Kai was restless, but he'd been restless for a long time. This was a different kind of restlessness though, the kind that physically ached deep in his bones. Time was passing far too slowly for comfort... but then again, it was hard to really wrap his mind around the fact that he was already six years old. Somehow, his imprisonment and subsequent delivery to Winterfell had been over a year ago now, and in that time what exactly had he accomplished? Not a goddamn fucking thing, and it was beginning to piss him off, even if it was nobody's fault but his own.

One more raid, he had to remind himself, and he'd earned his rightful freedom. As if freedom was something that needed to be earned rather than his given birthright. The thought was a sour one and he frowned as he kicked at the sand beneath his paws, watching as it flew up, cast aside by a breeze that swept in over the bay. Why was he here, anyway? He wasn't totally sure. He'd been born in Abaven, though not in these lands. He didn't think their lands had been far from here back then, though it was hard to perfectly recall his earliest days. It felt strangely cyclical for him to end up in the position he was in now - or had been, rather, fighting against them for something that he'd inadvertently been the cause of, something that he couldn't bring himself to truly care about.

Wasn't it funny how things worked out?

Yeah. It was funny alright.

He didn't pay attention to Abaven's marked border as he crossed it, as nonchalant as could be. He was sick of packs and their contrived rules and their dreadful, worthless politics. He was free, goddamnit, despite what anyone else believed. Kicking another spray of sand up, he felt himself shiver as he strode into the frigid water of the bay. It was always warmer here than it was in the north, but there was no denying that winter had arrived even in these lands. Grumbling something incoherent beneath his breath, he continued to stride into the water until his paws could no longer touch the sand. Lucky for him, the waves were quite calm here, and he was able to wade in the frigid water without much struggle, wondering if he stayed for too long if the sea might carry him away to somewhere else entirely.

She'd personally seen the last of the Winterfell wolves to the border. It had been a few weeks now but it felt like she'd just fixed Acere's departing rear-end with a determined glare yesterday. Patrols had been near-tripled and she'd taken to donning her newly minted armor on every single border excursion. The leather was still stiff and she wanted to break it in as soon as possible. She hadn't realized that part of the reason Rhyme and Poem's had looked so effortlessly comfortable was, well, wear time. Poem had inherited Shaye's armor (and it fit perfectly). Seeing her sister don it before the raid had stirred up something that she'd thought had been put to rest the night she joined Shaye in her den for the first time. There was no denying it - she might be alpha, but she wasn't Shaye's daughter. Would never be. Her heat had come early with the first frost. The discomfort and her roiling internal monologue had put her in a perfectly sour mood for today's patrol. When Theory could hear the waves from the bay in the distance her pace slowed just a little. She loved the build-up to the full vista of the beach. There was something exciting about seeing the ocean - maybe it was the vastness, or the deep, impenetrable darkness. It was wonderful and unknowable. Theo was used to closing her eyes and inhaling deeply to enjoy the salty air. The young alpha paused to do just that, flattening her ears and lifting her head to take in a big breath. Mmm... wait. What the - ? That was decidedly not the scent of an Abaven wolf. Even though the beach was just ahead through the treeline, Theory set off at a flat run towards the sand. Dirt and then little pebbles flew as she sped towards the shore, her blue eyes narrowed to a slit. Winterfell. He stank, stank, stank of Winterfell. Did Acere have some nasty plot? Was he this sore a loser? Or did he really, truly have no control over his pack? Bellamy's outburst had not gone unnoticed at the raid. What a shill, what a piece of shit, what a piss poor - THUD. She slammed into Kai from behind, toppling them both over into the water until she was standing over him. Okay, he was much larger up close. Huge, in fact. "Explain yourself, Winterfell scum," she panted, pleased that she had managed to get the sentence out in one, non-stuttering breath. Theory knew she'd blown it by running pell-mell. If she had any hope of winning in a fight, it would have been to sneak up on him. There was no way she'd be able to - were those tusks? Okay, okay. No problem. Shaye had trained her in the art of being diplomatic. She'd just, uh, talk her way out of this mess. "theory speaks!"

