Félicien took a small breath of cool, crisp winter air as he took a look around the territory he’d found himself settled within. Redwood trees were the lone inhabitants of this nook during the season of winter, bare and lifeless until spring came back with it’s sweet breath to stir them back into existing. But for creatures of the flesh there was no dying and coming back, Féli knew. He could feel himself getting older too, getting closer to nine years of age with each passing season. He let out a soft chuckle, as though the thought amused him.

He’d seen a good amount of things in his life thus far. He’d never really felt the ache of loneliness either, having been a wayward wanderer for years. Just running into Zephyr and Mara here had brought a new warmth back to the monochrome wolf’s heart. Not that he was a light hearted soul in the first place. Still… it was nice being able to see some friends. Nice to know that they were still alive and making their way through this Hell.

Silvery-gray orbs turned towards a rustle in the bushes but the male didn’t stir. Judging by the size and sound it was likely a rabbit or something, hardly worth his attention right now when he wasn’t hungry. Head lowered onto his paws and ears perked upward, alert as ever as Félicien carefully tuned himself into his surroundings. Life now a days was quiet… hardly a care in the world anymore. He missed the days where action was more of thing… but the freedom to pick and choose what he did was a pleasing feeling.

Still… it’d do no good to get rusty. Perhaps… Perhaps he’d have to take a trip to the battlefield before long to make sure his skills were still usable. He hadn’t abandoned the thought yet that he’d die in battle… he certainly didn’t want to die by simply becoming part of the scenery around him in his sleep.

An ear flicked and Féli lifted his head.

Someone was approaching…

Part of her reason for coming here was to escape the mixed feelings that had worked themselves up back with that little incident with the scarred man. She figured getting the hell out of there would help, though it was hard to tell if she was getting very far from her troubles, especially with her legs on fire from the workout that was travel nowadays. Her stomach rumbled, another woe to add to the list. First the mental turmoil that left her head spinning so bad the laziest wolf in all the land was going on a freaking trip, then the icy cold, and now hunger was setting in. Stopping the venture south seemed appealing for a while, but that idea vanished from her mind when she caught a familiar scent on the wind.

Mara couldn't decide what she wanted to do more, turn around and run for the hills or go bounding over to her only friend and mentor. Tough call, surprisingly enough. She buried her face in the snow in hopes of cooling off but just ended up cold and no less frustrated. Deciding she not only had no where better to be but also would have to talk to the man at some point, the woman reluctantly wandered in his direction, taking her sweet time and dragging her feet the entire way. It wouldn't be hard to hear her thumping along through the woods.

She probably looked like crap. The confusion she felt about what happened had been eating at her. Going from being on the edge of wanting to tear someone to shreds to... well, ehm, the opposite... That made her skin crawl. Maybe it was too much alone time that had contributed to her unpredictable state. Honestly it was all leaving her feeling positively sick which was really irritating. Wordlessly she approached Félicien and sought to flop down near him, fire-bright eyes heavy with the stress of a kind of emotional and mental frustration she was far from accustomed to. A growling, grumbling sound left her throat as she struggled with what to say or do, curled up into a tight ball to try and block out the world along with her own self. How did you escape yourself? Or just the annoying stupid parts. Mara wasn't an affectionate creature. She wasn't nice, she wasn't fun or really all that enjoyable. All of that made her seeking any sort of comfort that much more surprising. Yet here she was. She felt too gross and weird to go brawl with someone till she felt better, so the next best thing seemed to be settling down beside someone familiar. Ugh, all she wanted was for this dumb upset stomach and these weird overwhelming and confusing feelings to go away. As soon as she felt remotely better she was going to go fight something, someone, anyone.

