She'd been gone longer than she'd wanted to be, this time. The paths that had taken her to the Spring and back seemed never-ending, like the conclusion of a strange dream before the moment her eyes fluttered open. Over the crest of every hill and around the turn of every bend, it was like she was hoping to find a change in the scenery to signal that she was nearly there, but just couldn't. She longed for the familiar smell of damp dirt and the sound of the falls rolling over to crash into the shallows. Longed for the cool comfort of her little hole in the ground. She'd been so busy these last few weeks - perhaps it was the all work, no play that began to bore her and didn't please her. Set on finding the straight-and-narrow home, it was glance through the trees at the faraway scene of the fjord bathed in the light of a setting sun that stopped her in her tracks.

From her position on a climbing slope adorned with red alders, the greyscale cliffs of the inlet were painted in hues of salmon and orange in a way that made them appear softer than they truly were. The early evening light glinted off the roaring waves of the waters below, and they looked so small for their fierceness from up here. Her russet ears perked forward as a gush of wind cascaded off the rock walls, and she closed her eyes to breathe it in and listen to the whimsical sounds that seemed like they belonged only here and nowhere else in the world.

Within moments the song was gone, and with a little longing she let it go to cast her gaze down below. With a flick of her tail and a pursing of her lips, Lyanna thought better of leaving this place behind so soon. Perhaps she'd descend her way closer to the water to soak up an hour or two of the sunset before moving on; a little twilight would do her some good tonight.

With a what careful grace she could manage, the tawny girl meandered along, weaving through the towering trees and bounding over the crumbling boulders and fallen, hollowed logs that laid to rest on the mountainside. In time, the sloping rises of the edges of Serpent's Pass gave way to a more merciful landscape and it was then that she ambled on a little while longer with no sound but the wind to perfectly drown out the weariness that reverberated in her mind.

When the whimsical song of the fjord had begun to wane, another song began to play. Her eyes widened as her russet ears tipped forward. Its timbre was dynamic, the tone smooth and somehow utterly perfect as it rose above the wind before decaying to resonate between the faces of the cliffs. As the last notes lingered, low and deep, Lyanna was stopped dead in her tracks by the voice she couldn't recognize but for its simplistic, effortless beauty. The feeling that crept into her body was a primal one, and with a bit of intrigue on her mind the girl lifted her muzzle to start up where the other was leaving off. The howl that began as a rumble in her chest broke out through the air, her alto voice rising sharply to ring like a bell before eventually drawing to a lustrous sort of fade, the remnants of it quivering in the twilight.

It wasn't often that she heard a voice like that. As a matter of fact, it was the most wonderful thing to have met her ears in longer than she could remember. But, whose voice was it that put the music of of the grandiose inlet to shame? She pressed onward with heightened curiosity to investigate. Moving quietly through the tall grass that brushed against her creamy underbelly, it wasn't the sight of the wolf that caught her attention from somewhere up in the distance, but the scent. She knew it. She couldn't quite place it but it was so familiar - one she'd...worn before? And then it struck her suddenly - the vision in her mind of their fitful little tiff beside that ugly stink hole. A subtle smile tugged at a single corner of her lips.

Mako turned in surprise at the sound of her voice, his wit as quick as the way her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his. Her eyes searched his face before roving over the way his lips curved just so when he grinned. Effortlessly, her own tail swayed slowly at her hocks as she hung on his words for just a second. "I think it does," she smiled, glowing, not skipping a beat, "-there's room for one more on board if you want to sail off into the sunset." Inhaling a breath, she motioned to the picturesque waters of the fjord.

She shifted her weight then when she actually wanted to take a step toward him - drawn by his gravity. The strangest sensation was rising in her stomach - something light and airy - something novel. It was there and she knew it, but the notion was well in the back of her mind as her attention was currently fixed on the way the dark features of his face made his smoldering amber eyes as bright as the sinking sun at his back. He was a sight for sore eyes, wasn't he?

