I can't remember the last time I had the company of another, not truly at least. There is seldom a time that we, the loners of the world, band together if not only to hunt. I had attempted to assimilate many times, my desire for companionship one that survived the blast, but things were... too different, too strange. I missed the calm and serenity of Soldat's rule - we weren't not simply a pack but a family, a team. Had they not fought the cougar off me so long ago? Perhaps I was still too shy for my own good, but I could not imagine another pack doing that for me. Still, I wondered what had come of the wolves I had come to know in the old world, the wolves that had shown me kindness - Isola, Devil May Cry, Nero even young Risk who I had tried so hard to treat as my own son. So many who had been so kind, I could only hope that fate had been kinder to them in turn.

I would have never imagined another to approach me in my current state - a little underfed, tempting the river to sweep me away, a new face among a crowd that was surely well established. I hadn't imagined it and yet, my ears told me I was wrong - there was somebody else nearby, somebody else entering the water and yet, the scent was undeniably lupine. I did not recognise it, not that I knew, and I found myself peeking out from a half opened eye at a male most strange. He stood much taller than I, marked most strangely and yet, lingering upon him was a scent that somehow seemed familiar. Still, he was a new face and despite his own small smile and quiet, I felt strangely nervous, shifting my weight awkwardly atop my legs. What to say? Was I to say anything? I had let the quiet go on for too long, I was sure.

"Do they have a name for this river?"

It is the first thing I can think of that seems like a good enough question to ask. Amaia Creek had been like this one so long ago, where I had first met Juno, and I cannot help but be curious if the name stuck or if the new world truly has moved on.

I finally open my eyes then, wide and curios as I turn to better get a look at him though my smile is unwavering. I am, despite the nervousness I surely portray, glad for the company. I cannot quite put words to it but I feel as if this male is not as I am used to - he is calm, composed as he stands and I find it almost comforting. It is hard to resist sighing in quiet relief, my eyes drifting back to the water as I watch it swirl around the two of us. Maybe it is time I try to assimilate once again. Maybe it is time I try again to make friends, to learn of the new world and put the old one to rest. Never will I be prepared to put my Faol'an to rest, this I know, but there is surely a way to live with memories without such sadness. Perhaps I look sad in that moment, my eyes distant and my small body weighed down so suddenly but I try. I try to push it all away to meet the gaze of this stranger once more as I had done to so many strangers so long ago.

"It is a beautiful day, isn't it? Best to enjoy the water before it turns to ice, don't you think?"

I'm trying, but perhaps I am rusty in more than one way.