Kai had somehow much farther away from Winterfell than he meant to. He wouldn't be caught dead calling Winterfell 'home,' even in the confines of his own mind; while the male was far more comfortable in the northern lands in general, he still couldn't shake the feeling he was a prisoner. Nothing could convince him otherwise, even if he wasn't being physically held anywhere. He scoffed at the thought as he continued on, his paws moving him lazily through the clusters of redbud trees. It was a decent enough day temperature-wise, clearly warmer than the north after his long journey down to this particular forest - though thanks to the land's proximity to the volcano, it didn't really feel like true summer. There was no stifling warmth here that was typical of summer, though he felt the sun's rays splashing down on the dark fur of his back, though calling these lands pleasant would be a stretch.

He wondered briefly if this land would ever be free from the volcano's threatening presence to the north. Still it stood, no longer as angry as it had once been but he swore he could see a faint plume of smoke snaking out from it's summit. But his attention was on the land surrounding him, not the ones far beyond. In his mind's eye he could almost imagine how grand this forest had once been, redbud trees reaching high toward the sky, but now.. they somehow seemed stunted, where they still grew. The ones closest to the volcano looked startlingly scorched, and he doubted they'd ever properly heal. They'd likely crumble with time, hopefully replaced by seeds carried by the lucky trees that remained. What he remembered as a brilliant palette of green and vibrant pink seemed more muted now, a far cry from what it had once been. He remembered one of the first times he'd ever been here - it'd been storming, and even from behind the cover of torrential rain he had been able to observe the colors of the trees, as clear as anything. This had been where he'd Tyranis, he suddenly remembered, and the memory was suddenly tainted beyond repair. If he'd been scowling before, the expression only deepened as he went, worn plain as day on his features.

The way the volcano's eruption had tainted these lands too now seemed oddly fitting, and he couldn't help but feel a strange camaraderie with these sad, sooty trees. Their branches still seemed as though they were dusted with ash, and he found himself nosing at a thin, spindly tree as he passed it. The fragile trunk caught on one of his tusks, and a jerk of his head sent a fine layer of ash raining down upon the ground - and thus him, too. Hardly bothered by the debris, he gave his thick coat a good shake once the dust had settled, and let out a sharp breath of air in turn, watching the way the dust lingered in the air briefly before drifting to the ground. It was an interesting sight, and one he observed for a moment before losing interest entirely in the spectacle.

Releasing the tree from his grasp, he twisted away from where he'd been standing and headed even closer to the volcano's outer ring. There was little he feared and if he just so happened to be this close to the volcano when it chose to erupt again, well, he'd consider it his time. Or he'd get a damn good workout trying to outrun it. That foul, ashen smell had left the air though and he had little reason to believe he'd meet his demise today. Stopping to pause at one particularly damaged tree, he found himself digging at the dirt, watching the way the soot stained his pale front paws. But he was only temporarily entertained by the digging, his attention redirecting somewhere else, and so his wandering continued - his paws moving as aimlessly as his mind, without much purpose or determination today. He didn't give a damn about where he ended up, or how long it took him to get there, he just wanted to move.

If anyone happened to be watching, his carelessness was obvious; occasionally he stopped his trek to sniff at the air, or nose around in the ash that still lay in heavy pockets here and there, or to shake a frail redbud tree. But even more often he was scanning the horizon, watching the way the birds that circled overhead still stayed clear of the volcano in the near distance, and the way the sky still seemed to hang darkly over that particular landmark. His paws dragged behind him as he wandered, casting visible marks in the ashy ground, no care for who might follow his tracks.

Words: 800! ;)

Diana had not been on the continent long but she already could tell something was off. The spirits that had come to her were weak and frail, a sense of panic to their presence and a strong desire to run had filled her when she'd taken them into herself. Indeed their physical forms had had less flesh on their bones than she had been used to and a deep sense of dread had underlined each moment she'd kept their spirits tethered to the mortal plane. There was of course also the plume of smoke in the distance, visible even from quite a ways away, the sky was dark and what she had at first been cloud cover seemed more likely to be smoke still hanging high above them. It didn't take a genius to know what that could mean and Diana prided herself on being quite smart. She was more than that though, she was curious, maybe dangerously so. It wasn't hard to skirt the mountain when it came into view but she couldn't help feeling inexorably drawn to the lands around it, she could feel the grief and despair and pain coming from the earth itself. Spirits roamed freely here, stuck in the final moments of their terrifying deaths, the feeling of their despair was like a title wave over the sorceress, at once drowning her and exhilarating. These she did not release from their earthy chains, these she would allow to wallow until they eventually faded. The woman wondered if there were any higher souls left alive on the continent, the prey had started returning but she had yet to meet a single living wolf. That question would be answered as she moved among the desolate husks of trees near the base of the mountain. Blue gaze landing on a sight indeed. An ashen man, taller than herself but she was more than used to that among her own family, what drew her attention was the elongated teeth poking out beneath his upper lip. He moved with a sort of carelessness that Diana was not used to, it wasn't quite the cocky lack of regard she herself often adopted. The woman found her voice, allowing it to move across the space between them, velveteen and more than a little suggestive. "And here I was starting to wonder if I was the only wolf on this continent." Speech Thoughts

