Clear skies and cloudy eyes

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Storm-grey eyes blinked open to greet the shadowed night. Little Helva slept curled into a ball. All of her pieces tucked tightly in place. Something had awoken the ash-speckled pup from her gentle slumber. Forgotten dreams of another life. A fervent wish for the impossible. Raising her scruffy head to peer out at the gloom. The moon reached across a starry sky, a mirror to her own coat. Stretching, she yawned. The night was yet young. It was the time for little pups to sleep and regain their energy for another day's adventures. But Helva had other plans.
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Throwing a cursory glance around, she trotted casually past the other sleeping zeroes. She didn't know if any patrols ran at this time of night, but she didn't suspect they did. Pushing through the undergrowth, she exited the den of the zeroes and entered the main den site. Adult wolves lounged in various areas. A few still remained awake at this hour, but cared little to pay attention to the wanderings of a small pup. The snowy zero peered across the river that separated the main dens from that of the highest ranked wolves: the Suit and her Aces. Her parents rested in that unreachable place. She wondered briefly if she might someday reach that place. Helva shook her head roughly, banishing the thoughts from her mind. To do that meant to become Ace or Suit. It would be treason.
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Turning around, she trotted out of the dens into the greater territory. Breaking through the tree line, she studied the glistening, yellow moon handing in the sky. A faint smile graced her features. It was a fine night to stroll the Sanzin' vast plains. Studying the plains, a faint glint caught her interests. As she neared, it became clear what the source was. The moon's light reflected off the surface of a small pool of water. A surprising find, but a welcome one.
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Helva's advance slowed as she neared, stopping altogether when she arrived. The grey-eyed one thought herself alone, but was soon proved wrong in her assumption. A shadowy figure formed out of the still night. Small and, surprisingly, covered in mud. A foreigner and an unknown. Helva was loath to approach the other party. She hadn't come out here for trouble. By all appearances, the figure was asleep, she could leave now and pretend she never saw them. But she'd come all this way, it would be a waste to leave now. Studying the shadow, they didn't look like much of a threat. As long as things didn't dissolve into a fight, she didn't mind the company. "Who are you?" she called into the night, breaking the steady silence, "What are you doing here?"

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Irritation. Annoyance. Neither emotions were unfamiliar. Everything was always a little tense in the Sanzin. When infighting and insults were commonplace, one developed a thick skin. Helva's expression was unaffected by the forceful jibe. If this rascal wanted to get a rise out of her, they'd need to try harder than that. Settling in place, she waited for the interloper to answer her. It wasn't entirely unexpected if they didn't. Helva was used to the uncooperative.
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The snowy Sanzin was unmoved by the needles coming off the other wolf. They had answered half of her questions at least. Why they would chose to sleep in the territory of the most violent pack in the lands though, that was a mystery. If they didn't know, that was a different case. She didn't think anyone who knew of the Sanzin' reputation would willingly chose to bed here. "Alright," she said, "I won't tell." Good luck to them if someone less accommodating finds them.
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Whoever this was did have some courage or maybe recklessness with how comfortable they were making themselves. "But," she added, "Only if you tell me who you are." There'd been a rather large number of uninvited guests recently. All of them young. She couldn't help but wonder if they were all connected somehow. A bunch of unwanted pups with no one to watch or care for them. Here she was thinking only the Sanzin were so cold.