Her breath made a cloud of fog in the air, her paws made dents in the lightly snow covered ground and her eyes scanned the surrounding forest of dangers. It was dangerous to be out in unknown areas with snow falling from the heavens, even if it was just a little. When a stick snapped somewhere out in the distance her whole body froze, only her ears perked forward. She stayed like that for a few moments, before relaxing slightly. It was probably just a fox, for a while now there had been a lot of foxes running around. Maybe it was that the temperature was going to rise as Spring came that they were everywhere. Shrugging, she continued walking although the white girl had no idea where she was going, all that she knew was that she was going to find her brother. One way or another.

The sound of a waterfall caused her ears to perk up, and she redirected her course to intercept it. She hadn't had a drink since the night before, and was absolutely parched. As the sound of water hitting the ground or a small pool grew louder, her stride slowly lengthened until she was running in a slow lope. Her breath fogged up before her as she exhaled, and she could her the sound of her paws hitting the ground in a three beat gait. She came upon a shallow pool and slowed down to a walk, coming up to the pool. There were tiny waves that washed over her paws as the water from the falls crashed down onto the surface of the pool. Craning her neck, she drank from the pool. The water was absolutely freezing as it trickled down her throat.

When the white girl was sated, she drew back her head and moved away from the pool. Her paws had started to go numb from the water, and she paced back and forth to get some of the feeling back. In doing so, she didn't see the wolf heading to the top of the falls, before heading back downstream. Instead, she caught his scent.

As soon as she caught the scent of another wolf nearby, her hackles raised slightly. She stopped her pacing and looked around with her green eyes. A dark shape downstream caught her eyes and she made her way slowly over to it. When she was closer, the white girl saw that it was a wolf, lying down next to a pile of rocks. The wolf looked to be about her size, but she wasn't certain from her position. The wolf was black and brown, with a bit of light tan and blue eyes. She hadn't seen many wolves with blue eyes, and this wolf intrigued her.

Stepping forwards, she walked slowly over to the other wolf, who she could see now was a male. Her head dropped down to shoulder height, and her tail gave a few wags, indicating that she was being friendly. Her ears lowered slightly from their perked forward position, so it didn't seem as if she was being dominant over the male. Her green eyes gazed upon the male as she opened her jaws to speak. "H-hello there. My name is J-Jasmine Caravello. May I ask w-what is y-yours?" Once again, her infamous stutter came out as she spoke. She lowered her head and flattened her ears slightly as she felt a blush creep up her neck. It was always embarrassing when she stuttered in front of new wolves, but she couldn't help it. It was a nervous habit. Hopefully, this wolf didn't think she was not worth his time, for she wanted to ask him if she had seen her brother. Hopefully he had.

636 Words

I will always be seen, for
I am the light in the dark...

Asterion caught the scent of the female before he laid eyes on her. Resolving to stay in his spot unless she found him first. Conversing wasn't a problem for him, and in general he didn't have a problem with other wolves. The problem was what this female could offer him. It was likely that there wasn't much. She didn't smell as though she was from a pack, she didn't have a kill with her, and still she hadn't entered his line of vision. Second to smelling her, he could hear her. She had an easy gait, which meant that she wasn't likely to have any injuries. Gathering the things he knew about her, he decided that she might be worth a chat. That's when he got his first glimpse of her. She looked to be about the same size as him, and she had a shocking white coat mixed with greys. He faintly remembered a cub's tale his mother had told him. It was sort of a rhyme that he couldn't place. His eyes squinted as he tried his best to remember, but so much from that time was lost. So much was locked up somewhere deep in his mind, hidden from view.

Splash

He turned toward the noise, his attention captured for only a second. Once he decided that it must have been some type of waterfowl landing upstream, he turned back toward the white wolf. It was apparent that she had spotted him, as she stepped in his direction. He resolved to stand up, facing her directly. He took note of her friendly posture, and overall demeanor. It was almost automatic how his body responded to her's. His ears laid back, just enough to look friendly. His tail began to wag back and fourth, and his head dropped slightly. Though she looked harmless enough now, he had to keep his guard up. If she were to turn on him he had to be ready. It was a standard safety measure. One he had learned years ago.

His ears pricked slightly at the sound of her voice. It was light and airy, almost refreshing. Her stutter didn't bother him, as it was certainly not the first he had heard. Was she nervous? Or was it something that always happened? He smiled slightly before he spoke. "You have a lovely name miss. You can call me Asterion." Ever the charmer, that's how he had always been. The more likeable you portray yourself, the better things are for you. If others tend to like you, then your chances of survival were better.