It was a decent morning as the brute walked through the grove. He had slept here last night, simply because it had been where his paws had finally given out on him. But now with the new light he was once again apart of the world. The same crushing reality as the days before resting on his shoulders. There was so much he didn't know. So much that he'd missed in his absence. There was the sickness that had spread on his way out, and upon his return there was the challenge for his mother's pack. His home, his family, it all now laid in ruin because of ego and a whim.

And it filled the pour boy's heart with hate.

Newol had never judged another his whole life for who they where or what they believed. His judgment was based on ones actions. And right now his judgment for The Lady In Red was a harsh, cruel, and cold one. But the past few days had helped to keep some warmth in his bones. First he had found his adopted sister, then met the gorgeous Avalon. And now here he was in a place the he was familiar with. Walking among the grove. But he was beginning to understand things. It was foolish to act on impulse, and shameful to act on a whim. But patience and restlessness weren't the best of friends. There was so much he wanted, and none of it dark and impure, but he still felt like he was holding on to his goals be oh so thin a thread here. It left a displeased scowl on his face as he walked along, not helped any by the nearly faded traces of Valhalla scent in his pelt. All he wanted was his family. Was he so wrong for that? Was he so wrong for thinking causing pain was unfair?

Walk | Talk | Think

A little wriggle, a slight shift, of the cat's resting body caused a sudden sense of falling, and with her amber eyes snapping open, her heart jumping within her chest, Laila's entire body tensed and her claws gripped the large, steady branch supporting her. The tree did not move, did not sway, and realizing she was safe, safer even than when she had fallen asleep, she eased her claws out of the wood and rested her head again on the rough bark with a sigh of relief. That was right. She had stumbled upon a rogue wolf, one who was in no way willing to consider that the cat would walk away without causing any harm, and had ended up treed by him. He had been persistent, barking and snapping at the base for so long that Laila had resigned to being stuck there, and eventually he must have quieted enough for her to sleep if it was day already.

Stupid, paranoid wolf, she thought as her rounded ears tucked and her strong jaws opened in a wide, teeth-baring yawn. At least it seemed like he was gone now, which meant she could go back about her business without getting herself into trouble again. Not for the first time since the challenge, she wished things could have been different. She had had an agreement with Erani to stay in the Gorge and watch the border, to play nice with her canine neighbors, but when she had noticed the lot of them leaving she had done the same, striking out on her own while they retained a few small groups amongst themselves. Now, after meeting her "friend" last night, she was beginning to wonder if she should not have tagged along with any of them instead.

There was nothing to be done about it now. They had all split up, and finding them was no doubt going to be tricky enough without dodging distrusting wolves along the way. Laila rose in a languid stretch, her dark-tipped tail waving behind her, and then, as her amber eyes caught movement below, dropped quickly back against the branch. A wolf! The one from last night? No. This one looked a bit smaller, and his color was different. Not the dangerous rogue she had seen the night before but that did not necessarily mean he was any more tolerant of her than the other had been. She had decided to wait until he had passed before thinking of going down, at least until his scent wafted up her way and struck a chord with her memory. Valhalla. He was already getting away, continuing on past her tree, and carefully the cougar scrambled down the trunk with a couple careful leaps to stop at its base and stare after him, her bright eyes watchful and her tail flicking intriguingly behind her. "You're Valhallan, aren't you?" Laila asked, correcting herself after a second, "Or, I mean, were?"

Ooc;// I apologize for the hostility Mouser. It's just how this post came out.


The brute would quickly spin around to face the new comer. Had he been any other wolf, he might have snapped at her and taken to her with hostility, or rather, more so than he did. But he could process faster than that. She bore something on her akin to pack scent, but it was very hard to distinguish. She hadn't been part of a pack, but she'd lived on someone's pack lands. It was too hard to pick apart because of how thick her cougar scent was to his nostrils. And her approach had been a none hostile one, which meant that she wanted to speak. And Newol being the fairly accepting wolf that he was, he would have tolerated her. But her words are what set him off. They where right. And that's what drove him mad. There was nothing he could say or do in this exact moment to make them wrong and so for the moment that ruling was fact. And it burnt the whole even deeper in him.

