The Lady of the Basin was used to early mornings, long dawn hours where everything held itself in precarious balance. Quiet, soft, if a moment in time could be described in such ways. The Basin was a land of hidden colors, for though the snow was bloodless and reflective, it did not cover all. She moved across it, a vision of beauty and dawnlight herself, sighing softly into the crisp air. Tallsun may have melted snow across their land, eased ice from their bones and the barren expanse of the outer fields, but the North would always clasp her in its chilled clutches. She owed her early wanderings to her companion, mostly. Alice hunted in the twilight hours, when the royal purple of her coat and the thick rolling smoke could not give her away as easily. Hotaru could never sleep with her so far, a lifetime of loneliness and emptiness eased by Alice's companionship that returned with a vengeance when the bond strained and softened until she could not feel her close and safe any longer. The horrifying time of silence when Ampere had - unknown to them, for their vengeance would have been swift - cut the bond between them, had left Hotaru rocked and unsteady for days after. She wouldn't admit to herself the lingering weakness in her bones, the affection she'd been starved of, had purposefully kept herself from. 

Stop, Alice bid her softly, eyes hell black but still somehow retaining their warmth in the pale light creasing over the mountainside and spilling into the valley. Over, no more. Her speech grew steadily over the seasons, but it still thrilled Hotaru to hear her speaking in her head nonetheless. Easing her loneliness more and more. "Okay," she murmured softly into the silence, realizing they'd both stalled and frozen in their tracks. Alice whuffed softly, the sensation of her eyes rolling a peculiar wave down Hotaru's mind, and the soft shush of her paws disappearing into the snow commenced once more. 

They continued on that way. Hotaru trailed a respectable distance away from Alice, following the gentle pings she would send back and the shadowed pawprints in the snow. She'd rather not scare away any prey Alice was intent on finding, after all. Though she needn't have worried, she thought with amusement as Alice's wave of affronted emotion crested in her head. Because immediately after, she could feel Alice thrumming, everything narrowing and becoming more intense, the line between the pair blurring and thinning as Alice's emotions grew stronger in her concentration. Hotaru could feel the breaking point, the snap where Alice streaked across the snow towards her prey, heard the distant, faint cry of a hare. Felt blood across her tongue, a phantom memory, a sensation that didn't belong to her. Alice's smugness. No faith, she huffed in Hotaru's head, and the Lady threw her head back in a cascade of ivory tresses and laughed into the morning light. 

They trailed onward along the borders. Now that Hotaru was awake, there was no way she'd be getting back to sleep anytime soon, might as well start the early rounds while her soldiers caught a few more seconds of sleep. Alice returned to her side eventually, bloodied all the way to the top of her chest, licking her chops and beetle black eyes glinting. Hotaru was sure the remains of her meal were buried somewhere, to be returned to at a later date. Rolling her eyes at the waves of satisfaction coming off Alice, the pair continued, their paces syncing up as they always did. Until, past the stink of iron and death, Alice caught wind of the pair on the borders. Growling softly, she brushed against Hotaru's foreleg as they walked, halting her in a moment. Stay, she ordered, and Hotaru frowned but obeyed as Alice went loping off to check it out. Tangere was a ghost to them, with how often she had come and gone, and though the scent was familiar Hotaru had not seen her in ages. Only when Alice peered down at the two and decided they were safe did the distant call twinge across her mind once more. Come, new pack. 

Hotaru cantered towards them, making up for lost time to join Alice at the crest of the hill. The abnormally warm wind played with her icy tresses, standing regal and silent as they made their way towards her. Alice, unbothered by her bloodied appearance, sat proudly obedient at Hotaru's left foreleg as she always did. Fur brushing against the Lady's skin. As they came closer, Hotaru cast a smile towards Tangere, warm and elegant. Refined, but not showing weakness in the form of relationships to the newcomer. "Welcome to the Aurora Basin," she directed to the golden newcomer, bicolored eyes drifting towards her to settle on her frame. "I am Lady of this land. You may call me Hotaru." Brief twitch of her smile brought her lips higher, a picture of composure as she welcomed the hopeful new member of her herd. "What brings you here?" To which she cast an inquisitive look to Tangere as well, if the lady cared to share what news she knew from recruiting the lass in the Threshold.