The forest thinned out the further northeast she went, giving the small wolf a better view of the sky above. She was walking at a leisurely pace, not because her legs were aching, but because she was enjoying the views. The snow underfoot crunched from the weight of her paws, and the little wolf made no move to quiet herself. She wasn't looking for food; in fact, she didn't really feel like eating anything that day. She knew it should have been concerning to her that she wasn't hungry in the dead of winter, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. No, now was the time for merriment and fun - not the time for concern and worry. She was sure she would have plenty of that crap later on to get through.

It hadn't taken her long to reach the place where the forest ended and the plains began; the small wolf wasn't capable of more than a day or two's travel at the moment, so she was content to step right out into the field and tip her head upward as the cold breeze and light snow caressed her face. She wasn't sure if there were any packs around, but she didn't particularly care. In her opinion, they could either see her for what she was - a traveler, an explorer, and a wanderer - or they could see her as a threat. Either way, the worst thing that could happen would be that she would get attacked, and Cas couldn't make herself worry about that. Her short life might be cut a smidgeon shorter, but at least the death wouldn't be prolonged like the way the disease was.

Blue eyes flicked upward toward the dull gray sky, and a smile flickered across her maw as a break in the clouds revealed the moon was out in the middle of the day. She'd always loved it when that happened, and this time fire rose in her chest and urged a song from her mouth. She'd never been able to howl in the cages, for the human that kept them would punish them for it. But now, in the middle of the wilderness, nothing was stopping the music. The small wolf tilted her muzzle toward the moon and released a happy, free tune into the air, completely uncaring of if any prey or predators could hear her. In fact, it did not even occur to her to be scared.

Cas wasn't aware that she had an audience, but it didn't surprise her that she did. She really was making quite a bit of noise, after all. Though it had just been for singing's sake than anything else. Still, when her music was cut off by a dull-toned voice to her right, Cas perked her ears and turned her head to look at the wolf who had spoken. It was a dark male - much larger than she, but that was no difficult feat. And, though his words were slightly testy and perhaps a bit annoyed, Cas replied with a teasing tone, anyway. "Well, damn. Is my voice that bad?" she asked, a smile on her lips and a wag in her tail as she turned to approach the wolf a bit further.

She could tell straight away that he was a pack wolf - it was written all over his scent. She could pick up quite a few other individual wolf smells from him, all mixing into one discernable scent that marked a pack wolf. Blue eyes bright with excitement, Cas stepped forward until she was only about a wolf-length from the dark man, her tail slightly raised and wagging, but not dominant. She opted not to bop her nose to his; she didn't think he'd be as welcoming as Cottongrass about such contact. "I don't see how you would be able to help me after interrupting my singing so rudely. I'm not on your territory, mister." Her voice was lighthearted and breezy, like she simply had no care in the world.

And, in this situation, she really didn't. But she did feel like he probably should have an explanation for her howling. "The moon's out, so I'm singing to it. It's always good to howl at the moon," she told him, looking back up to the break in the clouds where the moon was still very clearly visible in the pale gray sky above.

The little wolf's nose wrinkled in disdain as something occurred t her. "Wait a minute. Did you just say the word 'racket?' There are wolves who still use that word?" she nudged gently with her words, still smiling at the man. She had a feeling she might be getting on his nerves, but she didn't really care. She wasn't on his territory, and he was the one who approached her. So, really, any annoyance from her was actually his fault. He shouldn't have made fun of her singing. She had an excellent voice, thank you very much.

So this guy was a total hard-ass. That was a bit of a downer, but no matter. Cas was determined not to let him ruin the day. She continued wagging her tail and listening to him nag about her howling, and she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't reciprocating her good mood at all. Still, she refused to let him drag her down into the pits of grumpiness alongside himself.

She scoffed when he described her howling as shrieking, and she rolled her eyes. "Don't you know how important it is to howl at the moon in the daytime? It's good luck," she informed him. Cas was by no means a superstitious wolf, but in her case, she really needed every last bit of luck she could get.

When the dark man's scowl deepened, Cas couldn't help it any longer. She burst out into laughter, ducking her head in order to get control of herself. "When you make that face, you look like you're sucking on a lemon," she breathed, slightly out of breath from her laughing fit. Which, if she were a healthy wolf, would not have taken her breath away at ll. But, she was not a healthy wolf, and therefore was wheezing a little, her chest and ribs giving protesting throbs.

