The Warlord and his Queen were chasing a rumour. It took them far to the East, but his companion was an experienced traveller and her knowledge got them to the plains just before the cliff as smoothly as the journey could be managed.

Looking down at the cliff face dubiously, the Warlord turned back to Zee. “He said to look for an outcropping resembling a head?” he clarified with her. Even if they did find it, getting down there wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. In that moment, he wished he had hooved like a mountain goat. But even if the journey was treacherous, the Warlord had no intention of turning around. This was the first time he had gone on a journey with Zee in a long time. If chasing rumours of interesting new caves was what got them out here, he would take it.


"Speech"

It had been much too long since Zee had left the territories, the only time spent in 'no man's land' in her last year or more being the walk from their plains to the Col and then down to the Carpathius' castle in Auster. It was easy to become complacent, especially when one was ageing as quickly as she and her husband had been. It was an entire lifetime ago that they had established their pack and claimed their tropical home.. and now they had grandchildren. The Hallows' wedding had put a bit of life back into her, infused her with the joy of watching her daughter be wed, and given her a burst of confidence as she was crowned the champion of the evening's tournament. On the back of that victory, an adventure seemed much more doable. "Apparently so." Zee mused back to the warlord, her eyes fixed upon the cliffs and roaming across each distinguished jut of stone for one that looked vaguely head-ish. The territory was one she had not been to in years, not since before the volcano had erupted. Absently she wondered whether it was the eruption itself that had brought this mysterious new cave system to light, or whether it had been hidden within Abaven all along? Carefully she climbed up along the rocky ledge, unperturbed by the height and cold ocean breeze. "I think it's just up here." She had to raise her voice against the sounds of water crashing onto rock below, turning her head back over her shoulder to grin down at her trailing husband. "Careful." Following the trail upwards was the most difficult part of the journey yet, but the path was wide enough for a dire which was only that much more comfortable for Zee's middling width. She pressed up tight against the ledge as she rounded a corner beneath the jutting stone, and then disappeared into the cavernous opening. "Speech"

The Warlord was always happy to see any hint of excitement and tenacity for life in his Wife. When she scanned ahead at the cliffs, he paused to watch her do so. Smiling in a way that crinkled the corners of his eyes as he watched her expert gaze determine their next move. As she moved closer to the ledge, he felt caution race through his heart. He didn’t move however. Holding rock steady and breathing evenly so she wouldn’t see the way her move had startled him. He brushed away visions of her falling and moved closer himself. Doing nothing to ruin her adventure.

He followed Zee, stepping where she stepped as she led the way up a precarious climb. His ageing limbs remembered a time when he had taken a tumble and broken a leg, but he didn’t let the worry get to him. Then Zee was vanishing into an opening, and he moved in after her. Grateful to be away from the ledge and the drop below. By now, it was getting close to sunset, and the dipping sun was startling to colour the horizon. The scent of stale water caught his attention and he scanned the cave area. “Cute place” He mused, voice teasing.


"Speech"

Zee paused at the cavern entrance and waited, ears twitching to catch the careful footfalls of her much larger husband out on the stone ramp. There was no crash and bang, no distant splash... all good signs. As he came up behind her and offered his worldly opinion, Zee gave an exaggerated sigh. "Yes, cute." She mocked, narrowing her eyes. "Why do I bring you places?" Shaking her head she stepped onward, toeing the stone floor carefully as she made her way around the glittering pool. The sun was beginning to set, the colors reflecting off the water's surface in reds and oranges and yellows. She might have thought it to be a pool of magma, if it wasn't for the oceanic chill in the air. Turning her head to address the titan once more, Zee posed a question he would answer correctly this time. "Worth the walk?" "Speech"

Grateful to be out of the wind and off the precarious ramp, he glanced about the place, but his eyes were mostly for Zee. “Because you can’t seem to get rid of me” He told her agreeably, offering her a grin before brushing lightly past her. He looked down at the shimmering pool. The sunset was just beginning to catch at the water's edge, turning the contents orange and red as if to set it ablaze.

“I’m glad we decided to come out here” He agreed, grateful for a chance to spend some time with Zee away from where the pack could grab at his attention. “What kind of creature do you think the head was supposed to resemble?” he asked peering at the sha


"Speech"

Zee leaned into the fleeting warmth of his fur as he moved past her, bringing a stab of longing and guilt to the depths of her chest. It hadn't been fair the way she'd been treating him over the last year, but Sirius had taken it well and without complaint (as far as she was aware.) The pair had been together for the majority of their lives by this point and had at one point understood each other on every level. Her capture had taken away so much from their relationship, but not even Zee could say that the chemistry and energy between them had faded. She stepped up to align her body alongside his where he looked up at the sculpture, pulled like a magnet to his comforting warmth and scent, tucking her head carefully beneath his chin with her horns safely directed away. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like it." Her reply came. The stone sculpture that enclosed around the pool was massive, and somehow the first thing she thought of when she saw it was some of the larger reptiles. The stone that made up the 'tail' certainly appeared almost crocodile, but the face was much more narrow then any alligator or crocodile she'd seen. Where it lay, it almost appeared as if the sculpture was guarding something. The pool itself? "I bet it'd be a fitting companion if you found one. Isn't Marshal getting quite old by now?" She mused playfully, giving his shoulder a nudge with her own. "No, wait, sorry, that's you. You're getting old." "Speech"

He closed his eyes when zee leaned her head beneath his chin. Resting his head very gently on her, and breathing in the scent of her. In truth, he wasn't here for the cave. He was here for her, and only her. He didn't keep his eyes closed for long however, knowing by now how easy it was to scare her off. The pair hadn't been intimate since she's returned to him. "Do you think it's supposed to resemble a sea creature of some sort?" He mused, after all this started was by the sea.

