sugar

She had been alone for a while now. The feeling of loneliness struck her as suddenly as lightning would the earth, and when she felt it, there was a pivotal change within her. For two months now she had wandered without direction, and her health had depleted some. Life without pack was not what she had hoped, and after finding no proper pack matches, Kite continued to roam. She was a female in relatively good health, all things considered; she scavenged lately as opposed to hunted, though that was because the moving prey was too large for her to handle. If she had the mind to, she could end up like her dominant mother, but any dominance within her lay very, very dormant. She was inquisitive, happy-go-lucky!

It was left to be debated whether or not Kite was an ambivert. To be an ambivert, it would mean she had wholly dedicated herself to being neither an introvert or an extrovert. She was not sure what she was, though maybe she was a bit of both. If one was initially an introvert with an individual and then became an extrovert overtime, what were they...?

As she moved through the cold, snow-laden lands, the yearling recognized she was lost. She had been so for so very long now, but it was in this moment that she recognized it. For the first time in a while, Kite stopped and looked around at her surroundings, not sure what she was hoping to find.

He'd woke early on in the morning, his stiff, slumbering body brought to life by the pale dawn light that seeped in through the small den mouth. The leaves that lined the floor beneath him crunched as he shifted about, glancing out into the world from where he had been sleeping with one eye. Mirren enjoyed his sleep, but after the recent turn of events in his life he found it harder and harder to come by a full night's rest. Last night had been no exception. After a slew of dull dreams and upon waking nearly as tired as he'd been when he'd settled for the night, the tawny-coated boy rose to meet the day. Even with winter on the way out, the world he knew was as snowbound and cold as ever. Even when the skies were clear and the sun shone down upon the forest, there was little warmth to be had in a place where the vegetation─barren, twisted trees and skeletons of shrubs─created more shade than it did beauty. Slipping from the confines of the thicket, he headed east with not much on his mind but for a longing for a breath of fresh air─literally and figuratively speaking. There didn't seem to be much to the rolling blackberry fields when they were covered in a blanket of snow. Still, here and there when his creamy paws sunk deep enough into it, the deadened, prickly plants poked between his toes. An easy breeze rustled up his back and neck, and with a look over his shoulder just to observe the winding trail of paw prints that followed him, he was content to keep moving. The boy's auburn ears folded forward as the winds swept across his face, carrying with them a fresh and unrecognizable scent. Halting casually on the crest of a humble hill, his amber eyes cast about until they eventually fell upon the form of a stranger just across the way. He watched for a moment, indifferent, the tip of his tail flicking to and fro at his hocks, before calling out to the girl. "Lo─"

Her eyes surveyed the land around her with an ample amount of interest. Kite looked to the sky to see the familiar black of her crow companion passing by overhead, but then the creature was gone. The bird seemed to travel with her, but they didn't socialize much. The critter led her to fallen prey, and so she had followed it here. That was the extent of their relationship, but she called it her companion nonetheless. It had been the only company she had kept in her time away from home, and had left the same day she had. It helped her mentality that her family were lovers of the scavenging bird. They knew of storms and carrion, among other things.

It was easy to let her mind wander to the L'Crowe family. They were all she had ever known! Kite had been optimistic that she might be able to stay, given there were a few of her elder siblings still remaining, but she and her brother Scroll were forced to go. Perhaps it was because of her parents most recent litter, they were the most capable. It didn't feel that way now that she was on her own; her time away from wolves had put Kite into a shell of anxiety that weighed heavy on her shoulders. Kite had not seen a friendly face or heard a warm voice in all her days gone... she dared not risk moving too close to others territories, and the times that she did see another of her species, they were snappish and cold. Her mother had warned her of Winter, and Kite wondered why, for all of those warnings, her mother made her go when she did.

A scent caught her attention, and her head whips in the direction of Mirren only when he speaks, audits perked atop her head. She stands at attention herself, stiff despite his looseness, and her ears flatten defensively atop her head. Kite has little time to assess the other, her eyes swiftly averting as she shifts her weight. Ehm... ah, hi? Kite looks over her shoulder a moment, before turning back to him, her body language speaking of her lack of self-confidence there. Am... am I too near to your borders...? She cannot imagine why he would come speak to her, but Kite cannot deny the twitch of excitement that lurks within. Her own tail hangs limply between her legs, and although his body language spoke friend to her, she worried that this might not be the case. It was... it was too good to be true. She did not know how to behave, it had been so long, and in a trademark, habitual gesture that was wholly Kite, she nervously swept her paw against the snowy earth before placing it back down again, observing.

