Where was she? Liviana's paws hadn't stopped moving since her younger brother sent her away from her former pack's borders. Without realizing it she had gone straight through Boreas and ended up in Auster. Her steps rolled to a stop on the bare forest floor and her periwinkle eyes drifted up to look at the thick forest canopy above her. These trees were larger than any she had seen before and the ivy that coated all of them was impressive. She realized though, with a dismissive flick of her tail, that she didn't care. Everything seemed insignificant compared to the fury that had been simmering in her gut. Liviana started slowly padding forward again, but her mind never stopped. She would give anything to rip the face off of that lying snake that was her... step mother. No, she'd never accept Sonica as part of her family and her sons would never be her siblings. A growl rumbled in her chest for a moment and a snarl twitched at her lips before disappearing with a sigh. Perhaps the most infuriating part of it was her helplessness in this whole thing. It wasn't like she could go back there. Not unless she had a death wish. She was confident in her fighting, but not against a whole pack of trained warriors. She liked to think that at least a few of them might have some kind of loyalty to her and her father, but there was no guarantee of that. She stopped with a hard shake of her head. This had to stop. She needed a distraction to break up the endless wheel of her thoughts. Liviana lifted her gaze from the ground and glanced through the trees, the small speckles of light filtering through the leaves the only light to see by. She was tempted to find her way back to the battlefield to look for a sparring partner, but she hadn't found a decent fight there in her whole time of living in Boreas. No, she needed something else, but she didn't know what. "Talk" "You" Think

OOC// I didn't realize i'd taken this long, i'm sorry T^T

Another day, another place to explore. Dragon set off to a nearby territory with nothing more on mind than a simple walk. He needed to get out and clear his head, wanting to try and destress from all that had piled on his plate. He and Lykos had parted on a bad note, and no matter how much he tried to think that Lykos didn't deserve his time or attention, he couldn't help but feel bad. It left a bad taste in his mouth, and it hurt. But that was something he wouldn't admit. "Kimahri, do you think I'm a jerk?" He asked his companion as they walked, and beside him he heard an amused rumble. "Since you met me? I think yes." The earthen male turned his head to look at the feline, a grin of mischief upon the jaguar's face. "Clearly I've been spending too much time around you." He smacked Kimahri's face with his tail before lumbering ahead a bit more, barely escaping the jaguar's paw smack. "Oh c'mon, you say that like it's a bad thing, pup." "I'm not a pup anymore! Stop calling me that!" "Pup pup pup pup! Admit it, kid, if I hadn't come along you'd be on your back and letting your pack walk all over you. You wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do if I weren't around, and I know you don't like to go to your mother for advice, either!" Slightly irritated, Dragon slowed his pace as he mulled it over. But...he was right. He just wouldn't say so. It was then as the pair walked beneath the canopy of trees, he saw a shift of movement beneath the specks of light. He slowed even more, green gaze curious about the wolf up ahead. By scent, he could tell it was a lone female. Similar in color as him, and...pretty. He glanced at Kimahri for a moment, and it was obvious he'd seen her too. Looking back at the woman, he decided to approach her. "Out for a stroll?" He barked loud enough for her to hear before he got closer to her, the male coming to a stop a few feet away. Walk, "Talk" Think

The faint echos of a pair of voices caught her attention and as an immediate reaction she turned in the opposite direction to walk away. It was only after she took two or three steps that she stopped herself. Wasn't she just praying for a distraction of some kind? She glanced down at the ground for a moment and pulled in a breath. For so long when she first arrived in this area of the world she had wanted to make connections and make a home for herself here and now... now the idea of socializing seemed like the most daunting task. She glanced back over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the man that seemed to have taken notice of her. Her brows lifted with surprise for a moment and she turned around to face him, less reluctant than she had been before. She hadn't seen many wolves in this place that had similar coloring to her own. It was enough to disrupt her turbulent thoughts for a brief time. Her immediate family all carried the browns and earth tones in their coats. It was something they were proud of since it was an easy color to camouflage and hide with. None of the warriors in her family's pack had any fur colors other than brown and the occasional black or gray. Anyone that happened to be born with white fur or any variation of it were reserved to the healers and hunters. Besides that fact he was larger and taller than herself, the picture perfect front line warrior in her mind. She barely even noticed the feline at his side. Liviana was much more interested in the wolf across from her to care. "More like a long distance run from my problems," she replied to his question, subconsciously flexing her sore paws. "You just happen to catch me at a stopping point." She looked him over curiously. If his scent didn't tell her otherwise she might suspect that he was some long lost relative. He didn't have any similarities in scent to her relatives however so she was sure she was in the clear there. "Who might you be?" she asked with a swish of her tail, her periwinkle gaze coming back to his. "Talk" "You" Think

