The unpleasant frigid temperatures found within the reaches of Northern Alacritis had prompted Aesire to find a change of scenery as she continued to move south. The dappled lady had been slowly nursing herself back up to the confident femme she had been before Rainar had ruined it all. She was never going to let him or her father turned her against her beliefs again and if she ever saw them again, then you could bet there would be a mauling. The lady with the marbled fur of all sorts of shades and hues held her head up high as she marched on. She had been wandering no place in particular, but she was taking extra care to keep away from pack lands. Once, she had gotten close to the lands of a pack only to have to fight for her freedom when a high ranked wolf claimed her to be trespassing. It had been absurd and luckily she had maintained her freedom.


She often took her wandering times to do something productive. It didn't matter what it was, as long as it helped her in some physical, mental, or emotional way. She held her breathe for a second before reflecting upon the events that had thrown her life into complete turmoil. It was foolish of her to run off, yes, but the crime had been left unresolved and her father had not cared that she had almost been forcefully impregnated. The man who was to marry her was no man at all. He was a filthy piece of swine. She hated his guts, but she couldn't find herself to be truly mad at him. She could not honestly say that she hated him either. Part of her wanted to believe that he was just misguided but the kind of sin he had tried to commit, that was a sin from only the darkest of hearts.

Keeping a leisurely pace, Valentine followed the trail of a wounded ram. Normally he wouldn't give such a powerful creature a second thought, but this one was grievously injured. He'd spotted it from above, his eyes taking in the crimson trail it left and the painful way it moved. Quickly he'd pursued, getting as close as he dared to confirm his suspicions. When it was clear that the ram was indeed weakening, the brute set about running it into the ground. All he had to do was follow, his lingering presence would do all of the work. Before him, the ram stumbled. It moved with the jerking, mechanical movements of a creature whose mind wasn't totally there. Seizing the opportunity, Valentine surged forward. He closed the distance quickly, the ram not noticing the nearing predator until it was almost too late. It attempted to evading him, powerful hind limbs propelling it forward just as the brute sank his teeth into its left haunch. Despite its weakening state, the ram managed to jerk Valentine forward, nearly pulling him off his paws. It was in his best interest to let go, to wait until the creature was closer to the end, but with blood on his tongue and his heart pounding loudly in his ears, Valentine couldn't make himself let go. "Talk" "You" Think

Her mind was at peace as she reflected on whether or not she should be mad with her former best friend and her father. She was weighing the pros and cons of each idea but she couldn't find herself at a clear conclusion. There was always that murky cloud of doubt hanging within her head when it came to that particular topic. Her wanderings in both the mental and physical worlds were soon halted with the scent of blood filling the air around her. Aesire's ears perked up as her heart raced ever so faster. She narrowed her eyes as she swiftly moved to find the location of the blood. Perhaps there was a wounded wolf nearby but the femme doubted it because it didn't smell like the blood of a wolf. She slowly moved around the maw towards the water before seeing a man, just one brute, feasting upon a ram. There was no way he had taken that down by himself. What was the catch?


Her gait was slow and steady as she approached the wolf. She made her presence known with a smile and some words. "Quite an impressive takedown, it is a shame I missed it. I would love to know how one brute alone managed to take down the beast." Her inquiry was lightly put as she kept her distance. She couldn't remember how many times wolves got defensive over their prey, especially in the late fall stages when it was so close to winter. The herds would be migrating soon. "I understand it is your kill, but would you mind me joining you on this fine day for this breathtaking sunset?" Her voice was soft and respectful. She had a certain feeling about him. It seemed like he was a proud creature at heart. Perhaps it was the fact that he was smart enough to take down a ram by himself, no matter how injured it had been, or something else, but she felt like he held power.