With a furious snarl and a growl, the scars across his snout scrunching together a little as his lips pulled back to reveal white teeth. It was a low grow, not threatening, but rather, offended. She wasn't even a wolf, what business of hers the affairs of wolves. Of course, the judgements where all harsh, but Newol had a reason to be harsh. And this was all only because he didn't know. He didn't know that she had been left without a home the same as he had. And by the same person. She was one of the ones caught in the same back lash as he was. Though... perhaps she wasn't having quite as hard a time with it as he. So with a little anger in his voice, he addressed her words. "I am an Adravendi! That's all that matters." Then he turned his back to her and continued on his way. He was unaware of her interaction with his mother, Erani. He was also unaware of the deal that those two had ironed out. Had he been, this interaction would be much different.

Walk | Talk | Think

She would have understood surprise given that it was not an everyday occurrence for a wolf to have a mountain lion trying to strike up a conversation with them, especially considering the history between the two species. Outright anger, as if she had done or said something offensive and careless, when all she had done was ask a simple question puzzled her. The cat met his snarl with a hasty step back, her round ears tilting back against her head while her jaws parted to slightly bare teeth in an airy hiss. What had she done wrong? He was not afraid or threatened - if he had been she was sure he would have been trying to look more intimidating - but neither did he seem tolerant.

It struck her then, as he neither gave ground nor advanced on her, that maybe it had been the subject, and had her suspicions more or less confirmed by the heated response the green-eyed wolf gave. An Adravendi. Laila narrowed her amber gaze thoughtfully, certain that she knew the term. Again she was losing her chance, the wolf turning brusquely and starting back along the path he traveled, but finally it came to her. Adravendis were Valhallans. "Like Erani?" she called after him, reclaiming the step she had taken away before he had turned his back on her. Surely that would get him to listen, if nothing else. And because she did not know and wanted to, because she still did not fully understand what had happened to the place she had called home, she added more quietly, voice holding a hint of concern, "Where is she?"

OOC: Loool No worries. xD Laila can take it.

It was a sore day for a sore wolf who's sore nerves where being tread on. Why? Why did things have to be like this? Why did he have to sit here and suffer this torment. There was just so much that he couldn't do right now because of all this. He couldn't sleep comfortably in the same bed every night in his mother's huge den in the gorge. That nail was painful enough without it having been driven in by a wolf, the first wolf of Alacritis for him, that he would have bedded in a heartbeat. It caused thoughts to come to his mind that weren't normally his. He didn't need this damn cat here and now pouring salt into an open wound!

Her question brought a stop to his stride. For a second, it looked like he had truly had enough and was ready to snap, his claws digging into the soil beneath him as he flexed and spread his toes, his jaw tightening. Even the fur of his neck bristled for a moment. And yet, even with all that anger, the patience in his soul won over. Despite how wronged he'd been, Newol was still Newol. And that was probably the most defiant retaliation possible of him at the moment. He lowered himself stiffly to his rump, back still to the feline. He took a long breath of oxygen into his lungs, and as he exhaled the war faded from his body, fur settling back in place, ears folding back, the tension leaving his shoulders.

Newol judged others on one thing and one thing only. Their actions. And so far this cat had done nothing wrong so he had no reason to be mad with her. His anger was not with her and so he had no right to show it to her, to aim it at her. She was just a creature with questions, and looking for answers. There was nothing wrong with this. And so it was the brute's place to give them to her. Even if the topic hurt him so dearly. He was sure she'd understand though once he gave her what he had. His words where heavy, but calm as he looked out into the distance, still not facing her. "She's been missing ever sense The Lady In Red defeated her in the challenge for our pack. Valhalla, the real Valhalla, is in ruins at the moment." He'd been forcing himself to stay busy, stay on the move, sense this all began. Forcing himself not to think about that one part, and just believe that once he set everything right again it would all go back to the way it should be. It was the wall he was hiding behind to keep from panicking.

His head dropped, his nose now to the ground, as his eyes closed and he took another deep breath. It was strange that a mountain lion would be questioning him about his mother. He didn't know this cat so she most have been a development from after his trip to the wilderness he went on. It was curious. And it was something he wanted to know. Still without facing her, his voice rose again, with a little, but not by much, more spirit to it as he questioned her. "So, how do you know my mother?"

