Pyrrhc was doing a bad thing. But - and this was important - he was doing a bad thing for a good cause. At least that's what he was telling himself.  The young Abraxas had sneaked outside the pack in search of...bones. More specifically, little bones. He needed game pieces for the game of strategy Benkos was teaching him. The mandrill had his own set which he was content to let Pyrrhic use whenever he wanted, but borrowing something and having your very own version of it were two different things. Pyrrhic wanted his own set of chess pieces.

Benkos was with him, although the mandrill had made it very clear he had no intention of helping. Instead, the large and colorful primate sat atop the ridge with his forearms on his knees and his watchful gaze on their surroundings. Pyrrhic was fine with this. He didn't need any help anyway.

The boy was bent over a large hole in the ground. Around him were mounds of dirt and bones that were much too big to be game pieces. Every couple of seconds he sent a plume of dirt into the air as he dug, but even when the breeze brought it billowing back at him he paid it no mind. Pyrrhic was on a mission.

"Talk"

Auster held a lot of memories for the Alpha, and not just the new ones of the stern Alpha who pushed her into a corner with pack negotiations - it was also the place of her childhood. Perhaps that was what brought her back here, time and time again. It was a long way from home, but she felt she needed to make the journey. Her feather was old and worn, and the proper replacement could only be gained in one spot. The spot she and her father had found their first feather. Feeling sentimental, she was making her way through Auster towards the Shimmering Shore. She skirted around the new territory of the Risen Empire, having caught the scent of the moved pack the last time she was here. As she passed through Fossil Ridge, she would catch sight of a small bump, stuck up in the air like a flag. Looking further up, she could see a primate sitting upon a ridge, arms on his knees, watching. What? She had no idea what she was walking into, but curiosity got the better of her regardless, as it often did. She moved further onto the ridge, watching a plume of dirt, kicked into the air, and dragged back into the boy with a gust of wind. “Whatcha got there?” Shaye asked as she approached. ""

Up on the hill Benkos let out a guttural warning bark that immediately brought Pyrrhic up out of the hole he was digging. The sound alone was kind of intimidating, but he knew from experience that it also meant he needed to pay attention to his surroundings.

And boy was he glad he did because a tall lady was walking towards him. Even though he was covered in dirt Pyrrhic did his best to look dignified.

As he watched the lady approach a little trail of dirt trickled down his forehead and onto the bridge of his nose. Without taking his eyes off of her (and hoping she wouldn't notice) Pyrrhic quickly scraped it off with a paw and then restruck his dignified pose. "Little bones," he said casually. "Lots of them. See?" Proudly he gestured towards a small pile beside the hole.

"Talk"

The sound the primate made was impressive, loud and guttural, she glanced back towards the monkey, who was perhaps the greater threat out of the two. The boy, coated in a fine sheen of dust, puffed himself up and looked at her as she approached. The dignified flair was somewhat spoilt by his disheveled appearance, and the smudge of dirt that dribbled down onto his nose. She hid her smile as he cleaned it off. He sure looked like he was trying his best to be dignified.

The closer she got, the more she recognised the scent of the Risen Empire on him, he smelt a little like Mel, and the one other offspring of his that she had met before. The scent almost made her turn around and walk away, she wasn’t certain she wanted to get between that Alpha and his child.

With a sigh, she decided to stick it out, and peered over where he indicated “Thats a lot of bones, whatcha going to do with them all?” she wondered.

Pyrrhic found his gaze getting snagged by the feather hanging from the lady's ear. Try as he might to maintain eye contact like Benkos had taught him, every flutter of the feather inevitably drew his gaze away and sparked his curiosity. What was it for? Why did she wear it? He had so many questions!

The lady had a few of her own, it seemed. Pyrrhic let his gaze dropped to the little bones at his paws. He nudged one of them gently before returning his gaze to Shaye's. "I'm going to make my own chess pieces! Benkos," he motioned towards the stoic mandrill. "Has a set that he lets me play with but I want my own."

His gaze dropped to the ground again. Now that he thought about it, it was going to take an awful lot of work making the pieces. Pyrrhic's gaze drifted to a small vertebrae beside his paw. "Or maybe I'll just gather pieces for checkers. It's a funner game anyway."

"Talk"