The day was warmer now than it had been only a few hours ago, the slight change in temperature barely noticeable had it not been for the appearance of a few vague sun rays. The pale Crimson Dreamer took her time noticing these changes in the areas around her, seeing as she was not really familiar with Phoenix Valley lands. This was, however, the closest she had ever come to seeing another pack's landscape, even though she had visited relatively few of them. Excepting her hunt alongside Cmwfen in Dahlia de Mai lands, followed by her close encounter with the Dahlian male close to the borders, she had never had the opportunity to see what a pack besides her own looked like once you were literally at its heart. Inferni had been another story altogether. The area just outside the pack was barren and unwelcoming enough to dispirit even the friendliest wanderer, so much so that Urma felt no real wish to see the heart of the coyote's clan lands up close. Phoenix Valley, on the other hand, resembled Crimson Dreams, if not necessarily in appearance, then more in spirit. She felt at home even here, away from her actual home, and understanding dawned upon her why both Geneva and Naniko had moved on to lead their lives peacefully here, despite once sharing the same home as Urma. She had heard and been close to other packs as well, of course. Ember had told her of Aniwaya, a pack that did not sound in the least unfamiliar to Urma, as it had been the second refuge after her own pack that Pilot had sought before his track was lost completely. These were places that had all sounded faraway and somehow unreachable to the pale femme before; now Phoenix Valley held the same warmth in her heart as Crimson Dreams did, a feeling that was perhaps enhanced by the fact that her good friend and her newest litter were here.

     
Urma had tried to follow her nose as much as possible, stopping now and then to ask some wolf or other whether they knew of where Naniko was. She had been walking more or less in circles for some time now, feeling a bit put off by her failure in finding her alabaster-coated friend, so she sat down impatiently, sighing with a hint of irritation with the embarrassing posture this situation put her in. She had fallen back on her Optime form in between her meeting with Jefferson and the time she was spending looking for Naniko, so that now she pushed a lock of hair from her face a bit more vehemently than was necessary, betraying her frustration in the face of her obvious inability to reach her goal. The foolishness crawled through her as she imagined what she must look like, sitting there stupidly, completely out of place, a stranger looking for a friend with no idea where to start from. Deciding to end her fruitless search, she stood up, continued walking for a while before stopping once more. She was in a place that resembled the description she had gathered from people of where Naniko now was within Phoenix Valley lands, so she wagged her tail in true Lupus style, forgetting all about her two-legged attire. It was a bit lonely around here, or at least this was what it looked like now, with no other wolves around. Urma took another few minutes to look around, making sure that there was no one else to ask of her friend's whereabouts, and pretty certain that this place resembled descriptions of Naniko's home well-enough not to want to leave it without making absolute sure that no one was around. Clearing her throat a little, the ivory femme raised her head a bit and called out, "Naniko?"

     
It actually took a very short moment for her call to be answered, but in Urma's anxious mind, it seemed like quite some time. Caught in her frantic search for her pale-furred friend, she had failed to notice the fact that the beginnings of a sunnier day had been consumed by the fog that had settled quite unceremoniously over the area she was now in. Because the scent of the sea on the coastline was stronger in this part, the blanched Crimson Dreamer supposed that it was the sea's proximity that had caused the fog to settle so quickly and so unobtrusively, and it was also this that was making it dense, so much so that Urma had trouble spotting her pristine-coated friend until she had taken a few steps in the direction of what the fog had been keeping out of her sight-- a cottage. Urma now assumed, of course, that this was where her friend lived, and she could not suppress a smile of happiness at the sight of the small settlement, so different from the abandoned shop in Halifax where she had first seen Naniko after her search for Pilot. She hoped her good friend would not find Urma's Optime appearance unsettling, despite never having seen it before, from what the ivory Crimson Dreamer could remember. Her expression, however, would betray her, she was certain, and if not that, then her scent would for sure. The white female looked around with her amber eyes, trying to spot the small ones, but the heavy fog did not give their presence away, despite their proximity. Naniko's protective stance gave Urma something to think about, but also a clue to the whereabouts of Naniko's newest litter. She knew from Ehno that they were a lively bunch, and could barely contain her curiousity concerning their first meeting.

