Creed had that itch to go exploring again. This time he wouldn't be traveling far, just to one of the territories outside the pack lands, as he didn't want to be too far away from the pack. Regulus had taken over the pack and both Surreal and Regulus seemed to be feeling better; but, regardless he wanted to make sure he was close by in case he was needed. It didn't mean he couldn't still have a little bit of fun while he wasn't busy. Of course some might not find the Moore a fun place, but to him it was a great adventure. He'd never actually seen an alligator before so he was rather hell bent on finding one. He didn't know what he'd do when he found it, but he was sure he'd figure it out. It was muddy and marshy and wet and everything about it was rather perfect. He didn't mind getting dirty at all and it felt a lot like being a yearling all over again. A grin rested on his muzzle as he trudged through the ankle deep water. Teal eyes flickered back and forth across the terrain as he kept an eye out. While he was enjoying his surroundings he wasn't foolish either. He knew there were dangers around here ranging from getting stuck in the bog, puma's, and then of course the so called alligators he'd heard a bit about. He didn't want to get close to one. He just wanted to see one. He traveled for a bit more before he finally decided to call it quits for a moment. Finding a relatively dry patch (it at least wasn't covered by water) he planted his rump to the ground and curled his tail around his right haunch. Ears flicked around as fog began to roll in thicker and his vision started to become unreliable. He probably should have went home, but there were adventures to be had. At least he hoped so. Walk, "Talk" Think

She was tired of getting wet, but luckily the season wasn't too terribly cold, and there were some areas of the west where it never seemed to rain. The desert was a good place to dry off and warm your bones, even in the winter. But it was time to explore some more, visit a place she'd never been before, and her paws brought her to this rather soggy place. And it seemed someone else was here, by the large paw prints left in the muck. What a curious place, although the footing was a little tricky. She had to be careful not to misplace a paw and dunk herself into the wetlands - she'd already learned the hard way that what looked like solid ground was not always so. It wasn't long before her underbelly was speckled in mud. A thick cloud of fog was rolling up off of the water, shrouding the lands as she stopped to watch the meandering mist. She wondered what sort of prey was to be found here - if there was anything good, she'd probably have to get soaked in order to catch it. Normally she wouldn't mind, but she wasn't up for it at the moment. She just wanted to check the place out, keep as dry as possible in the process, and then be on her way. Spotting something peculiar in the water, she squinted as she looked through the gray haze. In the still water, a bumpy log seemed to slowly sail along. Just another peculiar sight in this marshy land. As she watched the log floating on, she wondered where it had come from - it didn't seem there were many large trees here. And as it drifted closer to solid ground, it looked less and less like a log, and more like it could be an animal. Some weird, aquatic, leathery-skinned creature... frowning, Esa tried to look closer. Did it have eyes? It was definitely way too big to be a frog. Suddenly feeling a little unnerved, the ebony-coated woman slowly backed away from the water's edge, planting her paws on the marshy ground. She was glad she had backed away when the creature suddenly lunged, its massive jaws snapping and revealing horrible, jagged teeth. With a startled yelp, she sprang backwards, and watched as the massive, water-bound reptile surged forward. Her paws slipped in a mucky dip in the marshy ground, and she went splashing into the low pool. The alligator seemed to have lost sight of her for just a moment, but it lifted and tilted its head and her emerald eyes met the golden reptilian eyes, seeing its slit pupils. She flailed in the water and got to her paws, taking off as it began to waddle and slither toward her - she was grateful that it didn't appear as fast on land as in water but she wasn't taking any chances. How long would it follow her as she stumbled over the slippery, uneven ground? Were there more of the beasts lying wait? Fear rippled through her as she hoped to find someone else, and find a way out of this place - there was no way she was turning back and going the way she'd come. "Speak" "Listen" Think

Everything seemed eerily silent for the time being, at least from where he sat, as he sat and focused on the sounds around him. With his sight being limited he was content to let his ears and nose do all the work. It seemed like there was nothing interesting going on though as he could detect nothing of interest around him. It wasn't until her heard splashing that anything got his attention. It was coming from back near where he'd recently been. Curiosity got the better of him and Creed rose to his paws and trotted towards the sound while making sure he avoided the marshy areas. Last thing he wanted was to go home completely soaked. The yelp was what really got him moving faster. His pace picked up as the distressed sound rang out in the mists and Creed came across a very strange sight. There was a very scaly and leathery looking thing attacking... well a wolf by the looks of it. She'd slipped into the water and now all he could see was bits of fur surrounded by splashing water. Thankfully she seemed to be okay as she drug herself from the water. The creature attempted to follow her on land but it was clearly slowed. It lost interest as she moved farther on land and Creed put a note in the back of his mind to avoid the water from now on. Those didn't look like fun whatsoever. "Are ye alrigh'?" He asked worriedly, as his eyes slid over the other wolf to check for any noticeable injuries. For the most part she seemed fine, but that didn't mean that it hadn't managed to hurt her at all. Walk, "Talk" Think