He just didn't realize how much they shared. They where both Valhallan. Both lost and a long way from home.

Walk | Talk | Think

For just a second she thought she might have pushed too far. Maybe it would have been better if she had just accepted her fate and moved on without bothering this wolf with her questions when he seemed to already have enough on his plate as it was. But even though she could see the tension coil tight within his shoulders, her own readying for any sort of retaliation, Laila also saw when it left. Whatever weighed over him seemed to finally settle about his frame, causing him to visibly sag where he stood. Just a little she felt guilty, though she felt entirely justified in knowing what had happened to Valhalla, and what had happened to the wolf woman who she had agreed to help.

The golden cat rolled her shoulders and let them ease back into a relaxed state, her claws once again put safely away, but her amber gaze continued to watch the wolf warily, just in case something changed. He spoke where he had stopped, still at a short distance and facing away from her, but her keen ears caught every word. There had been a challenge. It explained everything: the call she had heard, the subsequent inactivity that seemed to settle over the lands while the verdict was awaited, and the sudden departure of all those scents that she had grown accustomed to. Laila's expression fell with a sigh, fully realizing what she had missed before. Valhalla as they knew it was gone.

At a loss, she reclined, seating herself there where she had stood while she came to terms with these new facts. As much as she had liked it there, following the masses in their move had really been only an inconvenience. Life in Valhalla had been safe, comfortable, and being thrown back into the wilds was proving to her just how well off things had been. But...her own inconvenience was minimal compared to the loss the wolves had faced. The type of environment they had so quickly abandoned had been their lifeline, the perfect setting for them. How much more lost than she did they feel right now?

Laila's ears rotated to rest against her head sadly, her amber gaze watching as the green-eyed male lowered his head until his nose nearly touched the ground. So dejected. So lost. How many others, exactly, were there just like him out there? How many others who might not even have recognized her and passed her by cautiously? "I'm sorry." It had not been her fault, but she felt the need to say it anyway, for whatever sense of comfort he could take from it.

Unsure what else she ought to say, if there was anything else to say, the mountain lion remained quietly seated, only moving again to perk her ears when the wolf posed a question. Thankfully this was an easier subject to speak of, and she answered with a little lean of her head, "Erani? She found me sneaking a drink from the lake. Told me I could stay there so long as I watched out for the pack." Even now the set up seemed so crazy to her ears. "I'm no pack creature, but it beat living elsewhere," Laila explained, offering an amused smile along with a little wave of her tail at her side. But her smile was short lived, her thoughts still lingering on those pack wolves who had departed when she had. "Do you know where everyone went?" she asked, not anticipating a positive answer but wishing for to hear something nonetheless.

As the feline spoke, understanding started to come over the brute. She'd been a part of Valhalla. That explained the strange presence of faint traces of pack scent on her. It also sounded a lot like his mother. She had a way for taking people in, giving them a job and a place to belong. A role in the scheme of things. He could no longer be hostile with this creature anymore. She was a stray like him. Someone who'd lost their home to the same tyrant that he had. And with that, he had no more cross feelings for her. No. Instead much the opposite, now he was endeared to her. She was apart of the picture he was trying to salvage, and she'd been placed there by the same paws that he had. She was no longer an annoyance, now she was a friend.

Rising to his paws, he turned to face her, his scared maw meeting hers. With another deep breath he sat down again, his tail coming around to settle on his paws as a calm expression settled on his face. She could ask him anything now and he'd be willing to answer. "That sound's like Erani, she has a way with wanderers. She adopted me, claimed me as her own son. Because of this I proudly call Alacritis my home." His voice shifted to a little more of a mature tone as he continued. "I'm not sure where everyone has gone, we've scattered. But I'm trying to find as many as I can to salvage something out of all this. Valhalla was more than a pack, it was home. It was shelter. And a promise of my mother's is a promise of mine. If you want, I welcome you to come with me while I clean this mess up. You can even help if you'd like." It was strange, this voice of his. Newol knew that ever sense coming to Alacritis he'd grown leaps and bonds, but now here he stood speaking with the voice of a leader. Newol didn't see himself as a leader. He was just trying to bring everyone home again.

