Rags floated leisurely back towards Lirim's homeland, taking her time. The eruption had been hard on her - more so physically than mentally. The constant moving between places and out of harm's way had her stiffer than usual. She walked with the typical hitch to her gate far more pronounced than usual. Ash still rained from the sky and cast its bleakness across the land. Things had to get better soon, right? Rags had never experienced anything like this in her life - tremors, sure, but this took the cake. There was no telling when the after effects of the eruption would cease.

Sighing, she put her nose to the ground and tried to sniff out any other lingering pack members. They'd trickle back eventually she hoped. It would be cruel to finally find a home and have it ripped away so soon.

He needed to get away and Boreas seemed the best place to go. Maybe with a little luck he could straighten himself out. Besides, he figured it would be worth investigating how the northern region had fared during the volcanic eruption and it certainly didn't look good. Aureus went where intuition led him, having no real destination in mind. He turned to look at Kali who trotted along behind him. It was the panther's turn to carry a piece of deer hide that held various items he'd taken along on the journey. Some items he'd just found and figured he take back to Risen. However, if there was one thing he needed it was food. While the duo could hunt pretty well, prey was proving scarce. Spring was here but it seemed slow to start. The days were still cool and the sky still hazy. Aureus longed for the warmth of the summer and the long days that came with it.

It wasn't long before he found himself near a pack border. Aureus stared into the pack lands for a moment before moving along the border. Should he call? Perhaps he could trade but that was only if they didn't know he was an Abraxas. It might be a chance to scout out how some of the northern packs were going but it could also be risky. Was this pack a friendly pack or one that might try to enslave him on the spot?

He spied a woman not far off and he called out to her. "Excuse me, are you a part of this pack here?"

It smelled like there had been some Lirim wolves around recently. A particularly fresh scent let her know that there was a prey cache nearby. That was the real beauty of being part of a pack - food. Hunting for herself proved difficult on her best days and impossible on her worst. After so many years of being a rangy scavenger, Rags was finally well-fed and healthy all thanks to the support of her pack members. Thinking of food proved to be distracting - she didn't notice the stranger until he called out to her.

She turned slowly, placing her paws carefully so that she didn't trip. Oh, she was stiff. Hopefully the coming days would be warmer and kinder; there was an undercurrent of warmth on the breeze, she could feel it. If she just hung on long enough there would be kinder days ahead. "Yes, I'm part of this pack," she replied dryly. Couldn't he smell her? Her own nerve damage caused her sense of smell to be quite a bit weaker than the average wolf. Aureus was a stranger, that much was certain, but she couldn't quite pick up on where he came from - definitely no place she had smelled before. "Travel far?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. Rags hadn't run into any strangers in quite a while - the eruption seemed to push everyone towards the fringes of livable land.

The unfamiliar woman turned to him and confirmed that she was part of the pack. He nodded in answer to his question. "Yea, my name is Aureus. I'm… well, let's just say I'm a loner. I've been traveling for a long time and I haven't come across much to eat." He didn't care to let this stranger know what pack he was from so as far as he was concerned for this encounter he'd just left. As for food, prey was scarce but that was no surprise. Everything was scarce after the volcanic eruption. What wolves that were able to flee had scattered far and yon. Prey had scattered as well and the results of the volcanic explosion had stifled all kinds of plant life. He hoped that spring would bring about a renewal but it seemed slow in coming.

"I have a few different sorts of items with me. I wonder, would your pack have any spare food that they could trade?" He really only needed a few little morsels so he and Kali could get their strength up. Griff had been doing well enough and the bird was likely off, watching from a distance. Kali gently set their bundle down and butted his shoulder against Aureus' own shoulder. Aureus could only hope that some of the items might be of interest to the she-wolf. He had little interest in taking anything by force at this time. For one he didn't want to bring a whole pack down on himself and for another he didn't exactly know where their food stores were. Not to mention he didn't want to go waltzing right into trouble and bringing it all the way back to Risen.

Hmm... a trade. The idea piqued Rags' interest. Prey was scarce, but they had good hunters. Would anyone even be interested in trinkets in these trying times? Idly, she thought of Torin's young brood. The puppies were probably bored out of their skull during and after the relocation. Surely any kind of training had been put entirely to a stop. "Perhaps," Rags stalled, eyeing the big cat warily. Although she was leery of the situation, there wasn't any point in being aggressive. Between Aureus and the panther, they could probably gut her before she could even turn to call for help. Might as well see what they had to offer.

"Show me your wares...?" Rags inquired, slowly settling her haunches down to sit on her side of the border. She could track down the cache she'd smelled once something interesting caught her eye. No point in leading him straight to the food unless he had something worth trading. Although her nose was bad there was definitely a vague smell of pack about him, although it was just stale enough that she barely managed to pick it up. There was more to his story than he was letting on, but she was bored enough to carry on and see where it might lead.

Aureus nodded and carefully unwrapped the deer hide bundle. Kali sat back and wrapped his tail around his paws, shivering just lightly in the cool air. Aureus then began to pull out items and set them out for display. There were a few rabbit hides, a raccoon skull, and a set of bear claws. As he dug further he pulled out three little clay balls that had dried before he'd done anything with them. They'd at least be fun to bat around. He'd thought of trying to invent some kind of came but his grief had smothered his creativity. Lastly, he pulled out a small bundle of shells, most of them he'd found along the beach at the bifrost. Again, he wasn't quite sure what to do with them. They were pretty but beyond that he just didn't know. Jewelry was a possibility but it wasn't quite his style. Perhaps some sort of windchime could be made out of them.

"Do any of these items strike your fancy?" If not he'd just have to figure something else out or perhaps just give it up. Either way, he felt it was at least worth a shot.

WC: 195
Total: 1337

The rabbit hides intrigued her. Her hind end got particularly cold in the chilly night. Even if she couldn't quite feel it sometimes due to the nerve damage there, she knew it was important to keep warm in case frostbite set in when she was unawares. The ash that dampened the sun's warm glow didn't do anything to help the situation. Rags scanned the rest of the items, feigning polite interest in each of them. They were all pretty trinkets, but she'd made her choice. "I can bring enough food to fill your bellies for the rabbit hides - four squirrels and a pheasant?" She said, tilting her head to the side, ears flopping as she did. A dark shape lumbered towards them from the interior of Lirim territory. Mor arrived on the scene. The fluffy spectacled bear made a curious grunt towards Aureus and his companion.

"Are there causing you any trouble, sweets?" she asked, staring down her snub-nosed muzzle at the strangers. Rags rolled her eyes and jabbed Mor affectionately with her paw. "'Naw, and I can handle myself, Mor. We're just making a deal." The small bear eyed the trinkets on the ground and gave Rags a little nod - there were some good items on offer. Anything new was fun to look at during this dreary, unseasonably cold spring.

wc 224
twc 1561! we did it!

Aureus waited with baited breath to see if he'd be rejected. His mind was swirling with alternatives each worse than the last. He wasn't going to get what he wanted with brute strength. Even if he did manage to sneak into the pack for a morsel or two of food it would only bring ruin down on the struggling empire. The last thing his family needed was war at their doorstep.

Aureus barely stopped his sigh of relief when she spoke. She was fine with giving him enough food to feel full in return for the rabbit hides, four squirrels and a pheasant. "It's a deal. The rabbit hides are yours. Are you wanting to go hunting for the squirrels and the pheasant then?"

He glanced up as a bear wandered into their little gathering and he nodded briefly in greeting.