The sound of his nails on metal made Valentine recoil slightly. He paused midstep to shuffle the offending paw off the metal scrap and hung his head to get a better look at the object. It was almost entirely buried and only a small portion of it lay exposed. What he could see of it shone dully and was flush with the ground. He couldn't tell what it was, but he was on a mission and it was worth investigating. Rhys had somehow gotten it into her head that she needed to wear something on her head. He couldn't imagine where she'd gotten such an idea. It wasn't like she had a packmate that insisted on wearing a skull mask. Gently the brute started to scrape around the edges of the thing. He wanted to dig it out - or at least enough of it to see if it was wearable - but he didn't want to elicit that godawful sound again. He had half a mind to make Rhys dig it up since she was the one desperate for headgear, but he had no idea where she'd gotten off to. They'd parted ways close to Imperium and he had no idea if she'd even wandered north. The hat or mask or whatever it was exactly she wanted and their little bet to see who could find the right thing were both her ideas, so it only stood to reason she should do the digging.  To win all he was obligated to do was find the thing. After working diligently and - carefully - on one side of the thing Valentine managed to uncover what looked like the beginnings of an opening in it. The way it was curved held just enough promise for him to keep digging. With a little imagination he could maybe see it having enough curve to fit a head. ""

Oh it felt great to go beyond the restrictions of her pack boundaries. So used to exploring far and wide, it was quite a new concept to Esarosa to worry about where she set her paws. Before she knew it, she had found herself in the South, quite far from her home land. But that was okay. There was no reason for her to stay put. After all, what was she going to learn if she just stayed in one place all the time? So it was that she found herself at the Veteran's Plateau, her ebony paws having carried her far and high, now upon flat but rocky ground. Best of all, of course, was that she had discovered someone else. Slowly, ever so slowly, she crouched down into a careful stalking position, and shuffled her paws as she moved forward. The slate blue, black speckled wolf she'd spotted seemed quite occupied with digging something up. Curious, Esarosa crept forward, until she was sure she was within distance to surprise the other wolf, without startling him into defensive violence. Her waving black tail would give her away first, before any other movement. Emerald gaze focused mischievously on the brute that seemed to be quite interested in this foreign metal object he was pulling up out of the ground. "What the heck is that thing you're digging out of the ground?" she'd ask suddenly, "Is that, like, a human thing you found? Can I see... ?" She called out to the royal brute, her voice coming out as a whisper at the end of her sentence. She had no idea who exactly she was talking to, so there was no caution nor discretion in her voice. However, her curiosity was genuine, and she had to wonder what this guy was doing and where he was from. "Speak" "Listen" Think

With an opening uncovered and partially emptied, Valentine decided to try wrenching it from the ground. Carefully he worked his lower jaw into the small opening - ignoring the dirt inside that quickly stuck to (and dried out) the inside of his mouth - and once it was in, bit down. He tested the strength of the object by giving it a firm bite. The last thing he wanted was for it to shatter between his teeth. When the object firmly held onto its shape he decided it was okay to proceed. The brute jerked his head from side to side as he tried to work the object loose. When that failed to do anything he heaved backwards, his hind legs coiling and his front legs straightening as he tried in vain to pull the object free. Nothing. He wiggled his jaw free and started to dig at the object again but paused once he became aware of the presence of the woman. Valentine cocked his head and looked up at her before straightening. With an amicable shrug, he offered, "I dunno." In response to her second question he smirked said with good humor, "Dunno that either. Your guess is as good as mine." She wanted to look at it, huh? Even though she was a stranger that seemed like a reasonable enough request. It wasn't like she could suddenly run off with it; it was still pretty heavily buried. Valentine took a step back. "Be my guest." ""

Esa smirked, amused by the brute as he shrugged and casually said he didn't know what it was. He didn't know the answer to her other question either. Silence overcame her for just a moment as she wondered why this strange wolf was trying so hard to dig up something he knew nothing about. What for? Perhaps just to look at it? Or maybe he knew what it was and he was just messing with her. Snickering to herself, she perked her ears as he stepped back and offered to give her a chance to have a look at it. Now, why was she interested in it? She supposed she didn't really know either. The midnight-coated woman stepped forward carefully, then reached forward with her nose to touch the object. It definitely wasn't natural. Drawing in several short, quick breaths through flared nostrils, the metallic tang made her nose wrinkle up in disgust. She brushed her tongue against her front teeth as though trying to rid a foul taste from her mouth. "That's definitely a human thing," she concluded as she pulled back and seated herself, looking up at her acquaintance. Not that it mattered what the object was, or where it originated. And she didn't really know what humans were, except from the stories told by the elders of her birth pack - all she knew was that humans were powerful, frightening animals that walked on their hind legs. But they weren't scary because of extra large fangs or horrendous claws, no - in fact, they hardly even had hair - it was the objects they created, just like the 'thing' firmly stuck in the ground in front of the two wolves. "So, why are you trying so hard to dig it up, anyways?" she asked, her lips pulling into a grin, "Especially if you don't know what it is? It's not edible, so what good is it?" Her head canted to the side, ears flicking curiously as she watched his expression, wondering what he was thinking. "Speak" "Listen" Think