Winter had come and with it, another year to tack on to the wolf. It had taken him up until now to finally find a pack that he felt comfortable enough to stick around, and here the five year old seasoned rogue stood. On Soul Sand Cove under the flag of Vyper, though the thought of being a part of a pack was so strange it was nearly impossible for Brutus to assess how he truly felt. For awhile, he spent his time getting to know their new territory. He was pleased Xeph had chosen to return to the North, as it's where he wanted to start his research and look for any clues on what might have happened to his friend.

First things first, however, he needed to know every palm tree and washed up seashell that found it's way on their shore. He studied the way the lava and the ocean played together to create the fascinating borders of lava rock pillars on either side of the beach. He made sure to memorize every break in the pillars, and every route that led out into their surrounding territories after that. He studied what sort of things were left behind on the shore in the time of low-tide, sifting through the black sands of the cove only to find empty shells and fish skeletons. They weren't necessarily bade things to discover, it meant the birds were feasting off the coast and sea life was likely thriving enough to sustain quite a lot of them. As if to prove his point, a pair of gulls landed further down the beach from him and plucked a few live mollusks from beneath a thin layer of sand. Brutus smirked, though continued down the beach in an opposite direction as to not disturb them.

He felt confident enough to say he'd learned all he could from Soul Sand Cove, and he was ready to branch out into their surrounding territories.. but doing so alone seemed incredibly boring. Perhaps this day would be put to use learning more about the other wolves that shared this space, and perhaps he'd be lucky enough to find someone willing to go exploring with him.

Things had been rather quiet around Vyper. She hadn't seen (seen was probably the wrong terms) much of Xephyris around. She didn't expect to run into Jaelle at all - she was already faintly aware that the woman liked to wander. Brutus had been off, probably looking for his missing friend, so that just left Armai with Memphis and Nox for company. She tried to spend some time with the little pup since Limno had disappeared. She could tell that the girls' mother running off hurt Memphis, yet there wasn't anything Armai could do about it. Distracting the pup from worrying about it was about all she could do. She certainly couldn't go off and look for the woman. Had she disappeared on purpose or had something happened to her? With winter in full swing she'd given up on trying to find any herbs. Her den was as stock piled as she could get it. No one had come to her sick or with injuries so that was nice, even if it left her without anything to do. Nox had gone off to do whatever cats did, probably hunting or something like that, so she had to admit that she was more than a bit bored. So the silver woman headed off towards the beach. She wanted to check out the strange feeling trees again. She'd never encountered anything quite like them before and she still wondered if they were useful for anything. Halfway down the beach though she encountered a scent she hadn't come across in a little while. Was that Brutus? Her mood brightened considerably as she trotted down the cove. She'd gotten used to the territory in the time that they'd been there. She'd already memorized the layout of the trees and so long as she didn't go too fast then she wouldn't trip herself up in a dip or rise in the sand. She padded down the beach a bit more. She could hear gulls not too far off and Brutus' scent was stronger than ever. Now if only she could pinpoint his location. The ocean tended to throw off scents for her a bit since the breeze coming from the sea it shoved the scents off a bit. She was persistent though and finally got to the point where she thought she was close enough and called out to him. "Brutus?" Walk, "Talk" Think "Nox"

This whole beach perplexed him, he wasn't sure how the palms survived the winters here or what inspired the gulls to stay but he had no qualms against staying long enough to learn the secrets. He'd been standing on the shore staring out to the frigid waters of the ocean for some time before he heard Armai's voice ring clear over the sound of the waves.

Before he even turned to see her, there was a smile that swept over his gentle features. The man didn't have much in his life that seemed to bring light to it, not really.. he'd cherished his time alone and most of the wolves he'd met were selfish if not evil, but Armai was different. There was a warmth in her heart that Brutus' found himself unable to compare to anything else he'd come across so far, it was refreshing to say the least. He finally turned to look at her, his smile still present regardless on whether she could see it or not- he was happy.

"Hello, Armai." He stepped nearer to her, getting more out of range from the cold mist of the ocean. "A pleasure to run into you again, how have you been? How is Memphis?" He hadn't met the child, but he had been around enough to know that there was one in need of taking care of now that Limno was gone. Scents around the cove revealed enough to keep him updated for the most part, though he was curious as to the child's spirits.

Ears remained pricked forward for the tell-tale sign of Brutus. He was obviously here and he wasted no time in greeting her. Her nose was ever inquisitive as she took in his scent once more. It was nice to have a familiar wolf around yet she briefly wondered if he'd been able to fins his friend. Judging by the lack of strange scents on his pelt, she doubted his efforts had been fruitful. While she highly doubted she'd be much help, she contemplated the idea of helping. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as he greeted her and internally she warmed up at the idea that he was pleased to see her again. It was a warm enough feeling to make her forget about the cold winds that came in from the ocean and the mist that sprayed towards them. Her tail waved softly behind her before it came to a halt as she thought of Memphis. Poor child. She still couldn't fathom where Limno had run off to, but she was getting the idea that she wouldn't be coming back. "I've been okay. Memphis, well I'm pretty sure she misses her mom. She asked me if I knew why she'd left, but I honestly can't figure that out either." She found herself setting into his company in an easy type of way. He was comfortable to be around, which was a relief, since she normally preferred to keep to herself. She'd be the first to admit that her social skills weren't exactly the best. "How have you been? Did you have any luck finding your friend?" Walk, "Talk" Think "Nox"