It was a freezing cold day, with cloudy skies that covered the weak sun and buffeting breezes. It was about mid morning, and Jasmine was tired, hungry, and lonely. She hadn't seen another wolf for weeks, and was starting to feel like the only wolf left in the world. She was born for pack life, not being a loner. Her heart ached for company, any wolf would do, but there was one in particular.

Her brother; Ace Caravello.

They had been separated when he had saved her from an attacking rogue, and she hadn't seen, heard or scented him since. She had cried for many days, on and off, before pulling herself together. But every now and then, she still did weep for him. And this was one of those times.

Sitting underneath a rather large bush, she felt tears roll down her face. The grey girl had almost given up on her search, for it was hopeless. There was no way that she would be able to find him, not now, not later, not ever. But in her heart, she knew that he was looking for her. Sighing, she rubbed the tears off her face with her foreleg in an attempt to make herself look presentable. But looking at herself, she realised it was hopeless.

There were black stains on the long, white fur that covered her legs and underbelly from the large bush that she lay next to. Grumbling to herself, she tried to lick the stains off, but only succeeded in smudging it. Giving a growl of frustration, Jasmine stood up and searched for a stream that was large enough for her to lay in. She found one on the edge of the treeline, and made her way to it.

When the grey girl entered the icy waters, she gasped. The water was freezing, but she made herself lie down in it, letting the water caress her thick, white pelt. She knew that her brother would love this, but she was more of a summer girl. The grey girl groomed herself again, and succeeded in washing off the blackberry stains. Jumping up out of the water and onto the bank, she shook herself and droplets of water sprayed in a wide circle around her. Now her fur was sticking out in every direction, and she looked like a fuzzy pup. Hopefully no wolf saw her like this, for she would be thoroughly ashamed for them to see her in this state.

Hollow picked his pace up, even though whomever was near his border was far enough from it not be attacked they were close enough to be warned . As he approached he realized it was a female, whom must have had an unfortunate encounter with some type of filth as her fur was sticking out in so many directions she resembled porcupine. "Excuse me Miss, My name is Hollow of Secret Woodlands. you are nearing our border is there anything I can help you with?" He spoke with purpose and strength and his tail curled high above his back, though the kind tone of his words was very noticeable. Dominance was a strange feeling to him, but this was one of very few strangers he had seen while on his own so he had the power for the first time to be above another.

If he were honest with himself he did not love it, but he did not hate it either. It was an odd feeling being the one in control of the situation, even if she attacked this was his border and the family within would come running at his call. Though in her disheveled state Hollow could safely decide that all of that would be the last thing on her mind. He stood there and waited for an explanation, slightly unsure of what to do for the moment at least until he saw where this encounter was headed.

The grey girl sighed as she looked at herself. She looked a mess; with her fur sticking in every direction and slightly red eyes from crying. She was about to turn around and venture in a direction that she hadn't been when a new scent perceived her sensitive black nose. She looked toward the trees and saw a black wolf emerge from the treeline. It was clearly male, and was smaller than her, but not by much. She guessed that the male was a yearling, as he looked not fully grown yet. But that could just be her.

When the yearling walked up to her and introduced himself and why he was confronting her, Jasmine looked at him. He had his tail curled above his back, a sign of dominance, but the tone of his spoke otherwise. Inhaling deeply, Jasmine spoke in the soft, dulcet tones of her voice. "H-hello, Hollow, my n-name is Jasmine. And I'm s-sorry, I didn't realise that I w-was that close to y-your border." The grey girl hung her head slightly at her stuttering. She just couldn't help it. Whenever she met a new wolf, she always stuttered. "Yes there is. I am looking for my b-brother. He has light g-grey and white fur like me, but is slightly t-taller. He goes by t-the name Ace Caravello. Have y-you seen him anywhere?" She added hopefully with a few shakes of her thick, creamy brush. Jasmine was hoping to get on his trail, so that she would be able to track him through this new place.

Even though the grey girl was larger than him, she still felt shy. That was one thing that usually put off other wolves. Most of them thought that since she was so large she would be outgoing and ready to take on anything with an iron fist. But the truth was that she was not. She was shy, but friendly and always thinks through everything before acting. She gazed into Hollow's blue eyes with her green ones, and noticed that his right eye had flecks of green in it. She stared at him for a few moments before looking down at the ground. She hated that she always acted like this when meeting new wolves. But there was nothing she could do about it.

"W-what is this place?" Jasmine blurted out before she could stop herself. She felt a blush creeping up her neck and looked away from Hollow, pretending that she was interested in the stream next to her. She had no idea why she said that, but this place was different from any other places that she had seen. The trees were different in some places, and there were fields and lakes that she had never seen before. It looked like a very lovely place to live in. Hopefully she could find her brother and they could live together, whether it's alone by themselves, or in a pack. The grey girl looked sheepishly back at Hollow as she waited patiently for him to speak again.

Recently, Nina had been doing most of the western border runs to keep Hollow off of his toes for a little while, having a feeling that with Durai, Kashikoi, and Sloane gone that a helping paw would be appreciated. Everyday she had made it her goal to try and get to the borders at least once to relieve the yearling of his duties, for even she had found out in her early stages of life that overworking oneself never lead to getting anything else accomplished. She had just made her way towards the eastern points when the scent of an unfamiliar loner and Hollow blew her way. Pleased to know that another pack member had gotten there before she had, she lifted her tail above her back and raised her head, her paws instantly taking her towards voices. From her current position, she could only her mumbling and rumbled up words, but when she arrived, the question she was greeted with did not shock her, for it was a common one.

Strodding forward to where she was next to the form of Hollow, she nodded to the female, not having caught her name. Gently she bumped her muzzle again the dark man’s forehead in greeting before turning back to the woman. "This is the thickets…quite easy to remember, as it is filled with secrets." Her words had a bit of a rhyme to them, as they always had, though she did not seem to have noticed. Her one good eye watched the white loner wash herself from the icky black stuff that seemed to be clinging to her pelt. Quickly, Nina scented the air around them, concluding that the female was not infected with the disease that seemed to be plaguing the lands. Blinking her eye, she tilted her head towards Hollow, as if asking him why she was here.