Who was she? The question had struck him hard and fast. Her arrival hadn't been anything special - she'd simply drifted in and settled down with the crowd. Yet, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her. Whenever she moved, it felt as if something shoved against him, almost as if a wave of energy moved in tandem with her. Kaliban could not explain it, but he wanted to be near her. It was a difficult instinct to resist, and he could feel his entire body practically shake while he held himself back. Over and over again, the question kept coming to him: who is she?

Eventually, the crowd dissipated. He'd moved away at that point, to a place where he could wait for her to be alone. It wouldn't be any good to have somebody interupt them, or to lure her away from him. No, that wouldn't do. It had to be him, just like it had to be her that he followed. The thought confused him, and it frustrated him. Nobody had ever explained imprinting, or anything of the sort, and he felt absolutely out of his depth. Why, he asked himself, should he care about some stranger so much? Was it even caring? Kaliban shook his head, but the thoughts did not go away. Thankfully, he spotted her moving away, and he was finally able to give in to his temptation.

Slowly, he slipped out from his position in the shade. He moved carefully, intent on nobody else noticing him as he began to follow Terra. He'd only make his presence known when they were truly alone and away from the others, and even then, Kaliban was too conflicted to make it too obvious. He just wanted to see her, and to learn more about her. Where was she going? What was she doing? Did she have a home, a family, some kind of place? Another part of him wanted to stay in the shadows and keep the others away, and yet another part of him wanted to hide her away in Asteraia or some other place, all for himself. He could feel his mother's blood in him, and he feared it enough to know he had to turn away from those instincts. Something was special about her, but it wasn't all for him. She was still her own wolf, still free.

He breathed in hard, and tried to ground himself in that thought. It was okay to get to know her, but not okay to be the only one to do so. "You...I saw you," he called out, "...the river. I was...with the others." He hadn't been, but it would hopefully alleviate some questions, like why he had been there. But why did he follow her? Well, that question made his heart pound against his chest. He couldn't explain that. In fact, he wasn't sure if anybody else could even explain that.