Secret Falls the only certainty in life

Ascua, she could only guess that was the equivalent of her name in this other language of his. Espanol. She liked it, thinking that it sounded rather pretty even if a little awkward. Her own tongue attempted to mimic the word, all but silently to herself, eyes transferring to the moss beneath her paws again as she concentrated on the syllables. Then he gave his own name, and she lifted her gaze again, giving him a genuinely sunny smile. Moving on with the conversation was well enough to chase away the gloom that had visited her briefly.

"Nice to meetcha, Reyes," she assured him.

"What, other wolves or other packs?" Ember asked before her thoughts caught up with her mouth. "Oh, probably packs, huh? Since if you can tell I'm from one then you know--" she cut herself off, giving him an embarrassed smile.

"There's a few. We don't really interact with them much, but I've run into other kids. Some from the mountain, and one from the forests further south. There's a pack north of here, but I'd stay clear of them. Mom told me once they came down to 'talk' and just attacked out of like, no where. She had to fight them off with Nalda's dad 'n Zia and everything."

She thought a moment then, before throwing out her own question.

"Why, watcha lookin' for?"

“Dunno. Other packs, I guess.”

The answer was frightfully honest, as plain as the brief exhaustion that flickered across the wolf’s face. It had been proper ages since he’d lived with a pack, since it happened, the accident, the ignominy, but, but the change in seasons was coming quickly. The storms were only the first warning. Reyes wasn’t an idiot, knew this was the furthest north he’d been this time of year, knew the weather would only be worse than where he’d spent the coldest months previously. He could do it, he’d done it, but there was no benefit of coming out the other side like a living skeleton.

“A place to live, maybe. Or wolves to avoid. Like that pack your ma warned you about, yeah? Sounds like trouble for a loner.”

Random attacks? Aggression was one thing (one thing he desperately loved) but one man against a pack was suicide. Reyes wasn’t ready to die, not today, not this year. “They got a name, d’ya know? Anything else I oughta be worried about?”

The girl, prodding as she was, seemed to know a little more than the swarthy male had originally given her credit for. Ember was offered a hint of a smile, just the barest modicum of trust – and in the blink of an eye, the exhaustion, the willingness, it disappeared back behind a wall of steely grey.

Oh. Her ears laid back. Well that was... obvious. The words 'but why' bubbled up in her throat yet she felt weird asking now, because certainly that's what he knew she'd been going for and if he didn't say anything further, it was probably because he didn't want to. Ah well. She eyed her paws again, until his voice rose up once more and gave her reason to thump her tails a few times. Okay cool, he was going to talk about it.

"I wasn't given a name, just told that they're up in Kingsfall, where the trees turn red and tower. Like the ones that were knocked down here. I'm not allowed to go there."

She had lifted her eyes as she said this, and it was such gracious timing that allowed her to see that slip of a smile ghost over his features before disappearing altogether. Despite the quickness of it, the girl eagerly returned it, sunshine filling her face.

"You know, I have friends in the other two. They're good packs, and so is ours. When your paws get tired, I know any of us would have you."

The storm outside was finally abating, and Ember felt certain that as the rains left so would this interesting rogue. Hopefully before that happened, she was just the slightest bit helpful to him.

“Huh.”

He didn’t know what a Kingsfall was – but ‘up there’ was a pretty good start. Hostile wolves up further north. Red, towering trees was a better hint, and the wolf tucked it away in the corner of his mind. Aggression wasn’t something he generally shied away from, but a whole pack? Oh no. He wasn’t a damn idiot. There was a serious difference between having a bad day and throwing down, and marching up to the borders of a strange pack and essentially solicitation your own murder.

“Good to know. Thanks, chica. Ember,” he tacked on after a moment, feeling as if the girl had earned her name instead of a casual nickname.

I owe you one, remained unsaid – the information wasn’t verified, after all, and Reyes wasn’t about to throw his assistance down before he knew a wolf better than a casual hello. “Maybe I’ll look you up once the weather gets colder. Gotta see what’s around here first, though.” That was the whole point of travel, after all. See new things. Reach new places. Figure out what he wanted, if he wanted to stay in Relic Lore, or turn his tail around and head back to the warm south.

Flicking his ears, he noticed a break in the rain, and tipped his head. “Better get going, before it picks up again. Don’t wanna get trapped back here,” he noted, offering the youth a gentle nudge before heading for the exit of the cave himself. “See you when I see you, Ember.”

Exit.