"It would certainly be a sight to see having something like this at your back" he agreed, gesturing towards the statue. He grunted at her mention of Marshal. The faithful bird companion had been with him his entire life but it was true he was getting on in years. Much as Sirius was himself. "I've never been younger. I'm what, almost three now?" He teased, bumping his chin on her snout. He'd been three when he'd first met her. The long years stretched out behind him, so distant. She wad right, he was getting old. "Think I'll ever have a chance to retire?" He mused. He feared Azure would always be too hash. He had intended for Mortis to balance the boy out, but his oldest son had never risen to the challenge.

Zee blew out her surprise from her nostrils, eyeing first the sculpture and then her husband with concerned curiosity. "Have you ever seen something like this out in the sea?" She questioned, voice thick with disbelief. The deep waters held dolphins, sharks, whales, fish.. nothing so large and serpent-like that Zee had ever witnessed. Considering it definitely brought a pang of loss as she reminisced over their beach-side den and imagined a scaled, shapely head breach out from the water. "Someone must have seen it before somewhere, to have known what to carve." She continued to muse. It was fascinating, and Zee was disappointed she would likely never see one herself. She unwound herself from Sirius' fur and continued through the cavern, stepping around the fire-hued pool up to where the rock began to incline upwards. "If you're three, that makes me two? Might as well take advantage of the renewed youth." Placing her paws upon the scaled tail, she began to climb. It was difficult, but with enough effort expended Zee was able to find herself on the raised portion of stone that overlooked the pool. A nice vantage point, with a view that spanned the cavern, out the mouth of the cave, and into the oceans beyond. "I could retire, right here and right now." Zee replied with a playful smile, looking down at her husband on the lower level as she moved to sprawl out upon the rock. "Sure, the Armada would probably burn down in a week, but if we stayed here we'd never know." "Speech"

He shook his head at her question “Just musing out loud” he explained. The statue had forms at its side that could be wings, or perhaps strange fins for pushing it through the water. All thoughts of statues and what it could have demonstrated fled his mind in a great rush when Zee spoke next. Her words were coy as she began to climb up the back of the statue.

He watched her for a moment through half-lidded eyes, trying to verify how serious her statement was. He followed after even as he did so. Starting at the tail as the dire wolf made a more clumsy effort up the hard back of the statue.

Arriving beside her on the raised side of the statue as she settled down on the stone. Her expression was playful, and her words relaxed “You trying to lure me away from my duties?” he mused, voice playful as he lay down beside her. “Because I could be tempted…” He teased. He nuzzled her check, and brushed his nose gently down her neck, testing the waters. “The Armada has weathered a little fire before” He said, his voice a warm rumble.


"Speech"

Zee watched as Sirius scaled the tail behind her, his movements rushed and clumsier, but he made it up alongside her all the same and drew his body down alongside hers. She pressed closer into the sudden warmth of his fur, reclining on her hip in a way that the length of her spine was hugged tight against him. "I'm not sure if you can call it tempting when you're such an easy lay." The words were meant to be teasing, but the honesty of the phrase brought from her a sudden laugh. Her husband had always been much harder to talk out of a romp than he had been to talk into one. While she had started out merely teasing him - as one of her favorite things in life had always been to get a rise out of the Warlord - it was becoming something more. If she didn't know any better, Zee would have believed she really had returned to her young adult years, and somehow even to the season of her heat. She reclined her head back, laying her neck out along his and sighing softly as her cheek found a place within his fur. The feel of his muzzle against her cheek and neck was like electricity, and as the touch leaped across her frame it settled in her as a deep and burning desire. "Let them burn and drown, then." drown in puppies, that is. She mused softly, snapping her muzzle out to catch his softly in her teeth as it passed by in another sweep, signalling that she had been teased more than enough for one night. -fade with intent to make puppies- "Speech"

He gave a soft snort, having no desire to ruin the atmosphere with his real feelings on the topic. He had been patient and careful with Zee, but he desperately missed the closeness they had once shared. Perhaps that was why her relaxed, teasing atmosphere surprised and warmed him. As she relaxed against him and he gently brushed his nuzzle down her neck. "Oh?" He said, voice suddenly husky as he caught a hidden meaning in her words. It was like she felt the fire burning in his chest as deeply in her own.

When she snapped her muzzle over his, he growled beneath his forced-closed mouth. Eyes shouldering and warning her as he gently tossed his head left and right to free it. "I see you want to play with fire" he whispered, and suddenly everything felt right in the world. The broken fissures in his heart weighed less heavily as he scented her desire, and began to think that their was still hope for them. "Zee, my Zee" he whispered. "You can have my fire any day" he swore, and fifulled the promise in her eyes

-fade for zeelets-