Breakaway

Now that they'd deemed the mountains far too dangerous due to their non-wolf inhabitants, Cirrus had moved on to elsewhere. Rolling hills and fresh spring grass that seemed quite promising to them -- and hopefully no large cats around. They really didn't want to deal with cats, thanks. Cirrus actually was hungry at this point -- fleeing definitely brought an appetite -- so once they were done scouting they'd probably try again to find some sort of small prey. They wouldn't mind lingering around here if wolves were the only predators around and prey was as plentiful as the grasses suggested it might be, then they'd be fine. Probably.

From the peak of one of the hills, the most they saw were more distant, larger shapes of various prey that was well outside their comfort zone let alone beyond their solo abilities. Where those lived, so lived small stuff, right? Thus far, there wasn't anything moving around that struck them as much of a wolf-like shadow, but they could so easily be in the depression between sets of hills and out of vision. Yeah, they could live here if they had to. So far. They headed down the hill, nose down to search for scents of rodents, ears alert for the sound of anyone approaching, nervous of what had happened in the past.
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Thus far, things still were looking up. They'd found a worn little trail where the grass was bare that likely was worn in from one of the herds. It seemed fairly narrow, so perhaps deer? That or it was just rarely used. Either way meant that they would find it easier to move without getting whipped in the nose by taller grasses -- and maybe in the end it would lead to some destination, like a copse of trees or a creek or something. Their head was still low, sweeping for the scents as they continued downhill.

They'd almost started feeling good about the progress they'd made. There definitely were mice and stuff out here, they'd scented a few, so they figured they'd head to wherever the path went and then from there would settle down to hunt proper, until then they'd just learn the land a bit better. And then someone called. Their head whipped up that momentary almost-panicked search for who or what it was (who, in this case), before spotting a shadowy wolf not horrendously far away. They must have been on the far side of a hill when Cirrus was at the top then? Something like that.

But Cirrus made no attempt to approach, no attempt to run, and not even speaking a word. They just stood there, ears perked, alert and watching, with carefully measured indecision that would only be acted on when the other wolf clarified their intentions. Okay, they did give a singular wag of their tail to say that they were friendly (if the other wolf was) but after running into the tiger was going to be a bit more gunshy for a little bit just to be sure.
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They both seemed to have a similar vibe -- wary, but not aggressive -- which was fair enough. Cirrus considered themselves as the one that should be approached rather than the one doing the approaching, but that was probably their default setting. They were far too passive to be comfortable boldly striding up to strangers. They would have to at least have the idea that a particular pack was nice or something to even begin having that much backbone. They'd leave that up to the dark man and stand their own ground here as he approached, orange eyes watching him just in case there were any sign that Cirrus should flee. Again, the tiger had made them more cautious than previous.

They tried to pick up the man's scent to understand who all he was and who else might be with him. Nothing familiar, obviously, but there were some other scents there, but they were too far apart for Cirrus to really study them. Their ears tilted around again too, making sure that he was alone, and still Cirrus didn't hear anyone, so... Probably? A whuff. Cirrus' tail almost-wagged once again. Sort of a faint wave, but nothing too big and dramatic. Apparently not the type for frivolous introductions, as what they then said was concise, “Who are you?” They could have continued with another question or two from there, but that was a solid enough start -- even if Cirrus didn't give their own answer to it. Yet, at least.
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Their reply was short, again, “Cirrus,” as they had no fancy title or what-have-you. They were just Cirrus, and their family name likely didn't matter right now. If asked, sure, they'd mention it. That was all past now anyway. Cirrus seemed relatively unbothered by it all, inquisitive but slightly subdued, and though at the odd sound of the world around them -- a bird chirp, the wind, whatever -- an ear did tilt to listen to that, they didn't seem to be too twitchy and eager to run away nor expecting someone else to come over the rise. They seemed to be appropriately "in" the moment, or would be if Cirrus reflected on themselves about it.

They looped back to what the man said, wanting to confirm his name, “Sorry, was it... Medhjed?” His name didn't roll too easily off their tongue, but they gave it a fair attempt -- with a focused frown, trying to enunciate clearly but feeling fairly tongue-tied about it. They seemed fairly certain they'd said it wrong at least, as after that try, the frown faded instantly, ears pricking up curious for the correction he assumed would be coming. It was very foreign to them, and they hadn't had much experience with words or names beyond those they grew up with. They were definitely going to mess it up if it ever became important later unless they clarified it now.
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Definitely glad that RP is just written, the "I don't actually know how to say that" feature is great sometimes, rofl!

---

Cirrus tried again, slowing down on the second half of his name, “Medevyed...? Medvyed?” They were kinda close, but not entirely. It still sounded stilted, and wasn't quite right, but it was heaps better than their initial attempt. It still was a far different tone and conglomeration of letters than they were used to, and felt weird on their tongue. Still, they looked for approval that they'd at least made some progress on saying it right. Perhaps it was silly that they were trying hard when they very well might wander off and not see him again, but it was one of those things that had at least for the moment caught their interest so they would investigate. There was a very real chance they'd end up just wandering off again after, and not think any more of this moment or the man in a few days time.