Bucking and kicking weakly, the ram fought him every step of the way. Valentine dug in his heels and readjusted his grip, twisting his head from side to side to worsen the wound. The ram's blood began to paint to his features, staining his chin and cheeks a grim, pinkish hue. He continued his assault, biting and tearing away at the mountain goat's haunches, until it could run no more. At last it sank to the ground, panting heavily and thrashing in response to the merciless bites it was no longer able to fend off. The brute settled down to fill his stomach and soon, the combination of organ damage and blood loss spirited the ram into the Void. The approach of another drew the brute's attention away from his meal. Gore marred his countenance from chin to brow and for a moment he stood still, regarding the fae silently as he cleansed his lips of blood. In response to her words, Valentine shrugged, a wry grin lifting his features fractionally. "I'm afraid I can't take all of the credit. I think he fell off one of these cliffs before I got to him." "...would you mind me joining you..." came the query and the brute was quick to respond. "Not at all," he rumbled, motioning her forward with a jerk of his head. There was no way he'd be able to eat it all and it was quite a distance from the kill site to Imperium. Heh. He supposed he could go get the boy and have him haul it back with him. "Eat as much as you like." Manners... "Perhaps I could know your name? I'm Valentine." "Talk" "You" Think

The normally unperturbed and self-possessed girl had caught a slight
to edge to her when he turned with his gore covered maw to allow her to come closer. She dipped her head out of respect as she tried to wrap her head around the situation she thought she had under control. He offered her as much as the ram as she would like and she in turn took a decent sized bite. She was not burning with hunger. He greeted her with a name of Valentine and asked for her's in return. It was a fair trade so she spoke, blood soaking her muzzle in a similar fashion to his own display. "I'm Aesire." She said in a smooth and relaxed tone. "I'm just a longer lurking about to survive and forget is all. You smell of a pack. I do not know the area. What packs are in the area?" She asked in between bites of the ram.


She sent her lips flying over her muzzle to wipe some of the reddish hues away from the ivory maw that she possessed as she continued to eat the ram in a ladylike fashion. Part of her wanted to get a good look at him but she knew that her social order (established in her birth pack) would find that as disrespectful and rude. She tried to remain as nice as possible and so she fought the urge to examine him and pick at what his strengths and weaknesses might be. Her front paws were on the ground as her shoulder blades flexed slightly. She would occasionally flick her head to one side to give her neck a nice crack (like a knuckle crack) as she ate and waited for a response.

Aesire. A peculiar name, but then again, who was he to criticize? As the fae spoke, Valentine dug into the corpse, tearing piece after piece off in rapid succession. The brute was a bottomless pit; he could eat from dawn until dusk and still have enough of an appetite to carry him through the night. A couple of moments of silence followed Aesire's question as the brute chewed. It allowed him time to formulate an answer. It was still felt kind of odd to announce himself as an alpha. Finally, when his mouth was empty, the slate brute replied, "Let's see..." Time to put his lazy memory to use. "There's Ebony to the Northeast, Abaven to the East, Isokan to the West," He recited the names from memory, knowing little about the packs aside from their names; something he was going to have to remedy sometime soon. "And Imperium, my pack, to the Southwest." He intentionally failed to mention that it was his pack, not just his pack. "What brings you to these parts?" Teasing mildly, he said, "Besides, you know, surviving and forgetting?" "Talk" "You" Think

The man continued to feast upon the ram with an appetite that only a man would have. He swallowed the hunk of meat he had pulled from the ram before informing her about all of the packs in the area. There was Ebony and some others and then there was his pack, Imperium. She grinned, figuring that his pack just meant he was a member of the pack. He seemed too friendly to be a pack leader but that might be from her experience that she had all wrong. On the other hand, she had grown up with her father running the pack who had done nothing about the attempted rape of his own daughter. The images still burned in her mind but she remained cool and collected as he asked another question.


She thought about how to formulate her question carefully, knowing that the wrong words could make the whole encounter end badly. "I?ve been doing a lot I suppose. Apart from surviving and forgetting, I've been wandering, thinking and searching for something more. I just don?t know how to explain it. I?ve got so many goals that I don?t know where to start.? She stated as she thought about it, taking another mouthful of meat from the ram to chew with her powerful jaws. The ?warrior princess? was thinking about Imperium. Perhaps he could get her an in. Perhaps she should settle down in a pack until she could accomplish some of her goals. Eventually she?d bring the new and improved Kingfall to life, but that might be years away for her.

