Ashmedai waited as Faine explained herself, then turned his attention to the alpha. He complimented Faine and shot her a wink. Were they... a couple? Ash shot Faine a look, hopefully he hadn't just flirt with the Alpha's lover.

Dragon introduced himself and told a little about his pack. He said that he too had found this place to be interesting and decided to move his pack down here. Ashmedai tilted his head a little. That was something: to just move a pack. He said they didn't have much competition down here. That made sense.

After a moment, Dragon paused, then asked him if he was Valentine's son. He was a little surprised someone knew. He didn't really toss around his last name anymore, but he didn't mind that someone knew.

"Yeah, I'm from his second litter. I guess you're familiar with him or Imperium, then?"

Faine’s ears flattened as there was something weird going on between the three of them. Well of course she would call him brave because the other option Ashmedai had said was idiot. Dragon praised her though, saying that so far she had been a huge help and such. She simply nodded and got to her paws, the conversation between the two males were going in a direction she was unaware of. It seemed like she was not really needed anymore, so she dipped her head. “I’m going to go get that lamb’s ear,” she said, not really seeing why she needed to present now. She turned to Ashmedai, “It was a pleasure meeting you,” though that she was slightly apprehensive about, and she turned to Dragon. “I’ll see you around later, yeah?” she asked, and flicked her tail. Slipping into the castle behind them. [ exit faine ] Walk, "Talk" Think

He asked and he received. This male was indeed one of Valentine's kids, and the memories from his first home pack flooded back to him. He liked Valentine, the male was someone Dragon had always kinda looked up to. While his family had left the pack at a young age to start their own, he never forgot the man. Before he replied to Ashmedai, Faine spoke up about going to get some lambs ear, and the alpha would turn to her for a moment. "Thank you Faine, and yes, I will see you later!" He smiled and dipped his head to her as she went her own way, and he was thankful she had come to approach the borders to keep Ash company until he could make it himself. He watched her walk away for a moment, then returned his attention to Ash. "You probably don't remember me, but my family and I were brought to Imperium after your dad challenged for my mother when I was a pup, so that makes us pack mates! Er...well, former pack mates, I guess. " He was more interested in the fact that he was reuniting with an old pack mate, even though they had never talked before, there was still that sense of familiarity. "I was pretty bummed when I found out Imperium disbanded, I was sort of hoping that we'd have a future alliance but...well..." He cleared his throat, not wanting to make the conversation uncomfortable. "So uh, what's new?" Walk, "Talk" Think

Dragon dismissed Faine and the woman left. Ashmedai plopped his rump down comfortably as Dragon spoke. As the man explained, everything slowly clicked.

"OH... Avalin? Wait... Avalon, right? I remember her!" Ashmedai said.

"Mostly because I hated her and thought she was going to be the pack's second Rhythm. Also wasn't her mate a fugitive or something of Katja's?"

Ashmedai didn't hold much hostility to her kids. Besides, they probably weren't as dumb as she was- or as dumb as Ashmedai thought she was.

"How's she? Is she- uh... you know?" Alive? Ashemdai didn't really want to offend Dragon too much.

"My mom's dead. As for my dad..." Ashemdai shrugged. He never found his father.

Dragon asked what was new. Ashmedai shrugged, "I'm traveling as a loner now, so I decided to stop by and visit whatever packs I came across. Gotta know who thinks what and stuff. Surprisingly, most of them don't know much about the world around them, which makes me curious. What's your take on the other packs?"

Ashmedai threw out the test question. Was Dragon smarter than the average alpha?

He chuckled a bit as Ashmedai got his mom's name wrong, then promptly correcting himself. Well, it would seem he remembered her. In what ways he wasn't sure, his mom had been busy trying to care for him and his siblings, but also tried to integrate herself into Imperium life from what he could remember. He knew she and Valentine had been good friends, nothing beyond that thought. "She's doing fine. Still running around and trying to be a mom and stuff." He shrugged a bit, not really sure what else to say about her. From what he saw, she was doing fine. But in reality, he didn't know she was struggling with herself. Struggling with her depression that had cropped up again recently. He was about to ask Ash about his parents, but before he could open his mouth to ask the question, the other male had said his mother was dead. Well...good thing he didn't ask then, right? That would have been pretty awkward... "My condolences. Really." He said, dipping his head. He figured it wasn't easy losing a parent. He had never known his father, so the only thing he felt for him was hatred for abandoning them. His younger siblings had lost their father to sickness, and they had been crushed by it. Ashmedai went on to say he was a loner, going around to the packs to find out about them, then he questioned him about what he thought about the other packs. Truth be told, he wasn't sure. He hadn't gone to meet any of the other alphas, wasn't sure if he really wanted to. What was the point? "Well...I'm not sure. I haven't gone to meet any of them, we've been pretty secluded and I prefer to keep it that way. Granted if I ever did run into another alpha, I'd probably find out if it's worth forging an alliance. Not making friends with other alphas makes it easier and makes things less complicated for say...raids, and shit like that. I mean, if you were friends with an alpha who was the enemy of another alpha you became friends with and they called for your help, what would you do?" Dragon questioned him then. It was something he himself always pondered, but in the end didn't really come up with any solutions. He supposed if a situation ever came up like that he could decline aiding either pack, but then that would probably make one or the other hate him or something. It was much simpler, in his opinion, to keep the other packs in a neutral stance or...well, at arms length, so to speak. "Speech"

Ashmedai listened as Dragon spoke to him. It felt almost like he was being treated as an actual adult. Dragon talked about the complications of alliances and raids and stuff and Ashmedai quirked a brow, "You plannin' on making a habit out of raiding others?"

To be honest, Ashmedai didn't care if Dragon wanted to raid every single pack. Dragon then asked how he would choose between an alliance and a friendship. Ash shrugged, "Depends on which is more important to me. When I was in a pack, I sometimes had to choose between packmates or friends. Sometimes you have to choose between family and friends too. I don't see alliances any differently."

Ashmedai tilted his head, "Of course, if you're in an alliance, it's your job to make your terms clear and to keep up with your allies to that conflicting interests or conflicting ideals don't end up ignored, you know? Treat it like any other relationship you'd want to flourish."

"There's a possibility that we may." He responded, a small smirk tugging at his lips. Ashmedai went on to answer Dragon's question and the answer wasn't something he wholly expected, though he did fall into thought with it. It made sense, he wasn't really one to beat around around the bush with others and was generally straight forward when he wanted to be. "Well since you put it that way, it makes more sense. I know alliances can often be complicated if something isn't clear, though perhaps such a thing might have its benefits as well. I guess we'll see, for now I am content with how things are, but who knows. Maybe I'll change my mind later." He peered at Ash, wondering what this guy did as a loner. Dragon had never been a loner before, so he was quite curious. [b]"And what about your...alliances. You're a loner, do you go around to all the packs to get information? Make friends? Protection? I've never been a loner, so I'm not sure what it's like. Though I suppose if I were to be one it wouldn't be too lonely with Kimahri around." He glanced towards his companion before shrugging, "I suppose it has its freedoms too, right? I've traveled, but only to look for a place to move the pack. I only know of a couple other packs in Boreas, Abaven, for example. And whoever else is in the East and that one in the West. Other than that, I haven't bothered to go scouring the lands to figure out where the other packs are. Not yet, anyway." Walk, "Talk" Think

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