With the arrival of spring came slightly more milder weather.. for the north, at least, that meant something different than most of Boreas. The lands here were largely still frozen over, snow becoming less frequent, though a blanket of ice still seemed to coat the world wherever he went. Blizzards, though, weren't quite as common and trudging through the small layer of snow was far easier than attempting to dig through drifts taller than even he was.. so exploring, thankfully, was growing far easier.

And exploring was precisely what he was doing today. He saw the ship in the distance, a structure that was totally foreign to him, and his interest had been immediately piqued. What a weird thing! His pace quickened, heavy paws carrying the oversized male toward the frozen ship. Wary, he circled the metal structure, sniffing and pawing at the snow around it as though digging might give him some clues as to the purpose of this hulking thing. Unsatisfied, he peered through an opening in the ship's hull, letting out a loud bark - following by a low "Hello?"

© argent 2017

Dance with the Devil || The ship was shrouded in mistery. It licked at the rotting skeleton bringing moisture to the deepening crevices. It had been a fine cutter in its day, a sail of finest linen and a sleek prow to slice the ocean. Now it looked for all the world like a movie set, somewhere in the distance there should be the sound of hooves, swords or an intellectual argument approaching along the frozen land. But this ship was quite forgotten in its demise, bit by bit it became apart of wind that beat it so relentlessly all these years. Another century and it wouldn't even be a memory. Yet the questions remained. What was this structure used for? Who would run this metal shell across the sea? What sort of specimens where they? With cautious steps the babe approched the shell, nostrils taking in her environment as orange pomegranate optics bore a hole into it, inspecting if it was safe to approach any further. A brow rose on the babe's acutely beautiful visage, her expression changing from moment to moment, with each step upon the frozen blanket. As soon as she reached it a paw rose, cautiously being placed upon the metal shell as her head leaned to scent it. "!"

It echoed in the metallic confines of her home, a bark, a sign of life from below on the ground. The wicked child moved with an exceptional silence, only her nails scraping against the metal to make her approach all the more ominous. There was a low, whispered growl as the child heard that soft calling, Hello? The girl stayed within the shadows, not allowing herself to be revealed just yet as her hissing, venomous voice echoed with ghostly notes and haunting melody. "Turn back..." She whispered, letting the sound echo about the hull as she moved silently within the deep darkness of the ship's belly. "The devil is near..." Another whisper, this time a few short feet from the male's left, followed by a wicked and tinkling peel of laughter that bounced off the metal and surged around the room as the demonic child made for the center of the ship. She sat quietly, listening, her odd pelt barely visible in the darkness as hellish red eyes stared at the intruder. From within the ship, she was the only aware of one wolf, the other would be found soon enough.

"Talk." Walk. Think.

The sound of another's approach didn't go unnoticed. Somewhere - perhaps on the other side of the ship? - he heard snow crunching beneath someone's paws. Slowly he pulled away from the entrance to the vessel, peering across it to search for the stranger and seeing nothing yet. "Hey, is there someone on the other side of this thing?" Kai called out in his loud, booming voice, his brows furrowing as another sound pulled his attention back to the ship again. eyelids narrowing over his silver gaze as he tried to make out anything inside the darkness of the hull.

The sound of nails scraping against metal was followed by a sinister-sounding voice. Turn back, the feminine voice said, and Kai scoffed loudly. "Like hell I'll be turning back!" he declared quickly, and rather loudly, sounding a bit taken aback. This place may have been this stranger's home, but he wouldn't abide by her unknown rules - he only respected the borders of packs because it was convenient to not get ambushed in his sleep or chased away every time he turned his head. But this place? No, this was free territory, and he wouldn't let anyone tell him where he could or couldn't go. Especially when this place in particular seemed so interesting to explore.

"The devil, you say? Huh." Kai could barely feign interest in her words as he stepped back - not running from her by any means, but rather letting his gaze sweep over the ship's exterior for a moment. It was like nothing at all he'd ever seen, definitely a siedi if he'd ever seen one. The spirits were nearly emanating from this place. He'd have to meet up with Kanja and show her this place! Only perhaps they could leave a much bigger sacrifice than they had at the last place they'd found together. God, it was beautiful in all its strangeness, and for a long moment he stood and stared wide-eyed at the structure.

Slowly but surely his mind reeled back to the present, and without hesitation he took a few steps into the ship, pupils dilating as his eyes adjusted to the dim light and searched for the female that had been speaking to him. "Say, this devil you speak up.. you think there's any possibility of us meeting?" A playful grin tugged at his lips at his own sense of humor, fairly sure that she was trying to scare him away, but she'd be mistaken if she thought he'd be spooked by her youthful tones.