Maybe these small acts of defiance were what he needed to feel sane, after giving up his freedoms to appease Acere. One more raid, he had to keep reminding himself. The last thing he needed was to spend the rest of his days looking over his shoulder for one of Acere's minions to drag him back to Winterfell, to work of a debt that he'd never consented to. He let out an audible snort as he waded further into the water, one step after another, until-

The sound of the waves gently crashing against the shoreline all but obscured the sound of Theory's approach until it was too late. One second he was wading contentedly in the water, and the next he was being tackled by - someone. Scrambling upright, he spat out a mouthful of water in whatever direction he was fading, scowling and mumbling something incoherent as he brought himself to his paws. Her words weren't lost on him, and he bristled at her tone. "Winterfell scum?" Kai scoffed, shaking water from his face as he backed away from her, if only to get a better look at. "You're funny, you know that?" She was admittedly a pretty thing, delightfully young and with the kind of build he appreciated, and she smelled wonderful. If only she hadn't so rudely greeted him...

His nose wrinkled in annoyance. "I'm not quite as Winterfell as you might hope. I'm Kai, debtor of Winterfell, at your service, beatiful." There was no denying the snark in his deep voice, and to top it off he bowed deeply to her, so flamboyant that he was clearly making a mockery of all of this. "This whole raid business? All my fault. Acere decided I was worth spending a small fortune on awhile back - it's a long story - and part of his deal was raiding on behalf of the slavers who had captured me. Apparently I fetch quite a high price," Kai raised his eyebrows suggestively, though he laughed coldly at the thought. "And apparently you were one of two targets. Lucky us, right?"

Clearly not grasping the severity of the situation, or rather the perceived severity of his trespassing, he let himself float in the water for a moment, picking his paws up from the sand. He kept his eye on her, though some of the annoyance had begun to soften. "I was born in Abaven, a long time ago, did you know that? Quite the irony that I returned here, only to the raid the same pack. Not that I really cared about winning, between us. And I didn't exactly want to hurt that old man," Kai quipped, playfully referring to Rhyme. He'd had a good conversation with him in the past and had no hard feelings against him. Acere, though? That was a different story.

And what a mess it was. Theory was still bristling, but it was clear that the wind had been stolen from her sails. There was no way she'd win in a fair fight and her bracers were chafing from the salt water. Not wanting to ruin the new leather that Brandr had worked so hard on, Theory awkwardly "dismounted" Kai and waded a few quick steps backwards. She still leered at him, her eyes trained for any small movement, but she couldn't back up a full assault. She let out a short yip that sailed across the sands to Alouette in the trees, letting the raven know to remain on alert. If she took to the skies they could have the whole of Abaven here in a flash. She wasn't really in danger, right? Instead, she listened. He was funny, she'd grant him that. Debtor? Oh, no. This whole mess was his fault? Theory raised her lips in disgust. "You've... caused me a lot of trouble, you know?" She sputtered. So many sleepless nights. The bruises and cuts she'd sustained from the raid still ached, although luckily no one had been mortally wounded. Acere wouldn't have left quite so clean and white-furred if there had been any serious injuries. She rolled her eyes when he mentioned the "old man" - Theo remembered now, he'd been locked in combat with Rhyme. "Easy to say you don't care about winning when you don't have any stakes. If you were born here, where's your family?" Noir had left Abaven, and Tyranis and his family had been transient at best. Acere had also left. Well, maybe wolves didn't stick around here as much as she liked to think. No matter. It's not like Abaven (or the world) needed more Noirs and Aceres. "And Rhyme isn't that old," she added quickly. Her father didn't need her to defend him, but she just didn't want to acknowledge his age. As far as Theory was concerned, he was immortal. "You don't look like much to me. Certainly not worth bidding my loyalties away, but I'm no Acere," she snapped haughtily. Admittedly, there was a hint of laughter to her voice. Nervous energy was ebbing away now that they seemed to be at an uneasy truce. There was no point in spilling blood if they could have a chat before she strongly suggested he head for their borders - those tusks looked like they packed a punch. "theory speaks!"

