Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He rose before dawn’s light filtered through the gap in the ravine and into the main chamber of the cave’s den, peering through the gloom, more from sleepiness than any sense of difficulty seeing in the dark, and glanced around as he stepped from his alcove. It had felt odd claiming his parents’ old alcove. It had been where his siblings were born, and where, many, many years before, his own mother and her siblings had entered the world. It was also the leader’s alcove. He would occupy it, and later his mate, whomever that may be, would birth their children there. A yawn parted his jaws, before he padded quietly to the alcove that Solveiga slept in. He peered in, making out the sand and cream colored healer, and smiled, before turning away to pad out of the cave, down the ravine, and out into the plains. A full patrol later, and the sun was well on its way to its zenith in the sky. With that, he decided it was time to explore, for once. He’d been a bit of a home body since the pack had been founded, what with the fact that Ganja had joined, negating a reason to go anywhere beyond visiting other leaders at their borders. He felt like going out, spending a little time getting to know the lands around his own. He thought about calling Baine or Solveiga to go with him, but decided against it, since he’d already gotten a fair distance from the pack lands. It was several hours’ worth of travel later when he came up against a strong border, one that carried Faite’s scent. So this was where… he paused, sniffing more deeply. There was Zuriel’s scent. This close the whole time, and she hadn’t once come to visit? He could detect the scent of children in her traces, and frowned. She had kids? He stepped away, shaking his head. He would think about it later. For now, it was a day for himself. He skirted the boundaries of Emerald Valley, thinking back to the day he’d been driving an elk toward his family in hopes that they could bring it down in the Estuary. He’d encountered a female there, Evangeline Imperialis. She’s been pretty, but somehow unnerving, but he’d come out of the encounter with only a bit of fur missing. Why she’d wanted the tuft of crimson fur was anyone’s guess. He came to a familiar landmark, and slowed, memory washing over him. The Willows. His place of birth. Was that why Faite had placed Lirim where she had? Had she wanted to be close to where their lives had begun? He padded through the grove, fathomless eyes sweeping to and fro. There was the place where he’d found Cinder as a kitten, lost in the snow. Here was the den where he and his siblings had been birthed. The place where his grandmother had slept. He sat at the pool of water fed by a stream, soaking in the memories, before he rose again, crossing the river ahead at a shallow point. The climate had begun to change, just a little, as the west merged into the northern portion of the continent. He’d come a long distance, and he’d likely end up holing up somewhere for the night, or at least some of it, and would probably end up getting home long into morning the next day. A gap in the earth ahead caught his attention. Moreover, the scent coming from it riveted his attention to it, and he padded toward it at a cautious trot. He wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, but at a guess, the word that came to mind for the scent was ‘hot’. And perhaps with a faint hint of old eggs… A snuff left his nose as he stepped to peer into the crack, a cave that led down, down, down into the earth. It didn’t take long for his natural sense of curiosity, and the sounds emanating from the cave to entice him down the path. As he went, he became aware of the heat under his paws growing more distinct. It never rose above mildly uncomfortable, and as he saw the glow ahead, and its source, he forgot about his hot paws. Gods above and below, what was it?

OOC: Don't mind the grumpy table, I just never get to use it and I like it so yeah xD

Peregrine was always on the lookout for something new and interesting. You might say she was easily bored. Tsiry had long ago grown accustomed to her friend's wayfaring ways, and so was no terribly surprised to find them pushing into the northern climes. Of course, this didn't not necessarily mean she was happy about it. The waning summer already found mornings occasionally peppered with frost, and Tsiry would be more than happy to return to the southern lands they typically roamed. Peregrine turned a deaf ear to her complaints (as usual) and on they went. Still, she wasn't entirely unfeeling. She would at least find them somewhere well protected to sleep tonight so Tsiry would know some semblance of warmth. In this searching, she came across the trail of a familiar scent. It was hard to place, as she had only come across it once before, but it evoked memories of the western plains. Interested, she altered her course ever so slightly. Tsiry sighed, knowing it was useless to needle the woman over her utter lack of focus. They came to a crack in the earth where the scent was very fresh, though almost entirely masked by a foul odor leaking out from within the earth. Peregrine grinned and Tsiry groaned. "No. No! We are not going in there, you can't seriously intend to-" Tsiry's words were cut off as Peregrine plunged into the depths of the cave. She felt Tsiry's fingers dig tight into the fur of her mane, the lemur's feet wedging under the straps of Peregrine's bag to hold her in place. "Into the belly of the beast," Peregrine said merrily, rather enjoying herself. She earned herself a quick cuff on the ear for it, though the small arm was quickly retracted to regain Tsiry's vice grip. The farther they went, paradoxically, the brighter the cave seemed to get. The smell grew stronger and stronger as well, so much so that Peregrine could no longer sense the wolf she had intended to track down. No matter, as that was no longer the primary source of her curiosity. Rounding the final bend of the winding path, the brilliant display of flowing lava was revealed to her in it's full glory. Her mouth popped open, and even Tsiry forgot to be afraid for a moment. It took her a long moment to notice Regulus standing there before the molten wonder as well. Peregrine minced to his side, dwarfed by the much larger wolf, and said, "Fancy meeting you here." "Talk" "You" Think "Tsiry"

