Sunrise Ridge no direction but to follow what you know

Askan didn't expect nor want her life story, but names were telling.Vesper. Wasn't that some sort of prayer? Or at least a fancy way to describe them. Where her family religious, or did they simply like the name? Admittedly, it was a strong name, sharp like a dagger and yet grounded. It wasn't pompous, nor the sort of name that simply came to mind was it was 'cool,' or 'unique' it... just was. And honestly, it was refreshing. Askan had a hard time taking youngsters seriously with their wide eyed innocence, but when they had a ridiculous name like whatever that trash-mouthed-creep-fest was called, he just couldn't deal with them at all. He'd rather stick his head in the snow.

But this one? Well, she wasn't awful.Congrats.

He wasn't going to say as such though, as much as she might want to hear it. It was a little too soon for that sort of fluffy talk and the last thing he wanted was for her to get the wrong idea about him, that he was some nice guy, who cared about stuff.  Well, he supposed he did care about some stuff but... He huffed, as though something was tickling his nose and sat down on his haunches, his paws a couple of inches from the ledge.

What was he supposed to say now? He didn't mind silences, they weren't all bad, but it was different with a stranger. That being said, he knew he should be grateful that she wasn't rambling on and on in an attempt to fill said silence. Those types were the worst, truly. So in that regard, maybe, just maybe, Vesper wasn't so bad.

"So what do you think, of all this?" He asked, and with a flick of his snout gestured to the northern lands below."I find people are never indifferent about this place, they either love it and settle, or hate it and can't wait to leave. He shrugged. It was clear what he thought, considering what he called home.

No comment about her name or lack of information – that seemed promising. Maybe. Honestly, Vesper hadn't a clue whether or not that was really a good thing at all, but it beat persistent questions about where she was going and what she was doing with her life. So far all of that had been straightforward, at least up until that point. But she'd already established that and before she could get caught in an endless loop again about what a pity party that was, Askan was moving their conversation along again. Upholding it, really.

But what did she think about this place, anyhow? Vesper's gaze wandered then, drawing in the heavy forest and slow but burgeoning spring that had filtered through. She supposed it was nice, but she had only seen a fraction of it. If anything, other than the vistas that Iyes had offered her, she really hadn't seen all of it. The last time she had gone sightseeing and sidetracked she had ended up trailing in the wake of what became the present mess.

Her brow furrowed then, her mouth creasing into a frown as she rolled her shoulders in a shrug.

"It's okay, I guess," came the first set of words, "there's a lot of life here that I can see. The mountains are cool." Her tone sounded lackluster; she couldn't find the words to really describe everything she had seen. What did it really matter? "I don't hate it, but..." she hadn't found the love for it either. If her family was lingering around, surely they would have found somewhere to settle and call home. It had that going for it. There was life in those woods, security and stability and plenty of other things that had aided and guided her along.

Her eyes wandered back to Askan briefly.

"Have you lived here a long time?"

Just okay? Askan tried not to be offended, but really saying that it was just okay was not only inaccurate but she was doing herself a massive disservice. Sure, he knew that the open spaces of the tundra might not suit everyone but they should at least recognise the sense of freedom it provided. Sheltered forests were all well and good, but would you find massive herds of elk or bison in them? Of course not. They had to hope that their hunters would come across a lone deer, or two to get them by. But the Rye wolves, there was food out there they just had to find it. Which was honestly a lot easier said than done, but a task they were glad to do nonetheless. Especially with little pups on the way.

Vesper claimed not to hate this place and sure enough she didn't sound like she did. The way she trailed off her words made Askan raise his brows in curiosity and he turned to shoot her a look. But? But what?

As for her question, the Selwyn hummed as he went back over the months in his mind. Time had passed by so quickly and yet Askan knew that he had been in this land a lot longer than it felt. He remembered stumbling into Relic Lore when the ground was still covered in snow as spring reared it's head and chased the remnants of winter away. He'd been starving, a mere shell of a man and everything had looked so strange and yet somehow familiar. Perhaps that was why he was so quick to settle into these parts, in a way they did look like the Selwyn lands, nestled between the mountains of their name sake.

"A while, yeah. Spring. So around about...This time of year?" He chuffed in amusement. "Pack was formed near the end of summer. Took a damn long time, but was worth it. I'd like to die here too, one day. Not any time soon, but you know." He shrugged.

But that was a given really, this was his home, where he was meant to be.

