It does a body good [Darkstar]

[Cascade]

Don't get her wrong, she loved the heathlands. That wasn't a lie! Sure it wasn't fresh and green in the traditional sense like the other areas of the valley were, but it was her home and she genuinely loved the rugged look of the shrubs and the scattered, windswept trees. She loved it, really. But that didn't mean she never wanted to enjoy any other locales. Especially given her recent acquisition of a mate (it was still weird to think about Secunda in those terms) and powers, she figured all that excitement had earned her a little vacation. It's not that she didn't want to be around Secunda, she did love the guy after all, but fresh faces were in short supply in her life right now. Maybe she should have at least told him where she was going, or that she was going anywhere at all. Oh well, hopefully he wouldn't assume she had died.

The redwoods were great. Something about those towering trees managed to take Peril's breath away every time. Familiar with the area, she could tell that she was a little north of the Frigid Plague territory, and the impulsive urge to pop in for a drink at the creek that ran through their lands was quickly dashed by common sense. Perjury may be her ally, but they were by no means "best friends" and Peril wanted to be crystal clear on the evil alphess' policy for surprise visits before she bet her life on it. No, breathing in the warm air through her not-ripped-out windpipe would be just fine, thank you very much. A little fresh air, good for the body and good for the soul.

[Deleted]

The life of living alone never had much excitement. It was easy for one to fall into a particular pattern that they fallowed everyday, from dusk till dawn. He had hoped he wouldn't become one of those wolves, but lately he was noticing that he was. He realized that he was doing the same things around the same part of the day leaving him frustrated with himself. Since he had left his parents he had lived on his own and his travels never seemed to go all that far. If he liked a particular place he would stay there for a while until he felt it was time to move on. He had been living in the Redwoods for a few months now and didn't see himself moving to anywhere else for a while. He was liking this place and had made a nice den for himself. He had to admit it was still a bit of a boring life for the red furred male. He had seen little life from his own species which made him feel alone. Though he kept himself busy, patrolling the land and familiarizing himself with the area. He kept himself fit and did his best to keep himself busy.

Today wasn't any different, he was on the move since dawn. He had already eaten and was now finishing up his morning run. It was the same thing thing he had done yesterday it was until an unfamiliar scent reached his nose. He stopped in his tracks sniffing this scent. It was a female, for sure but not from around here. He moved casually towards the source his bright eyes looking about for the form of the other wolf. His eyes then landed on the blue, black, and white form. He let out a bark to let her know of his presence before continuing to casually approach her. He held himself in a neutral position letting her know he was no threat, but he would not roll over on his belly in front of her either.

[Cascade]

Peril had been just about ready to move on to the ruins when she heard a bark and turned to see another wolf approaching. 'Looks like there really is someone else here,' she thought to herself, returning his greeting with a healthy dose of easygoing enthusiasm. It was always refreshing to meet someone new, she just needed to be reasonably cautious until she was sure that he wasn't some sort of woods-dwelling maniac.

"Hey there," she called, thinking inwardly that it wouldn't hurt to be friendly even if he was a psychotic killer, "It's about time I crossed paths with another wolf. You'd think this forest was empty." It was true, and it wasn't like she hadn't been looking. Wolves in this valley didn't tend to be easy to miss...heck, she wasn't easy to miss, being bright blue and all, and not having run into anyone or even seen anyone all day was a little spooky. Whatever was wonking out the population of the valley, Peril hoped it would un-wonk soon, lest she be doomed to puppylike excitement every time she so much as laid eyes on an unfamiliar wolf.

[Deleted]

The female returned his greeting making him feel a little more relaxed. She was at least friendly and even perhaps social. It was comforting to him especially since he hadn't seen another wolf in quite sometime. It seems the land was lacking in population, but he was sure it wouldn't take long to pick back up. One the bright side prey numbers were booming and there was plenty of water, shelter, and food for everyone. Casually Red approached the female, his ears swiveling forward as she spoke. His tail gently moved back and forth before he stopped before her sitting down. He was sure to leave a bit of distance between the two, not wanting to invade in her personal space.

"Your telling me, I haven't seen a sign for the past two months around this forest" he replied with a small smile.

