It was a bit further north, and a different part of the mountain.  Kyna had given the Lost Lake a wide berth, able to detect quite the collection of wolves taking up residence around its shores.  Packs were still something the woman was wholly uninterested in, but being asocial could not dampen her desire to continue exploration.  It was unlikely she’d live out the rest of her life where the Silent Moon Plateau pack had once resided, after all, and eventually, she’d have to pick some place to make her den if she continued to avoid packs like she had all winter.

Strange, how the world worked.  Strange that they had ended up in Oak Tree Bend because Aponi did not want to raise a pup as a loner.  Stranger still that she became alpha of that pack not a year later, and said pup was on her own anyways.  Oh, yes, she had the occasional companion, but it was not the same.

And speaking of the occasional company--  Kyna lifted her head, scenting another wolf up ahead.  Her ears cupped forward as she woofed softly, not interested in surprising him, or causing a scuffle. “Hello?” she called out to the stranger.  “Do you live here?”

Oh.  Well, this was unusual.

Most of the wolves Kyna met these days had little interest in the slopes, and any commentary on them was dedicated towards complaints, not compliments.  The young female found her tail wagging despite herself, offering the stranger a small smile as she bobbed her head.  “Yes,” she agreed softly.  “It’s very beautiful.  I’ve always liked the openness of mountains, I suppose.  But I do not live here, either.”

In truth, the loner did not quite live anywhere, anymore, but the pack animal hadn’t pried, and the young Argyris did not feel so inclined to give up such private information.  Not so long ago, she lived in Oak Tree Bend and was practicing statecraft, but for the few weeks, it  felt like a lifetime.  Now all she practiced was survival.

“Gen?  It is nice to meet you.  My name is Kyna,” she introduced herself easily.  If there was one skill she hadn’t lost, it was the ability to be polite – to be tactful, if she must, though it seemed this other wolf would not force her paw on that matter.  Still, curiosity surged through her.  “If you do not live here, why travel to the mountain?  Most wolves avoid it.  If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“Oh yes.  I most definitely will.”

It was not a question of ‘if’, but rather, a question of ‘when’.  These days, it was looking more and more like a mountain home was in her direct future.  After a moment, she realized Gen might have been referring to this specific spot in which, no, she rather doubted she would.  There was nothing wrong with it, but she rather liked the secrets on the other side of mountain.  Perhaps not Silent Moon itself, but somewhere close, at least.  She did not get the chance to continue on with her thoughts, for the older male was soon busy answering her other list of questions.

That was fine, though.  It still gave her the opportunity to clarify from before.  “Oh, I do not have a home, at the moment.  I left the pack I was with – and have not decided where I want to live, I suppose.  I grew up on the other side of the lake, you see, and was thinking I might like to live there again…but for as long as I lived there, I’d never been here, and I wanted to see.”  Kyna offered a small smile, her tail starting to wag again.  For all that she avoided strangers, this one was turning out to be quite kind.  “You are with a pack, yes?  You do not smell like a loner.”

Very brave.

Hmm.  It sounded nice, but Kyna was fairly certain her choice had not been driven by any sort of bravery, really.  A crisis of faith, perhaps.  A sudden, crushing realization that all the accusations hurled at Aponi might have actually been true.  That the malfeasance she was utterly certain her mother could never commit may very well have been perpetrated by that very woman.  She sighed.  That was not a story for a stranger, no matter how friendly he seemed to be.

“Fair enough, I suppose.”  The strawberry blonde certainly couldn’t be quick to judge on pack loyalty, considering how things came and went for her in terms of Oak Tree Bend.  Leaving Silent Moon Plateau hadn’t been a willing decision, but--  She rolled her shoulders, slow smile starting to return at his insinuation. “I’d hardly call you old,” she laughed, shaking her head.  He showed no signs of grey, not like Phineas (though whether that was age, or he was simply born that way, she’d never know).  But he did not creak, and he looked just as healthy as she did, more or less.  Still, it begged a certain question.  “What is it that you want to do?  That you’re getting too old for?”