Remus walked along the large Rio Grande river until he found a spot that where the water wasn't flowing too rapidly and settled down at the water's edge. He made sure he was a bit more aware of his surroundings this time around compared to when he was here last just to make sure he wasn't attacked by any crazed predators. He smirked a little while he was taking off the bracers that wrapped around his front legs, thinking about that fight with the speckled, antlered girl that had come to his rescue. He had been thinking about taking her up on her offer to call for her since he left and went down to Auster, but he wondered if she'd even want him to or if she was just being polite. The smirk she gave him right before they both took their leave told him he might have managed to save the interaction right at the end, but it'd be hard to tell until he saw her again.

He chuckled a little and shook his head at himself, setting the bracers to the side. He took out the dark steel dagger from its sheath and held it in the running water to let it get washed off. There was some old, dried blood stuck where the blade met up with the guard from where he had used it to skin a recent kill and he'd been too lazy to clean it off right away. He was paying for it now while he let the blade soak a bit before he started picking away at the dried blood with his claws. He glanced up, looking back the way he came in the direction of Auster. He had been torn about leaving his brother behind again, but he assured himself that he'd at least know where to find him this time.

While he did some work maintaining his weapon the direction of the breeze changed and with it brought the scent of the pack that Ike had carried on her. Yet again the princess crossed his mind and he smirked at himself. Finally he gave in and lifted his head, letting out a quiet call for the princess. If she ignored him he wouldn't blame her, but if he was going to be here for a little bit then he might as well try to find some company, right? With his call made he sat up to sit on his haunches, laying the blade on the grass in front of him while he pulled over a satchel of supplies he had been carrying that he had gotten from The Hallows while he was staying there. He pulled out a heavy weight piece of cloth, using it to dry off the dagger and remove the last of the gunk stuck to it.

WC: 470
Total: 470 / 1500

"Remus Armada"

All the girl thought about recently was training because when she let her mind wander she had to think about everything else. Her father leaving, her relationship with Ike, her undeserved rank. Sometimes she had to stop herself from thinking about Ezra and his sweet goofy smile. She had to stop herself from seeking him out, she knew she just wanted a reprieve from the feelings she was overwhelmed with here. She was also not so naive to not know she would regret those actions fully. So she threw herself into training and learning. When she wasn’t patrolling or taking lessons she was sparring with Tanto.

She was patrolling when she heard someone call for her outside of pack lands. That in of itself was out of the ordinary, everyone she knew was in Ashen and the Armada, but then she realized she’d forgotten about someone. The young man she had helped beat off that lion and helped save his life. There was no urgency in his voice, he wasn’t being attacked again. Ike paused, her attention shifting towards the river as she debated going to see him again. There weren’t any hard feelings lingering around him like there was with Ezra. Maybe a little distraction was what she needed.

The young princess made her way towards the river, her long legs carrying her as swift as she was comfortable being. Her paws still had a tendency to betray her, and long legs still looked gangly on her yearling form. She heeded his call because she had given him permission, but she hadn’t really thought he’d take her up on it. Eventually Shuriken made it to the bank of the wide river, but didn’t quite get his location correct and had to stalk up the river until his makeshift camp came into view. "Hello, again.” She offered awkwardly while she slowed her pace to approach. Dual toned eyes flicking from his features to the supplies he had laid out in front of him.

"You don’t look like you’re in mortal danger this time.” Ike offered with a slightly forced smile. She tried to focus on Remus, not the ache in her heart. Her silver and washed lavender eye returned to his blazed features.


"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

381
851

He finished polishing up his dagger and was just about to dose out some of the oil form a small jar when his falcon, Nero, alerted him of someone approaching from where he was perched overhead. Remus' ears perked curiously and he lifted his ruby and emerald gaze till it landed on the splattered, speckled form of Ike. A little grin pulled at his lips at the sight of her. He was still half expecting her to not come so when she did it was a pleasant surprise. He didn't think that she was rude or anything like that, he was just a random guy that she had met one time and hadn't seemed all that interested in at that so if she had ignored his call he would have understood. She was here though and he was glad to see her again. He shifted to sit up on his haunches to greet her, giving her a friendly grin. "Hello to you as well," he said in reply with a little nod of his head. She earned a light laugh from him at her comment about him not being in mortal danger this time and he gave her a cheeky grin, replying, "Well, not yet at least. The day is still young."