© argent 2017

Dance with the Devil || The tepid winds ruffled her fur, playing at the sparsely-adorned scruff of the woman, bred and built for the harsh terrain of the desert. She imagined the summers here were hot and arid (though not so brutal as her past home) and it was easy for her survive in the more southern regions, though her lonesomeness often got the best of her. She remained poised at the near edge of the ship, her narrow muzzle pointed downwards as she studied the way it was frozen, stuck into the ice. She was lulled by it, the whole metal construction was enormous in comparation, it was probably the most peculiar land she traveled too and this here was a new discovery. Soothed by the sounds of the wind that had grown familiar to her though from her reverie she was drawn by a voice, a native of these lands she suspected, auditory system erect upon her regalia, the babe startled momentarily before mile-long limbs carried her gracefully across the terrain. Was there another on the other side? "Who is there?" she murmurs softly, her voice slipping slowly over the words that were foreign to her, accented heavily by her arabic origins. "Who are you talking with?" she inquires slowly, tilting her skull and offering the light quirk of her eyebrow to rose. How strange to find another individual on this land, it meant she was not the only one who made this discovery and now it seemed to be more than the two of them? "!"

Irritation was the only thing that grew within the hell-beast's mind as the male made his jokes, not knowing that there was a demon on the other side of his conversation with shadows. An abrupt stop to her teasing laughter came then, throwing the hull into deafening silence as she watched the silhouette of the stranger grow closer. "To meet the devil is to embrace death." Her voice was like water over gravel, still melodic, but harsh and colored with a darker hint. Hard whispered tones that echoed around the ship's belly and hid her location better.

She could not deny her curiosity grew as he stood there in the darkness, questions forming in her labyrinth of a mind about him. What would he taste like? She wondered silently, bright ruby gaze sizing him up and weighing the risks involved in trying to hunt alone. It wasn't worth the risk, not for Zeivah. She could get hurt, or worse, and she wasn't trying to die before she saw her second year.

Another voice interrupted her thoughts, however, this one a bit more feminine. Instantly, her mood shifted and she growled at the male, blaming him for the secondary intrusion. "You dance with the devil alone, until then, the devil will be a talking shadow." As the last left her throat, she kept her steps silent and moved to a different part of the ship. Watching the male as she listened to the nearing voice of the other, 'Who are you talking with?' A grin parted the multicolored lips of the demonic child, how would the male answer this stranger? Would he tell her he was talking to the devil? Amusing, but also dangerous for them. Should her father hear them, they would be a meal for her and her siblings.

"Talk." Walk. Think.

Kai, a man who's entire life was basically made up of nonsense, suddenly had no interest in whatever game this girl inside was playing. The games were fun when they were his, or when he wanted to go along with them. But this? He wasn't interested, plain and simple, and a slight frown tugged at his lips in response. Luckily, his attention was drawn away by the wolf outside of the ship, and he jerked his head toward her as she approached gracefully. She had an accent, but her words weren't at all hard to understanding. Finding her far more pleasant already than the wolf within the ship, he grinned slightly at her, his tail flicking behind him. "Hey! I have no idea who I'm talking to, but she has a real attitude and it's starting to piss me off." As though suddenly remembering his irritation, he turned back to the ship and frowned as he peered into the metal structure's entrance. "Oh, and the name's Kai. What about you?"

Before she had much time to answer, the stupid voice from within the ship sounded once again. He huffed, annoyed now at her trying to scare him off from exploring this place, and he took a step into the ship. "To hell with this foolish talk," he groaned, jerking his head to Nephthys as though ushering her to follow him inside. "Slip back into the shadows, or whatever, for all I care. I intend to explore this ship and nothing you can say will scare me away from it." Kai wrinkled his nose, taking another slightly tentative step into the structure, now halfway inside. He wasn't wary about this female, but about the structure in general. Was it safe? Perhaps it was some kind of trap. The smell in the air was strangely metallic and he wasn't sure what he thought of it yet, but the fact that someone was trying to scare him away from it only made him want to explore it even further.

© argent 2017

Dance with the Devil || At first it was nothing but a deeper moaning to the caustic winter air that swept over the ocean as she approached the other male. The sound wound itself around the babe's ears and began to change, like a terrible lullaby. Was there someone else here? Then from that background of sound that ebbed and flowed just like waves on the moonlit sand, came words. The babe froze, straining to listen against the ceaseless wind and ice. It was a language she knew, but it hissed as it spoke. It was definitely a feminine voice. "Is it a ghost?" she questioned the other lupine, her pace lessened before she came to a halt in front of the entrance. "Nephthys Ithuriel. Enchanted." she purred quietly, barely audible, in a higher octave. Spooky doesn't quite cover it and eerie is an understatement. In the shadow, cast by ship walls thicker than her fore limb is long, a chill creeps over babe spine. The scent of rust is laden into those gusts that push impetuously against the ice. Every flutter of a motion inside catches her attention. "The voice is clearly female. A female ghost?" the babe tilted her regalia towards her right in confusion, brow raising in order to accentuate her questioning. Slowly but surely, she set foot into the ship itself, following the man, as her tea-cup paws come in to contact with the wooden deck, she felt a surge of insecurity when the floor board gives way under her weight. It’s time to move on and follow further. No ghost was going to stop them right? And if anything was to happen she could always leave the male as a delicious meal before running away. Heading into the bridge, debris has claimed the very structure itself, rusting away the ancient technology which was so advanced for its time. "!"