"Trouble that I never asked for," he reminded her sharply, eyes narrowing. As much as he'd like to claim he'd rather be in slavery still than be in debt to Acere, that wasn't necessarily true... though Kai admitting that would be like pulling teeth. It wasn't terribly hard for him to regain his composure as she tackled him, though he looked a little perturbed at being tackled so brazenly. Sure, these were her lands or whatever, but... still. "Again, all trouble I never asked for. I think Acere thought I was worth it because I had a thing with one of his nephews. Who had a mate and children, I later found out," Kai explained, trying to feign casualness about the whole thing, though his words were still quite acerbic. "Not that that fact was what bothered me. But he was a coward. Pretended he barely knew me when I showed up, and left soon after," Kai nearly scoffed. He had loved Tyranis, truly, despite his faults - but such an act of cowardice was unforgivable. And though Kai was far from altruistic by any means, he never lied about who he was, he could say that with certainty.

Apparently not many wolves could say the same.

"My family's long gone. My father returned to our homelands - he was never a member of Abaven. My mother was though, her name was Renhett. I haven't seen her since I was very young. I only stayed in Abaven as long as I needed. Pack life isn't for me," he explained dismissively. Though he didn't sound outright sad at the mention of his parents, his tone was far more serious now. He loved them both dearly and hoped he'd see them again someday, but if not? Sometimes that was how things happened and dwelling on what had once been had never done him any good. "And compared to you, Rhyme's quite old. Compared to me? Not so much. Let myself feel young for a moment." The truth was that he wasn't getting any younger, and somehow six years had passed him by in a flash... it was hard to shake the feeling that he had so much left to do, even if he didn't want to spend much time dwelling on what he could've done differently. If anything, it made him want to focus on the future, to seize the opportunities that lay ahead of him. Once he was done with Winterfell, of course.

Her assessment of him derailed his thoughts and earned a loud snort. "Perhaps your eyes aren't working very well, then? When's the last time you saw a tusked wolf in these parts?" His question was more of a rhetorical one than anything else. He knew well enough that such features were few and far between... and he'd never met another wolf with tusks besides his father. "And I don't give a damn what Acere thinks of me. Or what you think of me. Or what you think of him, for that matter. Even a blind man could see what a fool he is." His deal with the Hjarrandi band was a foolish one, he knew that, and he didn't need Theory telling him the same.

They floated apart for a moment, the only noise coming from the waves that lapped at the shore. It was cold but in a pleasant way - the kind of cold that reminded you, that yes, you were still alive. Soon their bodies would adjust to the temperature until they waded out into the air again. Kai's defense of himself was snide but his pain was obvious. At least, Theory could imagine it might hurt to find out the wolf you had a "thing" for had an entire life apart from you. In fact, the idea hadn't even occurred to her. She had always thought of love - or having a "thing," as Kai described it - as some kind of all consuming thing. It didn't leave space in your life for anything else. But that wasn't true, was it? Rhyme had loved Shaye. And Tana. And maybe now Samara. Love wasn't quite the glutton she'd thought it was; sometimes there were scraps left over. Maybe those little pieces grew into something different (or something bigger). She gulped. Her thoughts filled with Thalia. Not quite the sight of her, but absolutely the smell. Heady and exotic and wonderful. So different from everything else she'd encountered. Theory's eyes grew half-lidded as she listened to Kai talk about his parents, her mind lost somewhere between Abaven and Aerie. "I couldn't imagine anything else," she murmured as he decried pack life. He hadn't asked for her opinion, but it was true. Where would she be without Abaven? Without Shaye, Rhyme, her sisters? Lost. Or dead. Or worse. "Alright, alright - you're a rarity. A commodity," she agreed, her voice bitingly sarcastic. "Still, to bargain away -" Even a blind man could see what a fool he is. Theo couldn't help but snort. At least that they agreed on. It surprised her to find that they had common ground. After all, she couldn't imagine a wolf she felt more different from. "Why'd you return, then? The raid is over, yes? Unless there is some kind of clever reconnaissance I'm unaware of." Maybe she should give Acere just a smidge more credit. It wouldn't behoove her to underestimate anyone. They'd won the raid, yes, but it had been a close enough call. Winter was their element. Surely they wouldn't return once the snow came? "theory speaks!"

