The emotionless being found that having a traveling companion was not the worst thing in the world. @Eskil was a very nice wolf, even though he had startled her at first. He'd made up for the initial shock with kindness and had even allowed her to follow along with him on his search for his sister, satiating her natural craving for the contact of another wolf. She was not yet sure if they were going to find Eskil's sister, but if she were a weaker wolf - one who actually felt and could emote - she would say that she hoped that they would locate her. It was obvious that the evergreen-eyed man loved his sibling, and since Ash had once understood that feeling, she could sort-of empathize with his need to find her.  

Still, though being around Eskil was not difficult or exhausting in the slightest, the colorless woman needed a bit of time to herself. Old habits died hard, and she had no intention of being with the man forever or anything. She wasn't leaving permanently - not yet, anyway - but she did need a little while each day to wander off and just forget that any other wolf even existed. It helped her not have to share too much about herself with her traveling partner, anyway. Her past was one that anyone would have to be insane to share willingly - abuse (though Ash would not call it that herself), murder, chaos, destruction, and desertion. The woman had done nothing good in her entire life as of yet, so what was there to talk about? Aside from her being a killer, of course. She doubted that conversation would go over well with anyone, much less someone with morals like Eskil.

She had the scars to prove her terrible past, anyway. Her ears were torn, her flanks were flecked, her scruff was patchy, and her throat was marred. Hardly a pretty sight, but her physical appearance made it to where anyone would be able to tell that her life had simply not been easy. Of course, it spoke nothing of the fact that her very own jaws had ended the lives of several of her packmates many times over her two, short years. Her pristine pelt showed no sign of the blood it should be stained with - the blood that proverbially stained her paws. She was fortunate enough that it was just the scars that proved her difficult life.

Asha took a moment to banish the monsters inside of her head and take in the scenery. The small river, shallow and mostly frozen, was quite beautiful with the powdering of snow along the ice on its surface and the sunlight above illuminating the whiteness of it. The young woman approached it and placed one, careful paw on the frozen turf, perking her ears when it slid a little to the side.

She had heard of wolves sliding on the ice for fun - she'd never done it, herself, but she didn't doubt that it had the potential to be enjoyable. She had experienced something akin to fun when she ran as a pup, or occasionally romped with an age-mate. That behavior, however, had been forbidden almost as soon as she could leave the den, and things like fun were highly rare after that.

So why was the idea of sliding on the ice enticing to her now? She couldn't think of why the sensation was occurring. In fact, if anything, the idea of something fun should be repulsive to the monochromatic one. It was odd, for certain, but Ash hesitantly allowed the urge to run its course. She took a tentative step onto the surface, her paws sliding just slightly apart as she tried to gain some form of balance on the slick stuff. A tiny smile broke out on her face, and for just a moment - one short, fleeting moment - she decided that she was probably enjoying the sliding.

Until she wasn't. Her mother's voice popped into her mind - that emotions and feelings made you weak - and the harsh, physical punishment thrust itself to the forefront of her mind. The silver being stiffened, her tail beginning to tuck, before she growled to herself and shook her head. "This is stupid," she muttered, attempting to gain her balance enough to make her way over to the bank from where she stood, near the center of the river.

The young woman hadn't expected the call, and she spun around so quickly that all four paws slid out from under her on the ice and she fell flat on her stomach. The breath left her in a whoosh! and she lay there for a few moments, dazed. Finally, the colorless one was able to take a breath and try and get her paws back underneath her.

As luck would have it, she could not, and so she simply lay on her stomach on the ice, burning with embarrassment. She raised her silvery-blue eyes to meet the stranger's chartreuse ones, but glanced away quickly. "Hi," she deadpanned in return, setting her jaw stubbornly. "I'm perfectly fine. Can't you tell?" The last sentence was a slight attempt at a joke, to get over the embarrassment she was feeling over her blunder.

She scented the air, and at that moment could smell the fading fear-scent in the air that did not belong to herself. Since the only other one in the area was the tawny man, she could only assume it had come from him. "Are you okay?" she asked, her head bouncing a bit on the ice from the parting of her jaws as she spoke. "I won't hurt ya, if you're afraid of me. M'name's Asha," she finished, eyebrows raising as she tried to catch his gaze.

She cleared her throat, swallowed her pride, and finally gained the courage enough to ask, "Do you mind helping me up?"