Most of the afternoon had been spent "catching up" with Satira, giving them both the distraction and relief they both sorely needed, but once the more physical needs had been taken care of that only left the thing that had brought him to Boreas to begin with. He was in need of a new home. When he first set out he had anticipated maybe traveling around with Tira or settling near wherever her family was at the time, but after finding out that she had in fact joined up with another pack in the time since he had seen her last that had changed things a bit. After what had happened with his father's pack and then with Chimera's he was beginning to wonder if he'd ever find a permanent place to call home, but if he was going to get to spend his time with Tira then it was certainly worth a shot.

It was late in the afternoon, bordering on early evening, when they finally got themselves cleaned up and dried off enough to make their way to the border of this pack that he was told was called Valta. He knew nothing about the pack other than the fact that Tira and her family lived here, but that was all he really needed to know. Hopefully the alpha would shed a bit more light on what he could expect from living here. When they got to the border he looked down at Tira, giving her a little, teasing grin. "Last chance to back out of having me as your room mate," he said with a chuckle as he settled back on his haunches, letting her call for the alpha of the pack since that would hopefully get a more positive response than if he called as a stranger.

"Cináed"

After spending several long, lovely hours playing "catch up" with Cináed and taking care of some of the awful itch of her heat season (at least temporarily), Satira suggested they go talk to her uncle, the alpha of Valta. Before they went looking for her Uncle Kotori though, she insisted that they get cleaned up first. It wouldn't do any good to roll on up to the pack borders reeking of sex while trying to make a good impression—not that she really had high hopes of Ciná making a good impression to begin with. Already Tira was thinking of how she'd have to try and sell the giant red prick to make him sound appealing to Kotori. Fortunately, Valta was still a fairly young pack, and although Ko was a proud wolf with a strong sense of family, he wasn't so rigid in his pride that he wouldn't see the value of having another skilled wolf amongst their ranks.

Following a quick bath to spruce up her messed up fur and remove all of Ciná's scent from her, Satira led the way up to the borders of Valta to the Sunset Falls, where her den was situated. They toed the edge of the pack territory, the little wolf dog shooting a teasing smirk up at the giant wolf when he offered her one last chance to back out of their arrangement. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you," she toyed with him, smacking at his thigh with her curled tail while pale blue eyes roved over his masculine form with brazen appreciation. "Besides, you've already shown me how you plan to pay rent, and I'm not about to turn down that offer!" Her smirk growing into a grin, Tira gave Cináed a playful wink, then pointed her rounded muzzle to the sky and called for her uncle. If they were lucky, he would be close by and free so they could give Ciná a proper home once more, and give Valta a valuable new resource.

"Cináed & Satira"

Kotori hadn’t expired a winter on his land as of yet and while it was still autumn it wouldn’t be long until the weather changed.  It was anyone’s guess if it would be an extreme one or not.  One thing that was important would be making sure there was plenty of food stashed away in case the winter did get bad.  Kotori had set up some meat to hang over a low flame.  The flames couldn’t reach the meat, but the increased heat and the smoke should cook it so that they could preserve the meat in case of a harsh winter.  Kotori hadn’t tried it this way before but he had heard about it.  The area around the meat was cleared of any leaves or grass that would risk spreading the controlled flames.

Hearing Satira’s call Kotori’s head turned towards the border curiously then to his pets who were both lounging nearby.  “Keep watch over the meat.” His eyes shifted from Splash the snow leopard and up to Fang, his mongoose.  “Watch it, don’t eat it.”  Fang enjoyed hunting but Kotori had a feeling the little killer would enjoy taking Kotori’s food just for the fun of stealing.

Satira was an interesting member of their pack.  She had Fatalis blood in her veins and that meant she was as much of noble blood as any other with their blood, regardless of what name they chose to use.  She was also part dog which was the interesting aspect.  She was family and accorded the same rights and respect as any other member but Kotori still wondered about her father whom he had never met.  What had become of him and did he live up to the honor of helping to further the great bloodline?  Maybe someday he’d ask Satira about her father, or Asla about the dog.  Kotori would likely never admit it but, her dog ears were rather cute.

Making his way to where his niece waited with another wolf who wore a dark coat of black with red.  Kotori jogged over with an easy self-assured gait before slowing to a stop near them.  Kotori gave his niece a small smile, “hello Satira,” the sort of smile he reserved for those he called family then turned his head to consider the wolf she had brought home with him. He was well-built with a confident mannerism.  His first guess was someone new wanting to join but there were other possibilities, some of which could be less pleasant so best to not assume just in case.  “Hello, I’m Kotori Fatalis, Sumatar for pack Valta.”

The horned wolf's gaze encompassed the two together after that quick introduction of himself, “What can I do for the two of you?”  It was certainly true Kotori was likely to be more at ease with a new wolf joining if his own family was going to speak well of them.  Kotori was hoping to bring in more wolves so he was rather hoping Satira had found him another member.  With good size and muscle to him, there was potential in the stranger fitting in well, so long as his attitude and skills were there.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Ciná's grin widened as Tira returned his teasing with some of her own, chuckling as he returned the thump of her tail against his thigh with his own tail swatting across her hip. The way her eyes roamed over him certainly didn't escape his notice and if it wasn't for the fact that they were currently awaiting who could possibly be his new alpha then he probably would have made more of a move. Instead though, he just shot her another cheeky grin at her comment about how he was going to "pay the rent" and just sat back to wait while she called the leader of her pack. It occurred to him just how fast and suddenly all of this was happening, but nothing in his life had ever really progressed normally so why would this be any different? At least this was a sudden turn for the better instead of for the worse—or at least that's what he was hopeful for.