Vesper tired to imagine what it would be like to be so content with a place that one day she could accept the inevitable. Her birthplace would have fit such a bill, but in all honesty she often did not consider that inevitable end of death. Askan's reply almost seemed morbid with that rejoinder, but she managed to draw her own thoughts away from the consideration. He didn't plan on keeling over any time soon and frankly, neither did she. Vesper had been fortunate so far to not be teetering on the edge of death, but to say that she was far, far away from those woods would have been a lie.

"So you like it here," she surmised somewhat absently. Of course he did. After all, he had been there since the previous spring before. Hard to think, but a year ago she was just seeing the world for the first time and that was a memory that she couldn't recall. There were a lot of things that were quickly fading from her recollection, but whether or not that was in light of stress and strain or simply the progression of time was anyone's guess.

She fumbled for something more to say, when a question dawned on her.

"What's your pack like?" It was an easy question to ask, but it had a purpose to it too. She didn't know a lot about any of the packs that called the Lore their home. Sure, there was Iyes and her pack that lived along the mountain. There were a smattering of a couple of others that Vesper was sure she had flitted by either in day or night. But she didn't know anything about them, not really. Her compass had been so steadily pointed north that she hadn't bothered to learn much.

Better late than never to start figuring out things, she guessed.

Well obviously. Askan had never been the sort to suffer in silence. If something wasn't to his taste then everyone around him would damn well know about it. No matter how small or inconsequential it seemed, he'd let them know. That being said, they'd only just met so he supposed she could be excused.  But stranger or not, why would someone live somewhere if they didn't like it? If a house wasn't a home then what was the point of choosing to dwell there? It seemed illogical at best and foolish at worst.

Askan had liked his homelands well enough, their little space between the Selwyn mountains had served them well for generations, but what of Wild Rye Fields?

"Of course I do." He huffed, taking an obvious dislike to the contrary."It might not be where I come from, but it's home nonetheless." After all, in his eyes was what you made of it. And the Rye Field was like his own slice of paradise.

As for her latter question, he couldn't help but hum a little in thought as he adjusted his weight on his haunches. What was it like? The first word that popped into his mind was quite simply, 'the best.' Which was actually two words, but he didn't care. He had a hard time imaging himself fitting in anywhere else, not that he tried all that hard, but the point stood the same. The wolves he lived with in the Field understood him, even if only to a degree, and so it wasn't a chore to be around them. It seemed like the natural way of things, a rhythm they'd all fallen into.

"Home. Laid back, everyone has a part to play. But we look out for each other, like family." He sighed, a light and airy noise, before glancing over at his company."Why? That's a question everyone seems to ask these days.

So it seemed like a home was supposed to be. Comforting and always something to do to continue the standing of the pack. Now her question seemed stupid because really, how else was a pack supposed to be? At least she had come to the understanding that not all packs were comprised of blood relatives, as her had been. Briefly, her eyes fell towards the ground as she wondered after things aimlessly, only to be pulled out of them by the tail-end of Askan's statement. Maybe her thoughts weren't so stupid at all, or maybe there were just a lot of wayward and unfamiliar yearlings out wandering around.

"Just curious," she said, eyes focusing back on his dark pelt. "I didn't know you had a lot of visitors asking the same." Probably meant his own home was bustling right along, content and sturdy in its numbers. It would have made sense with all the foot traffic she had seen in some places. The woods were alive with more than just birds and game. She thought to apologize but withheld that too, figuring she had probably done enough of that towards everyone over the last few weeks.

So instead she drew her gaze out and around to their surroundings, feeling an uncomfortable prickle of embarrassment replace the deluge of mixed emotions that had been washing over her. "I should probably go," she said then, the words hushed as her gaze fixed on something – nothing, really – in the distance.

"Mm, figured as much." He responded, with a shrug, not overly offended. No more than usual anyway.

When she announced that she should leave, Askan made no move to suggest that she should stay. It was her choice as to what she did and where she went, and as a loner she really had to think about it.  It could be the difference between life and death.  Not that most wolves of her age took the time to actually think of it like that. It was more like, ah, I'm bored, off I go! Tsk. They didn't know what they had until it was gone.

"Sure, just don't go jumping off any hills, or mountains, or whatever." A slight, tiny smile pulled at his lips as he turned to head back the way he'd come from.

It hadn't been such a bad outing, but it was about time to go home. To return to where he belonged. He was sure that Reyes would at least be a little happy to see him, and if not then Askan would be more than willing to make it up for him. The thought of seeing his lover again was more than enough to put a pleased smile on his face as he scaled down the hill, with home on his mind.

Fade