It wasn't necessarily what Ava would have called the most pleasant of environments. Rather foul water and plants made for a quite unwelcoming scent, and that almost every step was made wet by the grounds only seemed to make things that much worse. It was however, much to the delight of the rather solitary older female, a quiet place to be, so it was somewhere she had chosen to rest with a purpose to clear her thoughts and her mind. There were many things to go through her head, memories of the past and still great plans for the future. She was no spring chicken, but be damned if she was anywhere near dead either.

That was to say it had been quiet when she'd first arrived. This was not a place where she could sit or lay down, but she had been wandering in relative peace before the reckless splashing of some unknown creature had broken her concentration and caused her attention to shift. Instincts first told her that this was an opportunity to hunt some kind of prey that had found itself out of place, but as her nose lifted to scent the air - detecting a wolf, that plan was all but put to bed... mostly.

Ears twisted as she heard the trampling nearby, but not in any place where she could sight the other. So in the moment she just listened. Listened and waited. It was nearing, coming towards her, but didn't sound anything like a thread. She turned to face it head-on as any decent queen would have done. No longer a queen, she still carried herself as such. The steps drew nearer, and the figure came into view, only to crash into the water with a glorious splash.

Amusement struck the woman, who simply stared as the other rose from her defeat and shook free of the water and debris, only to look around as though she had lost something. The older woman had never seen the frog, and drew the assumption that this girl had simply been in a rush and tripped.

"Lost something?" The woman announced her presence without hesitation, tail swaying once with amusement behind her hips as she took a second to run her eyes up and down the grey-coated female that had almost fallen into her lap. No, there was certainly no threat, and if there was even at her age Avari was confident she could drown the other female.

Had she the ability to read minds Avari would have been stunned. To know that this young woman was searching for some kind of frog kingdom accessed by a magical gate might have caused Avari to have reservations about engaging. What a ludicrous thing! Alas she was not so gifted. There was no knowing what thoughts were running through the youthful mind of the female before her, forcing her only to take the answer on it's obvious value. The girl had lost a frog.

That alone was an odd thing. In the mind of Ava to lose something meant that one first had to own it, which implied that the fog which was lost had been some kind of a pet. Of all the things to keep! Why someone would want a frog was beyond her, but to each their own she supposed, responding only with a laugh because she wasn't sure how else to answer.

There was one reason she could think of - to lick at the skin of certain coloured toads. Toads were different to frogs however, and the idea was dismissed as soon as the younger one mentioned that she wasn't aware of how they tasted. Eating a frog?! The elder shuddered visibly. She could only imagine the sensation of having one in her mouth and throat. The squishy and slimy body and those kicking legs...

"Don't eat frogs." With a single blink she just stared at the girl, her voice almost warning despite the fact that there was probably no real danger in actually eating them. "Trust me." No experience on the subject, but she implored the younger woman nonetheless. The other question still lingered though. Was she here to hunt frogs? Of course not. What was she doing here though? She couldn't think of an answer, and so she merely ignored it.

"You should be hunting toads." Her comment was met with a chuckle. "They're fatter. Lazier. They don't run away." Not in any of her experiences that she could remember, anyway...

Avari was a little lost at the reactions she received. All she'd done was offer some simple advice about whether or not it was a good idea to eat frogs, and the younger girl had taken that to mean that she actually gave a damn about what the other did. While it was perhaps true in part it certainly wasn't to the extent that the grey-coated female was making it out to be. Still it was a reaction that warranted a bark of sharp laughter and an amused grin if nothing else, the elder standing a little taller and allowing her tail to wave at the back of her legs as she bowed her head politely.

"My dear, us women have to look out for each other." The response was both simple and reasonable as she took a moment to assess the other on face value, examining the size and shape not for a threat (though that was always present in the back of her mind) but for familiarity. Maybe this stranger was the daughter of someone she knew - or even better yet an enemy she owed revenge to. Alas, as she eyed the girl there was no such familiarity. This was just yet another stranger whose path she had never crossed.

"I can't say I've ever eaten a toad nor a frog." Licked yes. Eaten and held inside the confines of her muzzle? Hell no. "You'll have to come find me when you do, and tell me which of the two is better, okay?" Head cocked. Why would one ever feel possessed to eat those squishy creatures was well beyond her knowledge. Even at her age, it was the first she'd ever heard of such a thing.

"My name is Ava." Last names kept secret, especially now knowing that her son Kjors lived somewhere nearby. "You should tell me yours so we can find each other once you've captured your uuh... your meals..."

It had been her every intent to move on from this conversation and encounter as quickly as she possibly could, not wanting to get caught up with someone who was looking for a non-existent frog kingdom that seemed to be perfectly happy with throwing their bodies into possibly dirty waters, but there was something she couldn't quite force herself to walk away from. Something about the girl, be it her youth or her innocence, put an otherwise anxious mind at ease.

There was no way this girl was any kind of a threat, and it was nice for once not to have to think about the politics surrounding her not-so-secret motives. She didn't have to talk about them, even, with someone whose mind was clearly as scattered as the body parts of her deceased former mate.

So it was when the other expressed her seeming disappointment that the older woman had to shake her head in disagreement. Was she going to help her catch them? Gracious no! She was far from in the mood to go flinging herself through shallow marshland in pursuit of disgusting, squishy frogs. Still, perhaps she might get lucky and come across a red or a blue toad.

"I can't help you catch them, I'm too old..." or lazy "...but if you do catch one, Rainbow..." what in the hell kind of a name was rainbow anyway "...then I'll try it so long as you eat it first, okay?" What in the world was she getting herself into this time....