Angelus stood on the divide between two worlds. Not literally of course; there wasn't some line in the sand that marked where the edges of Auster met the edges of Boreas, but he stood on what looked like the middle of the bifrost. If he took just a few more steps he would officially be in Boreas. It had been years since he'd been in the northern continent. He didn't feel any misgivings about going back, rather, he was afraid of what he was leaving behind. His father had decided to spend his golden years exploring the new continent and that was precisely what he was doing. Until now Angelus had traveled with him. He'd chosen to leave his father because he felt as those Boreas wasn't done with him yet, but he was afraid that while he was out seeking destiny the old man would kick it.

With a sigh the giant trudged across the border and made his way towards the main body of Boreas. It was his father who had insisted he do what he really wanted. 'Insisted' was putting it lightly as the old fart had bitten him on the rump and threatened to chase him the whole way there, but with his father's blessing Angel felt free to do what he wanted to do almost since leaving: go home. Perhaps one day he'd go back to the old man, or, better yet, if he managed to stake his own claim, bring Valentine back to Boreas.

As he walked Angel's demeanor brightened. Each step he took seemed to lift a weight off of him until he felt almost as if he were floating. This was where he belonged. He felt it in his bones. This was where he intended to make a name for himself. Wolves for generations would remember the name Angelus Imperialis. He would be bigger than his father.

The long, glimmering sand-bridge that separated the two continents had always intrigued her. She'd heard tales that once it had never existed at all, that the two lands had been fully separate at one point, but the ever-changing ebb and flow of the sea had somehow made it come to fruition. She hadn't gotten the liberty to explore it yet, but now that she'd landed on Boreas' mainland she found herself gravitating to the long stretch of sand. Better to explore the place rather than simply admire it from afar - who knew what sort of treasures it might hold?

The lanky female moved with grace as she trekked down the beach, her gaze lifting from her forepaws to admire the horizon. The sea seemed to go on for eternity, despite the land that separated some of the sky from the water in the distance. Ambrosia's golden stare gleamed with admiration; her attention was only diverted when the figure of a stranger, standing towards the southern edge of the Bifrost, came into view. He seemed massive even from a distance, with a dark coat, and her interest was immediately piqued.

She made good time trekking across the bridge, unable to keep her gaze from straying from one side of the bridge to the next. Though she was still on land here, it felt like she was hovering over the sea itself - she felt at home surrounded by so much water, and she resisted the urge to paddle off the edge of the strip and go for a quick swim in the frigid waters. Her interest currently was in the male up ahead, wondering what he knew about these lands and its inhabitants, if anyone. It was about time she got some information out of someone instead of wandering blindly.

Ambrosia wore a simple smile as she drew closer, taking long strides toward the beast, noticing he was even larger than she'd expected him to be from a distance. The woman raised a brow in appreciation. "Ah, hello there," she called out gently, her voice touched with a slight accent that was difficult to place. His reaction to her simple greeting would likely tell her much of what she needed to know about him - and if she wanted to proceed with conversation or dive into the ocean and make her departure.

© argent 2017

OOC: You up for an encounter with mutants?

With his head in the clouds and his sights set on the distance, Angelus was oblivious to the approach of the woman until her voice reached his ears. He turned to face her and, upon fixing his gaze on her, was noticeably surprised by what he saw. Her coloring was unusual, but nothing like the freaks of his childhood. If he were being honest she was actually very pretty, but it was hard to get over his initial gut feeling. From a young age Angel had been instilled with a wariness for unusual wolves. He remembered Dione and her kin, and the righteous rage the little green woman had lit in her father. He remembered the betrayal that had let to the siege.

But this woman was not Dione.

His surprised expression smoothed and became friendly and warm. He still retained a smidgen of wariness, but that was more out of habit than anything else. Angel was willing to give the stranger the benefit of the doubt. She seemed friendly enough. "Hello yourself," he boomed warmly.

It wasn't terribly alarming for Ambrosia to watch the surprise paint his handsome features. What he was so surprised by, she wasn't quite sure; already she'd learned that wolves with coats as blue as the sea itself weren't terribly common around here, so perhaps he was alarmed at her appearance, though it'd also appeared like he was distracted by something. Both options seemed equally as likely, and she settled on his reaction being a mixture of both. It was hard to keep a bit of emotion from creeping onto her own face, part impressed and part curious as well. It was rare she saw wolves his size, and she was impressed by his physique.

His facade settled into something far more pleasant after a moment. The stranger wore a smile, one she mimicked quite easily, and even her eyes lit up with warmth. She wondered why he was here, and if he had a home on either side of this sand-bridge. She was thirsty for knowledge of these lands and what sort of wolves inhabited it - she hoped he could offer her some answers, in due time. "Tell me, does the ocean call to you as it does to me?" Her words were whimsical, almost sing-song as she sniffed at the air, briefly letting her head swing to cast her gaze over the horizon before settling back on him.

© argent 2017

Angel's head tilted to the side in response to her question. He had anticipated many different conversation starters - perhaps an introduction, a comment on the weather, something along those lines - so the question the stranger put to him caught him off guard. Does the sea call to you as it does to me? It was a curious thing to ask and even though they'd just met, with the impression of her that was forming, it seemed fitting. This small blue woman was herself a curious thing.

In a heartbeat his smile returned, although this time it was gentler. His voice tinged with chagrin, he admitted, "Something tells me it doesn't call as strongly to me as it does to you." Angelus had a feeling she didn't want to hear that. He could have lied, it would have been easy to part with the words he thought she wanted to hear, but it didn't seem like a great idea to start a relationship with a lie. At least not without some kind of motive and right now he had none.