Shifting himself slightly he made himself comfortable before the female willing to partake in a decent conversation with her. Maybe even make a new friend, or find a pack to make his home. She had a vary attractive coat, easy on his eyes. She was vary pretty overall which made him all the more curious about the female.

"I'm Red, nice to finally meet someone,"

[Cascade]

"Red...certainly a fitting name," she replied, nodding to his coat. In the back of her mind, she wondered if there were any parent that might name their pup the wrong color on purpose. Maybe she would be that type of parent. Would she really give her own son or daughter a name that they would carry with them for the rest of their life for the sake of a joke? Maybe. Probably. Hopefully Secunda would talk her out of it.

The news that one could travel through the forest for months without seeing another wolf was...alarming, to say the least. She was already freaking out over not seeing anyone in a couple hours, let alone months. So far, this wolf wasn't very good for her blood pressure. "It's pretty spooky, and the packs aren't in any better shape. Well, except Dark Donoma but it's not like that's good news to anyone but them." she laughed to hide her sudden terror at the thought of being overrun by a bunch of evil and semi-crazy wolves tired of being cramped up in that tiny place with the lilies. That...that would suck.

But there was no reason to terrify a complete stranger, so she figured she'd change the subject. "It feels like autumn is going to be here soon. To tell the truth, I'm kind of looking forward to it. I live out in the heathlands...wouldn't trade it for the world, for there aren't a whole lot of places to take shelter from the sun without holing yourself up in your den all day. Cooler weather is gonna be a blessing."

[Deleted]

He had never truly thought about how fitting his name actually was. Of course the male never really sat there and stared at his coat either. She was right, his name was vary fitting, one of the best decisions his father had made. Though for him, he wouldn't be so willing to name his kid after a color or a pattern. It just wasn't how he viewed coming up with names. It was to simple, to easy. Him and his father had never seen eye to eye, the two were too bullheaded for their own good.

"Indeed it is rather fitting for me," he replied.

She seemed alarmed that he hadn't seen anyone in the past two months. He had hoped he wasn't worrying her, it was never good to worry another. He wasn't too worried, he was sure that the numbers would boom here shortly, it was just taking some time. Who knows maybe it was just because no one particularly fancied this territory. There was plenty of other places in the valley for wolves to be. It seemed to grab his attention to hear one of the evil packs are doing so well. He wanted to growl in disgust, but kept himself from doing so. He didn't want the thought of the evils ruin a good conversation with this lady.

"I wouldn't worry, things are just slow going, but I can guarantee that things will pick up," he tried to give some reassuring words.

She soon changed the subject, it was obvious that she didn't want to stay on it and that was alright with him. He would rather not talk about the evils, it reminded him to much of his father and how much he hated him. She changed the subject to season and he found himself drifting into slight thought. The change to fall would mean it would soon be winter. Winter wasn't his favorite season, especially being a loner. Though he would putz through it.

"Yes some cooler weather would be nice especially in your particular case. Though the fallowing season isn't much better then Summer in my opinion," he replied.

[Cascade]

Peril was thankful that Red had the consideration to try and reel in the doomsday talk. His reassurances were pretty empty, but they were appreciated nonetheless.

Winter...she didn't want to think of winter right now. "Yeah, let's hope we don't get too much snow. Although thinking about snow in the summer is kind of a bummer; we don't appreciate the heat now, but I'm sure we'll be dreaming about it when we're huddled up in our dens during a blizzard." She laughed, though it was a bit of a painful truth.

"Thinking about winter is making me happier that it's summer. I mean, yeah it's hot but we've got the flowers and plants and stuff, the fish are plentiful and oh GOD—" Peril jumped back so suddenly that she fell over herself and had to scramble to get back on her feet. Right where she had been standing, an orchid had grown up and wrapped around her back leg. "Not again. What do you want, you stupid plants??" she yelled at the now-drooping flower, "Huh? Huh? Oh what, now you've got nothing to say?" The green glow that had started up at the base of her tail died down, faded back into its normal, invisible white. Peril looked up at Red, not fully realizing how much of a lunatic she probably came off as at that moment, "Sorry. Apparently this happens all the time now."

Edit: (Pulling Peril out of this thread since it's been inactive for a week and she needs to do something else right now. I can possibly finish this one up after that is done!)