"How've you been? It's...good to see you." Any other time 'good to see you' might have been but a polite gesture, but tonight she found she meant it.

To her immediately liking, Mako stepped a bit closer. Her eyes her bright with interest, taking in the way he moved and every other little thing about him as he sauntered closer. Quite close, actually, and the girl was motionless as he drew up at her side. His scent struck her then like an old, fond memory, the smell of the grand lake to the west and the wolves of the Surge complementing his signature musk. Lyanna breathed it in deep, peering up at him as he beamed down at her.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump went her heart.

It felt effortless to gaze into the boy’s eyes, the life in them filling her up. A soft, smitten grin settled on her lips as she looked between them for a quiet moment before soaking up the tiny details of his grizzled face - the ones she hadn't had a chance to appreciate until now. A sensation of weightlesslessness spread through her slow and steady.

"Better now that you're here." Beneath the creamy grey fur of her face, her cheeks were flushed. "Surely you didn't come all this way just to hear me sing." She hadn't, of course, but his song had been a pleasant surprise even before she'd known it was he who had been filling the twilight with a sound so pristine. "Well, I was looking for a handsome stranger to pick a fight with, actually," she countered with a smirk of her own before leaning into him ever so slightly to close the shred of distance between them. "...Hearing you sing to me was just icing on the cake," she murmured. Meanwhile, the contented smile on her face yet to fade. She wasn't dodging his question, but she couldn't help but to lay it on him thick.

Her tail swayed into his as she went on. "Scouting. What about you?" With all of the drama the Keep wolves had been dishing out, it wouldn't have been too outrageous to assume that Driftwood Surge got their fair share of it too, right? Perhaps Mako needed a breath of fresh air or had something more dutiful to accomplish east of the lake. Part of her wanted to tell him all about her run in with the Archer boy, even if it hardly mattered now. Not to mention that any relevance the situation had paled in comparison to her current opportunity to spend a little time with her foe-turned-friend, or...turned something. And she liked whatever that something was.

Lyanna thoughtfully took note of Mako's response, immediately registering that with all his brawn he was bound to make for a good hunter. It suited him. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen a single deer in a day, if he was hoping to find one out this way. But, she could only ruminate on the thought for a split second before something else stole her away from it. In fact, it stole her away from everything. She could feel the current of his breath as it crept across her skin, and could feel something swelling in her core as he gently tucked his muzzle beneath her fur. Intimate and unexpected, her breath caught in her chest. Her heart began to thump slowly. A warmth that started with his touch washed slowly over her like something she'd never experienced.

The low tone of his words echoed in her bones. Closing her eyes as though doing so would keep her steady, she felt the subtle tremble of her limbs beneath her. The world must have stood still in that moment, and all of the beautiful colors that painted it faded to but a blur as she slowly canted her muzzle closer to his. The gold of her eyes churned, the look in them silently asking if he felt it, too - desire. Sliding her nose across his lip and to his cheek, she gave him the affection she'd never given to anyone and breathed his scent in deep before a contented sigh escaped her.

She was absolutely melting.

She'd wanted this from him without even knowing, with it in the back of her mind without any meaning until this star-crossed encounter with the boy she hadn't seen coming. Lyanna was caught somewhere between rapture and terror, but...next to Mako, somehow the pieces she didn't know were missing were falling into place with every second that went by.

"Then don't." Roving her snout over the muscle of his neck, the curve of his jaw, and to his ear, a quiet moment slipped past before her own vulnerability surfaced in a gentle whisper. "...I won't let you go."

...The girl had only wanted to see a pretty sunset before making the lonely trek back to the Shallows, had only thought that some peace and quiet would give her enough respite to carry on until her task was done. Yet, what started as just another lonely evening on the road had - with his perfect reverie - ended up turning her inside out in a matter of moments. Mako had thrown her for a loop when he'd come around the first time, but this…

Well. This was wondrous.