     
Urma used the silence that had been left for their moment of mutual recognition to study her friend. She seemed happier and healthier than back in the city, even though by all means she had not seemed particularly sickly or generally unwell in Halifax, either. This litter seemed to have done wonders for Naniko, who had the healthy, glowing sheen of a recent mother. Her fur seemed to have inherited a nice lustre, leaving her friend looking as if she had taken all this time away simply to pay attention to her alabaster pelt. Urma was happy to see that her friend had accommodated so well with the environment around Phoenix Valley, and her healthy look more than anything else Naniko could have told her convinced the blanched Crimson Dreamer that Ehno had done the right thing not to try and convince the mother of his children to come back to a pack that would have only hurt her and the little ones. Certain that recognition had by this point dawned on Naniko as to who Urma was, the pale femme came closer, her face radiant, adorned by a genuine smile. "Hello. It took me sometime, but you weren't thinking I was going to forget about my friend, were you?" She was glad that she had had the opportunity to talk to Ehno before, because it had made her more confident that her friend would not look at her as a stranger, simply because their homes were not in the same place anymore. She hoped that Naniko would never forget that Urma did not judge her for anything, did not hold anything against her, and simply wanted their friendship to continue as peacefully and truthfully as it always had, despite distance or other obstacles that might get in their way. Happiness was the main feeling she now felt washing through her like the waves on the shores of distant coasts, and she smiled in a perfect reflection of this. "How are you? How has everything been? Ehno has told me some things... where are the little ones?"

     
The white she-wolf was lucky that this was not one of her first times in her Optime shape, or else she would have felt terribly clumsy as to what to do with herself in front of her friend. It hadn’t really occurred to the ivory femme how much she missed her matching-furred friend until precisely this moment, when they were standing facing one another, and it was only Naniko’s friendly embrace that put Urma completely at ease. Her heart pound with excitement and delight, as well as the anticipation of finally seeing the pups, of whom even an Inferni member such as Kaena had spoken only with kindness. Of course, the warmth contained by her friend’s arms around her was something Urma was likely to take her time with relishing, if only because she rarely had the possibility of engaging in such close contact with another wolf. The fact that the alabaster female of Phoenix Valley was her friend could only increase her happiness in the face of such obvious proof of mutual feelings. It seemed that the pearl Crimson Dreamer’s appearance in her Optime form had surprised her friend, but this only added to Urma’s high spirits, to the point that it was quite amusing to look at Naniko taking it all in. She let out a half-excited, half-embarrassed laugh, her mouth taking the shape of a heartfelt smile, while her golden orbs shone in response to the genuine pleasure it caused her to find herself in the ex-Commander’s company. Her meeting with the pack’s leader, Jefferson, only a while before, and the memory of his ironic remarks, was completely erased from her mind.

     
Urma nodded vigorously as soon as her friend started speaking, the mention of Ehno’s frequent visits to Phoenix Valley transforming her earlier smile into a broad grin. She had enjoyed the Marino’s unexpected company before finally finding the time to visit Naniko, and had gathered some pieces of news from him, curiousity taking the better of her and urging her to question him on and on about his litter of four. The pups were obviously one of the reasons why Urma had been so keen on coming to visit Naniko as soon as possible-- children grew up so fast, and it was such a different process from one generation to the other that missing out on it now would have meant never being able to relive the same experience again. On the other hand, the pale Crimson Dreamer had a soft spot for children, and would have very much liked having a litter of her own; sadly, the opportunity had never arisen, and if she had found wolves whom to nurture feelings for, she had either been much of a young female herself, as had been the case with her half-brother, or she had lost that particular wolf for an indefinite period of time, as was the case now, should Pilot and herself ever have become mates. The realization of the fact that she had no idea how much time would go by until she would have pups of her own had lost its initial ability to surprise her, and had become something she was slowly and gradually getting used to.

     
The ivory femme continued to grin even as she was being released from her friend’s embrace, knowing that she would at last meet her pups, who she had heard so many things about. She couldn’t keep silent for a moment longer so she said, her tone soft and warm, but in the same time lively and vibrant with joy, “I was so excited to see them; I mean, ever since I met Ehno and asked him how you and the pups were, I’ve been picturing them in all sorts of way. I know both you and Ehno will treasure them and raise them in the healthiest, most responsible way. And hopefully they, in turn, will look after you, when the time will come that you will rely on their help, just as they are relying on yours now.” She smiled as she said this, because it was precisely then that she saw the three little pups, different from one another despite being siblings, and surely just the more unique for this. When one of them, similar in color to her little brother, asked Urma who she was, she felt her heart fill with elation. She knelt down in front of the curious children, extending a hand and gently caressing the dozy female’s fur. “Hello. My name is Urma. I’m your mother’s friend. Or rather, one of them.” She smiled, feeling overwhelmed by the attention the girl’s small eyes lavished her in. Her gaze seemed so focused, so expressive, and so were those of her siblings, that the pale femme had no idea who to look at first. She patted each of them in turn, marveling at how tidy and soft they were. “And what are your names, then?” she asked, looking at them with the same attention they had offered her moments before. She broke this spell only for a tiny moment to look up at Naniko, her features arranged into a beaming smile. “They’re gorgeous. Kaena was right,” she said, her tone laced with a hint of playfulness, knowing her comment would attract her friend’s attention in a different way than the compliment addressed to her children. It would probably surprise the ex-Commander to find out that Urma had made the acquaintance of Inferni’s Centurion.