What else did he have to practise? Oh, yeah, that's right - fighting bears. Or maybe just confronting them. A little antagonism? Would just whimpering at one then fleeing be enough?

Not exactly thrilled by any of those ideas, Kinis had to admit that he was putting off finding some large predator to do heroic battle with. Fortunately, he hadn't really told anyone about his plans, so his progress was his own business. Were bears even supposed to be active yet? He probably had another few weeks to go, at least, before he had to 'look' for one. Yeah, that excuse was fine.

The only other activity, therefore, which promised to bolster (or break) his courage was to climb the mountain. Always on the near horizon, looming over his childhood and family pack, the mountain was more of a distant backdrop to Kinis' life than a close participant. He had never scaled it before; the nearest he had gotten to it was visiting Bramble Falls. An ever-present desire, if fanciful and never-taken-seriously, was to explore it, but as a child Kinis had rarely even left the packlands. Now he had more freedom - and more backbone - he had the means, and the thought of a friendly white wolf provided extra motive. Kinis no longer needed to ask for shelter, but held such respect for Alexander that he felt obliged to let the older wolf know he was okay. It seemed self-centred, but Kinis didn't believe that the mountain leader lost any sleep over him. It was only out of the idle hope that Alexander would be pleased did Kinis strive to speak with him again.

He could remember the leader's advice, follow my markings. That was very easy, considering Kinis' very healthy admiration of the wolf had ensured that his scent was forever lodged in memory. Was it out of a slight need to emulate Alexander that he wanted to improve himself? Treading carefully, Kinis felt a buzz of excitement as he ascended Riddle Heights, ever conscious for the hint of distant packlands that lingered in the air. As the lands of Relic Lore stretched out beside him, the boy thought this must be what it is like to be a bird, and marvelled at his lack of doing this earlier. All the fear he had expected from such increasingly dizzying heights simply wasn't present; the thrills were too overwhelming and his fascination with the view too strong. He could see why Alexander would want to live here; it was spectacular. Soon, the world was far below him and the easy path of Riddle Heights a memory; here he was, on the mountain for real, and he could not feel any more exhilarated. The sun was high, the sky was clear, and life was good.

Treading softly onto a slightly overhanging rock, Kinis sat, and he simply marvelled.

Snapped out of his trance by a pleasant, unusual voice, Kinis turned his head quickly to see who had approached him. At first, the image of a white wolf made him think of Alexander, though he immediately realised that was wrong. This wolf was female, to begin with! However, the impression did not leave him, and as such Kinis felt rather more relaxed than he otherwise would; there was an unerring softness to this wolf, a gentleness that prevailed over Kinis' instincts to be on edge. She was not dangerous, not meeting like this. Unable to help himself, Kinis returned her smile with a small, shy one of his own, happy for the unexpected but friendly company.

At her words, he realised that the connection made sense; Alexander was linked to this extraordinarily pretty wolf, for his scent was all over her. Coupled with the authority that hung from her, that left Kinis plenty of clues to quickly fill in the blanks. Was this the female who Alexander had worked with to return the water to Relic Lore, perhaps? If so, she was worthy of immense respect as well, and he was convinced that she had to be Alexander's mate. His smile grew wider, and a brief wag of his tail acknowledged her initial greeting.

"Is it?" he asked quietly, almost reverently, his attention shifting from the expanse of forest beneath him to the ever-climbing mountain. "I can't believe it can get much nicer... I mean - I didn't expect it to be like this." Unhappy with how badly he was conveying his awe, he swallowed and took a slow breath, desperately wanting to make a good first impression on this beautiful mate of Alex's. It was so hard when your only real experience with making new acquaintances was all so recent and scrambled. He would just have to rely on impeccable manners and showing utmost respect, both of which he was more than familiar with. "You live with the mountain pack? With... with Alexander?" At the implication that he knew of her rank, he lowered his head just slightly, deferring to her superiority. This was her mountain, after all, and he was immensely lucky to be greeted with any friendliness.

Unable to comprehend the view getting better, Kinis' awe and enthusiasm for his climb only grew as this elegant wolf made an easy sell on the beauty of her home. Faintly, the boy almost - almost - wished that he hadn't found Ruiko; he'd be running to join the two friendly white wolves in their lofty and grand home.

When she confirmed her status, Kinis' body language bowed a little more to compensate. Oh boy oh boy - if he kept getting all this attention from such important wolves, he didn't know what might happen. Truly, he wasn't worthy! "I met him down, um, at the falls a couple of times. He's always been really nice. The last time, I..." The sentence fading off into obscurity as his bravery failed him (how could he admit to such weakness in front of such a confident, strong leader?), Kinis quickly sought for a way to change the subject slightly. He didn't want to mention Alexander's offer, partly because he knew he was not here to take it. What did that leave?

"If I may ask, where are you from?" Not for the first time, the question was out before he could really think about it. Offering a sheepish smile, he hoped that it wouldn't offend her; his impulsive questions had hit the wrong note in the past. Her unusual, exotic voice had not been lost on him, and for a wolf who had barely left Relic Lore, the idea of accents was new and intriguing.

She wasn't offended, and Kinis was relieved. If anything, his impromptu question seemed to have done exactly what he had hoped, and the conversation shifted slightly to easier things. Her explanation, of course, while apparently answering a great deal only gave rise to even more things that Kinis could delve into (wolf sanctuary? Quebec? humans? French?) but because she followed it so swiftly with a query directed at him, Kinis was forced to swallow his insatiable curiosity - just for a moment.

Beaming at her added note about being welcome and Alexander's friend, Kinis, for once, felt no discomfort about that common question. "I've got family by the river," he said, instinctually glancing out to see if it was visible from here - but it all looked so much the same, and he had no idea what Swift River would look like from a bird's point of view. How could a place he knew so well suddenly look so different? "I don't really live with them any more... my older brothers kinda, uh... fell out." At least, that was the only way he was able to make sense of it. He hadn't had the courage to really ask what had happened. "I guess I followed the one who left, and three doesn't seem enough to maintain a whole new pack.

"How long have you lived up here?" Talking about himself was never going to last, not while... damn! He realised he didn't even know her name. "I'm... I'm Kinis, by the way." That was the polite, subtle way to 'ask', right?

Now holding two open invitations to the mountains from very important people, Kinis couldn't have felt more elated. He practically felt more welcome here than he did in Swift River, but that was more to do with his own hang-ups than anybody else. "Thank you, that means a lot," he said, his enthusiastic tail more than expressing his gratitude and pleasure.

Amélie, a beautiful, exotic name to fit a beautiful woman. He repeated it in his head, deciding that it fit her very nicely indeed. And it had been a pleasure to meet him! His head ready to explode from his modest delight, Kinis could barely form words to return the sentiment. No doubt she knew full well he felt completely honoured by nearly everything she had to say.

Due to a lack of any provided question, Kinis was encouraged to return to his past curiosities. He could hardly decide where to start, for there were so many things to bring up. "I didn't really know there were different languages - not of other wolves, at least." Different species had their own way of communicating, but it had never occurred to him that the same could be true for wolves in different areas. He could hardly imagine what such a foreign language would sound like. Would he understand it? "Could you...? Um." Unsure how exactly to ask that she 'speak some French' (was that rude? Boy he didn't want to say the wrong thing but it was so hard to hold it all in!) he just offered her a sheepish grin and watched her with keen interest, just in case she understood his rather indirect request.