Amber eyes opened to green leaves backdropped by the cerulean sky. Spieden lay for a few minutes on her back and watched the forest canopy, appreciating the view before she would get up and about for the day. Eventually she rolled to her paws, stopping at the creek she slept near for a cold drink. There was nothing that she needed to do, and was even loathe to set herself any goals for the moment. She didn't have to do anything that she didn't want to, and the freedom of it was almost intoxicating. If it were the dead of winter this philosophy may not have paid off so well, but spring was upon the land and food was plentiful. Spieden could afford to waste some time.

Having already explored the nearby beaver dam, this day's excursion brought Spieden further downstream and towards the marsh that it spilled into, which she skirted around for sake of keeping her paws dry. As always, hunger burned at her gut and she kept an eye out for both prey and predator. The memory of the male she met at the dam and his mention of a wolfish band of hunters after him was still fresh in her mind. Whatever they were after him for, she didn't care to find out, and only hoped that they wouldn't be after her as well for simply talking to the male.

The thick, generic foliage of the forest began to shift into a more sparse wood of cedar trees. However, even the fragrant cedar bark couldn't cover up the odor of freshly marked borders. Spieden paused, slouching low as she peered ahead. She couldn't see anyone yet, but her nose told her many wolves lived here, and a female had been through recently. She wasn't sure that she wanted to investigate, but this was the first pack of the area she had come across. Curiosity got the best of her, and making a rash decision, she continued to creep around the border, bright eyes searching inward for the inhabitants.

The mingling scents soon gave way for more tangible evidence that Spieden was in the presence of another wolf. The sound of soil and cedar needles crushed underfoot made its way to her ears, and craning her head in that direction she could see a dark coat moving between the trees in the distance. As quickly as she could she scuttled behind a thick cedar trunk, managing to angle her large body in a crouch to keep herself covered. Spieden waited for the wolf to pass, before diving under a thick shrub and waiting there with her greying belly touching the ground. Spieden wanted to see, but she wasn't so keen on being found. Spieden could tell that her presense had been noted, able to see through her shroud of leaves the black wolf pacing, searching for her.

Eventually the pack wolf called out to her and Spieden waited a few seconds. She didn't want to be found, but it would be better for her to come out now and be up and ready rather than get caught on the ground, trapped in a bush and unable to defend herself. Slowly, like a bear emerging from a winter den, Spieden shouldered her way out of the shrub and stood facing the other wolf. Spieden's body language was mixed, her neck and hindquarters slumped low and tail curled under, but her fiery amber eyes locked onto the surprisingly odd-eyed pair of the pack wolf. Spieden stood, letting an uncomfortable silence unfurl until she broke it with a rather sudden question, "Do you like it here?"

Spieden crouched stiff and unsure, half expecting the pack's provisional guardian to finally chase her off. Though the other female moved closer, she did not attack. Spieden took a step back to create more distance, groaning apprehensively. Sudden and unprovoked cruelty had been her life, and it was difficult to trust that anyone's intentions were what they seemed.

Spieden's sudden question received an answer, with an equally open ended question given by Bastet in return. The Coho shuffled her broad shoulders upwards in a sort of shrug. She had her reasons for asking, but articulating them in a way a stranger could understand seemed unfathomable. She wasn't looking for a permanent place yet, and was still unsure if she ever would. "As family..." She murmured, testing the words on her lips. It had been years since she had seen the last of her family, and while it was tempting to take strangers as a surrogate for blood kin, it was something too exposing to seriously consider at the present.

"But you aren't family, are you? And still they treat you as such?" She quietly asked, skeptical. Spieden averted her gaze from the mismatched pair, yawning stiffly not in boredom but anxiety. Her eyes flitted to the forest beyond the Bastet, wondering if they were truly alone. "They don't make you say that, do they?" Spieden whispered, looking back towards Bastet.

As the other female seated herself, Spieden remained standing. Through this brief interaction she found herself warming up towards the other woman, but remained mindful that she had been a lone wolf caught snooping about someone else's border. Spieden flicked her orange bright eyes back towards Bastet, her nostrils flaring in response to such a course question as to whether or not she'd ever even been in a pack before.

Spieden didn't appreciate being spoken to as if she were an ignorant child that had no perception of how the world was supposed to work. Still, Bastet's answer had given her hope, and while it was an answer Spieden had wanted to hear, it wasn't one she had been so optimistic in actually finding. That perhaps with enough poking and prodding, what she thought to be the real truth would fall out. Perhaps in a sense Spieden really was still an ignorant child.

"I'm Spieden," She answered, voice level enough to seem detached, "From a pack on the ocean to the west. Unfortunately, I wasn't included in their definition of family. It's just become hard to believe that the world can be different out here. It's been a long while... I've... Forgotten, how things should be." She sighed, her posture wilting into exhaustion as if from the few short sentences uttered.

"It's easy to say that you will do something, won't do something. I sure told myself that a lot," Spieden admitted, her head and tail hanging low in shame. Hardly a day passed by without the internal admonishment, the could'ves, would'ves, should'ves that might have made all the difference.

Closed minded didn't even begin to cover it, Spieden thought with a dark sense of humor. There really weren't enough hours in the day to explain just what was wrong with that pack, and so she held her tongue. Spieden couldn't help the look of surprise in her eyes when Bastet offered her a place with her pack.

"Thank you, Bastet. That's very kind of you... But I don't quite know if I'm ready for that yet. I hope you understand." Spieden dipped her head, a small bow of thanks. She couldn't say that she would ever be ready, though unknown to her a small seed had been planted in the back of her mind. If what Bastet said was true, perhaps Spieden would some day have a place she could truly call home, with wolves she could call family and who would earn her loyalty rather than demand it. Though that would have to wait for a day when Spieden was ready to seek it out. It was hard to give up the independence she had found, and still feared that relinquishing even a shred of it would have her yet again imprisoned.

Having declined the offer of membership to the pack's whose land she was standing on, Spieden thought it best for her to make her exit lest things became awkward. "Sorry for bothering you, I'll let you get back to what you need to." Spieden turned her hunched body, poised to scuttle off into the forest. "But, really, thank you. You've given me a lot to think about. Good luck to you and your pack." And with that, she was gone.