"Are ye alrigh'?" Esarosa stopped in her tracks as she heard the voice, her head whipping around to find the source. With adrenaline still pumping through her veins, her eyesight was rushed, and she had difficult picking out the dark, smoky coated wolf's form through the fog. When her sight focused just enough, she finally spotted the man, and she bounded toward him quickly, stopping in front of him. He would help her right? As it registered in her mind what he had asked, she turned her head and looked toward her body - that creepy, toothy creature hadn't gotten her, had it? She flicked her tail into the air, and looked over her black coat. Everything looked intact. She sighed a deep breath and looked to the stranger. "I-I think I'm okay," she said in a flustered tone, "Do you live here? What are those.... animals?" She wondered if he knew anything about the aquatic predator that had attempted to snag her and drag her into the water. Still a little bit too flustered, she hadn't realized that he had pack scent on his coat, otherwise she would have recognized right away that he was from Celestial. "Speak" "Listen" Think

Teal eyes would shift to look past the female to make sure the creature wouldn't be returning. Content that it was actually gone and no longer interested in pursuing the girl on land, he then returned his gaze to the dark woman. She bounded right over to him seemingly finding him considerably safer than the alligator. He looked her over one more time assuring himself that she seemed okay and fully intact. She let out a sigh, seeming to relax slightly, and he relaxed a bit himself. Of course he was still keeping an eye out in case any more of them showed up, but it seemed alright for now. "I-I think I'm okay," ..."Do you live here? What are those.... animals?" He was glad she was okay, but he silently scoffed at the idea of living here. He'd have to be incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, crazy, or a mixture of all three to live here. He was pretty sure he wasn't any of those things. He sniffed, instantly picking up on the lack of pack scent on her coat, but she didn't smell of this place either. She clearly didn't live here. "Ah live in tha Vericona plains." He'd reassure her. There was no way in hell he'd live here. "Ah think tha' was an alligator. Ah've never seen one before." Walk, "Talk" Think

Once she had caught her breath and looked over herself, and allowed time to survey their surroundings for further dangers, she realized how close she had stopped by the male. Taking a deep breath, she backed away from him a bit. She had been much too spooked to be aware of how uncomfortably close she had gotten to the stranger. "S-sorry," she muttered, hoping he wouldn't be bothered by her abrupt approach. As he gave an answer to her question, did he live here, and responded by saying he lived in the Vericona Plains, she nodded in acknowledgement. Coming back to her senses, she realized indeed the scent that was obvious on his coat. A nervous chuckle escaped her - he was from Celestial, which meant he knew Miksa, or had known him... and he was also pack mates with Varda. Esarosa herself had never spoken to anyone about her fight with the woman, but she wondered if Varda had ever mentioned to a soul where she'd received her battle wounds... In fact, she'd never thought of it before, but she wondered if that was the reason Miksa had never come to meet her on the night they'd arranged. It was hard to focus on the man's words after the realization hit her. Several emotions flooded through her, none of which she could sort out. And certainly nothing that she was going to mention to the man in front of her. It wasn't like he'd done anything to her personally, but his relation to Celestial made her uneasy. She tried to sort her mind and piece together what she'd heard him say, finding it difficult to draw her mind away from the place it had just gone. "An alligator?" she replied quietly, blinking in confusion. She'd never heard of such a creature. But her first impression of them was certainly something she would remember, causing her hackles to spike as she looked over her shoulder. Then she looked back to the older brute, meeting his teal gaze. What was she supposed to say now? She wasn't sure if she should introduce herself, or just thank him and be on her way, so she stood in place awkwardly, indecisively. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go at the moment. "Speak" "Listen" Think

The woman finally seemed to realize how close she'd gotten to him, not that he'd minded it, and took a step back with an apology in her mouth. He shook her head, smiling reassuringly at her, as he tried to comfort her. He was not overly personal about his space and she'd had a good reason to invade it regardless. Anyone who had gotten that close to such a creature would surely be spooked and if she felt more comfortable in his shadow then he would allow it. Stranger or not. The woman seemed rather quiet but he couldn't tell if it was because of her ebbing fear or if she was just naturally so. An uneasy awkwardness had settled and Creed was desperately trying to think of a way to get rid of it. To his surprise she asked him about the alligator and he nodded. "Aye. They're mean and have lots of teeth, like tha thing ye jus' saw." He could have elaborated but he was pretty sure she'd gotten the gist of it when she'd come face to face with it. Instead he decided to do something he hadn't done. "By tha way Ah'm Creed. It's nice ta mee' ye." Walk, "Talk" Think

Since she was indecisive, she was glad when the man filled in the awkward silence. In response to her inquiry about alligators, he would tell her that they were mean creatures, and obviously as she'd just seen, they had a lot of nasty teeth. And it could just be the fear in her mind exaggerting things, but they looked pretty damned big, not something that even the largest of wolves could compete with in a one-to-one fight. There wasn't really much more to be said about them. Obviously they were dangerous, and something to avoid at all costs. Well, she certainly wouldn't be coming back here, that was for sure. As the man then introduced himself, her ears flicked nervously. She supposed she should return the pleasantry and give her name as well - she just hoped that word hadn't gotten around about her fight with Varda. Although it was some time ago... it still might be something that caused upset. "Very nice to meet you Creed," she said in a soft tone, drawing things out and trying to be as pleasant as possible, "My name's Esarosa... I used to be in Argead, but that's a thing of the past..." Oh god she hoped her name wasn't known. Creed seemed like a decent guy. But she feared he might just throw her back at that alligator if he knew she'd hurt one of his pack mates. "Do you know your way out of here?" she asked, trying to skip past her feelings of dread - maybe she was just worrying for no reason and being silly. "Speak" "Listen" Think