[ P ] what's life without a little fun?

It hadn't taken too long for Mirabella to recognize the pattern of movement across the land: she watched wolves travel north, only to return south with several new followers. Although Mirabella, as sheltered as she was in those moments, didn't quite understand the exact nature of the travelers, she had started to piece together some kind of narrative. Those from the north, at least to Mirabella, always seemed to appear in need of aid of some kind, be they injured or just scraggly, for lack of a better word. Having kept a low profile and not venturing too close to major hubs of activity (she didn't want to give away her whereabouts so soon, after all!), she'd missed much of the news about the surrounding region. Be it luck or otherwise, she'd not encountered any remnants of battles or those that had suffered them.

However, she had certainly encountered the persistent heat that had seemingly settled in over the region. In fact, it had been the heat that had made her so willing to simply wait about so idly, watching the coming and going of strangers from afar - it kept her mind occupied enough to not give into foolishness. Though her paws itched to get a move on, she had found herself a relatively pleasant grove in which to call her makeshift home, with just enough shade to retreat into and a single, sad puddle in which to indulge her thirst from time to time. I should have waited until autumn, she often berated herself with, though she soon dismissed the thought when she reminded herself about early snow, or about how by then, her family might have found some way to make her stay put. Better to go thirsty than to be tied down to a single place like that!

Eventually, her little puddle had become little more than a muddy scrape in the ground. By that point, she'd also grown frustrated (or rather, bored and curious) enough to descend from her hideout and traipse towards the well-worn paths she'd been watching for the last few days. Tongue out, ears back, and her usual bouncy stride reduced to one more akin to a swaying waltz, Mirabella could easily have passed for one of the many scraggly wolves being escorted south. Her eyes, however, spoke otherwise, for they still glistened with a naive kind of eagerness as she waded through the heat, sniffing hopefully any time she found a group of pawprints. Perhaps they'd lead her to a new watering hole! Or some proper shade - a thought that made her huff as she sun rose higher and she tried to find refuge in the sparse, browned shrubs that lined the paths.

And so there, she'd be found by any passerby with a keen eye: Mirabella bundled up in the shrubs, laying flat, paws flexed and face bearing an expression that verged on wholly unimpressed. She should have stayed in her grove, but no, she just had to give in to her curiosity, didn't she?

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@Vedette

Heat scoured the earth. Brown patches of dirt cracked and open; waiting for drops of water so grass could regrow in most of Edinsburgh's rolling hills. It was someone unnerving to see it like this. She could feel it in the long stares other cadets would hold; as if the green would suddenly return to them and this disaster would be over with. It should affect her. To see the Lowlands like this. What made up her home back before she joined the Army. Regardless, Vedette's firm lips stayed firm, even when she spoke. "C'mon, there are groups to take." She would inform them. Some were even older than her, but she carried the weight of knowledge on her shoulders. Dark circles underneath her eyes and a worn pelt. She looks about two years older than she really is. All of them move, being engaged with the task at hand once Vedette's baritone voice had reached them. She nods a few off to one of the remaining groups of Lowlanders that needed to be taken to the Mainland. This was her specialty, after all. Protecting those from natural disasters, instated in the Army for one purpose only. Even if at other times she served as a sentry, if there were no other tasks to be deemed with.

Not long after, she waves a few cadets off to help a group. It is only her left. There were a few stubborn Lowlanders that stuck to their roots and wove off the soldiers as if they were overreacting. Vedette's orange gaze stayed glued to a few of their homes as the group of refugees disappear into the distance. She took a deep breath, and headed to follow up behind them, before something caught her eye. Some barren bushes shaded half of a wolf; as if being shaded from the heat. Vedette scanned the wolf and could tell from the small distance between them it was a female. A scent in the air followed by a hint of cinnamon and cloves. Her nose twitched but took a few steps closer, rounding the bush to see the girl's face. Around Vedette's side was a gourd she had been carrying around, filled with what water they had back in the Mainlands. "Are you in need of some assistance? The refugee groups are leaving now. You won't be able to hole up here for much longer." She declared, simply being matter-of-fact. It was easier for her to be to the point, especially when doing her job of keeping others safe.

@Mirabella

There had been others on the road, she was sure, but she hadn't the energy - at least, at that point - to pay them much mind. The moment she'd found a place in which to rest, it felt as if all the energy in her body had drained out of her paws and returned to the earth. As much as she wanted to be excited... Well, it just didn't happen the way she'd hoped. Instead, she laid there and listened to what she thought had been faint voices in the distance, trying to decipher them but not really with a distinct effort. Idle, tired. It was a wholly uncharacteristic way for her to feel, and that frustrated her.

There was movement nearby though, much closer than the others had been. It was enough to make Mirabella lift her head, swivelling about to find the source of movement just as the stranger's scent reached her. Familiar in a way, Mirabella could not help think, with a certain flavour to it...A flavour that made her heart form a fist for but a moment as she thought of her siblings. Of course, she didn't let that feeling or the thought that accompanied it last long, although she hadn't much a choice anyway -- suddenly, Vedette had rounded the corner and met her.

"Refugees?" She blinked, not sure about what was more surprising: the way Vedette had addressed her so bluntly, or the message she'd conveyed. The question had come out of her without her meaning it to, but the word had struck her as so odd. Refugees? She'd heard whisperings of unrest and what have you, but why would there be refugees? And - more importantly! - why couldn't she hole up here, as Vedette had put it?

"Are you telling me to leave?" She frowned, but her voice was not unkind. If anything, it gave away her youth, her naivety. Whatever it was that Vedette had meant, the idea that Mirabella was being chased out of no-man's land had been enough to send a surge of energy back through her, and she rose to her paws in an effort to look a little more dignified. She swayed, the heat having caught her off guard for a moment, but did her best to straighten up, chest out slightly. It wasn't that the term refugee was offensive, not entirely at least, but it still felt... wrong to be placed under their banner. Did she look that lost? That hopeless?

Did she look that in need of help?

Now, that was offensive! Mirabella didn't need help. She looked Vedette squarely in the face, though she had to swallow her nerves when face-to-face with somebody who looked legitimately hardened and life-worn. "Perhaps it is you in need of assistance? You look..." She paused, took a moment to take Vedette in properly... "Tired. Perhaps you need to rest here in the shade." All the while, Mirabella found herself wondering: was there danger nearby that had made the refugees? She gave a small glance up and down the path behind Vedette, but otherwise tried her damnedest to assert herself as anything other than a helpless traveler.

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@Vedette