She hadn't intended for her scouting mission to take her so far from her homeland so early on. But it was with haste that she made her way further and further from Nomad's Pass and the only wolves she cared to know. Not because she wished to escape or avoid them all- in truth, she enjoyed spending time with Mapplethorpe, and she found even the stodgy Tenzin to be enjoyable company, as long as you stayed sharp. Naira didn't seem too bad after all either, considering the two had hunted together and had fended off a cougar as a pair. She supposed she could grow to like the female, though she knew she'd have to take her time. She couldn't be too eager to befriend her, or she knew the alpha female would suspect that she was doing so to cover her feelings for Rhysis.

For the time being, going on a scouting mission made the most sense. She would be as far as possible away from Rhysis so that she wouldn't find herself tempted again, and so that the alpha female wouldn't suspect anything at all. If Sagacity removed herself from the pack for the majority of the breeding season, she supposed her feelings would be quieted and if Naira harboured any suspicions at all, she wouldn't have to worry about Sage if she was far, far away. Naturally, she had absolutely no inkling that Naira may or may not have suspected her of anything- Sagacity had made sure that she didn't give any indications of having feelings for Rhysis while she was in Naira's presence, but had Rhysis been as proficient a thespian? She couldn't know. She didn't know the dynamic of their relationship, and assumed that it was simply better if she kept her distance.

The snow was melting to the point where the ground was bare when not sheltered by evergreen trees. Sagacity walked through the orchard of spindly trees, looking up into the empty branches to notice how the tips of branches were swelling with buds. It made her feel optimistic, knowing that leaves would bud and grow and with a few good rainfalls and the warmth of the sun. Droplets of water fell from the branches onto her silver back as she meandered through the sparse orchard, nose held low. It was a beautiful place, warming and becoming brighter in the near-Spring glow, but she couldn't be distracted from what she'd set out to do.

There were questions that needed answers- first of all, she needed to have a good idea of Relic Lore so she could get her bearings. Naturally, she didn't know the name of this place and felt no need to give it one. It was a place that would remain in her mind, and she would be able to recall its appearance and placement with ease. She also needed to scout out and see if there were any other creatures which had been plagued by the disease she and Mapplethorpe had seen as the devil's scythe that had ended the coyote's life. So she had tasks at hand, though she enjoyed it. She felt like a lone wolf again; any trace of scent reminiscent of Nomad's Pass had faded from her pelt in the time she'd been travelling. She hadn't spent enough with with other pack members to pick up their scents anyway, and scouted so often that she smelled like a lone wolf and had the same lean, toned appearance befitting of one who lives on their own, from meal to meal. But it suited her fine; she was best pleased with her position as scout, and she sighed quietly as she meandered through the orchard, taking in the scenery with the satisfaction that she was doing a good job. She was not the truant type- she would outperform any who challenged her.

          There was no telling at this point in time and season the true potential of Wild Cherry Orchard's beauty and offerings from the Orchard itself until the Spring season was in full bloom. Small buddings were beginning to line the twisted branches, some of the budding already fallen off and littering the moist Earth beneath her paws. Ecco had passed through the Orchard once before when she was but a lone female with only herself to defend, and from the Orchard gained a mutual friendship with another wolf who later became one of her very own pack mates. There was a slight sentimental bond with the Orchard Ecco held on to, and so during this time decided to rise from the secluded confines of her den located in the Woodlands to bring herself out to explore once again.

          A casual stroll was all that was needed for the D'Oliva, for there was no destination nor particular individual Ecco wished to meet on this day. Ecco had been completely shut down from the rest of the world that, once accepted into the Woodlands ranks, the Subordinate went through her period of recuperation from a difficult winter spent on her own terms. Ragged from starvation, malnutrition, and with barely any hope to linger forth, Ecco barely pulled through to her last effort before Nina came to her rescue with loving paws and faith in the otherwise broken rogue. Nursed back to her own health, Ecco walked with a more confident stride (despite her Subordinate ranking), and was beginning to put on the bulk of her weight and curves back on her figure. Seeing as how her paws were the mast, the D'Oliva ended up right in the path of an oncoming female unexpectantly. Her paws hit their pad breaks.

