Birds were chirping all around, greeting the new day in an insistent choir, apparently determined that it was now morning, despite the sky still being dark. It wasn't quite the deep, almost-black blue, illuminated by the myriad of stars, that she remembered from her very first nights outside the den; A sight so captivating that she had stayed awake to stare at it for hours, before exhaustion finally won out and she collapsed, nestled snugly against her father's belly. Rather, the heavens were painted a bleak, sinister charcoal grey, seeming too light for the death of night, but dominating it none the less, and often lasting far into the day as well. Under this heavy, winter ceiling, sat a young wolf, tall enough to level with most adults, yet obviously still in her first year, mostly long, thin bones covered in fluffy winter-fur. She had been up even before the birds, restlessness having drawn her to the edge of the Pines, where she had sat down under one of the trees that were still standing, watching the nighttime landscape of the forest. It was no new activity for the curious lass, studying everything around her was her favorite pastime, and she had long ago realized how things changed at night. New animals came out after their rivals or predators had gone to sleep, soon followed by other predators who had adapted to the new waking hours of their prey.

But having seen this change, over and over, Nalda Zamora was, like with so much else, bored of it. She longed for something new, and as the harmony of the morning birds grew increasingly loud, she set out, leaving behind her home, that meant little more to her than tedious familiarity and a full stomach, to hunt new adventures. She went south, soon joining up with an out-runner from the Secret Falls – barely a trickle in the winter frost – which she followed for a time on a mostly southward route. At some point, after the land had gotten as light as it would probably be, the overcast sky diffusing the suns distant light into a sickly, dimness, the russet girl reached a spot where the water disappeared among scattered rocks, soon building into a rigid highland of strange, rounded cliffs, almost glowing in an even deeper sienna color than her own fur. Surprise and wonder marked the young wolf's face as she looked up at the hills, shocked that this had been so close to her home all along and she hadn't even known. Her movements slowed to a still as she stared, considering whether she should try and climb the rocks, to get a closer view, when a sound suddenly caught her attention. Ears swiveled, followed a second later by the rest of her head, golden eyes wide as she stared through the fog. When she caught sight of, not just another life form, but another wolf, her gaping jaws instantly clasped, a sharp intake of air releasing a whining sound, way too loudly into the quiet space between them; Shit.

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"Speech" Thoughts