It had been a while since he had travelled more than a land away from Armada. The last litter of pups had kept him on his toes, and the Warlord found too many reasons to stick close to home. It was the scent of the jaguar that had done it. The beast had lingered by his borders, its scent pooling in one place, where clearly its paw steps had stopped to sniff at an hour old track of one of his kids. He hunted the jaguar down, its trail leading him to the North, skirting through the Falls where Resin had once resided, and up towards the Abaven borders. The scent of young lingered here too, and he remembered the litter that had visited Ashen not too long ago. The creature hadn’t stopped at the border as it had with the Armada. Perhaps it had caught sight of Seer and fled before it could decide if it would brave the pack. Theory hadn’t passed by this spot yet, he was sure of it. He raised his head and howled a quick summons to the Abaven Alpha. Anxious to step foot in their territory and kill the interloper before it could cause this pack any more heart break then it had already encountered. He owed it to Theory to keep her from that. "Speech"

She found herself pleased to answer Sirius' call. There was once a time when it would have caused her to quake in rage, but it felt like eons ago now that Poem and Motif had been safely returned. Although their time in the Armada had hardened them both, it hadn't broken them. Poem had come back different, but more sure of herself. Stronger. Motif had come into her own quietly but with grace. In some strange way, she had Sirius to thank for that. Of course, he was also a formidable ally. There was no discounting the strength of the Armada and his relationship with the other packs of Boreas. Theory arrived quickly, greeting Sirius with a smile before she caught his trepidation. "Sirius! Good to see you. You seem tense?" There - she caught it! The scent of a predator. Theory's hackles rose and she peered around. "Did you tail that here? Where'd it go?" Once the immediate threat was quelled, there was more bad news to share. She couldn't be sure how far news of Ignis' coup had traveled. Drifa's visit seemed like a personal matter, not an errand she was running all across the continent.

Her answer was quick, thank goodness. He didn’t have to make the decision of trespassing, or leaving them to their fate. He wasn’t entirely sure what he might have done, and the decision was taken from him the moment Theory appeared. He nodded his head towards the dark wolf, a relieved smile on his maw. He owned his mouth to explain - but she caught the threads of his thoughts quickly.

“It slipped in here” he said, drawing her attention to where he stood at the border. “It was tracking an old scent of one of my pups, but I think I scared it off, and it fled in this direction.” He explained, speaking with rapid seriousness. “May I enter and help you kill it?” The mention of danger to pups these days was enough to get his blood pumping, would it be the same for Theory?

Her heart quickened. It was going after children? Poem's brood was tucked safely in her sister's den... all at once the blood rushed to her head. She felt herself snarl reflexively before she could catch it. The expression was ugly but the situation was uglier. It demanded ugliness. "Yes, please - lead the way," she said, her lips curled back over her fangs. Theory set her nose to the trail and invited Sirius over the border with a deft nod of her head. Together they'd track this wretched thing and put a swift end to its life before it could even come within the barest scent of her nieces and nephew. The lives of children were precious, that was one thing they would always agree on.

The instintal snarl made an appearance on her maw the moment he said ‘children’ he knew he liked Theory. In this, they were of the same mind. He stepped over the border, fleetingly considering the fact that he had never actually entered these lands before.

He stepped over with no fanfare, and instantly went back to track the creature, as through the border interruption had never happened. Of course, now he had Theory at his side, and the creature would never survive the two angry Alphas.

The trail led them to the Abaven rapids, and he sent Marshal ahead as he crossed the stream, and searched for its scent on the other side. The cry of his companion alerted them to a spotting, and his head snapped up. He fell into an easy loop, until Marshal was clear and close before them. There it was, the beast that had decided it had a liking for wolf pups. “How do you want to do this?” he said courteously. After all, this was her land.

The rapids. Perfect. She knew every stone and ripple here like the top of her paw. It had been a playground once, then a graveyard... and she hoped it would one day be a playground again. But today blood would be spilled once more. Theo took comfort in the fact that this was in the name of safety and prosperity - not that she ever turned her nose up at killing a predator. There was nothing saintly about letting chaos run amok because you were too scared to make that first move or end your enemy when you could. There was no glory in that. "Alright, help me corral it towards that spot there, between those three rocks. It'll be slippery." It was a warning, she wouldn't underestimate him by telling him to "be careful." The terrain may be strange, but he was a seasoned warrior. He'd likely trained in worse. But the rocks of the rapids were tricky - slick and wet with hidden moss that made things all the more treacherous. Just when you think you'd get purchase with your paws or your claws, you'd skid right on over the edge. The water had frozen nearly solid places, but the spot between the rocks she'd gestured too was far deeper than the rest of the river. A well-trained eye could see that only a thin layer was frozen on top. Theory snarled and raced towards the cougar, guiding it towards the rapids and that deep, dark spot in the water that was disarmingly still.

“Aye He agreed, hearing the warning for what it was. This was her land, she was the wolf that knew it like the tip of her muzzle. Letting her take charge, he fell in line. Moving a distance away from her before heading inwards towards the cat. He snarled, ensuring he had its attention, and stalking forward. His steps sure and steady, like he knew he was the biggest thing on four feet around.

