She always followed the rivers. It was all she knew. She was familiar with mountains and forests, too, but not like these ones. Nothing would compare to the coast… not the abundance of lakes and rivers she had come across. Nothing. The ocean had her heart but her paws craved something more. More than the sand and broken shells. Fresh, untravelled soil. Crisp leaves. Unknown terrain. Her mother had spoken moderately about the south, claiming that there must have been something special about it as her siblings and her packmates never returned to the north. Her mother, however, was even more of a sea wolf than she was. There was nothing that could tear her away from the coast. She would have to be forcibly removed (again) to be separated from the salty water.
Blue, on the other paw, had the freedom of exploring the unknown. The thirst for it. She craved knowledge and expanding her mental map. Strangers she could do without but the girl knew they were necessary. Not always, but sometimes. Especially if she needed to find something particular.
She wondered if her relatives still called the Lore home or if they vacated the land just as her mother had done. It was possible that they had found their own slice of coast to call their own after not being able to find their way back to Bella Coola. It did not make sense how they would not have been able to find their way back—all they had to do was follow the coast north!—but it was possible that the southern woods had made them dumb. Or nose blind. But not her mother—or Blue. The cerulean-eyed girl was too smart to fall victim to the trees.
She waded along the edge of the river, the cold water pooling around her ankles as she observed her surroundings. It was nothing spectacular but it would do for now.