gold is little comfort

After a morning patrol, checking the cache and doing what needed to be done in Greenwood... Bran walked toward the Watering Hole. He knew the location well enough by now so it was little hassle on his part. He looked across the lake, eyes neutral but alert. If anything moved, he glanced over at it. Deeming it no threat. Continued on.

In the shadows of the Mountains and the Desert at their back, the Plains were stuck. Temperate was below, with the Tundra peeking over the rim of the shadowy peaks. Eventually, he'd visit the sandy location. He had gone to all others. But he had little desire to unless he craved the touch of heat on his fur. Autumn would give way to winter eventually. This location did not give many shelters

Angling his body back after drinking deep from the waves, he stalked along the lake's south side. Going back to Greenwood. He only paused when he caught a glimpse of something in the grass. Approaching, he saw a bone bleached to stark ivory. A skull of some kind. Too small to be a wolf's. Absorbed with wondering what species it was, he didn't notice the other. Not right away.

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She opens her eyes. 

Eventually. It's a slow process, her brain realizing it's working and awake again, on top of Fate noticing she can move. She can feel the grass underneath her body. 

Blues finally get a glimpse of the new lands in front of her eyes. There's a river leading to the waters in front of her. This is not where she died, nor where she lived. Is this the afterlife? Fate never believed in such a thing, but perhaps some of her family did. Or maybe she was so unlucky that she somehow was swept from the ocean to this new place - unrealistic. The water does not smell salty. It's inconsistent. Fate wonders if she could fall asleep and the land will change again, maybe she's just having an odd dream. 

So she closes her eyes, but sleep never comes. 

Instead the sound of a stranger seeps into her ears nearby - it takes a couple tries for her to get standing. Her fur is soaked, salty - unusual. She feels like she just got out of a bath. It makes sense, but it doesn't at the same time. Reminiscent of a time before. Fate seeks out the sounds of the stranger, and decides to call out. 

"Hello?" Soft, confused. 

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"Did you just wake?"

He had stared at her neutrally after she announced herself. Her fur smelt like the sea. It is soaked. But the Watering Hole is fresh with water. Perhaps she drowned, slipping into the boundaries of another world before fully perishing. So, hence, he asked her. Not bluntly, but straight to the point. He recalls his conversation with natives and foreigners.

He turns away from the bleached skull. Bran no longer glances at her out of the corner of his golden eyes. He faced her head-on, keeping his distance. Unaware but having a guess. Yes, she just 'woke up'. It was quite obvious indeed. The man said nothing else. He did not wish to overwhelm her with information. Not unless she asked. Even then... He didn't know much himself.

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Perhaps she is in the afterlife. 

It sears through her brain and ends in her lungs. If that is the case, Fate does not deserve an afterlife such as this one. 

"I have. Is that common here?" Straight to the point, no use in thinking. 

It seems like this man knows something of what happens here. Fate is a little bit afraid to know what her future will look like - if she has one here. Maybe she'll be swept away to her greatest nightmare, but then again, she's already lived through that once. Once is enough, or will she be stranded to watch it again and again? Shunning the idea of an afterlife is the better idea, so Fate takes it. Locks these thoughts in a dark box in the back of her head. She will not think of this now. 

The stranger looks like a normal wolf. The area smells heavily of wolf, like she's been summoned to a place coated in them once again. She hopes she hasn't been dropped in the middle of a pack territory.

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"Yes," He gives a nod "unless born here, you had come here." From away. From another world, realm, slipping into the next. Bran let that sink into her being, allowing her the respite to process it. She did not seem very disturbed, so he could only assume she was sane of mind. But for how long?

Wolves oft grew aggressive when faced with the unknown. Or even answers that did not please them. "I have come here as well." He added after a soft beat, pawing absently at the skull in the grass for something to do while they talked. Bran did not assume she would know anyone here either. She surely would have asked after them by now.

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She understands at least a little now. He is also from somewhere different, a common thing. Perhaps there will be less pain with a new location. There are no graves for her to visit, no more things to mourn over. Waking alive again is something that shouldn't happen, but Fate is sure she's really living again. She could figure it out later, once she really takes a look at everything going on. Maybe she can gather information about this from someone else, if she can find another open to explaining. 

"You smell like pack, there is many here?" After that information, maybe she should stop asking questions. 

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He nodded. "I belong to Greenwood" for now, he supposed. Bran had been wandering a bit and felt restless. Would Greenwood keep him? She didn't need to know this though "there is a lack of communities in the Plains, though I know the mountains to the west hold more." He was unaware of the feline 'pack' and would probably frown at the knowledge. Cats in packs... Strange.

"I know some exist below to the west too, in Temperate" he continues quietly "I cannot speak for the Desert" he glanced away, focusing on the location to his right in the near distance. The rolling gold sands and lack of vegetation was a turn off to him. Not to mention the heat.  "do you seek the protection of a community?" Some wolves belonged with packs. Some did not suit vagabond life. He could not find fault either way.

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