They had only left yesterday, Noss and Ralla. Ralla had picked up her elder brother from the borders of Cour des Miracles for the beginning of their scouting journey, although they were detouring a little to the north for a day to re-enter the pack known as Cercatori d'Arte. Although Ralla had mistakingly trespassed the new pack's territory on her first visit, she had since learned of its legitimacy and benefits. The pack was filled with craftsmen, as was rumored, and it had sparked in the white wolfess's mind the possibility of feeding her single vice; curiosities. Ralla had all of her 'treasures' cluttering her hut back in AniWaya, but whatever odd or pretty knick-knacks--or, sometimes, strange things like broken bottles or toys--she just had the urgent need to take with her. Two packs weighed down Sugar on their journey--one for supplies, the other to carry whatever they came across--with her ceremonial fire-dancing staff strapped tightly so that it would not hinder the quarter horse's gait or fall. In truth, Ralla not only wanted to see what lied within the new pack, but wanted to perhaps procure what she would call a proper staff for ceremonies. What she had roughly carved...did not deserve such a title, or even near.

The heavy snows that year had not left any ground untouched. Both siblings were used to deep snow and ice, so their pelts were more than sufficient to withstand the icy fingers of winter. Sugar made due well enough, trudging through the path that Noss first stomped out ahead of the group. Ralla had to keep giving him directions, however, when he would veer off course, as if pulled by some mischievous spirit that wished to always lead him astray. At the very least he had seemed to have gotten used to the territory he was staying in, and had arrived at their rendez-vous seemingly without strife. Speaking of, I wonder how much trouble he's causing Strel...? She had met the redheaded wolf briefly, under less-than-pleasant circumstances, when Noss had finally tracked her down to AniWaya. He had seemed tough enough to endure Noss's brusque nature, but she could not lie; she was intrigued by the other male that Noss had spoken of. She had been elated when Noss informed her that not only would he not force her to stay in the Crescent Moon Pack once they returned to inform the pack about their leave of permanant absence, and then interested in Noss's own reason for staying. After the whole ordeal, she would have to formally meet Strel, to see what had made Noss decide to leave the pack and position he had once so prided himself on.

Still...what made her worry and blush the most was Kemo. Only a few nights ago had she confessed to him, and on that same night had been the occurence of her terrible vision. But it had all turned out alright; after all, she had promised him her eternal forgiveness. And she never went back on her word. It made her blush even harder to think that she had felt the way she did all along, but had been too oblivious to her own emotions to realize the truth. Missing those little details had caused such prolonged stress... But she was glad that the worst was over. Now that she knew the truth of matters, she wanted to help him even more than before. But she and Noss had had to leave; the sooner they went south and figured out the cause of Kemo's blindness, the sooner he could, maybe, rest a little easier. And in order to do that, scouting of the mountains was integral to their success. But as it was, they were nearing the southern tip of the Cercatori d'Arte lands, and soon they might, perhaps, see signs of life stirring around the borders.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

It's okay :3 I haven't exactly been Ms. Punctual myself >.> Sorry for the length, too :S

From the whiteness of the snow, a black wolfess appeared. She was not hard to spot, and Ralla thought to herself how graceful she appeared. She was lithe and walked through the snow as if it were nothing; an elegance that Ralla did not think she possessed at all. She had called out to them, and Ralla held up an arm in greeting, smiling. "Hello! Are you from Cercatori d'Arte?" She assumed so, since they were so near the borders. Then again, Kemo lived near the borders, too. But how often was a loner allowed so close? The female's chest was cream-colored--a pleasant offset from the black, reminding Ralla of a newly carved vase of porcelein or what a gypsy had once called a 'cream pearl', obviously named--and her eyes were a sparkling gold. They were different from Noss's, whose eyes were more the color of a pale moon rising it sunset; dull yellow, but sharp.

"We wish to visit the Cercatori d'Arte pack, if you are a part of them. We're not expected, but I would like to see if I could find some business there." Saying 'business' had seemed a bit of an inappropriate word, but Ralla couldn't find another word to phrase it with without rambling too much on something perhaps the stranger didn't even want to hear.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

In the blink of an eye, the black wolfess had offered them an escort to the borders of her pack. While Ralla had known the way, it was likely--since the female was a native to it--that she knew the best way to and from its borders. Not to mention company other than Noss's stoic silence would be welcome. The two siblings shared a short look--one that conveyed Noss's opposition to travelling with others and Ralla's pleading eyes--before Noss sighed and gave his wordless assent. Smiling, Ralla turned back to the female. "That would be wonderful, thank you. My name is Ralla, and this is my older brother, Noss. What is yours?" Actually, the female had mentioned another name that had sounded unfamiliar. "Is Shawchert your chief--er...alpha?" Still Ralla was getting used to calling leaders of packs alphas and not chiefs. It would be a hard habit to break, though, since she always called Chief Dawali...well, Chief Dawali. But the name sounded very uncommon; even to Ralla's ears.