The wandering girl's eyes were quick to find him, quicker still to look away. He took in the sight of her carefully and in no hurry. It was strange─after a long winter without much food at all, and considering his own personal set of circumstances and the fact that he was away from the security of Secret Woodlands, he should have been more watchful, more alert for the dangers the she wolf could possibly pose. Mirren had never been one to be afraid of much of anything, but out here alone with a stranger in his sights he should have felt some sense of caution. He just didn't. He couldn't. In fact, he couldn't feel much of anything anymore─only calm. It would seem that, for the boy, "feelings" just weren't so special anymore. That didn't change the fact, however, that the girl's voice was soft and that the look about her was...pleasing. Where he'd expected hostility or disinterest, she'd said "hi." She even came across as sort of shy. A single ear flickered sideways as he perked up a bit. Am... am I too near to your borders...?" He looked her over more as he quietly considered his answer. "Not at all," he returned easily, the briefest flicker of a half-grin tugging at a single corner of his dark lips before disappearing. From the look of it, even at a distance, she appeared to be most likely about as old as he was. The tawny shades of her fur seemed vivid against the backdrop of white, and he found the way she swept at the snow with her paw sort of inviting. Maybe it would ease her some if he broke the ice."It's...The borders are back that way," he motioned over his shoulder. "If you're passing through, you chose a good path." He didn't budge an inch as he searched her face.

There is an elk carcass nearby. It looks like it froze to death. +12 Health

As far as feelings went, Kite had never felt anything for anyone other than her family. Her pack had consisted wholly of L'Crowe's, and so many of her cousins and elder brothers decided for themselves to strike out to find a life for themselves. Kite loved her family, and envisioned her life among them all of her life. No strangers had ever passed her by to steal her heart away, and so Kite was hopeless and naive in all things emotional. She would believe the best in just about anyone, and although she hoped for the best here, the quiet pessimist within her warned her that he might turn her away as the other wolves had. She had not looked him over enough to note that he was her age, and that he was quite welcoming. He was swift in responding, and her shoulders sagged in what was obvious relief as she gathered she had not offended him or his in any way. Kite's goal in life was to please. It wounded her every time she failed in that, and that she still had some sort of chance in company (a real companion!) here elated her more than she was willing to admit. But she bit her cheek. Careful...

He spoke again, informing her of what direction the borders were in. Her muzzle lifts as she looks to him as opposed to the ground, blinking slowly as she tries to put the pieces together. I don't know what I'm doing, she admits at length, laughing quietly at herself and shaking her head, I don't even know what I'm looking for. Somewhere that is... home, I guess... As she says it, she knows it to be true. For so long she had been searching for home. Not where she had come from, but where she would continue to grow.

Not... there aren't many packs looking for wolves during the Winter, she expresses to him, her tone not mournful but disappointed. She would not look down on herself; she knew she was more than capable of helping if given the chance. But the chance had never been given to her. As her eyes land upon him, she is able to really look at him. She is glad she hadn't before, because surely, she would have fallen mute. This was no brother of hers, that was for certain. It was strange to think that, first and foremost, and for thoughts to spread like wildfire about silly things that she had never thought of before. Like, who he ran with. Well, did that really matter? He was handsome, there was no denying it, and it was decidedly hard to focus when she had put that together in her mind.

Damn it all. Her mother had warned her about this, too, but she had laughed. Look out for men as handsome as your father. Kite had grimaced then. Her father, to her, was not handsome. No one was handsome. But then... everyone had been family. She was not in Kansas anymore.

Kite felt her tongue go limp and heavy, and her eyes sweep elsewhere and land upon a frozen thing nearby. She wants to mention it, maybe it is food, but her mouth cannot so much as open. Oh.

It became apparent to him before she'd even had a chance to reply that she wasn't from around here. The clues were in her scent, which carried to him on the wind that swept gently past. Not only was it devoid of the scents of anyone else, but there was something about it that was so...unlike the earthen, woody scent that clung to his own fur. Not only that, but it smelled like she had traveled a little bit of everywhere. He reckoned it wasn't uncommon for a loner to wander through the winter months, but the thought made him wonder what a girl like her was doing wandering around alone in the first place. When she did finally look up at him, he was surprised by her open admission. "I don't know what I'm doing," she said, "I don't even know what I'm looking for." He blinked. Well that made two of them, then, didn't it? Suddenly the daylight seemed a little bit brighter. "Not...there aren't many packs looking for wolves during the Winter." He heard her out, and although "home" wasn't a word he used much anymore, he could understand where she was coming from. Because everyone wanted one. A "real" "home." It had been his experience, however, that home was a hard place to find, and that the world was a lonely one when you had the wrong one. His amber eyes were bright and soft as he looked upon her, meeting her hazel ones before they fell away once more. She'd caught him off guard with her personable words. His toes gripped at the snow and relaxed, and he shifted his weight mindlessly as he watched her look around. "Winter is almost over, you know..." he returned, half watching, half waiting to see those hazel eyes. "I'm Mirren."

