turning towards the water, aurelia watched the slow ripple of movement and pondered what it was that fish did once winter hit. she would spend her winter within the confines of her den, perhaps leaving to find caderyn and berwyn, who’d been blessed with heavy coats, to steal warmth from. even now, standing in a pool of sunlight, she was made uncomfortable by the chill of fall. she would be fine, but what did fish do? did fish hibernate, like bears? humming to herself, the young lady lifted her gaze from the water and to the silhouette of her beloved mountains. they stood proud and tall and, suddenly, she was struck by a deep sense of pride - and of a longing to be back and safe in the tall peaks. shaking her shoulders slightly, as if to rid herself of such a thought, aurelia turned away from the view and back towards the open fields.

two toned eyes scanned once more over the field, halting on an approaching wolf. from the distance she was at, she could not tell much of the other, but still she waited patiently as the other approached. it was a woman, with lovely silver eyes and a strange feeling stirred in aurelia’s chest. she’d been fairly sheltered for her, nearly, two years of life and to suddenly be exposed to attraction was strange and the girl was unable to understand this. suddenly, strangely, aurelia became nervous - but not the nervous she experienced when coming down a steep incline or when she was unsure of her surroundings. all of this was very odd and aurelia didn’t like it, not at all. the woman opened her mouth and immediately aurelia’s lowering ears were upright, attention focused on the silver-eyed girl only. ”mountain pup. what brings you to the fields so far from home? your family might be missing you.”

aurelia huffed indignantly, navy and gold eyes narrowing. ”who are you calling pup? i’ll bet i’m almost as old as you,” she retorted in her own low soprano. ”anyway, i’m not staying here very long - i was headed towards encora.” here she paused, hesitating. reluctantly she admitted, ”i got a tad lost on my way. if you could point me in the right direction, i’d quite appreciate it, miss…” here she trailed off again, perhaps a little too eager to know this miss’ name. after all, it wasn’t often that she was in the company of someone so lovely. she’d remember this lady, she was sure.