Sleeping and waking, you find yourself still in the nightmare

@Cassian

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Sasha had a super good day today near the tundra's borders to the mountains. She huffed as she looked at the pile of rabbits by her side. For some odd reason they had all caught a case of the stupid today. Well not that she'd complain. Wait nevermind- she would complain indeed. How was she going to get all of these back to The Everfrost with all of these rabbits? She'd be making trips for hours and such a notion sounded more painful than nails to her.

She was trying to come with a shortcut. Maybe she could bury some of them and come back the next day and hope nothing else found them. While stump she decided to find a vantage point to secure the best route. She would spy a large wolf of earthly colors a little ways away heading wherever to nowhere. Maybe she could get his assistance or at least dump some of this food on him. There was the off chance he could be aggressive but Sasha honestly care less at this rate. If this was the way she found her end then so be it.

"Oiiiiii-" She would alert him to her presence as she slowly made her way to him. "Eyyy Mister...got a few moments?" She would ask as she drew closer with a slow yawn. She held the equivalent energy of a homeless man begging for change.

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His time with Doc had come to a small halt. He'd been looking for a slight respite, scouting out potential areas to stay for a few moments. So there he was. A babbling buffoon sniffing around the icy mossy ground. Did he have nothing better to do? Well, yes he did, but it smelt odd enough to him to warrant some inspection.

So there he was. A massive wolf with his head stuffed to the ground. He snuffed at grass, stone, and moss. His fresh charcoal nose twitched in snort intervals. He wasn't the best person to identify things via smell. He was much better at staring straight at things without a word. Hoping that the longer he stared the more he would learn. This never helped him, but he has yet to hear otherwise. Stubborn brat he was. When he wished to be.

Then a voice came. Breaking through the constant sniffs from his own self. A female voice it was. He'd heard an equal amount of those as to male, coming from amount of people, that is. Did he have a moment? He supposed he did. "Are you in need of assistance?" He opted to question first. it was a subconscious response from deep within him. He'd previously come to assume everyone wanted or needed something from him, and now as his comfortability with this land grew so did his old habits.
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She cocked her head at his words. Polite. Where she was from that usually meant someone was ready to stab your back. It was so quick though that she couldn't see any fault but an individual who must have had quite the routine. A yes man? Or something more? Well it wasn't her business albeit she wished to be nosy. "Hey Buddy, ol' pal ol buckaroo. Glad you offered." She started with as she walked over to him and patted his shoulder with her own, oddly bold. But when one felt like they had nothing to lose they could act however they wanted in society's dance.

"Say think about it-" She started with, breaking into a yawn before continuing. "I don't smell much on you, just a traveler huh? Well then are you hungry for a bite? That's right, I'm offering you a good meal, free of charge." She said, trying to pitch her usually deadpan voice, making it a somewhat adorable monotone note. She was hoping to light the load of rabbits if he ate some, maybe she could even weasel in some guilt tripping to him to get the stranger to help her carry some back home. The idea of less work was exciting for the chronically exhausted sloth.

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 Well that sure knocked him off guard. His ears perked up attentively as she bumped shoulders with him, speaking in terms of 'buddy' and 'pal'. It was almost annoying. He still did not want to tip of the strangers of his land so he cleared his throat slightly, allowing her to continue her little spiel of nonsense. He picked and chose the words he had to pay attention to. Every other little thing became a small buzz in his ears. She wanted his help with food of some sort. Well, he sure could go for a bite to eat he supposed.

 He felt like he was being pressured into some sale. Lots of loners used to do that. They'd corner you and in trade for a pair of antlers they'd give you a chunk of buffalo. Usually it was an unfair trade as the buffalo would come out smelling rotten and disgusting. Here since it was 'free of charge' he might as well just get what he deserves. Maybe. "Go on?" He egged her to continue. Giving a slightly intrigued look in her direction. He could encourage her to actually get somewhere, but he can imagine he'll be pushing her to get to the point for a bit.
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That's all she wanted, was for him to let her in. It reminded her of the old days, except this time she wasn't aiming for his jugular or friendship. A smirk appeared and she would toss her head in the direction she wanted them to go. If he would oblige she would talk as they walked, if not she would just sit there and start to get comfy, gradually slumping.

"Good attitude, ya see-well ya see. I am from a large and powerful pack." Lies, her pack was not that big, but she was on the stage now and ready to make it a cool story. "I'mma still a bit of a loner though. Don't like company, easier to control prey than others. I've hunted for years, pretty good at it y'know?" Now that wasn't a lie. "But I...even I..." She tried to pause for theatrics but her monotone voice ended up riding the emotion her words could hold. "Found myself at fault today from perfection. Hunted too many rabbits, I did. I am far away from home and only one wolf, I am." She would stare into the other at an uncomfortably close distance, silent as a fox. "It would waste too much time to bring them all back by myself. I rather pinch off some of the load to save me time. Nice of me, and easy for you, right?" She asked. Her deal wasn't truly bad, what was bad was her negligence to hard labor.

Before the poor guy could get a word in, she would be cutting him off once more. "The name is Sasha, Sasha Antonov, without the Antonov. Gimme a name, Stranger." She said and then yawned, does with the poor attempt at pip. Her spirit looking to fall as much as her voice in but an instant.

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 Good god was she quite the rambler. Every time he barely had the thought to open his mouth and respond it all was immediately covered up with her expansive story. So after the first two tries he just went dead silent, staring forth at her as he allowed her to finish. Which he thought was at the point where she finished the sentence "nice of me, and easy for you, right?"

 But no, that wasn't the end.

 She merely kept going, continuing her little spiel, although it wasn't as long as he thought it would have been. She wanted his name. Which he could easily give, if he wasn't cut off again.

 So Cassian waited. He allowed silence to flood the space between both of them. This was his chance at affirming that she was indeed finished with her speech of dramatics and tales.

 "My name is Cassian, of the Dinorah family." He assumed Antonov was her family name, so he offered his as well. Yet something came to him, like a small click in his head. Clarification. He could just imagine her now constantly calling him "well, Cassian of the Dinorah Family!" and so forth. "But there is no need to keep 'of the Dinorah family' within my name." Her addition of "without Antonov" felt like a nice little hint to him, so he took it.

 He made sure to keep his words as quick and smooshed together as she had to avoid interruption. She did it to him, so he will do it back. Cassian had been walking with her at this point, having done so when she initially instructed. He looked ahead, assessing where they were heading. "I will help you carry the rabbits, but you must tell me how far it is. I can not stray from the path for too long."
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