Another day, another thing to check off his list. He was returning from scouting more lands, and on his return journey had run into a rather nasty tempered cougar. It didn't seem to be hungry, but perhaps a rogue cougar that had wanted to fight him for the hell of it. The result? Ace walked away with a couple of lacerations on him, along with its teeth and claws. He thought about crafting something out of it, and since the animal was dead then why not put some of it to use? Finn and Lumi bounded ahead, their own fur ruffled from the fight but otherwise unharmed. Ace headed to his den, leaving the foxes to do their own thing by the river while he went to put the materials away. Once he finished doing that, he stepped outside and sat in front of his den to keep one eye on the foxes while he cleaned off his wounds. speech action

Ace spent a great deal of his time away from Abaven lands these days, but occasionally she would catch the scent of him at the borders, where he had crossed back into her lands. In truth, she had expected him to have moved on by now. She knew he planned to, knew he was unhappy with the way she had responded to him. They couldn’t really see each others sides, her priority was Abaven, and his had been revenge. Regardless, she still respected the man, she was still sad to see him go. She had spoken to him only once since the challenge, and it had not gone well. His words had been painful, his opinion of her hard to swallow. Perhaps that was why she hadn’t sought him out before now. It was the scent of blood that did it, mingled it with his natural signature, he had crossed this part of the border not long ago, bleeding. Her concern for her pack member trumped her reluctance to see him, and she forced herself to follow the scent, and let it lead her to his den. She saw his kits first, and gave the two bundles of energy a warm smile as she passed them, and found Ace in plain side outside his den, cleaning his wounds. “Hello, Ace” she said, keeping her voice as neutral as she could. “Did you need a hand with that?” her nose nodded down to the injury he was carefully cleaning. "Speech"

The alabaster Male let himself get lost in thought for a few moments while he gently cleaned his wounds. The rhythmic swiping of his tongue was soothing on his sore muscles, but he told himself it could have been worse. That rogue cougar was young and inexperienced, likely not a full fledged adult...or maybe just a dumb one that was fueled by nothing more than the need to prove itself. Whatever the case, it ended up picking a fight with the wrong wolf and died. Did he have any qualms about killing it? Not really. He had had enough of predators all winter, and if they wanted to keep fucking with him then he'd make it so there was one less each time. Besides, it was also sort of his way of venting out his emotions. He refused to allow himself to cry or show weakness to the world anymore. And if that meant unleashing himself when the opportunity presented itself, then so be it. He had calmed down some over the years, however. And he didn't always kill his adversaries. The time he fought off a cougar with Elara was one such time. They had driven it off, and he let it go. When he was alone though? He almost always finished the job unless they got away. Heya Shaye! Finn's voice cracked through his brief moment of thought and he focused enough to find Shaye coming towards him. Ruby gaze met sapphire as she greeted him, her tone neutral. "Shaye." He greeted in return, offering a nod. "I'm fine, thank you. It's just a scratch, I'll live." Not entirely true, but he didn't want to accept anymore help from anyone while he was here. It didn't feel right when he was planning to leave... "speech"

One of the ktis greeted him, and she smiled at the young creature as she passed. “Hello there Finn” she replied easily, finding the sweet innocent nature of the young creature refreshing. She had always found the kits to be adorable, and some of her favourite memories included them curled up with her tiny young, when her pups had still been small enough to find into the crook of her arm. Ace was a more serious creature to look at, his expression neutral, and his words cool as he answered her. His nod was brief, but at least he did not simply turn her away. “As you say” she said simply, as he insisted on seeing to the injury himself. She wasn’t about to get in the way of a males stubborn pride. Instead, she turned her attention back to the kits, finding them a safer topic then any other. “They look so big now” she commented. It had been a while since she had seen them, and indeed the had clearly grown. She concentrated on them, instead of what she had lost with Ace. Instead of the words he had spoken to her, that repeated on loop as a whisper in the back of her mind. They wouldn’t have hurt so much, if she hadn’t respected him so. "Speech"

He was mildly surprised when she didn't press him to take a look at his wounds. Though he knew why, too. Their relationship was strained, he knew that. And yet, he his pride would likely keep it that way. He had felt hurt by her not trusting his judgment, and he wondered if he might do the same thing at some point when he became an alpha. He couldn't say for sure if he would or not if he was honest with himself, simply because he wasn't yet in a position of leadership and had yet to be presented with such a situation. It was possible...but he couldn't say for sure until he was put in a similar situation in the future. He watched her warily as she turned her attention back to the foxes, commenting on how big they were now. Indeed, they were much bigger now, soon to turn a year old come autumn. Time flew by pretty fast...he remembered when he found them on the mountain, alone and frightened. "Yes, they are. They'll be a year old come Autumn." He looked at them for a few moments, eyes narrowing slightly in thought. Did she come to check on his companions? Or did she have another reason? Surely it wasn't to just shoot the breeze...things between them weren't like they were before. "Speak"