Green gaze watched her as he patiently waited, though he didn't have to wait too long for her response. She turned to look at him, the woman quiet for a bit as she seemed to be inspecting him. Soon after, she would speak. Curiosity sparked in his eyes. Running from long distance problems? He knew a thing or two about that. Nothing he cared to admit right now, but perhaps it was the reason he left pack lands more often as of late. "Well, I guess I could say the same. Except...mine are closer? I dunno, home is over that way but..." He stopped himself. But what? It was feeling less like home and more like a place full of strangers? Or wolves he thought he knew? Honestly he wasn't sure.

She questioned him then, and his mind returned to focus on that instead. Green met periwinkle gaze and he'd never seen eyes that shade before. It was different then Okami's bright blue eyes, or the many ambers, greens, and blues that everyone else had. This was a mixture he could get on board with, and for a moment was almost jealous. He had been told he had his father's eye color but brighter, and he hated that he carried resemblances to that traitor. One thing he was proud of that his father's unspoken name and lineage couldn't tarnish was his Ancora heritage. He took pride in that part of him, at least. "Dragon Ancora, it's uh...nice to meet you." He flicked an ear, wondering what her name was but his mind totally blanked on asking hers in return.

Liviana smirked a bit as he spoke of his problems that were closer than her own. His scent held an obvious air of a pack so when he spoke of "home" being in the oposite direction she had to assume that's what he meant. He didn't seem to certain of that fact though which made her curious. There were a million questions she could ask, but she held them back. For now. She spared a quick, intrested glance toward his feline companion before bringing her gaze back to his own. This stranger was growing more interesting to her by the moment. "Dragon, hm?" she said after he had introduced himself, more of a curve pulling at her lips. "What a powerful name. Fitting. Your mother did well in naming you." At least she assumed it had been his mother who had named him. It had been tradition for mothers to name their children in her family with the exception of the first born son. That was reserved for either the father or for a family name that was passed down. "I'm Liviana Lupei. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dragon." For a moment she glanced over his shoulder in the direction that she assumed "home" was for him. "You live near here then? I lived in a pack in this land once... before I tried to go back home." Her gaze focused back on his again as she asked, "What is your pack like?" "Talk" "You" Think

Her voice was...well, he wasn't sure. Soothing? Mysterious? Interesting? He mentally shrugged, feeling a bit perplexed about why he even thought any of that. He supposed he always had to try and put something to another thing, and he felt internally obligated to come up with a reason as to what he thought her voice made him feel...or...thought, or whatever. He frowned slightly at himself. Why was he even thinking any of this!? Stop it, stop being so weird! He scolded himself, and shortly after, he heard his name. Gaze shot back to hers as she repeated his name, going on to compliment it. Or at least, he thought it was a compliment anyway. "Thanks, I like it quite a lot as a matter of fact." That in itself was true enough. He always liked his name, all his brothers had strong sounding names if he did say so himself. When she introduced herself, he looked puzzled for a split second trying to remember if he had asked her, but it was no more than a fleeting thought before he decided to comment on it. "Liviana Lupei...it's a nice name, I think. Suits you, L is quite a good letter if I do say so myself. So I guess that makes your name twice as good." Smooth. Real smooth. Dumbass. Oh well, there was no turning back now, was there? Ah well, too late. He supposed he didn't have too much experience talking to girls, or maybe he was just oblivious and was just too comfortable most times when it came to others...away from his pack. On the borders it was something else, but at this moment in time, she didn't know he was the alpha. He could act however he wanted and not get questioned or lectured on how he should be acting because he was an alpha. Sure, he loved being an alpha, but he also missed being able to go and goof around sometimes and just be himself. But even when he could, he eventually had to tell strangers that he was an alpha, and then feel stupid for allowing himself to just...be himself. It was exhausting sometimes. Liviana asked about his pack, his brow raising a bit as he cast a quick glance towards Kimahri. "Well, so far we're the only pack in Auster. It's been that way for over a year now, we're secluded from others...save for the occasional loner that happens to stop by." He took a seat where he was, fluffy tail wrapping haphazardly across his hind paws. "Talis isn't the type of pack to take things lying down, though we haven't had any trouble on our doorstep, I expect we will at some point. Every pack does, I think. And if it's a pack like ours who goes raiding others for survival, then we're kind of always on our toes." Perhaps...that wasn't the best way to sum up the pack, but it was a start he guessed. "I like to think Talis is a close knit family, regardless of relation to one another. Even while the pack agrees to doing some things, there are those who oppose it, which is fine I guess. I expect there to be the same kind of stuff going on in other packs, but I wouldn't know. Asides from that though, I like to believe we're always ready for anything that comes our way, we train a lot and we train hard. I try to keep my pack running as smooth as possible while working out the kinks here and there." Was he proud of his pack? Yes. Yes he was. Granted there was some tension between him and his brothers, but that didn't stop him from doing what he needed to do. He knew he'd eventually be the bigger man and try to talk and try to bury the hatchet, but for now...he had a pack to worry about. He was curious then about which pack she had been in before. One on Boreas maybe? Unless a pack had sprouted up in Auster somewhere and he just didn't realize it? "What pack were you in before, if I might ask?" "Speech"