With a smile and a respectful bow of his head to the feline, he introduced himself to her. "I am Newol Zaraidd Adravendi. Allow me to apologize for my earlier hostility." His words where genuine. This feline was a proper Valhallan. He had no reason to be hostile to her.

Walk | Talk | Think

At last she seemed to have gotten through to him. He no longer stood staring away from her but turned to face her, seating himself there as his tail curled to rest over his paws. Good. If he was sitting it meant he was willing to talk, and Laila was eager to catch up with someone who apparently had been right in the thick of things. Erani's adopted son. She could only imagine that the challenge and the pack's departure had been incredibly trying on him, losing not just pack members but family as well. Maybe she was lucky in that sense to only have been acquaintances with the woman and nothing more. She could still move on without carrying any holes inside of her for their absence.

It appeared in the calamity of things no one had thought to rally together and instead had scattered with the wind, and strangely it seemed so uncharacteristic for them. Valhalla had seemed like such a strong pack, solid and stable with their many relationships tying them all together, but when faced with a crisis they had reacted upon instinct, racing to save each of themselves individually instead of clinging to their whole.

"That's surprising," Laila admitted quietly, finding herself surprised yet again just a second later as Newol extended the same kindness that Erani had offered her before. She blinked obviously, amber gaze widening for a moment as it settled in. A safe place amongst the wolves again, a place where she would not have to worry about competing with other feline, or other canines for that matter. It was so very tempting that she could not stop herself from at least considering it though she could feel a certainty building within that she would. She had already gotten used to it; why change up her plans now?

The wolf introduced himself with a bow of his head - so proper that it reminded the mountain lion a bit of the woman he claimed as his mother. Realizing then that she had yet to give her name either, she returned his smile and mimicked his gesture with a nod of her head. "Laila," she answered, "Just Laila." No fancy last names for her. "Where have you been staying?" With as paranoid about distrusting wolves as she had been lately, she thought it likely that she could have passed right beside it without even knowing, maybe even hurried past it to keep herself out of harm's way. How nice it would be to be able to relax again and not fear her neighbors again!

She seemed relieved now that Newol was finally being welcoming to her as opposed to his previous hostility. And he admitted to himself that was mostly his fault for reacting so poorly to her attempts to interact with him. Just, all this tension. All this stress, it had taken it's toll on his nerves. He'd been so busy lately just trying to scavenge up enough to keep this small chance alive so that he could save his family. And he was getting something of a job done of it, just... Not enough. Not nearly the results that he wanted. Not even close. All he had so far was his sister. Past that, nothing. It was obvious that he needed help. But everyone had to start somewhere. And perhaps, this was where.

Her words cut him yet again though. It all fell back on Erani. Why did so much fall back on Erani? She was missing. And sense she'd gone missing, everyone scattered. Their mother was gone, their leader, their trusted friend. It was the big elephant in the corner that he had to tip toe around and avoid to keep his head on straight. To keep him from flying off the handle and losing himself, because as it sat did have his head firmly above the water, but he was still shoulder deep in the stream. She was right though. It was surprising. It was surprising that everyone had scattered and it was the misfit stray from the desert that was trying to salvage all of this. Why? Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't someone else with more qualification be shouldering this task? It was hard, especially because at heart, Newol didn't really want to be a leader. He mostly just wanted his family. But if he had to rebuild Valhalla by himself, so be it.

So, after the feline returned his gesture and introduced herself in kind to him, he gave something of a half smile. It wasn't much, but he was exhausted suddenly from all the thoughts that in found on his mind now. She asked him where he'd been staying, and he took that as a serious thought to taking his offer, which did help to brighten his day a good deal. So he told her, his voice welcoming finally. "In the Eastern part of Alacritis. There is a opening in the mountains that leads to a network of caverns called the Singing Caverns. One leads to a cave with a pool of water in it." He realized that he'd have to show her just where it was, but that was sometimes a price paid for security. It was also a good travel from here, but Newol liked it in the East. A chuckle echoed through his brain as he realized another thing that might very well please her to learn. "It's out of the weather. Quiet and peaceful. There's also plenty of fish to be caught." And that was it. He hoped that she'd like his answer. Because otherwise he had made no progress here today. Plus, she needed a home just as much as he did, because they'd had the same home, and they'd both lost it.