Kite was optimistic.

She couldn't help but be that way. Life had never given her sour lemons before, and the only thing she had faced was her parents chasing her from home. Somehow, Kite L'Crowe posed some sort of threat. Kite hadn't the slightest idea that she was very much her mothers daughter... but she did not (yet) share in her mothers ambition. Kite was a wolf, and so she understood, but her heart ached for family. In her youth, her mother consistently taught them that pack was family... and family was more than blood. But none who wasn't born into their family could live among them; her mother and father both disallowed competition. Kite did not think they ought to be worried about her, a loyalist... but as she looked to the ground, remembering Mirren's face already, she found herself thankful for the opportunity at least. Being around only boys was difficult, as she had no sisters herself. Girl cousins, yes, but they were far from easy-going. She loved them still.

His words seemed like some sort of... invitation. Kite was unaware that this thought was really some unidentifiable sort of longing within her, some desire to be desired that she did not recognize. Already this encounter was different from the many she had had with her family. There was... there was something she sought to explore and understand, the inquisitive being that she was. Kite simply did not know how to. This was so new to her. Refreshing. Her ears cupped around his words, and although she desired to speak, her tongue was pressed to her teeth that grit together. Her eyes wandered to his feet, and she watched the way his toes curled. Watching that seemed somehow personal, and she bashfully turned her head to the frozen thing, again.

And then he says his name. That she look to him then seem only natural, and so she went with that. Mirren. It fit him. It was a strong name, and he had a strong look to him. Mirren, she repeats slowly, enjoying the feel of his name. It was unique in comparison to the common names from home. I'm Kite, hi, and realizing she has said hello again, she seems to blush, and she exhales heavily. She was an open book, never one for hiding things from others. She didn't know what she would be hiding here, she couldn't put a name to it. And so the moment was real and raw, no pretending. Her eyes dart away before moving back to him.

It is, she backtracked, bumbling and fumbling internally, Almost over—Winter, I mean—I just... you're it, Kite does not think as she speaks, does not know that he might, for an instant, thinking something else, before she continues after a breath, The only wolf that's talked to me and not ran me off. An' there aren't even pups around yet! It was a breathy admission, and she worried that she would never find this home she envisioned. And yet, his presence alone was doing a perfect job in keeping her comforted strangely enough. She felt pathetic in not knowing what to do, or where exactly to go. But perhaps she did know in the back of her mind, but idling, stalling, to keep his company. If Kite was bad at one thing, it was lying... and all she had in her was honesty.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

The echo of his name in the tone of her voice sounded nice. Really, it was the first time he'd heard his own name spoken in days. So much time he'd spent alone these last couple of weeks, riding out the last days of winter without even the slightest idea of what to do now. His late visit to Hidden Tree had served to help him keep things together─to sort through his angst and anger and impenetrable sadness─but since his pale-eyed friend had disappeared and taken every inkling of happiness he had with her, he was as lost as he'd never been. Always the self-starter. Always the go-getter. Always the one to call his own shots, and always the one to know what he wanted and how to get it. With Nios gone, and after a dismal winter, it felt as though he'd reached his rock bottom. Kite. That was her name. As much of a mess as he was right now, Kite seemed the opposite. When she said hi for a second time, he could nearly see the heat rising from her cheeks. The charming smile that was only his spread across his face, his own cheeks filling with warmth. He wasn't embarrassed for himself or for her, but how cute was it that she stumbled over her words like that, and what was more: he'd smiled. A genuine, spontaneous smile. The first one in what felt like a hundred years, and how good it really felt. Suddenly he felt weightless. Inclining his head, looking to Kite and unable to hide the moment of contentment, he resigned to accept the residual, one-sided grin that remained. "Hi, Kite," he replied, her name rolling off his tongue through grinning lips, more to convey that he appreciated her double-greeting than anything. "Well, what'd you do for them to run you off? Provoke them with your outrageous kindness and cute double-greetings?" A joke, of course. Finally, he made a move, casually striding toward her. He couldn't imagine why anyone would want to run her off, she was so friendly.