Theory’s tactic was to snarl, and race forward. Startling the creature whose eyes had been on Sirius. It turned and raced away from them, heading in the direction Theory had indicated. The Warlord bounded forward, close to the rocks, and almost slipping at the wet, slick, surface. Nothing like the grassy, sandy territory of the Armada. He snarled, and caught himself, Theory’s warning had kept him on his toes when he might otherwise have taken a nose dive.

She raced around the other side of the cat to steer it away from escaping across the rapids. It was icy but she was able to remain on her toes. The cat scrabbled for purchase on the slick stones, its claws seeking something to sink into. It was only met with stone and ice. Theory hopped one rock closer, snapping her jaws at the cat's heels to get to step forward. Just a few more inches... With a yowl, the cat's back legs finally lost their fight. The cougar hit the thin ice and it shattered beneath the weight - the frigid water trapped beneath welcomed the cat to its final resting place. As it sank into the quickly moving water that had been hidden beneath the ice, it lashed out one final time and threw its front paws across the stone, claws fully extended. It was close to Sirius but she couldn't quite see if the cat made contact. There was another hideous shriek as it sank beneath the current and then a strange silence. Theory was breathing hard, clouds of condensation hiding her face until her gasping slowed to a normal tempo. "Sirius? Are you hurt?" She called across the wet rocks. "Meet me on the shore!" As she picked her carefully back to solid ground, Theory sent her raven deeper into the pack lands to grab her medic bag. Cougar claws weren't anything to sneeze at, even if they'd managed to execute the cat quickly.

The Warlord kept at it, moving close to the cat, ensuring it would not slip past him and away. His paws still struggled against the slick, slippery surface. The cold digging at the soles of his feet. He snarled at the cat, and it snarled back, but still it backed up. When its paws hit the ice, it seemed to realise its fate. It lashed out, backed into a corner it was no longer afraid to engage the Warlord.

Its claws caught in his coat, tossing his head to the side with the impact of its attack. They scraped against him, but didn’t find purchase, and the momentum of its attack worked against it, throwing it further off balance, and into the water.

The Warlord stayed where he was, watching the place it had fallen, waiting to see if it managed to make its way back to the surface again. He didn’t realise he was bleeding until blood pitter-pattered against the surface of the water. He shook his head with a soft hiss of surprise. It seemed he would be going home to the misses with a new scar.

Theory’s voice shook him from his stupor, and he turned away from the water. The cat was gone, that was clear. He picked his way gingerly back to her, and sat on the shore before the Abaven Alpha, bleeding freely onto her territory. “We did good work, Theory. One less threat to the young of yours and mine.”

As the cat met its demise beneath the rapids, Theory heaved a sigh and sat slowly back on her haunches. This would bring her some small comfort. It took her a moment to realize that the blood in the water belonged to Sirius. As he came closer she sprung to her paws and signaled to Alouette to bring her medicine bag. "Yes. We've got new little ones of the ground - so many I can barely keep their names straight. Your once apprentice, Poem, is a mother now." Theo grinned but kept her eyes on the sky, tracking Alouette's return. When the raven arrived she rifled through the bag with her nose and paws, eventually coming up with some soft fibers and a jarred poultice. "Lou, can you dunk this in the water? Not where the cat fell, upstream from there." Who knew what diseases might drive a cat to venture that close to occupied territory.

Alouette grabbed the cotton and hopped upstream before dipping it in the frigid water and returning. "Alright. Let's get you sorted before I send you off to your wife with bad news and a scar," she murmured. Better that he heard about the coup in the north from her before anyone else. "An elder arrived at my borders before the turn of the season. She'd been forced out of Winterfell due to a coup. Acere's daughter has been overthrown by a relative. Ignis. He seems to be, ah, not in his right mind. She told me that he has a violent future in mind for the pack." Leaning in, she carefully dabbed at his cut with the wet cotton.

He blinked in surprise at the news of Poem, his feelings over her mixed. At the time he had… taken her, as his apprentice he had been a different man. Very new to authority and leadership, he had been more bold and reckless. Cruel. Authority and fatherhood had both shaved him down until he was a man more keen on protecting what was his then anything else. He no longer found pleasure in causing strife, and he regretted how things had turned out between himself and Poem. She was a promising young wolf, and he could have done better by her. “I’m glad to hear she’s doing well” As Theory approached him with wet cotton, he grinned at the young wolf. She proved she knew something about married life with her words, even if she was married herself. Zee would, no doubt, tsk at him over the scar. “I hadn’t even heard that Acere no longer ruled.” he had little respect for the uppity leader that had thrown away his pack's good standing to barter his entire pack for one wolf. That action had never sat right with the Warlord, who prized the wellbeing of his pack over all. “What is he doing while his nephew overthrows the pack he had created? Great. Ruled by a mad king now, is it?” Acere had been bad enough. Now an unstable leader? He had back benched raiding the pack for some time. Had that been a mistake? He held still well the young leader began to clean the cut. Twitching with a wince he managed to halt. "Speech"