If it pained him to talk about Tyranis, he tried to push that pain straight back down where it'd come from, as soon as it began to surface. There was no use dwelling on it now, despite how much of a mess his absence had caused. He had no doubt Acere, regardless of Kai's own dislike for the man, was suffering as well thanks to him - Kai's freedom had come at a high price, and to who's benefit? Perhaps his own, though his indentured servitude hardly felt like something to be grateful for at all. His mind seemed to fixated on these thoughts even as he spoke of his childhood, and of being brought up - at least briefly within the pack known as Abaven. He knew that wolves tended to be social creatures, not nearly as solitary as he'd been brought up to be, as generations and generations of Jarvelas had been before him.. and truthfully he didn't care how others lived their lives, as much as their artificial borders aggravated him.

"A commodity indeed!" Kai cheered, seemingly oblivious to her sarcasm, or perhaps simply choosing to ignore it. "And no doubt worth much more than he paid, but perhaps not to him," he added with a snort. Maybe Acere had hoped Tyranis would help 'work off' the debt, so to speak, but otherwise Kai was an entirely useless body to fill Winterfell's ranks. Kai was almost surprised he hadn't told him to go sooner. "He wants me to stick around for the next raid. Won't be against Abaven, before you start ask. Then I've earned my freedom," he groaned, as overdramatically as physically possible. "I don't owe him a goddamn thing, but I'd rather not have him trailing me around the world for the rest of my days if I leave sooner than he allows. Last thing I need is to be looking over my shoulder all the time."

But enough of that conversation. His thoughts had been dreary for far too long, and he was determined to shift his mindset.. at least as much as he could force himself to. "I'm impressed you put on such a good fight against them. I thought you might be just pretty looks," Kai grinned cheekily at her, rolling back so he was floating entirely on his back and looking at Theory upside down.

It wasn't quite natural for a wolf to care so little for pack hierarchy and boundaries as much as Kai seemed to. Theory found it... odd. Concerning? No, no, she didn't need to be concerned for him. That seemed to be the last thing he wanted - or needed. She got the sense that he got along just fine on his own, although she wondered which wolf Acere had bid on behalf of. What kind of creature would catch this tusked male's eye? Not just a pretty thing. Theory theorized that the kind of female he'd like would be strong. Definitely good in a fight, and perhaps emotionally stalwart as well. A regal warrioress. Did Winterfell even have such a wolf in its ranks? Not that she could remember, even though she tried to wrack her brain. Maybe she could get him to tell her. At any rate, it didn't seem like they were an item any more. "No, he'd be twice as foolish to raid the same pack twice. We know each other's weaknesses now. We're on common ground, " she said snippily. She wouldn't ask such a foolish question. Of course it wouldn't be Abaven again - but maybe she was being too close-minded. A volcano had destroyed half of Boreas. Anything could happen. She eyed him up again, not appreciatively - although his upside-down floating left nothing to the imagination - but to size him up for battle. He could duke it out with Acere, although she couldn't for certain say who the winner might be. They'd be evenly matched. "You could handle yourself if he came for you." It was almost a compliment, but the tone of her voice was cool. She was just stating a fact. "And... thank you, but I'm assuming that's your type, yes? Women who can handle themselves in battle?" She was bold to ask, but their easy conversation made her braver than she otherwise might be in the face of his tusks. Of course, she was dying to know if her assumption was correct. "theory speaks!"