He couldn't help but notice that she still seemed a bit uncomfortable with forced smiles and he couldn't quite tell if that was just how she was with everyone or just him in particular. It was hard to say since he hadn't actually seen her around anyone else and really their interactions had been pretty limited thus far, but he was still curious about her. The crown princess of a pack with the most unique, beautiful appearance he had ever seen... He couldn't resist at least trying to get to know her. "I was just in the area and I had stopped to do a little maintenance on my armor," he told her with a wave of his paw to the dagger and bracers that were laid out in front of him, "so I figured I'd at least say hello." He smiled and nodded to the spot beside him, adding, "Of course if you're not doing anything right now I'd love the company while I finish this up."

He didn't wait to see if she took his invitation before he went back to applying the oil to one corner of the cloth, though he did keep her in the corner of his eye. "Maybe you could tell me a bit about Ashen while I work?" he offered curiously. She had offered to tell him more about her pack the last time they met and he was genuinely curious about what kind of pack she came from. He had gotten a taste of what The Hallows was like while he was visiting with Roman so he wondered how Ashen compared to the castle dwelling pack. Meanwhile his navy tipped paws started to rub the oil into the leather of his bracers that had a holster for his dagger, continuing to work while she spoke.

WC: 521
Total: 1372/1500

"Remus Armada"

Her dual toned eyes didn’t take long to find the blade he was working on. Shuriken didn’t fight with an offensive weapon that was not claws or antlers. So as he began to polish his knife her gaze shifted around to find something she could work on, and all that came to mind was sharpening a stick as a spear. She thought they were better used as traps, but maybe Remus would like to take his new blade against her make shift spear. Ike found a thick, not rotten stick, and made herself comfortable before the boy as he chuckled at her teasing. She liked that he played along with her, and he’d win a little grin from the princess. This one genuine.

She started to shave off the first few layers of her spear as he spoke. Ike really did try to be polite, he obviously wanted to see her again for some reason. With everything that she was going through right now, the changes in her pack and family, she just wanted to come out here because there weren’t as many expectations. She barely knew Remus and knew her actions wouldn’t affect the pack’s opinion of her if she couldn’t fully keep herself together as a princess should.

"I guess you’ve convinced me to stay.” She told him as he invited her officially. Ike made herself comfortable near him, surprised at the sudden flutter of her heart as she settled down. A lot like how Ezra had made her feel when they had found little visits together. Those moments meant much different to her knowing he’d been with Syanna probably the whole time she knew him. She’d been such a little fool to even think…

The thought made her slip and her talon cut into her other paw painfully. Always clumsy. She dropped the spear to put her toe to her lips. Her gaze lifted to his and she tried to smile through her paw in her mouth when he asked to know about Ashen. Of course, even out here she’d have to think about home. Would she ever really be out from under her responsibilities ever again?

She returned the spear to her grasp and began whittling with her talons again. "My grandmother founded it a long time ago, I guess it’s changed a lot since then. My mom is the Empress now, I guess we’re a family pack.” Except her family was so broken. "There have been three other packs that originated in Ashen, we’re strong and… proper…” She had trouble continuing as she spoke about her pack. She was proud of what she came from, but that made it hard to believe she was worthy of her position.

"Kiyohime Shuriken Ōritsu Abraxas"

465
1500

Remus grinned as Ike settled down beside him to work on a little project along side him, glad that she had decided to stay. He felt like more often than not he could usually pick apart what others were thinking or at least how they were feeling about him, but she felt like a mystery and he kind of liked that about her—almost as much as he hated it. He wished he could just read her mind and figure out what was going on, but it wasn't that simple and it was a challenge. Luckily he wasn't one to back down from a challenge and slowly but surely he seemed to be making some kind of progress. He didn't have too much work left to do on his weapon and its holster so it was easy enough to do it absentmindedly while giving her most of his attention.

His ears perked and worry crossed his face when he noticed how her paw slipped and the long talon from one paw cut across the other, making him frown a bit with concern. She held the toe in her mouth and when she tried to smile around the injured digit he gave her a little smile back in return. However, his concern for her scratched paw was distracted by his bigger concern for her when she began whittling again while speaking about Ashen and her description of it felt kind of stiff and rehersed and trailed off as she seemed to struggle to go on. His work slowed until he abandoned it entirely, his attention absorbed by the princess at his side.

His expression softened a bit as he smiled and he let go of the rag he was working with to gently reach for Ike's injured paw instead to stop the work she was doing on the spear in her paws. He held it lightly, just turning it enough to double check the scratch and make sure it didn't look too bad. He wasn't a very good healer like his brother was, but he had picked up a couple of things here and there just from being around him so he at least knew what to look for. "We can talk about something else if you want," he suggested, bringing his emerald and ruby gaze back up to hers with a little, encouraging grin. "Why don't you tell me what kind of stuff you like to do? What do you think is fun?"

"Remus Armada"