They began their trek to the pack borders as Sugar plodded along behind Noss again. Ralla would've gladly walked, but Noss had had an older-brother moment and just made her sit on top of the horse for the time. He would have to stop that, if Ralla had any hope for her brother not always constantly worrying about her. For a while, there was a pleasant pause in conversation. But then Ralla decided that that didn't suit her normal behavior at all. "So, you are a native to Cercatori...? Or do you hail from elsewhere? We're from somewhere else as well, but I've heard of the wonders that your pack makes. Do you do any sort of art?"

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

*sigh* I need to get my act together with posting -.-'' Thanks for the translation though 0w0

Valinta? Valentine? Valiant? Violet? Viola? After the black female's instructions, Ralla's mind went off in a myriad of directions, trying to match words that she knew to the female's name to maybe decipher its root or origin. She almost assuredly knew the endeavor to be fruitless, since she was still igonorant to many foreign languages and words. Some, though, came easily through leaked stories and passing bits of conversations. This name? Could be a lot of things...

Valinta's sudden stream of foreign language made Ralla stumble in thought, even as Noss trudged on with Sugar being obediantly led. Good thing, too. Trying to distract herself from her previously silent journey by contemplating the new words would've made Ralla stumble or stop her footsteps and assuredly leave her behind her unexpected guide. Still, she had to admit; just as she had once had trouble pronouncing new words--so used to her native, gutteral tongue--Valinta had a smooth, gentle way of saying the words. She nodded when Valinta appointed Shawchert as their 'capitano'--Captain; easy enough--although she was slightly put off when the black female did not answer her last questions. By not answering, Ralla began to assume that maybe this wolfess was not very high in rank, or perhaps she was not open to discussing such matters with complete strangers? Yes, that must be it. Often Ralla had to remind herself that not everyone was as trusting of strangers as she was. It was just impossible for the white wolfess to really see only the bad in another.

When they came to a shadowed part of the forest that Ralla had at one time travelled, she was momentarilly pessimistic that they would lose her as she seemingly disappeared. But sharp as ever in sight, Noss kept on; his yellow-moon irises absorbed any and all light like reflectors, and she trusted his judgement to lead her and Sugar along the path that the black wolfess was carving for them.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

Ninja Pirate would be an awesome occupation >.>

As thre trees and undergrowth--though dead, still bristling with branches and thorns--became thicker, Ralla dismounted Sugar out of not only courtesy for that he had to be able to maneuver without added weight, but that Ralla didn't want to get thwacked over the head with pine needles or a low-hanging branch. Catching up in a run with her brother--narrowly dodging obstacles and keeping up easily--she could see how intent he was on keeping pace with Valinta. She knew that he was only doing a warrior tactic to follow--a strict training that had taught him to direct all attention to the source he was following, perhaps the only thing that would keep him from getting lost--and that should he lose sight of her, unless her scent was easy enough to follow, he would get lost (even if the target was an acre or so away). Looking up ahead, she could see the midnight black of Valinta's back, but was curious to see as to why her tail was giving off the angry signal. Did they do something to upset her? Ralla shot Noss another one of their silent talks, but he seemed completely oblivious as to why Valinta could be upset with them in the first place. Did we disturb her prey and frighten it away? Are we disrupting a schedule of hers...? Eager to find out, Ralla sped up her pace a little bit, bounding every so often from the top of a mound or tree root.

Easily catching up with Valinta--long journeys of running and surviving cold climates still in her blood and lean muscles--Ralla turned curiously to their aquaintance. "Valinta? I'm sorry, are we troubling you in any way?" She couldn't shake the expression on the black wolfess's face, nor could she let her curiosity run rampant without answer for extended periods of time. If that ever happened, she either tamped down the curiosity--storing it in some secure part of her brain--or she became determined to find an answer (although tamping down and forgetting about it was becoming more of the norm, since she had finally come to term with the world's uncertainty). But, since Valinta was right there with an easy question hanging... She could satisfy her interest a little, couldn't she?

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.