Art by Klechkodav

Though his views differed from Diana's, as well as most wolves that inhabited these lands, he too believed in spirits - they were all around them, able to be felt as easily as one could feel the wind or see a blade of grass, for they were one in the same. But death was simply part of the cyclical nature of life, and not something to be feared. Those who might've perished in the volcano lived on in other ways; their ash had been cast to the winds and scattered across the continent, combining with the dirt to begin new life. He neither feared nor revered the volcano, and if it happened to explode again when he was near: so be it. He wasn't about to redirect his current course based on things that might or might not happen.

And today, all he really cared about was finding something - or someone - to entertain himself with. If not for the entire afternoon, at least for a short while. It seemed that someone noticed him before he had a chance to notice them, however, and he was slow to turn to face the source of the quiet pawsteps. Even from a distance he could tell that she was considerably smaller, but as she drew closer it became apparent just how small she really was. He raised a single brow as she began to speak, and a low laugh followed. "Ah, if only we were so lucky." These lands nearest to the volcano had certainly seen better days, and while Kai was no stranger to spending long periods of time on his own, sometimes he felt positively stifled by how many wolves he ran into... but it really depended where he was at the time. It wasn't a surprise these lands were more desolate, just like the far reaches of the north sometimes could be. Truly he could use the isolation sometimes, but some unexpected company now that he'd been wandering here alone for the better portion of the day was a welcome change.

"There's more than enough wolves around for the both of us. If you know where to look, that is," Kai added conversationally, finally lifting his head properly to get a better look at her. He couldn't deny she was quite pretty, and his eyes were relieved to find some relief from this otherwise damaged forest. While parts of it were still beautiful, other parts of the nook were quite an eyesore still, and he had no doubt it would take time for the trees to properly grow back. "Name's Kai. You must be new to these parts, then?"

The fanged man laughed, his voice was like a balm to her ears. Though she was hardly ever alone with her own thoughts there was something calming about a living voice being the one that reached her. But more than that his words were already giving her an idea of the man himself. Diana took a few delicate steps forward, still keeping a safe distance between them. He spoke with a conversational tone despite the harsher nature of his words, Diana chuckled softly. She could almost feel his gaze on her, though she could obviously see him observing her, she wondered what he was seeing on her. He gave her a name and Diana flashed him a friendly smile, taking a few more dainty steps forward. "Diana." She said smoothly, dropping her family's name, maybe family names were less common here, or maybe he was choosing to drop his own, in which case she could understand wanting to keep one's heritage secret for a time. Afterall while she didn't know all her cousins she knew there was a spirit of chaos running through her family's blood and she had no way of knowing if any of them had landed on this continent. "Pretty safe bet." She teased, flashing Kai a wink. "Though I suppose my timing could have been much better. I trust things usually aren't this... desolate usually?" She cast her gaze around the forest, eyes gliding over the multitude of spirits, hanging onto the trees and gathered in huddled groups in the shelter of roots and hollows. Speech Thoughts

Art by Klechkodav

His head turned toward her as she took a few strides closer, allowing the faintest of smiles to tug at the corners of his mouth, lifting as she returned the expression herself. She introduced herself as Diana, and he simply grunted in acknowledgment at first. "Diana," he repeating her name carefully as if deciding whether or not he liked the sound of it on his tongue. Spoiler alert: he did.

Her entire demeanor seemed playful enough to lighten his slightly dreary mood. He was bored, and she was a glimmer of light amongst the dull scenery. Not that the redbud trees weren't lovely too - though this terrain had certainly been lovelier, before the eruption. "Another safe bet," Kai chuckled, slowing his pace as he moved to close the distance between them slightly. "This place was considerably nicer.. say, a year ago," he explained.

Had it been a year yet? Kai wasn't sure. "Though it seems things are beginning to grow back, which is a plus." He'd always been fond of these vibrant pink redbuds, and seeing them bloom more plentifully would be a pleasant sight, and one Kai had no doubt he'd see again someday, whenever he came this way again.

