Naia was pregnant now, and Kisla found her paws drifting away from home once more. She was content for the couple, and yet pained all at once – of her five children, only Orren and Lekalta remained. Had she had to gamble in the past and place bets upon the ones who would stay she would not have placed it upon them, and it shamed her to think she knew all of her children so very little.


As much as she strived to be the mother Corinna had been, it would seem she had failed horrendously somehow. Karina had run away – Aleksei wandered. Even Inna had seen it fit to adventure out in to the world, though at least the girl had made it known to her parents of her intentions.


In the end, everyone left. Even her own blood.


Brooding did not become her, but it was quite like a cloud hung over her head these days. The sun began to tuck itself behind the mountains once more, and the honeyed regal was not within the safety of her own home yet again. Soon, crickets would be heard upon dusk, yet winter still clung to the Lore in a last desperate attempt to remain – though within weeks, she suspected the warmth would finally come to them again.


Usually, she was a wolf who treaded with caution, given her past interludes. Yet the evening was different, and so last in thought, the Baranski woman had almost missed the curled form of the agouti wolf not far off – her nose tucked beneath a russet and cream tail. Pausing, the she-wolf debated whether to speak, or to simply carry on – to continue her unguided path.

It would seem the other made the decision for them both – the stranger pushed herself up, her sleep seemingly thwarted, and Kisla studied the she-wolf with mild interest, noting the curl of her lip and withholding her own form from stiffening from potential threat.


The question was abrupt, and Kisla’s ears flickered back to her skull for a quick moment, revealing her own silent displeasure to the manner. Straightening, her peridot gaze casually regarded the other, her form shifting weight as she lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. Swallowing the urge to bounce the question back to the other woman, she canted her muzzle slightly. “A walk to clear my mind,” she finally offered, attempting an amicable approach to see where this interlude went. “I’m sorry I disrupted your sleep.”


Her gaze drifted from the she-wolf to note their surroundings – an open area, and one she would not have chosen to rest. It was completely insightful just how untrusting she was to anyone but those she held close to her heart.


But she had come by it honestly.


“Are you new to Relic Lore?” If the stranger got to ask her a question, she would propose one of her own.

One ear would flicker in mild curiosity to the girl’s words, quietly wondering just how many others had disturbed her sleep only to run away. She made no further comment on it though, her direction of conversation desiring nothing more than to engage herself in a way that would get to know the wolf before her slightly better. Her form remained neutral – casual, perhaps, as she studied the other female, finding herself at ease with the demeanor of the situation they both found themselves in. There was something comforting about conversing with another that held no insight to her currently shattered life.


“Peaceful?” She paused, the word seeming foreign upon her tongue. “It’s not how I would necessarily describe it.. but yes, it is pretty,” she mused quietly, bemusement lacing itself in her tone. She shifted her weight then, her slender shoulders lifting in a gentle shrug. “But I suppose it all depends on what you’re used to,” she decided then, ending her statement with a gentle hum before allowing her eyes to glance around the area they found themselves in. She had never known anywhere else in the world but Relic Lore – it was her birth right to remain in these lands, and unlike some of her wayward relatives, Kisla held no desire to travel away from it. If anything, she would fight to remain right where she was – long ago had she lost her patience to the little mind games some of their neighboring packs seemed keen on employing.