Cináed left the north, started walking, and just didn't stop. He didn't know what exactly he was looking for, but he knew it wasn't there. The north held nothing but bad memories, resentment and unappealing cold. The fact that he had stayed as long as he had really should have said something to his family, but alas, here he was on his own. As he passed through Boreas he drifted by Valhalla and considered it briefly. He knew he had family of some kind there from conversations with his uncle, but in the end he just passed it by. Dedicating himself to family only brought him grief and he wasn't going to subject himself to repeating the same mistakes twice.

He wound up in Auster and as he followed a river through a cedar wood forest already he could tell this was more his speed. Even though it was the dead of winter Auster was warm and summery—which was admittedly a bit uncomfortable with his coat that had grown out in order to deal with the harsh cold of northern Boreas. He'd put up with that until his coat shed out if it meant never having to see a flake of damned snow again. Cináed split off from the river a bit, peering through the trees at the hint of the ocean he could see from the distance. He couldn't really remember ever seeing an ocean not accompanied by snow. The closest he had gotten was the Obsidian Beach and even that had a dusting of snow on it when he was making his trip through Boreas.

With his sights set on the beach he started to change his course—but not before the snuffling, shuffling sounds of a bear stopped him. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw a large grizzly lumbering through the cedar trees toward him. Apparently he had stayed a bit too close to the river the bear was hunting from for just a little bit too long and now the large predator was angry. Ciná shifted how he was standing to face the bear with a bit of a smirk. Sure, he could probably outrun the bear and get out of its territory to avoid the fight, but he hadn't had a good fight in a while so what would be the fun in that. "Just don't fuck up my armor, alright?" he told the bear as it started to rear up on its hind legs with a roar. He chuckled and charged in toward the towering predator, ducking around the side of it to get behind it before it could reach him and biting deep into the back of its thigh.

Cináed Praetor

The pregnant women in his life, yes... women... multiple... they wanted a particular kind of meat. So, Chimera, being the kind, devoted, giving man that he was, went out to fetch it. Okay, so really, he just wanted them to stop bitching, but he was still going out to murder a red elk and bring as much of it back as he could carry. If that didn't make them all happy, then... he'd just keep listening to them complain, he guessed.

Passing the falls, Chimera noted a bit of movement to the side. Turning, he watched as a young wolf brazenly attacked a bear as it towered over him. Hmmph, went the black and white brute. He stopped and stood, watching the boy. Gears began turning in Chimera's head. Perhaps if things went south and he happened to save the day... then the boy would owe him a favor. And he knew juuuust what to ask for.

With his pale pink eye surveying the fight, Chimera watched the young wolf do his best to take the bear on. The words that the boy spoke carried to the giant on the wind and he couldn't help but chuckle at the balls that the kid had.

"Chimera"

Ciná was probably a bit more reckless than he would have been normally, but with as bored and directionless as he was he had a hard time finding a reason not to. It wasn't like he really had anyone that would care if something happened to him so why not at least live a little with his new found freedom? The bear roared with pain as he tore into its back leg, shaking his head and ripping the muscle apart as much as possible before he finally let go and jumped out of the way to keep the bear from catching him with its massive paw. A bit of a fight, a bit of adrenaline, something to actually test the skills he had been working on for a while now. He didn't think he'd actually stand a chance at killing it on his own, but they could do this little dance for a while until he could get away or until he got bored, whichever came first.

He noticed as he jumped out of the way and the bear finished turning to face him again that when the bear tried to put weight on its back leg that he had bitten that it favored that leg and struggled a bit to stand on it so Cináed knew he had created a weak point there. He hopped back to avoid another swing from his big, furry opponent, those big claws narrowly missing his nose. "Alright, new rule. No messing up the armor and no messing up the face," he told the pissed off bear with a grin, shifting back and fourth as he waited for another opening.

The bear roared and attempted to lunge for him again, but instead of hopping back he darted to the side so he could loop behind the bear again, snapping his jaws onto the bear's already injured leg to worsen the wound. The bear was onto his games by now though and it was quicker to turn to try and get him, nearly yanking him off of his feet as it tried to pull its leg away from him. He let it go before that happened, but that slight stumble did put him in the path of the bear's sweeping paw. He tried to dodge it but the claws clipped the upper part of his foreleg before he could get away, making him wince.

Cináed Praetor

Chimera continued to watch as the boy fought the bear. He wouldn't step in unless there was a reason to do so. Already the ursine was damaged and seemed to be realizing that it wasn't getting out of here unscathed. Bears seemed to have a better sense of self preservation than wolves and Chi could sense that it would soon look for a way out. It would flee. Good for the boy, too. The last clip had made its mark. Again the boy commented and again Chimera chuckled in amusement.

Whatever happened during this fight, Chimera knew that afterwards, he would invite the boy to join Fenmyre. He was older than Chi's own children, but perhaps his pups might learn a bit of independence and cockiness from this boy. Boys also grew up to be men and this lad had the makings of a warrior. Warriors were just what the king needed right now.

Chi kept his pale pink eye locked on the boy and his bear, watching as the pair danced. The fire touched wolf took advantage of his opponents weaknesses and it was pleasing to watch. Wherever this kid came from, he either had decent training or natural talent. After the bear ran, Chi would find out which one that was.

"Chimera"

Cina continued his dance with the angry bear, landing another bite or two in retaliation for the scratches his opponent landed on his foreleg. The tipping point was when he finally ducked around to stand nearly side by side with the bear so he was more out of the way of its heavy, swinging paws. He leaped forward, snapping his teeth down onto the bear's cheek, ripping away a noticeable chunk of skin. That seemed to be the last straw for the bear that finally got it to reconsider messing with him and instead of turning to face him again it ran off into the woods. Cina gave himself a shake and grinned as he watched it go, shouting after it, "That's what I thought! And don't come back either!"

He scoffed and turned to walk away, thinking he might go to the river to wash off the blood that had collected on him, but he found a large man that seemed to be split down the middle between dark and light standing in his path. He stopped, blinking with surprise. "Oh... Hello," he said as he regained his bearings after going from a fight straight into meeting a stranger. "How long have you been there? Didn't feel like jumping into a fight?" he questioned with a grin, wondering how much of the fight the man had seen. "I'm Cináed. Who're you?"

Cináed Praetor