As for their own name... “A kind of cloud. Like the thin, wispy ones I think.” They actually paused and looked up then looking up at the clouds above, trying to see if there were any to point at. Between the smattering of blue sky, at the moment, most of the ones they saw seemed to be more cumulus or stratus types. If there were any of their namesake clouds up there, they were pretty much hidden and would be too hard to point out, or so they decided. The chunkier clouds up there now were more likely to threaten a spring shower than to cooperate with the Cirrus wolf. They looked back down and shook their head -- they'd have to try again some other time.
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A slight nod, but it seemed Cirrus had taken the words at face value, “Makes sense. They are high up in the sky -- I am just not sure if you see them mostly on clear days because that's when they the most common or because that is just when they're easy to see.” A thoughtful cant of their head at the thought, but not too seriously. They knew that they didn't know everything out there. They could paint the world in broad strokes, but understood that there wasn't that level of detail that they would trust it was always the way they understood.

At the change in topic, they blinked in a way that suggested they weren't expecting that change in subject, but that lasted a mere second or two. “No, not nearby. Not any more.” A slight shrug. Cirrus didn't seem to be mourning the loss openly right now at least. They seemed to accept it at fact, and understood it wasn't one that they could do anything about. They were otherwise hard to read. Should they have been more distraught about it? Probably, but for whatever reason Cirrus didn't show it if they were feeling it.
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They were perfectly fine with there being no more said on the matter. It didn't concern them any more, they lived in the moment and that was all that was needed, honestly. But with that question, Cirrus had to think about it. That little, thoughtful frown again, “Exploring has been nice. Mostly. Learn about stuff. Find things. But that means I have to do everything, it does not matter if I like it.” They were very practical about it. “I am here, so I am doing ok.”

Then a pause, “Why?” It seemed like a pertinent question. There were plenty of other things that might be more interesting to talk about, but Cirrus wasn't exactly a pro about directing a conversation in any particular way -- this was about as good as they got. A singular question that was pretty open-ended, but it wasn't like they were oh so experienced at understanding every motive of an adult either. A tilt of their head, their quiet expression wondering if there was something they'd missed, but still otherwise unconcerned.
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No prob! I've had a crazy week or so, so it kind of lined up great time-wise, haha

---

It hadn't quite gotten them the response they wanted. Their brow furrowed slightly as Cirrus tried to search for a better way to express it. It was fair enough that  Medvjed also explored, but they also weren't sure what that otherwise meant for Cirrus themselves. They had considered themselves probably not worth the time to many, or at least perhaps that was the healthiest expectation rather than to demand strangers provide their every desire.

“But why ask me?” That was perhaps more clear. They figured an adult probably didn't care too much for what the younger wolves did, and they assumed that the adults likely weren't going to learn something knew from someone such as themselves... So, Cirrus had concluded asking such was more of a waste of time. What had they not seen? Perhaps it did make them somewhat suspicious (or perhaps "somewhat" was an understatement). Being inquisitive was in Cirrus' case a sign of caution, the setup for the preparation to seek sanctuary elsewhere if they needed to... Just in case. At least he wasn't a tiger.
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What he said was true, at least from Cirrus' perspective. They were indeed direct, and they did work to learn stuff that was important. However, they were of the opinion that wasn't such an uncommon thing -- perhaps they were just sheltered in that sense, or had a better view of what was probably the common wolf than what was actually true.

Cirrus, though, much like their namesake was perhaps a bit flighty -- not in the sense of scared off like a deer, but prone to wandering. They weren't one to stay just because staying was what was normal... After all, they were out here, weren't they? Despite not a word being said about what came before they were out there, they still didn't seem to find this all that unusual. They shrugged, a silent "I don't know" for now, “Why would there be better than other places? Traveling has been ok.” Mostly. The cat was still the lingering bad part. They watched Medvjed a bit more closely then, because that was a far more important question than some of the others. Perhaps it was foolish for them to think that traveling had been ok, perhaps they just had a far broader tolerance for the harshness of life than most did... But they still needed a reason to change their ways.
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It was likely that Cirrus' perspective, and thus expectations varied from many. Why was still clouded, of all the puns possible, but that was something that others would just have to deal with, including Medvjed, should Cirrus stick around.

“Perhaps I should,” was their thoughtful statement, but considering they hadn't left with it, it seemed they weren't going to act on it. Yet. The thing that stopped them was again the cat. It was so random and odd, from their view at least. Cirrus was young, but not a total fool. What if the cat followed them? They'd not mention it for now. “Do you teach things there?” They didn't expand on their reason for asking, or even what sort of things they might be looking for. They considered it their own personal business at this point. Their look was a little bit more serious though, so obviously something was afoot inside that skull of theirs.
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Sorry, I pretty much fell off the planet for a bit there. As such, no big rush getting back to me, I see you're away. <3

---

Priorities were fickle things. “Then that would be good. I would like to stay and learn things.” Perhaps it was odd that their first thought was not companionship but instead just learning, but at least they realized that was not a thing that they could do on their own. They understood that they were young, they understood that the world was the wild unknown, and yet that was not a thing that they feared. It was something they apparently had long accepted.

And now? They wouldn't promise to stay, but they would at least stop. There was a fine definition between the two. But whether it be a pause or a final destination, they again watched closely for the next step. For there had to be one. Nothing was simple, even if Cirrus seemed to act like their own motivations were.
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