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

His ears flicked back as the sounds of two female voices and the scuff of one set of paws reached them, but he barely turned his head enough to see the female and her rider. The female was familiar… Peregrine? He opened his jaws to ask if she knew what this was, but by the way she and her companion seemed to be held in the same spell of wonder as he had been, he quickly deduced that they didn’t. Didn’t hurt to ask, though; maybe they had an idea. He greeted Peregrine’s words with a smile and a slow wag of the tail. “And you, Peregrine.” His rich sapphire gaze turned back to the roiling, slowly flowing liquid fire, and slowly, a memory dredged its way to the surface. A story told by his grandmother. Something about finding the Glaciem Queen here, burned by this hot stuff, and using the opportunity to bargain for the release of Azalea’s two sons, sired by the half rape by Isardis Armada, as well as a peace treaty between the two packs, in return for soothing the burned paw and ensuring a safe return to Glaciem for Sendoa. The key part of this memory was that it meant this stuff was hot enough to burn flesh and fur. “I don’t know exactly what this is, but don’t touch it. It’ll burn. My grandmother told us about it.” Now that he’d grown used to the heat under his paws, he couldn’t help thinking that having this kind of warmth around would be useful in the winter. His eyes turned back to Peregrine as she asked, conversationally, and as though they weren’t standing right next to a boiling river of burning hot danger, “How have you been?”

The crimson male seemed happy enough to see her, if a bit surprised. As he should be! Peregrine travelled with the wind, and could be expected to turn up wherever she pleased. She smiled at the male, and felt Tsiry begin to relax a bit as the lemur took in the source of the mystery, and realized it was not about to leap out and get her. Well... Probably was going to leap out and get. When traveling with Pere that had to be good enough. Regulus warned not to touch the molten material and Tsiry let out a humorless laugh. She could feel the heat from here, and could promise him she had no plans to go anywhere near it. "No problem there," she murmured, locking it in a distrustful glare. Peregrine, on the other hand, was positively delighted. "Oh, I've been both better and worse," she said in light hearted response, not all that keen to delve into the painful months of her past. "And you? How fares the pack?" The last she had seen of him had been on the Celestial's borders, and his pelt was imbued with the scents of many others, layered discretely under his own overpowering essence. It was practically and offhand comment, a formality, as the padded closer and closer to the molten pool before her. This was outstanding, and unlike anything she'd ever seen before. It's heat and unfamiliarity set her mind churning, producing question after question that she could not find the answers to. "What is this place?" she asked, starting with the most basic of them. "Talk" "You" Think

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He gave a soft chuckle at the lemur’s response. Despite the stuff’s danger, it was warm, and he was beginning to wonder if it could be harnessed somehow. Heat like this would be nice during cold winter months. And he knew healers might find this interesting as well. He turned to look at Peregrine as she answered, head tilting slightly with interest. He could relate with both statements, and at her question, a sigh blew free of his jaws. “Gods, where do I even start…” He padded along the stony path by the molten river, fathomless eyes gazing into the vibrant stuff. To her other question, he smiled, tossing an idea out. “If it weren’t for the fact that lightning can cause wild fires, I’d say this was the place fire was born… But perhaps we should call it the blood of the earth?” A wry chuckle left him. “It’s very warm. Heat like this would be very useful in the dens during winter. Our main den system, where my family and the healers and the sick stay, is a cave system in a hill. If someone got sick during winter, this heat could help them… But I’m not sure how to take any of this back…” He hummed out the last few words, trailing into thought before he turned to Peregrine. “Any thoughts?”