Though he had insisted he was worth much more than Acere had paid, the entire concept of slaves and owning another wolf was completely abhorrent to him. As much as he might banter about it, it wasn't a concept he could truly understand. But alas - he had found a way to work himself out of this mess without having to watch his back afterwards, and hoped his patience - something unusual for him - would be worth the wait. No doubt better things were to come, Kai would bet anything on it.

"Good for you," he replied lazily, despite her prickly tone. He didn't care about raids, about who won nor whether or not they were on even ground now. The only reason he didn't feel like raiding Abaven again, and was glad they weren't going to, was because he actually liked at least one member of Abaven and didn't really feel like getting his frustrations out on someone he could consider a friend. Finding a stranger sounded much preferred to him. "And sure, I could handle him, but if he sends a few of his wolves after me?" He shrugged, knowing that while he tended to be foolish, that at the end of the day... well, he couldn't stand a chance against three wolves. Maybe two, on a good day.

He let out an exaggerated laugh at her question. "I prefer men... but women can be fun, too. The bigger the better," he winked suggestively, letting his tail slash at the water, sending droplets spraying on each side of him. "I like people who can handle their own shit. Apparently I have a thing for pack leaders." Was he being flirtatious there? Possibly. But more than that, it was just true. Rhyme had ruled Abaven when he'd met him and he'd found the unfortunately straight man quite attractive. Theory wasn't so bad herself - but then again, he was lonely in a way he hadn't been in a long while. "What about you, leader of Abaven? What's your type? Strong, handsome men with tusks? Or are you into small, pretty little ladies?"

Small, pretty ladies. Her face grew hot beneath her fur. Was that... an option? Theory had never really thought seriously about her, uh, preferences. Frankly, the idea of relationships and what came of them made her stomach churn. She had enough on her paws with running the pack. Even then, she constantly felt like she was failing someone. How could she add anything else to that? It would just complicate everything. Theory had seen how Rhyme's many loves had left their pawprints on his heart, and of course how he had been utterly destroyed after Shaye's death. Could she even survive something like that? It felt like an impossible question. Theo couldn't begin to wrap her mind around it. "I... I don't know." There was frustration in her voice. It was even more infuriating that he seemed to self-assured and confident discussing his love life - he had no shame! (Was shame supposed to be involved?) Rhyme's tryst with Shaye clouded her view of love. Shame and affection had linked themselves inextricably in her mind. She'd be untangling this mess for years to come. "What's... better?" Theory muttered, averting her gaze out towards the far horizon. Ugh, this was so embarrassing. "L-ladies or, uh, guys?" "theory speaks!"

Some wolves might be surprised that Kai had so smoothly gotten away with trespassing, but he wasn't really the type to really try to charm anyone into anything. He was just himself, plain and simple, without any strings attached... and also without much attention being paid to the fact that he technically was in Abaven's lands. But the water was different, right? At the very least it existed in some uncertain grey area, at least in his mind. Anyway, he'd distracted Theory enough that she didn't seem too upset about him being here now, or maybe she was just interested to chat with a fellow Acere-hater. Either way, he'd forgotten almost entirely how mad she'd been at him just moments ago.. at least for now.

Theory did look quite uncomfortable and Kai found himself growing amused at the notion. Sick of swimming - the water had never really been his thing, anyway - Kai rotated himself back onto his belly and began to wade toward the shore, keeping an eye on Theory like she might try to tackle him again. Her uncertainty earned a low chuckle from him. It was quite hard to tell if she was stumbling now because he'd not-so-subtly asked if he was her type, or... ah, yes. Her next question made the source of her confusion much more clear to him.

