He'd just recently left Algoma Prairie--name unknown--and found himself in the woods. South was where he was heading. Or maybe west. He had to figure out which was warmer. Autumn was leaving, and in its place winter decided that snow would be a great forcast for the last few days. The trees were thick enough that at least the snow and wind wasn't hitting him full-force, but it was nonetheless chilly and the boy found himself shivering on occasion.

At least it was midday. Bright and sunny to keep the mounting snow on the ground at bay for a little longer. Autumn hadn't yet left and was struggling for control. He was starting to miss spring more and more. To make matters worse, in this uncharted land he kept walking into bushes that scratched at his legs and arms. It was hard to find areas where these bushes were not at, blending so well with other non-conspicuous bushes. It felt like going through a maze, trying to get around them, but even then sometimes he'd find himself in a patch.

The damage wasn't so bad. It stung like hell, but he otherwise had no problem walking. The slightest bit of blood could be seen around his limbs here and there.

Borias knew that the briar patch wasn't exactly his first choice in exploring. He had told his band though that they must start making the trip into the south to go ahead with the plan. After the attack on their numbers it was time they stopped hiding. Auster was not much of a market for the slaves. With the majority of the packs being in Boreas he wanted to push himself further. While he had never considered himself an ambitious man there were things he enjoyed and that was the thrill of the game. To exchange goods with those who needed it. He was raised on this and he already had an idea. One of his slaves was well trained in hunting and caretaking. He could sell him off to a pack who he saw fit.

Boy though did he hate it here. Auster was warm, compared to the soft winter he was pushing himself into. The Briar patch also came with its own defense. It would be a nice place to hide if you knew it well. The male found himself staring upon a young wolf. He didn't seem more than a year old and with no pack scent on him Borias was curious as to what he was doing out here all alone. "Young boy it seems kind of strange for someone of your age to be wandering out here without your parents." he never knew the story of others so he could be wrong. However he was a charismatic male so he'd try to stay civil as he could.

There would be no point in going back after pushing through this far. And Rayios was no coward; the journey of living was not without its ups and downs. Compared to a lot of other situations involving physical pain, he was only getting the tip of the iceberg. Which is to say, this was nothing to complain about.

The boy heard the signs of an approaching figure and stopped to watch as it appeared from the trees and bushes. It was a pretty large male, pelt various shades of brown. Rayios was asked about where his parents were, earning the man a quick, irritant flick of his tail, but he otherwise showed no aggression. “What's it to you?” he didn't sound necessarily aggressive; moreso pointed, as if waiting for a reason to dislike the man.

The gentleman smiled, so he was a rowdy one then? Well he wasn't entirely being rude that was for sure. The boy wasn't any snivelling child and Borias enjoyed the company of those who were of course not. Young and impressionable Borias wanted to use his charismatic nature to the fullest. The male would still stay standing, tilting his head to one side as he kept his soft smile on his face. "Curiosity. Normally those your age either are around parents or tragedy has struck them. Don't know your story of course." he shrugged his shoulders. It was best not to underestimate youth, by the time he was a year old he was making plans to kill his own father so there was that.

"The name's Borias, I'm a slavemaster from Auster." the male introduced himself and dipped his head. Glad to introduce himself as much. Those who disliked the idea's of slaves he didn't care too much about. It was easier to weed out those he disliked by doing it this way. He wondered what this youth would do.

“They're around,” he lied. In truth, his mother had been long dead, and he hadn't seen his father and siblings in weeks to months. But the other man didn't need to know this. For all he knew, the man could be itching for a fight, waiting for an unsuspecting lone wolf to come by that he could beat up on. Rayios knew it was better to be safer than sorry. In the boy's mind, the man would be less likely to do anything rash if he suspected there would be someone around to help the boy out.

He stood there in wait to see the older male's reaction, not on edge but definitely cautious towards the stranger. Upon him introducing himself, Rayios' head tilted in confusion, and mild curiosity. “Slavemaster?” he knew what a slave was, and a master, but the full idea of there being one never crossed his mind. What exactly did a master do, and why did they even exist? “So what, you just... beat people up to get them to do stuff for you?” as far as he knew, slaves were just people too weak to protect themselves, forced to do whatever it is another person wanted. And the only way to keep them from running away or fighting back was by beating them back into submission. “I can't imagine that saving you any energy or time.” he was using the same tone now as he used on Malalia--a light dash of condescenting nature, but mostly just a harmless jab--when she was telling him about the benefits of pack life. It all sounded useless to him, now as much as being a slavemaster was.

Borias decided to sit down, curling his tail around his paws. Now this was interesting, the boy hadn't rejected him in fact he commented on how it really didn't save him any energy to deal with slaves. While the small male had said that he had parents around, Borias knew from scent this was untrue. He was alone. "That can be true if you're an uninexperienced slave master. You see I breed slaves, many of them were born into it so they don't really need to be beaten into submission unless you enjoy that sort of thing. They enjoy being told what to do and it saves time and resources for a lot of packs. I sell them to packs and in turn they provide things like, protection, food, or other resources." Borias would raise an eyebrow.