He seemed receptive to her playfulness, might as well dial it up a bit eh? Diana visibly considered his comment for a moment, then flashing him another wink asked: "Were you here a year ago too? I struggle to imagine it could compare if you weren't." Brazen? Yes, but also totally in line with her usual behaviour. The man was incredibly easy on the eyes and though she could imagine the forest in full bloom, the trees were beginning to show soft pink buds, after all, she cared significantly less for the beauty of nature over that of living beings... Maybe it was being surrounded by spirits her whole life, but she had a specific appreciation for the living, or at least those with sentience. She smiled softly as he pointed out the forest was starting to spring back to life. "That's actually quite sweet." It was easy enough for her bounce from playful flirting to a brief glimpse of something softer, she had little in the way of walls when it came to her demeanor. Speech Thoughts

Art by Klechkodav

Ah, what fun this young female was! Kai was flattered, and made no effort to hide the visible signs that he was pleased with her comment. Had he been here a year ago? He'd been here around then, but it was hard to remember exactly when, and he knew she wasn't looking to fact-check his statements anyway. "I come and go," he admitted, offering her a wink of his own. "But I can guarantee it's far lovelier when I'm around. These trees really compliment my coat quite well." Cocky? Sure, but he was mostly being playful. "And yours, too," he added, almost as if it was simply an afterthought. They'd likely do a much better job at it if they were in full bloom, but maybe the next time he visited the redbud forest he'd be even luckier.

"I suppose," Kai answered, a response to her own statement. "Though I'd argue there's beauty in the destruction of things too. All depends on how you look at it." In a way the volcano's eruption had been quite beautiful, though personally he'd been glad to escape its wrath. "What's your story anyway, Diana?" He squinted at her for a long minute, scrutinizing, as if he could tell anything about her at all from simply staring. Her eyes - sharp and intense - certainly said something about her character, but he wasn't quite sure what. "Let me guess. You're a wanderer, like I am. You've never found a place to call home, but you're not entirely opposed to it either." Almost comically he bit his tongue as he lolled from the side of his mouth, trying to search her blue eyes for answers. "You're spiritual, or maybe you just have strong convictions, but you don't strike me as half as weak-willed as most of the wolves I'd come across. Am I right about any of that?" Maybe he'd missed his target completely but he didn't care, he was just taking a shot in the dark.

Diana gave him a knowing grin as he reacted to her comment, biting her lip for a moment before chuckling as he responded to her question. "So at times then." She said playfully. He returned a compliment and she quirked a brow, flashing him a smile that said she was both charmed and enjoying herself. Kai spoke of destruction and she couldn't help but agree, feeling he'd managed to hone in on some important part of her. He posed his question for her and she shrugged, wagging her head from side to side in a non-committal gesture. "I certainly wander a lot." She admitted. "I've had places I've called home before but I don't currently." Her home was often wherever she found her brothers but she may choose to change that if she felt so inclined. As for the rest? Well, he'd hit the nail on the head, hadn't he. She chuckled and nodded.  "My family has always believed in more mystical powers. We don't all tap into the same power, I get mine from death, from spirits." She glanced around for a moment. "There's many around here, more than usual." She looked back at him. "I only ask for the aid of those I've taken the life of myself though." She paused for a moment, watching for his reactions. "Now, care to share your own story?" Speech Thoughts

Art by Klechkodav

"I understand," Kai replied simply, mostly to the former part of her comment about being a wanderer. Had he ever truly called a place home? Not really, though there were certainly lands he wouldn't mind spending extended periods of time in. He'd never called any one place his home though, even after spending multiple seasons in Winterfell - that place was a far cry from home for him. It wasn't terribly hard to guess she'd been a wanderer, but the latter part of his guess had been more hopeful than anything. It was rare he found wolves who seemed to care much about the spiritual world, so when she admitted her family believed in mystical powers he found his eyes widening slightly.

He knew a thing or two about spirits, and death spirits, but gaining power from them? He wasn't so sure. It wasn't his thing to question other wolves' beliefs though, he was simply glad she believed in something. In a way he supposed the spirits he believed in were how he gained his own strength... from the prey he fed on, to the water he drank. "Interesting. I can only hope you don't think I'd bring you much power," he chuckled, in the way that said he didn't actually fear that. She was small, and he had no doubt he could easily overpower her... not that he cared to. Since the incident with Valkyrie he was keen on keeping his distance from strangers anyway. "My story isn't too different from your own. Wanderer at heart, though I consider everywhere I go my home. If you notice a pack scent on me... well, that's a long story. Working to repay a debt, then I'll be free to leave," Kai explained briefly. He didn't really care to get into the more complicated story, as much as it frustrated him.