"They both have their perks," he admitted, sounding amused but hardly condescending. He gave his thick coat a bit shake, trying to rid himself of the water that felt like it was dragging him down. "Though I think it's less about what's better and more about... just liking what you like. At least for me. I can find beauty in almost anyone, just depends how hard I want to look," Kai grinned at the thought. He'd found himself attracted to wolves that didn't fit his normal standards, but it wasn't the type of thing he could really explain. How had they gotten on this topic, anyway? Did she so easily forget that he'd been trespassing? Ah, this leader of Abaven was a funny one..

Theory's brow creased in thought as he began to wade back towards the shore. Was he going to answer her question? His response suddenly felt very, very important. She watched him head towards the sand warily before paddling and then splashing after him. He seemed peaceable enough - and it wasn't like he held any allegiance towards Acere, anyway. Was it really so bad that she was entertaining this conversation? She found herself begrudgingly hanging on to his every word. Grumbling to herself, Theory stepped out on to the shore behind him and shook out her coat thoroughly. It stuck up at all angles, especially the short and fluffy hair on what passed for her tail.

They both have their perks. Ooh, that burned her up! What a non-answer. It sounded like something you told a pup when they asked where they came from. She suddenly felt very young and very foolish. Theory averted her gaze and continued to groom the saltwater out of her fur with single-minded focus. If she was meticulous enough, maybe she'd forget about how idiotic she felt. "So what you're saying is, there's no rules?" she said quietly. Theory had very vague, rudimentary ideas about sexuality. Kai's nonchalance was blowing away her brick-and-straw house concepts on sex and love. He really was the big bad wolf.

She was young, he had to remind himself. What had he himself thought about such things at her age? He had yet to even meet Tyranis then, he had to guess. Love was far from the forefront of his mind. He'd still been figuring out who he was, and what he wanted out of life - but then again that was a journey that never really ended, no matter what age you were at. He let out another amused chuckle as she followed him out of the water, giving his coat another good few shakes. "Even if there are rules, I don't like following them. And yet here I am following Acere's," he added as an afterthought, grumbling as he switched trains of thought entirely. Being able to verbalize his frustration, even to a random female he'd just met, was weirdly cathartic. "I guess I just want a clean break, instead of having to sleep with one eye opening waiting for him to drag me back to his little hell. I know the pack thing probably suits you just fine but it certainly does not suit me," he explained with a roll of his eyes.

If she was still stuck on the whole conversation about love and gender, he had no clue. And though he'd made a vague effort to hit on her, the truth was that she was a bit too young for his tastes and she hadn't seemed overly receptive to his flirting anyway, which made his interest lessen quite rapidly. "Either way, I'm glad you kicked Winterfell's ass. Soon enough I'll be gone and you won't have to worry about any further trouble," he grinned, with all the cheekiness of someone who really didn't care if he was causing trouble for anyone in the first place. He highly doubted Winterfell would keep poking at Abaven anyway over this, so surely she was in the clear. "And maybe if you're lucky, once I'm a free man I'll come pay you another visit!"

I don't like following them. Hmph. Theory, for better or worse, had grown to love rules. And structure. It was part of what she found so fulfilling about leading Abaven, even if there were occasionally complications that made following the rules difficult. "Well, Winterfell is kind of like hell frozen over," she said, a little bit of a sneer creeping into her voice. Theo did her best to stay diplomatic in front of the pack, but Kai's non-allegiance felt too inviting to not toss a little bit of shit up north. She wasn't sure how many chances she'd get to be so blase about it all. It felt good. No matter what they seemed to be talking about, the topic seemed vaguely conspiratorial. "And thanks, we did kick their ass," Theory said, unable to stop from puffing her chest out just a little bit. Yeah, they did kick their ass! "You're no trouble I can't handle, old man," she teased, lowering her head and curling her lips just a little bit to show off her canines in a toothy, slightly threatening grin. Her eyes couldn't help but fall to his tusks. Could she really handle him? Theory laughed as he finished speaking and her eyes strayed towards the border. "I'll be looking forward to it. Headed out now, then?"