"You're saying you wouldn't enjoy having a lesser wolf around you being able to tell them what to do while you sit back and watch? Your hungry, you could tell them to fetch you food. Say the slave is trained in battle, you can send them to their deaths happily for you." ideally at least. He did have a few slaves who were previous free. The boy was right that those were much harder to handle. However if you knew how to break a spirit it became easy. A slave could also be a pawn in a war should it come to that.

Breeding them must take some serious dedication and skill. As he listened to the male's explanation, he started to imagine the other laying in a warm patch of grass under a tree's shade, watching all these wolves obediently do his bidding. Catch his food, bodyguard him, take care of all the tedious things that would have otherwise had to be done by Borias. It honestly sounded a little too good to be true; the luxury to be that lazy. “You must have a whole harem then,” he chuckles, but it's a genuine laugh, if a little dark in nature. “Where are all your slaves now?” he couldn't smell or hear them anywhere, which was somewhat concerning. An ambush could be being set up for him right now.

Borias grinned, his planned were coming along. Ever since his group took that blow he realized something. Creating a band would protect them not to mention give them the reputation they needed. "Auster, that was where I was born and raised." he didn't quiet want to tell the boy just yet where they were exactly. He wanted to be cautious who he let into his circle. "We took a recent blow to our numbers due to an illness. Currently we're a small group. My lead slave Katir looks after the group when I'm gone. I've had her since I was young." his ears twitched for a moment.

"If your interested... I'm looking for co slave masters. Collegues to help make a band in the coming seasons to build our numbers back up. Of course trust is needed that you won't be stealing my stock but if you wanted selling and keeping slaves can come with it's benefits." They were higher wolves. Slaves just simply didn't understand such things. The end of his tail twitched, patience. He needed that.

It was at this moment that he finally decided to sit down. He didn't relax much beyond that, ears perked to listen out and eyes attentive, but he wasn't too wary anymore. Where was Auster? He'd never heard of it before. “I don't know where Auster is.” he admitted. He wanted to see these slaves.

A suspicious glance appeared on Rayios' face when Borias offered to invite him to be a co-slavemaster. Him? A Master? Well...it didn't sound too bad actually. As long as they were actually obedient like he was told. But this 'band' thing sounded an awful lot like how Malalia explained packs to be like. Constricting. Restraining. Like a lot of work.

Well...the slaves can fend for their own, so I guess it isn't exactly like the way Mal described it. Plus, I get to keep my own slave. “And if I joined, I'd get to keep my own slave?” now he was starting to have a lot of questions. It still seemed too good to be true. If the slaves could take care of themselves, then why does he need people to help him with them? Rayios voiced that sentence out loud for the man to hear. To boost the numbers...did that mean capturing more, or helping him breed?

Borias tried to read the male, he was young. There was much to teach him and it wasn't as if he was against it. Borias had to train slaves on a daily basis depending on the situation. "It is lower than here, past a strip of sand. There at the moment it is warm because unlike Boreas the seasons are flipped as far as I know." so maybe the appeal of warmer weather would be ncie as well for the boy. "If you weren't interested in sticking around you could trade with me if you wanted. I'm not interested in tying down intellectual wolves like yourself. My slaves come untrained unless a buyer comes in so yes I do have to feed those who don't know how to feed themselves. That is to make them more tame, if they're dependant on you it trains them to listen until taught what they need. Currently we only have one slave, Seven, who was trained to be a hunter like his mother." Hopefully this gave him an idea of what he was getting into.

"I plan on taking Seven to one of the nearby packs when I can so he isn't for sale sadly. But if you would really like I'd be happy to have you along. If you don't like it, it's no big deal to me. Your young and have a lot to learn and explore. Currently we live in a large castle that used to belong to humans." he shrugged. Borias was greedy in a sense but he was nice when he could be. There was no point in causing trouble where trouble was not needed.

So Auster was south of here, and less affected by the current winter. That was perfect for him. Guess I'll see you there. Borias began to speak on how he helped condition his slave, a little lesson of course, and the young boy found himself wondering how such tactics would even work on another wolf. Making them dependent on another even after their puphood had expired sounded like a lot of work. Such a feat, to be able to efficiently care and train all those people into obedience deserved his respect. He grinned. Maybe I should try being a master one day.

“I don't have anything to trade right now, but I'll go with you.” he declared. “I'd like to meet Seven before he's sold. Where are you headed?” if it wasn't south, he'd be a little disappointed. It's freezing out here! But if it meant he'd get to meet this Seven, and learn something more about being a master, then he'd be willing to go back the way he came, or into other unknown territory.

Borias smiled, things were coming together and he certainly hoped that he could one day make the band he wanted. While it seemed like a lot of work he didn't know anything else. His father had taught him and in turn Borias had the habit and enjoyment of this job. As he stood them he flicked his tail, "Back home then to Auster I suppose, just follow me." he had no problem leading the stranger to the castle. It wasn't as if he was afraid. Ray had no pack scent - and although it didn't mean he didn't have anyone to run to. Borias highly doubted the boy was seeking to rat out a slave master. As Borias made his way to the bifrost he occasionally would look back to make sure Ray was following him.

-To auster-