Before he could say anymore a chill swept over the beach and the breeze picked up. A shadow suddenly fell over him and cast the beach into darkness. He looked up and immediately his ears fell back in surprise. Angelus cast a quick glance in the stranger's direction so he could get a sense of her reaction. "Wow," he breathed. At first glance it looked as though a cloud was covering the sun, but upon further inspection it became clear that what hung ominously in the air was something else entirely. It writhed and twisted as if alive and after a moment a hole in the center of the mass formed as individual creatures dove towards the sea. In an instant the hole was filled by other creatures and again the beach was cast in shadow. It was a flock of birds, he realized. "Is that uh, typical seabird behavior?"

As Angelus watched the seagulls that had broken away from the flock drew closer and he was able to make their features out clearly. It took a moment for what he was seeing to register but once it did his hackles rose. The birds were...what were they exactly? He wasn't sure. Deformed? Sick? Something was definitely wrong with them. Their feathers were patchy and mottled in unnatural colors and as they nearer the birds began to shriek and wail, their voices shrill and harsh on his ears. They didn't sound like any seabirds he'd ever heard before. No, their cries reminded him of birds of prey.

Her gaze was unwavering as she assessed his reaction. If he was a creature of similar mindset, a sea-wolf as some called her and her people, she would've see something in his expression change - but instead he simply looked curious. A bit puzzled, perhaps, but interested regardless. Her own features softened, her smile growing a touch more genuine. "You're probably right," Ambrosia quipped back easily, one corner of her mouth lifting slightly higher than the other as her amber eyes lit up with laughter. She'd met few wolves who had similar views, especially ones she found outside of the islands, so it didn't come to much of a surprise to her.

The world seemed to shift suddenly, though, before they had a moment to even introduce one another. One moment the day had been bright, and the next the sun seemed to be concealed entirely for a moment. Quickly she lifted her head, turning to observe the sun and the spectacle that lay before it. "What-" She muttered softly to herself, eyes widening as she watched the thing ebb and flow like a wave in the sky, clearly alive but like nothing living that she'd ever seen before.

It was hard to keep her focus, though, as she watched them dive toward the earth. "I can't say I've ever seen.. that.. before," Ambrosia admitted slowly, her words betraying her utter disbelief. Creatures with wings had never been something of much interest to her, but their general behavior, and god those sounds they made - well, it was obvious something was wrong with them. The woman's nose wrinkled in distaste, more than content to let Angelus be the one to observe them more closely. Slowly she moved to eye the birds, her gaze drifting over their strangely colored feathers before falling back to Angelus as he slipped closer to the group. "I wouldn't be so quick to-" Her words were cut off as one of the birds turned to stare at her with its bead eyes, barely hesitating before its cry grew louder, a wail higher than the others. Obviously distressed by her staring, it lunged at her face - angry claws aiming for her eyes, tattered wings flapping as it sought to grab hold of her.

© argent 2017

Angelus remained rooted in place as the writhing cloud of mutants drew nearer. He'd never seen anything like it before, but he knew it was bad news. They reminded him of a wake of vultures he'd seen once. The scavenger birds had whipped themselves into a frenzy over a carcass; whooping and shrieking as they tore at the body and each other. Those birds had been harmless, but these? He wasn't so quick to dismiss them.

The woman seemed to share his misgivings. If the sea called to the woman and the freaky seabirds fell under the domain of 'sea', and they made her nervous, well that wasn't a good sign, now was it? "Maybe we should let them have this section of the beach," he said softly so as not to whip the flock up further.

But it was too late for that. Everything seemed to happen at once. One bird let out a shriek that seemed to grab the attention of the flock and direct it towards them. And just like that all hell broke loose.

Without thinking Angelus lunged for the bird that attempted to claw the woman's eyes out. He caught it in his jaws and crushed it, but before he could spit it out the titan was mobbed. It seemed as those birds were coming at him from every direction. Without fear for their own well being some slammed into him full force while others took passing swings at him with their talons. Every which way he turned there were wings beating, claws grabbing and beaks gouging. He snapped and he snapped, constantly biting and spitting out mangled birds and mouthfuls of feathers, but his efforts appeared to be in vain. More birds kept coming. He couldn't see the woman, but if she was still there she couldn't be faring much better.

All the while choking on feathers and blood, he managed to shout, "Run!"

For the most part, Ambrosia was the sort of wolf that thought she had a good idea how things in the world worked. Of course, there were always small mysteries, treasures waiting to be discoveries and paths to be forged - but generally, she thought very little would surprise her. She and her people, after all, were superior, in both intellect and ability; and yet suddenly she found herself totally dumbfounded, confused and a bit terrified, though she wouldn't readily admit it, even to herself, and certainly not out loud.

What she didn't mind showing, though, was her surprise. Actually, she probably couldn't hide it even if she tried. From the corner of her eye she saw Angelus lunge after the bird almost as soon as he headed toward her face, managing it to grab it and snap it between his oversized jaws. But his actions clearly agitated the rest of the group, who started to swarm him, talons and beaks and wings all in one jumbled mess.

He shouted for her to run, and while part of her appreciated the gesture - was he really the valiant sort? or did he have some other motive behind wanting her to save herself - she was also quite interested in him and the thought of leaving here to be attacked by the mutant birds didn't sound terribly appealing either. He was handsome enough, after all, that seeing his face mauled and scarred would be a bit disappointing.

"Follow me!" Ambrosia called out as she turned on her heels and started to run back across the sand bridge, toward the mainland, the same way she'd came. While she wasn't totally sure if there was anywhere they could hide, away from the birds, she hoped perhaps they might not follow them too far away from the sea - since they'd seemed drawn to it for one reason or another. Her heart raced wildly in her chest as her pace increased, paws drumming against the ground as he hurried, turning her head slightly to glance behind her and see if Angelus was following or not.

© argent 2017