〔❁〕I just want somebody near me

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An AW for Stormrift members, but specifically seeking @Aruna!

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The girl couldn't help but drift from the shores that morning. Having marked enough of the boarders for that day, and was confident that with a few weeks their lands would begin to stabilize. With a comfortable distance away from crowding packs -- per @Taro's advice -- and the island's contrast in weather patterns, the crane felt the pack would be secure enough all throughout winter. The only concern would be finding out what to hunt, and with that she would need to start studying the island's Flora and fauna soon.

She rembered a place nestled within the mountain's crevices, where foaming clouds overtook it like the gates of heaven. A scarred winterwald woman who she'd awkwardly met within it's hold -- having been abandoned by then. At least that's what Izumi had thought before inching closer...

She stopped several yards from what appeared to be freshly marked boarders, and stood a alarmed at the realization that she was quite close to stepping on the boarders of a forming pack. Not too many bodies, the crane could tell with a few twitches of her wet nose, but one could never be too sure.

Her head merely craned forward to continue a collection of scents, but never wandering closer out of a natural caution....

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the staff team luvs u

The wind cooed through the broken space, and the coming of the final season was quick to carry through the domain. Winter's breath crept up her neck like a witch's hymn, but the feeling was welcome. The sun had already begun a slow recline from the sky, leaving a dimming light in the vale.

The shadows had reclaimed the land, submerging Aruna into darkness. Even against the snow's shade of blue, an ebony pelt stuck out among the evergreen forest. The woodland was silent, a broken wind rattling against clusters of frost-covered firs.

Aruna peeked along the borders, ambling through the stretch of marked territory. A familiar figure of glacier white and ashen accents. The memory was vague, dormant in her mind until now. Once, the woman had joined her on a clifftop, sitting in to watch the stars dance among the sky. She was kind, despite the stranger's stepping on Aruna's tail.

"Izumi." She called, voice stony as she lengthened her stride to a steady trot. "— We meet again, it seems."

the staff team luvs u

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As she stood there, frozen in time within an endless crest of fog, a silhouette of movement could be seen slithering right out of the terrestrial clouds. An attentive sharpness in her now forwarded gaze, Izumi's heart raced within her chest at the sight of it -- of course the dame had expected someone to emerge, but had been caught of guard and suprised at the timing. She was already picturing how the confrontation might go down -- of whether it will become a neutral or possibly negative one...prepared, but,

The pair of frosty blue eyes that materialized from the depths looked strikingly farmiliar -- and in finally recognizing them, her gaze would soften, and her stance less guarded. “....Aruna?”

Yes, the Aruna she had met upon that mountain top to watch stars with long ago, during a time where things were a little more lonely and less bustling with life than it is now. Her company was randomized by fate, but appreciated and even enjoyed, nonetheless.

In flowy, dainty pawsteps, the cranebird would trot over to the silvered valkyrie and stop to dip her head in greeting. “It seems we meet again in a more favorable manner than the last time. I greet you.” the woman added a bit of dry humor into her words, refering to the akward way they had initially bumped into each other. She'd still felt a bit guilty for stepping on her tail, but maybe without such an introduction they wouldn't have crossed paths to begin with.

Quite for a bit, the cranebird had sniffed toward Aruna's hairs, before adding something that was hard to ignore. “When you and I had last met, the scent of a pack was quite lacking,” she said -- in trying to start a topic that piqued her curiosity.

“A lot has changed since then, hasn't it?”

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the staff team luvs u