies in those mountains. Was that pack one of them? Or led by those who were? Those were Mal's worries and concerns, though, not his own, but still...

I am a part of the Neverwinter Forest pack, he said, looking back to where his new home lay. I came to explore. This land is still unfamiliar to me. I've not yet been to those mountains. he admitted, glancing at them.

"Neverwinter Forest?" She repeated, testing the name as it slid off her tongue. She shook her head slightly. "I don't believe I've ever heard of them before." Chai couldn't be certain if Artyom and Dawn knew the wolves who ran that pack, or even the name. It was something to check back with them on. "We are a little-ways beyond the mountains, to be more specific. More inland."

While he expressed that he was out to travel, she nodded, tail swishing. "I wouldn't say I'm the most well-traveled, but I am familiar with few areas." She switched back to the topic of the packs by those mountains, more than open to lending him some helpful information. "I know of at least two packs that occupy those mountains. One is called Reneian Empire, led by a dear friend of mine. The other...is further south, I believe. I know very little of them." She smiled, hopefully giving him a sense of assurance. "Ours is a peaceful pack. We keep to ourselves, but we are welcoming to others, so long as their intentions are well meaning."

He had always wanted to visit the mountains and see what lies beyond. It was something he had always meant to do, but he had lingered beside the Forest instead. Perhaps one day he will ask Lenny to accompany him to venture there. Surely she must know, or have an inkling.

As she described the packs, he suddenly wondered if either of them were remnants of the ones who had maligned Mal. Empire? he said. He vaguely knew the word and what it implied, but it was a strange name for a pack. Most were named after the land around them, even his own.

If this polite, interesting man called Haoniyao ever did choose to visit Whitebark Stream, he would have Chai to reference back to. Someone who knew him, at least on a face to face, name basis. What would come of such a meeting, was beyond her control, but she could only hope for a positive outcome. 

With a nod, she tried to clarify further for him, in regards to Reneian Empire. If she could at all. "Well...I'm not sure of the exact meaning behind the name. If it is based upon a royalty system or what." Her brows pinched together as she tried to recall what little Reiko had told her. "The Empress Reiko, my friend and her husband Takeshi lead. She told me some wolves from her birth pack banded together to form this one. I actually just met her a few hours ago. I haven't visited the place yet, but I intend to." She bowed her head sheepishly. "I'm afraid I can't offer you any more than that..."

She didn't know much, unfortunately, but it served to make the group more intriguing. He wondered just how much power they truly had; if they were truly worthy of the title of Empire. She claimed to know some wolves from the pack, however,though the relationship was very recent. Thank you, he said. I do not know much about here. Anything is welcome,