Whomever was on their way was not only taking their time, but seemed to be dragging their feet the entire way too. The old brute was patient though, waiting with silvery-gray eyes focused in the direction of the noise. What he wasn’t expecting was for the source to be Mara, let alone a Mara who bore such emotional frustration within her eyes. For a long moment the man was quiet, just watching her, examining the situation. He was hardly a cuddle bear… yet here the femme was, flopped down near him, obviously in need of some type of emotional comfort. Sure he felt a soft spot for Mara, especially like this but…

“Someone need maiming?” The man finally asked, a way of offering his help with whatever problem Mara was dealing with. There was another scent on her coat, though from what he could tell there didn’t seem to be any source of abnormal harm. Still… she didn’t look that great and was obviously hurting. Something about that had the monochrome man’s blood boiling. He knew Mara was a capable young woman, certainly able to look after herself… and seeing her like this brought up feelings within Feli that could have been better left unknown. He felt protective… almost like a father when he must guard his pups in a den from a predator.

There was no hiding the bit of anger that flashed deep within those silver-gray pools. Felicien was angry, yes, but he wouldn’t merely act on his own. Just as he respected Zephyr and would not act against Caelum without his say so the man wouldn’t go after anyone who hurt Mara without her word. But once that word was given it was final… and the mercenary would act without mercy or regret.

“...who is he? I can smell him on you.”

The heavy sigh that exited her lungs did nothing to lessen the building stress within her tense frame. At first she just flicked an ear to hear his words better, busy slowly digging herself into the snowy ground in the hopes that by disappearing she could make her mental distress disappear too. Sure it was childish, but she never claimed to be emotionally equipped to deal with her own feelings anyways so there. Eventually she just groaned out a frustrated, "No..." Pausing for a bit and then amending, "Maybe. I don't knooow."  She curled up tighter, her face a tense pout that threatened to turn into a snarl at any moment, not that he'd probably see it as she'd done a fine job of partially burying herself.

Popping her head up, she rested her chin on a lump of snow so she could look at Félicien, her eyes filled with the confusion and frustration, though she probably still wouldn't admit she was struggling. The first idea to come to mind was to play it off, just pretend nothing happened or something equally stupid, but then he asked that question and she felt her cheeks grow hot. Glancing away, Mara mumbled, "Well, I ehm, I can't really answer that to be perfectly honest." Of course he'd notice that, she never let anyone touch her unless it was fangs on flesh in an all out brawl. He wouldn't have been someone she respected if he was too daft to catch on to something like an out of place scent on her fur. In that line of thinking, maybe she was lucky she hadn't seen her brother in some time lest Féli take notice of his scent and start asking uncomfortable questions. Still she didn't make eye contact, even when she turned back to him and said, "I was in heat and..." shit, where did she even go from there? It was a pretty easy fill-in-the-blank kinda deal but she suddenly felt like she was explaining something absolutely mortifying to her parent... Yeah this was awkward. Letting her head fall back into the snow she groaned loudly. Mara wouldn't actually say it out loud, but the things she was doing and the sound of her frustrated grumbling and posture probably screamed the same line that ran through her head, "Féli what do I do?"

A long stretch of silence fell between her dramatic grumbling and flopping and when she would softly start to speak, head still partially planted in the snow, "Did I ever tell y- No, I didn't, do you want to hear what happened when it all went to shit?" The woman was referring to when the pack the both came from fell so quickly it was like she blinked and it was gone. A sudden and drastic change of subject, but frankly she wasn't sure she really wanted to talk about more recent events anymore.

Felicien listened to her, feeling his concern well up behind his stony expression. This… this wasn’t like Mara at all. His stomach clenched a bit, sensing how frustrated she was. He knew she was struggling with what was going on, even if she wouldn’t admit it, and hearing that she didn’t know the name… Goodness was she following a male who was like himself? A man who loved them and left them so to speak? Felicien’s ears flicked back as he continued to study his young protege… So he’d been in heat and, some nameless male and her had sex in some way or fashion… Mara wasn’t weak. Felicien doubted she’d been forced… but perhaps had made a foolish decision?

However when she continued, the man’s ears lifted slightly, though they were still flicked backward. “I have to admit,” The man said in a quieter tone. “I am curious. If you feel ready to share that information, Mara, I’d like to hear it.” He figured she was avoiding the current subject, but for now he’d let it pass, for this one was something he was just as eager to hear about.