---

It was calm... It was still...

His soul was restless...

He had been placed here upon this strange world with no purpose or reason... He just... Was...

He had no name, he had no place, he had nothing to go off of but to just exist...

It wasn't right...

The beast, built in mass and muscle was heavy and large, he prowled through the base of the mountain with the drive of purpose... He made one...

He'd refill the caches, make use of himself, try to find a place in this home he'd managed to find... But it wasn't really home... Where was home...?

Placing a nose to the ground the mulberry man sniffed this way and that trying to scent for something meaningful... Something that might cause one to turn their head... He could take a sick or injured doe no problem, that was his goal. Though so far he'd found nothing and it was starting to rub him the wrong way. As if somebody ruffled his fur to it's ends, and he didn't like that feeling...

So he continued to move forward with reason, and he hoped in the end that reason would find it's place...

---

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

With her failing at rising to one of Dawnbreak’s pillars, Euphemia had several interesting reactions – or more like, kickstarts. There was a brief week where she felt as thought she might die (or, that she would rather die than to keep on living as thus). Then, after that she took to the winds and traveled the lands that surrounded the Vale, both near and far. During this time, she thought for just a moment, that perhaps she was meant for the life of a wayfarer afterall. Dawnbreak had rejected her.

Why try to force it, anymore?

Thankfully, that phase passed and it landed herself squatly back amongst Frostfang Vale. This winter had been the longest in her living memory, and the more she thought about it, the more she thought it was strange how the snow persisted and clung to the ground yet it was well into the spring season. Euphemia scooted around the variable heights of the landscape, trying to see just how this prolonged frost might affect or blight the spring’s earliest medicines.

The sprite was unaware that her first foray into guardianship was to occur at that very moment. Her response was automatic after she caught a glimpse of the strange form amongst the mists. Halt, interloper! she called out as she surged forward, aiming to use her own small form as a cog in his forward projection. Perhaps the woman should have more fear, but truly – the size and mass of the man reminded her of father, and there was no one she was afraid of less than her father. Not since he had left them, time and time again. Wolves could be fearsome in body, but it didn't mean anything about who they were. Tiberius's presence had always been somewhat gentle with her,

whenever he decided to be present, if that was even a little bit, or not at all.

Call it a maladaptive behavior or whatever – Euphemia stood there with her legs locked in place, a serious malaise across her expression, all done with the vigor of a wolf who knew her pack would be summoned in the very next second or two.

---

---

Another appeared quite suddenly, catching him off guard, and he stopped dead in his tracks. The wolf stared at the woman blankly, his eyes blinking slowly at her as she spoke and told him to halt, calling him an interloper in the process, reminding him that he was indeed still considered a stranger in the lands. Wolf felt himself come a bit defensive of his position and his hackles raised in alarm to the situation.

Wolf meant no harm, he was just new and hadn't quite learned his way around the wolves of this place he'd been accepted in, Tiberii had given him permission to wander but this woman just had to go and wiggle into his already troubled brain that he was still stranger... Still Wolf... He had no name yet, no den in the mountainside, hell he didn't even know where the cache was.

Deciding that a defensive stance probably wasn't for the best, for he knew the way of wolves somehow, and decided to let himself relax ever so slightly, hoping that might put the strange woman at ease. I am halted... Wolf grumbled, his shoulders dropping along with the rest of his body relaxing ever so slightly. Wolf felt his tail drop straight and flat behind him while his head lowered to get more on the smaller beings level.

---

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

To the great relief of Euphemia, the unknown man ceased in his voyage across her very backyard. It seemed she had surprised him, guessing by his raised hackles and the overall aloof air about him. Euphemia stood with her stance strong, lip daring to lift over fanged ivories at what she perceived as cockiness. Shouldn’t someone who was doing wrong be quick to apologize, once they’ve been really and truly found out? Was he not sorry to be trespassing?

Euphemia narrowed her gaze into something prickly and indignant. She watched him silently. No, he didn’t seem to have any knowledge of his wrongdoing at all. It hadn’t occurred to her at all that, perhaps he was meant to be here – but the realization was dawning on her, even though he did not smell much of Dawnbreak and she had never seen him before this very moment.

Still, Euphemia did not want to trust him immediately. Who are you? What are you doing here? she questioned succinctly, hoping the answers would come easily and see this misunderstanding undone – or to see any wrongs, righted.

---

---

Her eyes shot knives at him as she stared at him as if he didn't belong. Surely he was allowed to be here but as a new member of the pack he truly didn't belong...

Who are you? What are you doing here? She asked him, and his responses were short and confused. Wolf...? He replied, his words ending in a question as he had yet to earn a name. I... I was hunting to fill the caches... The midnight purple man explained to her. The man towered over the unknown female, his eyes trailing along her short petite body as if drinking in her form and her coloration like a sponge. New and curious he was, so he simply just looked over her as if she were something he'd never seen before... As if a wolf was a new occurrence for him.

Who... are you...? He asked in return, his head cocking to the right, his expression was near blank, though curiosity poked out from underneath those mulberry eyes that now came to meet her eyes. His own searching hers for answers as if they would speak on their own. The wind blew a little, shifting his fur slightly under it's strength, he felt the push and pull as it danced along their coats.

