Alyssa thought for a second then responded, "I think I remember seeing a small herd of deer around the northern parts, and they might be moving west... but what about you Nova? Did you come across anything?"

"Yeah, I killed a caribou about five miles back that direction," Nova replied as she gestured to the direction from which she had come, "but other than that I haven't seen anything. You and your... um... friend, would probably have better luck scoping out the northern parts where Alyssa saw the deer."

"Yes, indeed," Alyssa added half hastily, "so I guess we better get going now; any other questions?"

"Well... it's not exactly a question more than it is an apology," Ash replied as he lowered his eyes, "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"No, actually I'm sorry. I was a little rude after all and I apologize if I may have offended you in the slightest." Alyssa responded hoping to cheer up Ash, "See you around, I geuss. C'mon Nova."

"Yeah... see ya..." Ash replied dismally as he watched Nova and Alyssa trot away.

A moment of silence ensued, during which Caleb studied his brother carefully, and when he saw the look in Ash's eyes, he knew why he was so upset.

"You liked that Nova chick, didn't you?" he inquired.

Ash sighed.

"No," he replied as he flattened his ears, "I mean... I don't know, Cal, but there was something about that fox that I've never seen in a woman before."

Caleb's eyes widened.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you've got the hots for a vixen?" he asked, then busted out into a fit of hysteria.

Unamused by his brother's mockery, Ash rose to his paws without a word and began to head off in the direction that Alyssa had instructed them to go. Caleb regained control of his laugher and realized that he was alone.

"Ash, wait," he called as he trotted up beside him, "Ash, I'm sorry," he apologized as he got up next to him, but Ash continued to ignore him, "it's hard as hell to figure, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and if your heart belongs to a vixen, it's none of my concern."

Nova followed Alyssa a short distance in silence before she addressed her new fox friend on the recent situation, "Okay, I don't know exactly what happened back there, but that was an odd encounter," she told Alyssa.

"Yeah, he did seem bit off, but come to think of it though, he also looked kinda cute, y'know those black spots and all."

Nova lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?" she asked Alyssa playfully, "do I sense a certain fox with a little wolf crush?"

"Pfft, noo," Alyssa blushed, "I just think he's cute. Nothing more."

The girls finally reached the river and Alyssa quickly dove in. Nova stood on the bank and waited for her to resurface.

"You're crazy!" she laughed from the bank, "Do you have any idea how cold it is?"

"Eh, doesn't really bother me," the wet vixen retorted, "C'mon get in ya chicken."

Seeing that the reluctant wolf couldn't be suaded Alyssa stared at Nova menacingly, and dove back under then, seconds later, without warning she shot up and splashed water on the unsuspecting wolf whilst she sat on the river bank.

"Ack! Hey!" Nova cried as the frigid water soaked her fur. She then turned down to Alyssa, who laughed as she swam away, "You're gonna get it now, foxy." she said seriously then jumped into the water after her.

"Catch me if you can." The fox replied mischievously

Nova resurfaced and turned to see Alyssa paddling away from her, so she scowled determinedly and set off after her. She was never really a fan of being in the water, especially when it was this cold, but she was still a strong swimmer, so she began to catch up to the fox quickly. Alyssa dove under once again and this time she tugged at Nova's leg causing her to sink just below the surface of the water. Nova gasped as she felt herself get pulled under then she resurfaced again and splashed a wall of water at Alyssa.

The fox laughed and began chuckling to herself, "Ha, you know, you remind me of my sister."

"Your sister?" Nova asked her.

"Yeah, her name is Allena, and she's a wolf just like you." Alyssa assured.

Nova nodded, intrigued. "That's cool," she replied, "so did your family adopt her, or is she your sister by blood?"

"She's my sister by blood, our father was an arctic wolf. I also have two brothers one is named Clark, he is also a wolf; the other is Michael, and he's basically a hybrid."

"Wow, that's really cool!" Nova replied, "I had always thought one day we could see past outer appearances, and that different species would be able to mate. I never imagined I would actually meet somebody who came from such circumstances," Her smile then faded as she realized something, "but... where are they and why are you out here all alone?"

"Well, I felt it was time to leave the den, and strike out on my own y'know? My sister is married and with her mate here in Jasper, my brothers are somewhere around the western regions and mother is still at my home. I promised I would return to her, but as for my father, well he died some time ago," Alyssa explained, then sighed, "The kind of relationship my mother and father had wasn't exactly in the 'norm,' which probably explains why most packs denied to accept us, but they loved each other and love is a beautiful thing."

With that, the two crawled out of the shallow cool depths of the river. Nova instantly shook dry upon emerging onto the bank, sat down, and began to shiver.

"Love transcends all differences," she said with a smile as she lifted her eyes to Alyssa, "your parents sound really great."