          There was no telling if this female was from a pack or not, since she smelled of Nature herself. Small like Ecco, but with a quicksilver coat of grays with black points. Her eyes were amber as Ecco's, and for a moment Ecco simply blinked at the mirror color of the other's eyes. They both shared similarities in the size department, and while Ecco halted before an embarrassing head on collision could happen, everything about her peaked to attention. "Excuse me, sorry." Ecco remarked right off the bat, backing up some. "Sometimes when I wander, I can't stop my paws from keeping them where they want to go." Ecco said with an airy, friendly tone. Her tail swayed from behind, a cordial smile creeping on her dark muzzle.

Naturally, Sage wouldn't be the only one who was out and enjoying the primaveral warmth and light. She expected to meet others while on her scouting mission and the hawk-eyed female was always on the alert for instances in which she might cross paths with another. She'd caught the scent of the swarthy young female before she came into view, but due to the surrounding shrubbery she couldn't quite catch a glimpse of her, only note by her scent that they were getting close together. Her sensed prickled, and when the female finally made a turn and came into view at a close proximity, Sagacity had already come to a halt with her head up and eyes questioning and focused.

She was a slip of a girl with a coal black coat highlighted no doubt by the sun in places where the guard hairs had a tinge of mahogany. She was skinny and obviously wasn't as well fed as Sagacity was, though the sterling female was little more than lean. Like Sagacity her eyes were a bright but very natural hue close to yellow, if not closer to amber. She would've been considered a sultry beauty had she not had the gaunt look of starvation lingering yet about her hips, cheekbones and shoulders. But at no point did Sagacity wonder if she was ill- her eyes were bright but not feverish, her features mild, showing a beauty not lost to madness or starvation.

She was quick to apologize but it didn't bother Sagacity- it gave her time to take measure of the woman and register that she smelled of other wolves. She was a pack wolf- she would need to ask about that. For now, though, she couldn't be her usual self. She couldn't be stodgy- she'd have to be somewhat friendly if she wanted a conversation, though she assumed that with one so willing to apologize, it wouldn't be hard to get information. She managed a fleeting smile and shook her head. "S'alright." She said. "I know the feeling. I'm Sage." She said, flicking her black ears forward as an indication that she wanted to hear more from her counterpart.

Apologies for the shortness, picking up the pieces of my muse back up slowly.


          Dismissing the run-in in a nonchalant manner, the female announced herself as Sage. Sounded like a simple name associated with a simple female, nothing too flowery or complex. "Sage, name's Ecco." Dipping her dark muzzle in what was a cordial nod, the Subordinate of the Woodlands felt this encounter would be easy going from the get-go. Repeating Sage's name as a means to remember a name with a face down the road, Ecco took her opportunity to take in Sage's figure before her. For someone who smelled like Nature herself, Sage was in quite good shape for herself to be on her own in the wild. It had been a scent connected to Ecco's pelt for many months, but since finding her home in the Secret Woodland, the D'Oliva was glad to have let that particular piney scent fade for good.


          With the temporary break in pause, Ecco nodded her head to the side some in question with her tone. "Do you wander around the Orchard often? You seem to be in great shape on your own terms." Ecco remarked, once again her amber gaze giving Sage a glance over. The Orchard has and would be a favored place of the D'Oliva to wander on her own time when the Woodlands didn't call for pack obligations, but for a female as well nourished as Sage, it was slightly baffling to Ecco she looked so well kept of for a lone wolf to be wandering in all places of the Lore.

The stranger gave her name and Sagacity decided to make sure that she would impawned a good effort to be friendly to Ecco. The social female made a clever observation- that Sagacity was indeed fit, and Sage knew at once that Ecco must have assumed she was a lone wolf...Why else would she compliment another on being fit? It could be assumed that most fit wolves lived in a pack, but here she was, fit as a fiddle, smelling as though she'd lived in the wild all her life. Sagacity have the dark woman a smile and a wink. "I do indeed. I've been tracking the movements of prey in the area; I tend to go where the food goes." She said. This had been her method for survival when she hadn't been a part of a pack and as a result it had kept her fit. Not staying in one place too long was always a good plan- prey usually left as soon as they realized that there was a predator settled down in the area.

"Do you live around here?" She asked, ears flicking forward. She assumed as much- it wouldn't be terribly intelligent for a wolf who looked as thin as she to be wandering too far from her pack, unless there was a shortage of food there as well.