---

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

Euphemia sniffed at the air between them, noting that he smelled sweet, earthy – like the lands after a heavy rain. He did not smell dissimilar to that of the environment that surrounded them at that moment. She caught a glimpse of his eyes, a deep purple that she almost mistook for black, before averting her gaze.

The maiden was put at ease in the way he had not immediately turned on her and became defensive. He acted as would anyone who was meant to be in the place they were found. Unassuming. Curious. Dutiful.

She no longer felt on edge, and her demeanor showed it. Her pelage laid itself flat, her ears flickered forward, and her gaze transformed into something that was more ironic than anything else. Filling the cache, huh? she said in her pseudo-interrogation, And why should I believe…. you? a cock of her head to the side punctuated her sentence. Another member might have been added to Dawnbreak's numbers while she wasn't looking.After all, it was very much like her sisters to accept everyone and anyone into the fold.

It was funny that he would ask after her name, all the while refusing to give his own. Well, i’m a wolf too, she quipped, daring to crack a smile. What a weirdo she had found.

---

---

The woman seemed to relax ever so slightly and questioned his actions. He didn't know what to say so he stayed silent, she asked why she should believe him and Wolf was nearly dumbfounded by the time the cock of her head came. How was he to answer this? How was he to explain anything?

I... He started and shifted his dark eyes to his front paws I don't know... He sighed, lids lowering to half point as he shrugged, his shoulders slouching after the movements.

Well I'm a wolf too... She quipped back after he had given his name and the man chuckled slightly, the sound like rocks grating against one another, That's... My name...? He tried to explain, a small smile had formed on his lips as he shifted his eyes back to the woman's.

He hadn't been given a proper name, just went with the first thing that had popped into his head when he'd awoken in the pile of snow, run over by the bulldozer of a woman Tiberii, so her playful jest hit home in his chest but he also found the humor in it as well.

You... Can call me whatever you like I... I don't have a proper name... He explained to her, blinking a couple times while the silence passed between them.

---

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

She felt bad for him, so clearly confused and befuddled about everything that was happening. She began to realize, quite quickly and intuitively, that he was one of the recently transported. One of the dearlty departed, having only just been wrested from their accustomed life and thrown into one of strangeness and obscurity. It was now a rather easy conclusion to come to, as everyone she came across had one of two origin stories: they had been born here (like she), or they had awoken.

Though she hadn’t met many of the latter group, being as secluded within Dawnbreak and her familiar ties as she was, she knew they were out there, and she knew they numbered many.

Her suspicions were immediately confirmed when he explained that Wolf was his name. Actually, it was more than that – he didn’t have a name. Like a baby, newborn and fresh and nameless. How strange. Euphemia hoped he wouldn’t feel judged, because it was strange, no? Is everything else just… blank, too? she easily assumed. He seemed quite oblivious, and Euphemia felt less and less certain that he was a member of Dawnbreak and not a stranger who had stumbled into their lands in a fugue state.

Still, he seemed quite harmless. If the worse he was going to do was manically fill the caches of a strange pack, then why not let the poor son of a bitch contribute. She felt bolstered by the fact that her pack was a call away, if it turned out she needed help. That security afforded her the ability to smile and softly give her own proper name. I’m Euphemia, the maiden explained simply, hoping it didn’t feel like she was trying to show off or anything.

---

---

How strange... She muttered, he shifted on his feet for a moment as she asked him a question about everything else in his mind. Yes... He nodded, trying to awaken something in his brain, anything that he could tell her, tell himself...

Harmless he was though, a big beast, something deep inside could be awoken if necessary but the man wouldn't harm a fly otherwise. She smiled and a wave of relief washed over his chilled insides, a sigh escaped his lips as she introduced herself. Nice to meet you Euphemia... The male smiled back.

He lowered his head slowly in a slight bow, a respectful gesture towards her and her position in the pack. He was merely a stranger wandering in strange lands, but they were lands that he could call home. I... I'm still learning my way around... I haven't found anything worthwhile... He explained sheepishly, a bashful smile creeping along his dark lips.

---

[she doesn't know that the world is turning just for her]

skill: [none]

---

She could perceive that he was feeling more relaxed at this point in their conversation. Her initial reaction to his presence hadn’t helped, of course, and now she felt somewhat about about antagonizing someone who had clearly been through much recent loss and was looking for a safe harbor. She attributed her brazen entrance to her subsequent nomination, and defeat, in the column election. She wanted to prove she could be brave, when everyone else thought Nottin was braver.

It was impossible to ignore the fact that Nottin himself had fought fires and bears in the name of Dawnbreak… and Euphemia, she had only slightly contested this “wolf.”

What he said next surprised her, though she easily surmised that he was talking about the availability of game to hunt. Still, the silver maiden took this opportunity to segue the conversation into something far more comfortable. Nothing worthwhile? she questioned ironically, turning up an ear. Is this mountain not worthwhile? This coveted valley? Her gaze glanced up to the spire, one of many, and then to the ground beneath them. The Vale provides everything we need. It made it almost too easy for her never to leave. Her family was here, her home, her food, her entire life.

Euphemia walked closer, wondering if the nervous man would allow her to approach. If so, she would gingerly place her paw over his. Rest now, she bade him, suddenly aware that whatever boon she had found in the Vale, he had likely lost something similar – even if he didn’t remember it, the loss still existed. Caches didn’t need to be filled now; Euphemia suspected they were already full enough.

Sometimes nothing worthwhile needs to be done.

---