SERAPHIM IMPERIALIS Looking out over what used to be his father's lands, Seraphim found himself reflecting on how little had changed. Below the hill he sat atop a small herd of buffalo were nosing about through a fine dusting of snow, ripping and chewing at the withered grass they found beneath. They had seemed so monstrously huge when he was a pup. Well, they were still monstrous, but not in the same way. The memories were foggy now, those and so many others. He knew he'd forgotten more than he could ever recall, and that brought around a pang of sadness. His gentle soul hadn't yet been hardened by the years, and Phim found himself overwhelmed with longing for his family and sweet days gone by. It was what had brought him back, after all. With a huffing sigh the giant man stood and shook out his coat.  The youngest buffalo, the one nearest to him as well, snorted in alarm and trotted a few paces farther away. Seraphim paid him no mind. It would be useless to try and bring down a buffalo on his own, even a yearling.  Instead he turned and began working farther into the heart of his old territory, wanting nothing more than to revisit his old haunts. In the back of his mind he wondered if he might pick up any familiar scents. He hadn't seen his siblings in so long, even the faintest trace of them would make his day. He turned his back to a blustery, chill wind and walked on. "Talk" "You" Think

The Abraxas woman had found herself drawn to continue her explorations even as the beginning stages of this continent wide takeover were underway. One of the barriers to success was a lack of knowledge of the terrain, so she would rectify the situation by never quitting her explorations. Today her wandering took her far into Boreas, to a land made of seemingly endlessly rolling hills and ripe with the scent of buffalo. Ebony paws crunching through the icy layer of snow, Razi moved at a leisurely pace. Her thick fluffy coat kept the chilly winds at bay, the outer hair bending and swaying wildly while the skin beneath remained warm as ever. This was perhaps the only gift she'd been given by her mortal dam, and she had to admit it was very much appreciated. After a while she noted the scent of a stranger nearby. Well, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back! Meandering in that direction, Razi would crest a hill to find a man ahead of her. He was shrouded in shades of slate, with blue eyes that cut through dark facial markings in a striking manner. The man stood on pillars that would lend him a great deal of height, comparable to that of most of her relatives. Curiosity piqued, she made her way closer, gold eyes studying the man with unconcealed interest. "Greeting, stranger. Enjoying the cold?" "Talk" "You" Think

SERAPHIM IMPERIALIS The arrival of a stranger certainly was not expected, though Seraphim was forced to ask himself why he hadn't considered the possibility. These were no longer his father's lands, which meant rogues were free to come and go as they pleased. Overcoming his initial shock, Phim turned towards the new arrival and gave her a polite nod. She was smaller than him, but most wolves were. It made no difference to him either way. "Greetings, yourself. And I'm trying my hardest but it's proving more difficult than I thought it would be." Phim turned his gaze out towards the rolling hills around them. So much had changed, and yet nothing seemed out of place. Seraphim felt as if his siblings might rush up to him, or as if Valentine might at any moment call a meeting. He knew it wasn't true, but it didn't keep his eyes from growing distant. "Reliving past haunts, actually. It's chilling for more than one reason, if we're being honest. And you? I can't imagine any wolf would be here on their own seeking the bison." He raised a brow, clearly trying to picture the waif of a woman trying to take one of the behemoths down on her own. It was a comical image at the least. Of course, Phim wouldn't try it either, so it wasn't as though he would think less of her for the inability. Or perhaps she was insane, and in that case he would certainly want to stick close to patch her up afterwards... If there was anything left. "Talk" "You" Think

Nodding, Razi supposed she could see how that might be. The man looked rather lost in his own world even as he engaged her in conversation. "I see. So, I'd be correct in assuming you have ties to these lands, then?" After all, no one reminisced like that without having some kind of deeper link to the thing they were focused on. Color her intrigued by this massive male with the thousand yard stare. She chuckled lightly at his next words, even going so far as to offer a smile that reached her eyes for once. "I assure you even in my most prideful moments I would not be such a fool. I'm sure such idiotic creatures exist, though." After all, most things one could picture tended to already exist. Glancing at the bison, Razi decided they'd be fun to hunt if she could get a few of her wayward family members to join in. It would be a shame to not make use of a good opportunity when it presented itself. Maybe she'd even suggest they one day claim these lands. It could be a smart move down the line. "Do tell me, though, do they taste as good as they smell?" she asked, glancing back at the slate man with curious golden eyes. "Talk" "You" Think

SERAPHIM IMPERIALIS The woman's manner seemed stiff and prim, even cold at first. Phim didn't fault her for it, having learned to appreciate many different wolves in his life if only for the depths of their differences. She asked about his ties to the land, and even if he might force himself not to quirk a brow at the official feeling in her language, he responded with a smile. "I was raised here, in a pack called Imperium. My father, Valentine, was a good leader to many wolves," Phim explained, concluding with a sad sigh. "But not even the mightiest of us is immune to time. Something happened to my father, and the pack sort of fell apart." He turned to Razi, attempting to blink some of the far-sighted glaze from his normally piercing eyes. He offered her a half-hearted shrug and small, hooked smile. "It's good to be home, though. Whether my pack is here or not, the hills are the same. The herds are still here. It is good to know that at least the lands I love persist." He looked over to see if she minded the rambling. The gilded woman laughed when he suggested she might go after a bison on her own. It was good to know she was not overly motivated by pride, and some others might be. As he had been in his youth. Phim let out a rueful chuckle. "Oh, I can assure you they do. Typically in the form of brash youngsters who still think they're immortal." Asking if they tasted anything like the stench of unclean fur and dung forced more than a chuckle from his lips, and the tall man tipped his head back and let a ringing laugh loose. Oh, this woman had some humor to her after all! He gave her a full, broad grin. "A bit, but it's best just not to think about it," he said with a knowing glint in his eye. In truth, the smell of the creatures was the last thing he noticed when running them down, but that didn't stop him from having a bit of fun with the stranger. "Talk" "You" Think