Her cryptic responses were making his curious, but he didn't want to pry. If this mysterious creature wished to enlighten him, she'd do it in her own time. His mind roved over what things she could be trying to forget while he ate. In response to her words he nodded. "I understand." He laughed, "I'm familiar with that feeling, believe it or not." Snagging another mouthful of meat, Valentine settled into thoughtful silence as he contemplated his next words. Could he give advice? He was certainly going to try. "I suppose, if I was in your place, I'd pick something versatile, something that furthers more than one goal and gives you options." Herbal knowledge, for example, was versatile, having applications that ranged from healing and mending to poisoning and destruction. "Talk" "You" Think

Apparently her mysterious response did not disinterest him from the topic of herself as he tried to give advice on the subject as to what she could do. It was crazy to believe, but she did believe him when he said that he knew where she was coming from. It was an irrational thought but he had been nice and honest to her so far so theoretically there was nothing to worry about. He suggested a versatile role and she thought about it. "I've got a wide range of skill sets. I know many things about healing and diplomacy but I prefer scouting out unknown lands to have time to myself to think. That kind of problem isn't quite what I was talking about." She reported back to him with honesty shrouding her in a protective cloak.


The femme tried her best to form the words she had thought about saying so many times before to so many others. "My past didn't support me in what I wanted to do, my goals are all things I want to do but I am having issues figuring out which one is more practical." It was the best way to explain her predicament to the Imperium wolf. "I suppose that finding a pack would be easier than the others I had in mind though, which was why I asked about packs." She started to explain a few of the goals that she had in mind as she started to wander back into thought. She wiped the blood that had soaked her maw from it and took another bite of the ram.

"Hmmm..." he rumbled thoughtfully. Pausing to gather his thoughts, the brute gently grabbed a section of skin and peeled it back, exposing the unblemished muscle below. Feeling fickle, he picked at the flesh, marring its surface with tiny nicks, but didn't commit to a bite. Part of him wished to recruit this unwitting creature to Imperium, to try and sell it to her as if his life depended on it...but that seemed ill fitting for the both of them. If Imperium didn't suit Aesire and Aesire didn't suit Imperium, then neither would benefit. With that thought in mind, he decided to leave the convincing up to her. "Perhaps I can help," he stated, crystal gaze seeking hers earnestly. "Of course, I know Imperium best, but maybe I can point you in the right direction, if you're really interested in the packs." He paused to eye the ram, "What are you looking for in a pack?" "Talk" "You" Think

His offer to help, given his knowledge of the packs in the area, was a godsend to her. She knew that in order to get her point across, she would have to explain herself to an extent and she was going to state that from the start. "In order to fully explain what I'm looking for, I need to reveal a few pieces of sensitive information and I have to trust that this will remain confidential." The words in themselves were almost a warning as she kept herself composed and she started to explain what was going on with her goals.


"I'm looking for a pack where no injustice is left unresolved. When I was in my home pack, there was an attempted rape and my father blew it off as nothing. It resulted in my leave because I wasn't safe. I want a pack without arranged relationships, where you can make your own choices about who to be friends with and who not to be. A pack with unity and respectfulness would be a pack for me and above all, a pack who doesn't take crap from any other pack. A pack who is strong and will not be stepped all over." She informed him and realized it was generally how the pack should run regardless of other rules.

"... I have to trust that this will remain confidential." His head rose, the meal before him momentarily forgotten. "Of course." She had his undivided attention now and for once his need to crack jokes was thoroughly stifled. Her explanation briefly floored him, first in disbelief and then in outrage. His voice laced with conviction, Valentine said, "I can't promise it of the other packs, but I know for a fact such blatant disrespect for a packmate would not be simply brushed off in Imperium." No way, no how. It would be his pleasure to punish those convicted of such a crime against one of his members. "A pack that disregards the desires of its members is a pack destined to fail." The brute's whiskers twitched in agitation. He was more than a bit miffed that a leader could care so little for the well being of his members. "I must admit that I can't be completely unbiased in my opinion, but I think you should check out Imperium." "Talk" "You" Think

Valentine's outrage was what Aesire herself had felt at first but she was more into a state of denial at this point. He was floored by her words and his strong suggestion to join Imperium made her confident that it would be the right choice. "This wasn't just any pack member. This was his heir, the wolf who was to be married against her will to her attacker within a month and take the throne." Those words would probably throw him into outrage. It was blatant disrespect to do that to a member of the pack you ruled over but it was worse to allow that to happen to your own flesh and blood. She stared at the ground in front of her which was covered with what remained of the ram that Valentine had brought down.


Valentine's offer was the next thing she would talk about. "Imperium sounds like an amazing pack Valentine and I think I will check it out." She said her final words with an absolute certainty in her voice. Imperium it was thanks to her new friend.

