It was nature, the set of mind that she found herself constantly lingering in, lacking the ability to stay in one place for too long for fear of what might be following her. It wasn’t hard to tell who she was, at least not to her enemies, because she was almost an exact copy of her mother, just as Maelia had been… something in the genetics she supposed. She’d become a creature of habit yet at the same time she remained unpredictable in where her travels would lead her. She didn’t wander aimlessly per say, she did have her favorite spots, but she couldn’t sit still. She preferred to think of it as paranoia over the ‘what-ifs’ which she knew she shouldn’t let dictate her life… but how could she not? She let a soft sigh off of her lips, taking in the scenery as she let a soft smile fall across her face.

She loved the Palisade which was probably why she found herself lingering around for longer than she probably should have. Icy blue eyes were careful to analyze her surroundings, ears perked and listening for different ‘giveaways’ that could tell her if she was being followed closely or if they still kept their distance. Part of  Lilya always wished she’d stayed to fight the good fight, if only so she knew her fate and the fate of her family, but war had never been her place… a wanderer and diplomat held no place on the battlefield.

Her ears twitched, hearing a soft humming as her head turned to swivel around, nose flaring for a second before it settled down, freezing as her muscles tensed… something was nearby. She carefully crept through the territory, unsure of where this wolf was, but intent on finding them, following the scent trail until she came face to face with the wolf making the noise. “Hello!” She greeted with a chipper yet cautious one. “Jus’ wanderin?” She would ask carefully, tail holding a soft and slow sway as something held her back from approaching further, head cocked to the side slightly as she waited for a response.

It appeared that her presence was met with an ecstatic tone from the other, a smile on the other girl’s maw bringing an infectious grin to her own as she watched her curiously. It was nice to meet friendly faces, especially when they weren’t trying to kill you and even more so when they weren’t trying to talk pretty to your face just to stab you in the back. It wasn’t something that she preferred to think about. The other girl had reacted much better than she had at discovering another presence nearby, an unknown quantity who could bring any kind of personality to the situation.

She supposed her friendly demeanor might have helped with that if only just a little bit as the girl respond to her question and the wag in Lilya’s tail wagged from side to side at a steady pace to match Ruenna’s own. Then the question was returned and a sad smile came across her features. “I wish that was it for me… m’runnin’ from my demons… m’name is Lilya Valrorys.” She explained carefully, offering her full name in hopes for a name to refer to the girl as in return. She had a light expression of her eyes, friendly even though caution lingered.

Demons constantly rolled at the girls feet, even if these were just a figment of her imagination or if she was simply being far too cautious… it’d been almost a year since she’d left, and she had yet to catch them but the idea still lingered in the depths of her conscious… one might call it guilt but she called it caution. It was the truth, she felt guilty that it had been Maelia to lose her life just for helping Lilya discover who she was… the idea left an unsettled pit in her stomach… still she found herself turning her attention back to the teen before her.

They were roughly the same age, strange and unique markings that Lilya had admittedly never seen before marked her face, streaks in strange places that made her curious… she didn’t ask. The other girl insisted that she must have lost them by now as Lilya gave a stubborn shake of her head. “Nah, I reckon they’re still out there… wars don’t end until the enemy is dead, heard ‘em m’self.” She explained with a hushed and quiet whisper, almost to herself but loud enough for Ruenna to hear before she was offered a name.

“Pleasure ta meet ya, Rue.” Ruenna was a pretty name, and Rue was a perfect nickname for her, very fitting, Lilya was certain. Was she local? She shook her head again. “Nah, M’running from a war m’family got involved with… got demons chasing me from Otter’s Run to every place since… can’t stay local for too long.” She explained again, partially unsure of why she was giving away this much information to begin with. What if this girl was the one who’d been following her and is just putting up a nice façade? What if she was involved with one of the other packs they’d been trying to protect their home from?

The girl seemed nice enough but Lilya couldn’t be sure.

This other girl was quite strange, and Lilya was still trying to wrap her head around just who this other girl was and why she was looking at her like that… there was a slight discomfort on her face behind the smile… was it something Lilya had said? Perhaps she was after her, perhaps she was a demon that was following her. She tensed, ready to bolt at the sight of anything turning bad as caution began to plague her eyes. Had they finally caught up to her? Were they going to chase her until she couldn’t run? Well, she wasn’t going to go down that easy. She wasn’t a huge fan of fighting, but she’d fight before she gave up without one.

Her words didn’t do much better, breathing hitching lightly as concern flaked over her eyes, calmer than before mention that she’d simply heard about what had happened, and not that she’d been there. Granted, it was possible this girl was lying to her, but they appeared to be the same age which means that her leave to chase her would have been when she was scarcely more than a pup. Surely if they sent someone, they’d send someone older who wasn’t quite as far of a fight. It wasn’t how the Brook had run themselves, brutes.

She reacted with a few steps back, caution still swarming her eyes as she tried to figure out what happened. Was that sympathy in her eyes? “How long ago… how close are they to my trail?” When she’d heard the news, she read ‘I met a guy from Feorb’ as ‘I talked to this guy a couple days ago’. How close were they to her trail? Were they closing in? It was a question she had to ask. “Are they still chasing me?” It was barely above a whisper with fear in her eyes. “What… what happened to Otter’s Run?” She almost didn’t want to know the answer to that question.