The sun was falling in the sky, spilling color into Relic Lore. Vibrant pastels inked the sky, framed by the spring-green trees in the first beginnings of Spring. Their branches sprawled overhead Volkan as she slunk along, large ears alert despite the humming of crickets as evening began to settle around her. The normally carefree young wolf trod carefully but swiftly through the woods of her home, pale eyes narrowed, aware now that each shadow could be hiding the sinister face that haunted her nightly dreams.

Whether or not this made her crazy, she couldn't decide as she moved along in no particular direction; she had a reason to be suspicious, sure, but she was well inside the Creek territory, so she was safe, right? Had Aeylen's warning at the meeting been enough to incite apprehension in her packmates? At the same time, she wouldn't put anything past her wily rat of a brother. He could've lied about his name to one of the new wolves, all of whom she hadn't even met yet. How were they to know he was so dangerous? She wouldn't dream of telling them, couldn't fathom telling anyone, but...

[dohtml]"...What the—?"[/dohtml]

...Her thoughts had been interrupted by a very large rock in the middle of a clearing. Volkan stopped in her tracks. Momentarily she stared at it, her body falling still. [dohtml]"Well, how did you get here?"[/dohtml] She mused to herself, head tilting as she took it in. The rock was almost alien, as though it'd fallen from the sky, clearing out trees in the process. Its sheer presence, and the fact that she'd never even seen it before despite frequenting these woods, was enough to make her smile. Honestly, she was glad for the distraction. Drawing slowly nearer, the perplexed wolf began to circle it, her goal having been set the moment she laid eyes on it. She was going to get up there— she just had to figure out how.

Wow, how did Volkan not notice this wolf? It was as though she had just magically appeared somehow. Despite Volkan being extremely on guard due to word of Rhysis being in the area, she had somehow completely missed the random wolf who'd suddenly appeared atop the rock. This irked her, and she looked defiantly up at the wolf. [dohtml]"Yeah, you are,"[/dohtml] she responded loudly, a clear agreement that yes, this random wolf was certainly new. The curious smile that had previously existed on her mottled face gone, replaced with one of mild annoyance.

She'd found the series of steps leading to the top of the rock, and in one swift movement, nimbly leapt to the top. Now face to face with the relative stranger, Volkan stood over her, noting her appearance. The other was average-looking, not imposing, and certainly of lower status in the pack. [dohtml]"So, we've gained more females, huh? Do you hunt?"[/dohtml] She wasn't trying to be rude, but couldn't be bothered to display an obscene amount of manners at the moment— she hadn't planned on running into anyone, especially magical fairy wolves that appeared out of nowhere.

Herbs and animals. Volk tilted her head, her pale eyes still taking in the details of the other wolf as she sat up. [dohtml]"Nice,"[/dohtml] she replied, not yet overly impressed, though pleased to hear that this female apparently had skills and wasn't just another mouth to feed. Although, maybe she was all talk. But her posture was submissive enough for the wiry gray wolf's liking, so nakloV decided to back off for now, moving to explore the rest of the huge rock's surface.

[dohtml]"Herbs, huh?"[/dohtml] she continued after a moment, deciding to breach the topic after peering idly over the rock's edge. No longer content to leave her back turned to this female, she began to pace slowly back toward her again, her curiosity growing. [dohtml]"So, does that mean you're a healer?"[/dohtml] Healing was all the rage these days, apparently. Having recently returned from her adventure with kasonaK to visit arttelE, healing was actually something that had been fresh on her mind. A whole plethora of herbs and their medicinal purposes had been unveiled to her by the uniquely demanding dark she-wolf, and while Volk knew she couldn't begin to recall every single one of them, she was glad for the insight she gained into the healing process. If this female was anywhere as knowledgeable about healing as arttelE was, then the Creek wolves, she figured, were at an advantage. Three wolves with healing knowledge meant lower chances of pack members dying, right?

Volkan nodded, her expression pleasantly blank, as she considered the other wolf's words. Okay, so she was a healer who could apparently take care of herself. Nothing wrong with that, she concluded, her initial negative feeling about her beginning to subside. True, Volk didn't like being caught off guard, but it wasn't the end of the world, either. Finally she cracked a grin, somewhat crookedly. [dohtml]"If you're a healer, you should talk to Kanosak. He and I just got a crash course on some of the local herbs from Elettra, she's a Grizzly Hollow wolf,"[/dohtml] she concluded with a shrug and brief glance behind her, in the vague direction of the Hollow's packlands miles away.

She began to circle the edge of the rock again, idly, but stopped as she remembered that she didn't yet know the other female's name. [dohtml]"I'm Volkan, by the way,"[/dohtml] she mentioned, turning back to look at the other wolf, figuring the best way to get someone's name was to offer hers in return.

[dohtml]"He shouldn't,"[/dohtml] she responded simply, having stopped at the rock's edge, staring into the woods before her with a determined look. Up here, she could see much farther than she'd expected, despite the treetops being leafy and green in the throes of spring. Ahead, just barely through the trees, Volkan thought she saw something. She squinted.

It looked like... hooves. Four hooves, trudging slowly through the dirt. They stopped. Another set of hooves followed close behind, and then stopped. A large head bent down to the soft forest floor to graze.

[dohtml]"Hey,"[/dohtml] Volkan woofed quietly, hopefully just loud enough for Nina to hear. Exaggeratedly she motioned for the other wolf to come closer, then returned her attention to the creatures not far away, lifting her muzzle to test the air. She couldn't quite tell what they were; they'd have to get closer to find out. The one thing she did know? That she'd just become conveniently hungry.