Shaking her head and catching her breath, the little wolf ignored the pain and puffed out her chest a bit with pride. "My name is Cas," she led with, considering it just occurred to her that she hadn't offered up her name yet. "I'm from west of the Lore. I'm here on an adventure." She didn't feel like explaining further, so she just wagged her tail and looked the dark man in the eye. "What are you doing here?"

Cas snorted good-naturedly. Okay, so this conversation was better than she'd thought it would be. "Of course not. You may think otherwise, but I'm no idiot." She flicked her tail and lifted her chin a bit. "No such thing as luck, or fate, or a higher power. We're pretty much all on our own in that department." Yeah, okay, it was a bit depressing to think that way, but with the hand Cas had been dealt, there weren't too many options other than it was just the way life was. She didn't think luck or some god would do this to her. "I was just howling because it's fun. Sometimes you don't need a better reason to do something."

The speckled wolf rolled her eyes at Askan's defensive speech, and she wagged her tail contentedly, rather proud of herself for ruffling his fur so much. But still, she figured it would be best to back off a bit, so she nodded. "Yeah, I can get a little mean. Sorry 'bout that." It was a genuine apology. Sometimes, wolves had a sensitive sense of pride, and she didn't want to damage too much, if she could help it. She was simply a passerby, and she didn't want to hurt anyone. So, in an act of sincerity, she tiptoed so that she could tap her nose to his muzzle, seeking forgiveness.

His next question caught her a bit off-guard. She wasn't sure why her lineage would be important, but she saw no reason why she shouldn't tell him. A smile broke out on her lips as she nodded, thinking back to her father's explanations of their complicated bloodlines. "Yeah, actually. My parents were both half Yukon, half Timber. Though my dad used to tell me my mom was a Chihuahua, and that was why I turned out so small," she added in with a lighthearted laugh, though her chest felt a bit heavy at the mention of her father. She really did miss him. "And yes, I'm from up north. Or, well, I guess northwest? Because I followed the sun to get here."

Her haunches began to ache, and she sat down with a soft, almost nonexistent wince and looked up at the dark-furred man. She decided to ask a question of her own. "What's your name, by the way? I don't think I caught it yet."

Cas was glad that he didn't seem to be so irritated with her anymore, even going as far as to tell her that her apology had been received and she'd been forgiven. She waved her banner-like tail over her back; it was natural for her tail to be raised. She wasn't being dominant, but she had a lot of presence for such a small wolf, and she used her entire body to convey that she was bold and daring and unafraid. Too much personality for a body so small.

His reaction to the word 'Chihuahua' tugged another laugh from her, though this time she was a bit too achy to go for a full-body laugh. This one was a soft, uncharacteristic chuckle, and she pressed a paw pad into the snow before looking up at him and putting far more exuberance than she felt into her expression. "Chihuahuas are these tiny dogs - oh, dogs are things that are kind of like us, but not really. Less... personality, I guess." These things were harder to explain than she thought they'd be. "Anyway. You know what a human is? A really big, ugly animal that walks on two legs. They really like to keep these tiny dogs inside, because Chihuahuas can't survive outside here. They yip and bark a whole lot, and they're really annoying." Probably as annoying as she was being, trying to explain just what these strange animals were.

She smiled as he spoke of his familial pack, and she tilted her head to the side. She wondered, if she had been born in the wild, would she have as much pride in her surname as he did? She wished that she would be able to tell him that, yes, she did know of the Selwyn clan and their mountains and caribou, but she couldn't do so truthfully.

"I can't say that I have. I like the way it sounds, though," she told him, tone still lilting, but sincere. "I haven't really been around many other wolves in my life. I think I had a pretty... unconventional childhood, actually." A thought popped into her head, and she wagged her tail slightly, stirring up the snow where she was sitting. "My last name is Noor. My full first name is Castel, but it sounds kind of... dignified for me, so I just go with Cas."

The little wolf shifted and her ears snapped back to her skull for a moment as her left foreleg spiked with pain. The damn thing was really getting on her nerves. But, with a soft sigh and a ruffle of her scruff, she was able to take her attention off of the shocking pain and turn her attention back to her new companion. Why did she have to feel ill now? She didn't want him to think her rude for sitting down and only being half-invested in the conversation. But she couldn't help it, and mentally made a note to put more effort into her expressions and words so her body language and posture could possibly be overlooked.