The brute's soot tipped tail began to twitch; the action the only outward sign given that his temper was beginning to flare. Since becoming an alpha, Valentine had found himself becoming more and more protective. He wasn't one easily moved to anger, but the quickest way to push him to it was to was offend his defending instincts. That, and the injustice of a father indifferent to the heart of his child hit particularly close to home. The pieces began to come together. The father in question was her father and he, the alpha. Was she the heir? Or she a sister? Either way it explained why she had no longer felt safe there. Valentine's ears twitched. He wanted to say more on the subject but didn't want to risk alienating Aesire. "Imperium sounds like an amazing pack Valentine and I think I will check it out." Time for the reveal. Would she be angry with him? "I'm glad, although I must confess that I've lied by omission: Imperium is my pack." "Talk" "You" Think

The girl watched as he remained silent. Aesire was starting to worry that she had shared too much and so she gulped. When he finally looked as if he was ready to speak again, the words out of his mouth were a shock. Imperium was his pack? She had been talking to the alpha the entire time? Her jaw dropped as her mouth went flying open. "I must have just made a complete fool of myself." Her thoughts came aloud as she looked at him. The words she had just said were a whisper. "Imperium is your pack as in you lead it?" She had to clarify that it was what he meant. She needed to make sure for security sake.


She wasn't sure how to react but she didn't feel an ounce of hate or mistrust in the man. He hadn't told her the complete truth but he hadn't lied either. He was a wolf of Imperium. The fact that he was the alpha made things easier. "I suppose this makes things easier than having to explain all of this to another wolf." She said as a joke in shock of what had happened. Where were things to go from there? Her tone was soft and in a friendly manner rather than the regal one she had held before.

Her reaction was priceless and while he was inclined to be thoroughly amused by it, the neat and proper alpha side of him felt bad for embarrassing her. Nevertheless, his lips would twitch up in a bemused smirk as he watched her recover. "Not at all he," he said sincerely, "And yes, I do." Her next statement drew a laugh from him. "I suppose so." He was very aware of her tone changing. It was odd, the divide that grew between him and whoever he was talking to when they discovered who he was. The respect was not unwelcome, but sometimes he wondered if it was worth the loss of camaraderie. He cleared his throat. If they were going to talk about pack things then he may as well slip fully into the role. "Tell me, if you are serious about considering Imperium, what rank would you be interested in?" "Talk" "You" Think

The girl watched as he became amused at the fact that she was so shocked. She should have seen the signs but he seemed so normal. No, she was going to treat him like any other wolf. "Well, I'd like a high rank eventually but obviously as a new wolf to Imperium, if I am accepted, that would not be possible." She started off explaining things but left out why her need for power was so great since he already knew the story behind it. "I think I'd fit in nicely with a hunter rank but a rank as a healer would also benefit me and match me to my skill set." She was dead set on figuring everything out and getting it right. She had thought about her rank since he had suggested Imperium. No wonder he loved the pack so much... it was of his own creation.

He nodded to himself in response to her words. That sealed it then. If she decided to join the ranks of Imperium her starter rank would be that of Venatrix. "You'd be correct," he agreed, "But if you are serious about a higher rank I doubt it will take you long to get there." The brute licked his lips, smoothing his whiskers back in the process and cleansing them of blood. He was beginning to feel full, but that did nothing to ease his desire to keep eating. He had half a mind to request Aesire take the ram away from him lest he eat it all and double in weight. "Perhaps you would like to accompany me to Imperium? We can discuss the pack further and if you find that it is agreeable, you can make yourself at home, and if you don't, we can part ways." "Talk" "You" Think

The man seemed more than eager to get the show on the road as he asked for her company back to the lands he ruled over so they could discuss the pack more and she could make her final choice. She was confident that she was going to make the right choice and that she was going to be an Imperium wolf soon but she figured she should learn more about the pack before the final decision could be made. The mottled woman nodded with a hint of regality left in her that she tried to hide. She knew that her subconscious behaviors would have to change so she did not get in trouble for something like insubordination. It was going to be challenging and she enjoyed challenging.

She finished up her last bites of the ram and smiled at the leader in a friendly manner. "I think I'd enjoy you're company." She acknowledged her consent in words before rising to stand. It was a start of a new life that she hoped was to be a good one.