Blackthorne was right: Faye was untested, blessed with little caution and given to little in the ways of having been tested. So far, there hadn't been much in her life that she hadn't been able to handle. Even with her sister and father's disappearance, Faye had weathered it well, though she suspected her mother knew more about it than she let on. Even that was inconsequential though - as far as Faye was concerned, things would work themselves out, and if they didn't, she'd work them out. Failure simply had never been an option for her. It just wasn't in her blood.

Her mother had sent her out on a small mission, though they both knew it'd likely turn into a little adventure. Faye had been sent out to find Cersei's friend, an older wolf named Elara, but Faye also wanted to find Alagai too. For whatever reason, she had a feeling it'd be easier to find him, and maybe he'd be better at finding Elara than she'd be. Cersei had told Faye to find her in the valley, because Elara hadn't wanted to be too close to Diveen, but she'd also mentioned that the woman was...well, a bit different. From what Faye understood, Elara might have wandered off to who-knows-where! That was why she wanted to find Alagai: he seemed like a good tracker, but also becaus she just wanted to know more about him anyway.

She smirked, entertaining all kinds of potential adventures in her mind. What she hadn't entertained, of course, was that somebody else was nearby, and that they had their own ulterior motives. She'd been vaguely aware of another's footsteps, but she hadn't paid them much attention. Plenty of wolves moved around the fields, especially because they were so central to so many packs, and Faye had grown accustomed to just getting on with her own business. Blackthorne played the role of the surprised stranger, but Faye was the real deal.

She came to a stop and looked up at him, bewildered for a moment. Then, she frowned. Her expression was very much unfiltered, a question of what is this guy talking about? At least, she did try to stop that thought from entering her voice.

"Well, I wasn't really trying to be. No harm, no foul, right?" He didn't look like he head hearing problems, but she didn't really know if they even had a look about them. Her eyes lingered on his ears for a moment, but she decided it was a little rude to do that. "Yeah, Diveen's near here. Do you need directions or something?" She wasn't suspicious, but she did wonder why he had asked her that. He didn't smell like any pack she knew, so maybe he had been on his way to Diveen in order to join? She didn't have time for that, though. She looked back over her shoulder briefly, but the moment was fleeting. No, she definitely didn't have time. She'd just tell him where to go and be on her way - she didn't want to get tangled up in recruitment and all of that any time soon.