The man's attempted compliment toward her own name made her grin and chuckle. It was a silly compliment at best, but it was possibly the first time she had smiled in a very long time so she couldn't complain. It was becoming increasingly apparent that he didn't quite possess the proper tone and mannerisms she had grown up with, but in a way she didn't mind. It was refreshing in a certain way to have someone that didn't seem like he needed make a grand gesture with every word. Either way, once he began speaking about the pack he lived in she settled back onto her haunches as well to listen. As soon as he mentioned that they raid other packs her ears twitched with interest and her brows raised with surprise. So far her impression of packs in this land had been one of complacency and quietness. To hear that any pack away from her homeland actually took an active role like this caught her attention immediately. In a way it sounded like home... though perhaps not as bloodthirsty as her own family had been - which she couldn't say was a bad thing. She picked up on the last part of his description when he said "I try to keep my pack running...", making surprise color her expression again. Was he the leader then? She gave him a quick once over again and decided she wasn't surprised. He was a tad younger than her perhaps and he lacked a few of the social graces she was accustomed to, but he was built for it and really that was half the battle. His question pulled her out of her own thoughts and she focused back on his green gaze once again. "The pack I lived in here was called Abaven. I'm afraid I don't know much about these lands as far as the names of the territories and continents, but I know it was much farther north than where we are currently standing... though I imagine if you're a leader as I suspect you are you'll already know all of this." Her tail made a smooth brush across the ground as it came to rest over her paws. "I can't say that pack made much of an impact on me. Back home my family's pack was much more... aggressive. We raided like you do, but for much higher stakes. I'm proud to say we usually won. I can't imagine I would be sitting here today if we didn't." "Talk" "You" Think

Abaven? He knew what pack that was, more or less. He'd never been there, but he knew his mom and Bass had been good friends. He twitched an ear as he fell into thought. Should he visit that pack? What reason would he have to do so? He hadn't gone to any of the packs since he became the alpha, but he didn't really feel the need to. What was the point? Just make friends with everyone and live in a world full of sunshine and rainbows? He had never really tried a diplomatic approach, though he did know wolves from other packs and were even friends with some of them. Or in the case of Celestial, had family as well. "Yeah, we used to live North of them before we moved here. And my mom was friends with Bass when she was the alpha too. I've never met the guy, and I've never visited his pack so I don't really know much else about 'em." The next bit of information she gave was...interesting. So Abaven wasn't a good match for her? Were they the more peaceful type like everyone else? The gears started turning in his head, maybe...just maybe they'd be on their target list at some point. At least, if they needed anything from them in the future. Or maybe he'd pay a visit and see what this Bass man was all about. "Sorry it didn't work out, but I guess most of the packs aren't like Talis. I mean, we kinda keep to ourselves but that's mostly for the sake of protecting our own. Secrecy and seclusion is preferred, or at least that's how I feel. I don't see much point in going out and making friends with all the packs because once you get comfortable or think you can trust someone, they turn around and stab you in the back!" In this case, he was thinking of his brother. That jerk had turned to Mercy and he was one hundred percent sure had told Yfir's old alphess about Vereux being among them. He felt it hard to trust many, even though he could talk to others about some things like now, he couldn't really bring himself to actually trust those around him unless they had proven they were worth being trusted. "I guess you can say it doesn't matter if we have friends or enemies, in the end, everyone is out for themselves. That's why we raid." Walk, "Talk" Think