Filing the names the man mentioned away for future potential use, Razi nodded a bit and found herself wondering what this imperium might have been like. If it's other members were like this man it must have been a force to be reckoned with among the more frail mortal beings that were it's neighbors. There was a flicker of emotion on her face as he mentioned the downfall of this pack he once belonged to. After a moments pause she offered a quiet, "Losing ones place in the world is always unfortunate." Maybe that was an understatement, but she wasn't feeling particularly eloquent today despite maintaining her generally serious and proper speech.

A faint sliver of a smile fought for its place on her lips as the ebony and gold woman tried to brush it off. True to form, Razi maintained her tame demeanor as long as possible. His mentioning the unchanging nature of the land made her remember that although this man was not abraxas, he and those like him at least could provide some interesting, war free conversations. Not that she didn't enjoy the concept of conquest, but a break was nice. "Hm, you know I can't say I've spent enough time attached to a single place to note how it changed... Could be nice though."

"Oh? Do I sense you have some experience with such things?" She teased, breaking from the quiet humorlessness that was her norm in favor of having a little fun with this man, "Don't tell me you fell victim to the perceived invincibility of youth?" It was impossible not to smirk at the idea of this. At the buffalo response she grinned. "I take it they're better after you've worked up an appetite taking them down, then?" Sniffing the air for a moment she wrinkled her nose and snorted, "But that might not make enough of a difference."

"I'm Razi Abraxas, and you are?"

SERAPHIM IMPERIALIS The woman's words made Seraphim feel as though he were dealing with another professional wanderer, such as himself. He had never intended to become what he was, and wondered if Razi had either. Of course, his deep sense of sentimentality was not a trait many others shared, at least as far as he was concerned, so perhaps she had. Anyways, to her response he gave only a small shrug. It was nice, and it was bittersweet. In the end Phim decided perhaps he'd rather not thing about it. She would move on the laugh and ask if he had ever been a reckless, idiotic youth. "Of course not," he said with mock sincerity. "I came into this world with a sense of grave importance, you know. Frivolities were not on the agenda." It could not have been farther from the truth, and Phim thought as much was evident from the tone of his voice. He laughed and thought of everything his brother and sister had gotten them into as children. It had increased tenfold with Ash, Rhys and Rhyme. His younger siblings had done their best to make Seraphim remorseful for all of his bad behavior when he had been their age, but it had never stopped Phim from loving them. "Anything that large tastes good, because you can't be anything but ravenous once it finally falls. I'll confess to being an average hunter at best, but I'd be happy to give you a few pointers if you ever return with a few companions. They're ridiculously aggressive for a prey animal, and it's easy to get gored if you're not prepared for it. Thats usually where I come in, more of a healer sort myself." Phim wasn't sure why he was telling the other woman so much about himself, or inviting her company in the future. Was he truly so starved for companionship? She had introduced herself, and it occurred to Phim that he hadn't. "I'm Seraphim Imperialis," he said, proud of his impressive sounding name, but retracting it almost at once. "Most just call me Phim, though. The rest is a bit of a mouthful." "Talk" "You" Think

Shaking her head at the man Razi played along for a bit, "Hm, yes, you do seem like the type to be just dreadfully well behaved." His joking inflection said anything but, and for once Razi found herself enjoying the banter. Although, to be fair, she engaged in so few conversations like this it was entirely possible she was capable of being anything but serious and just never had a chance to break out of those habits. Food for thought, she supposed. Of course this would all be kept to herself, there was no need for anyone in the family to see her in any way other than the image Razi presented to them. "I, on the other hand, am helpless against my clear need for mischief and bad behavior," she chuckled, gold eyes glittering, holding a promise that he'd probably never know if it was a joke or truth. "I might just take you up on that offer, actually." The woman mused, reflecting on how it might be nice to have someone who knew what they were doing if the Abraxas ever did a large hunt here. It might be smart, a good way to bond after they'd only recently begun gathering. Razi herself wasn't especially close with any of them. Glancing at the massive beasts, she decided it was a good idea. A group hunt. Maybe she could discuss it with Amon? "We have something in common, I'm a healer as well. Though, if we're being honest it seems my interests have wandered lately." That was an understatement. The need to gather information had eaten up all of her focus lately and Razi found she hadn't thought of herbs in a long while. Memorizing the name and matching it with the face and scent, Razi smirked and cooed, "It's a good name. Strong, and fitting, I think." "Talk" "You" Think