It didn't take too long before a brown-coated man with a small set of horns approached them, moving with the kind of confidence he had come to expect from someone with his kind of position. He greeted Satira before turning his attention to him and Ciná made sure to commit the new name and rank to memory. He remembered Satira's family name from their first meeting and quickly noticed the relation. It was hard to know if this was Tira's brother or uncle or cousin, but they were definitely related in some way. He supposed that made sense and explained why Tira had ended up here in Valta. Kotori seemed friendly enough if a bit serious, but Ciná certainly didn't mind. As long as it wasn't outright hostility he could work with that.

Ciná dipped his head politely to Kotori as the other man asked he could do for them, offering him an easy smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Cináed. I'm a friend of Tira's," he explained, deciding that just calling them friends was far easier than trying to pick some other kind of title for this friends with benefits, former enemies turned fuck buddies situation they found themselves in. "I was previously a member of Fenmyre, led by Chimera, until he needed to step away due to his health so I'm in search of a new home. I was traveling north into Boreas when I ran into Tira again so I thought that I might try to offer my skills here. I'm well versed in fighting and fairly competent with crafting, diplomacy, and the like."

"Cináed & Satira"

Fortunately (or unfortunately since it meant she had to behave herself now) Kotori did not keep the pair waiting long. A few short minutes after she'd summoned him, Satira saw her horned uncle approach with his trademark confidence that all Fatalis deserved to wear. A part of Satira did long to be able to call herself a Fatalis lady again, but she knew there were bigger forces at play between her mother and her extended family that she still didn't fully understand, and she would never disrespect her mother like that. Tira returned Ko's easy smile, her curled tail giving a gentle wag when he came closer and greeted them, having to look up at her tall uncle when she replied. "Hello, Uncle Ko!" she greeted him back with a respectful tip of her head to him. Family or not, he was still the head honcho, after all. Kotori introduced himself to Ciná, and Cináed in turn introduced himself to her uncle, notably not using his family name. Tira made sure to take note of that, so she wouldn't accidentally throw him under the bus with anyone. Ciná ascribed himself as her friend, and Tira supposed that was about as true as Kotori needed to know. No reason to explain the entirety of their sordid relationship to him yet when even she didn't know what else she would call them. Frenemies? Roommates? Friends with benefits?

Cináed began their dialogue by explaining what had brought him to Valta's borders, giving a broad overview of his history from Fenmyre to here, and then selling some of the skills he was proficient in. Satira took particular note of his crafting and supposed diplomacy skills, remembering to ask him about those later. She briefly thought back to the arrogant prick who had picked on her back when she was a pup. Where the hell had those diplomacy skills been then?! Wanting to add in her own endorsement of Ciná for new pack member, Tira moved over and sat down beside the giant red wolf, barely coming up halfway to his legs. "Ciná's not upselling his fighting skills nearly enough, Uncle Ko. He's got two raid wins under his belt, and he tore an ear off of Ignis Praetor. You know, that former alpha who joined the pirates?" It was no secret that all the Fatalises hated the pirates, and the Praetors weren't exactly a liked or respected family amongst Boreas either. Satira shot a proud smirk up to the giant red and black wolf, puffing him up with his achievements to give him a bit more street cred with her uncle. She knew Kotori respected the strength of others, and that was the one category Ciná wasn't lacking in.

"Cináed & Satira"

Kotori listened quietly as the two presented the case.  Fight, diplomacy, and crafting were all things that could be of use in the pack.  While Kotori could acknowledge the importance of wolves that had skills other than fighting it was certainly true that he preferred having a large amount of fighters over other skill sets.   Medical specialists were probably the next most important when you are prone to a pack of fighters.  The other skills also had their uses of course. Cinaed also spoke respectfully to Kotori and that also had Kotori expecting he would make a fine addition.  

Kotori had met Chimera twice though neither time had he gotten to know the alpha very well.  Chimera and Artorias had seemed to be on good terms from what little Kotori had seen on the pack challenge fight they had watched.  Chimera and Kotori had fought off and, of course, killed another aggressive beast once.  Not a lot of insight but he hadn’t seemed the sort to want an idiot in his pack.  So Chimera had gone sick and left?  Well, there were enough strange times around these days.  

Satira looked smaller as she moved to sit by Cinaed, a reminder of her real size.  Maybe it was from spending time with little Aia that Satira seemed less small until there were larger wolves right next to her for a size check.  He really should ask Tira what her dad was like at some point.  Tira added to Cinaed’s qualifications with mentions of winning raids and maiming a pirate.  Kotori grinned, teeth showing at the notion of ripping off a pirate's ear.  “Well done,” Kotori pleasantly offered, “The Fatalis and Pirates don’t get along too well.” A second pause before adding, “I don’t know who the pirates even would get along with, they seem good at making enemies.  If you can rip off a pirate's ear, have raid experience, and you can follow the rules of the pack I welcome you to Valta.”  

“Satira can show you around. Get to know the area and find yourself a den.  Just be sure if you don’t remember all the pack rules, or if you didn’t learn them, to ask Tira or another here.” Kotori waved a paw in a gesture that he could enter.  “You’ll start as an Alkaa, basically a rank for those waiting to prove themselves for a more specified role.  I assume you prefer to take up a warrior’s path?”  Really, Kotori could go over the rules also but Kotori liked to imagine Satira would have already told him the rules.  If Kotori was wrong the man had a chance now to speak up.

All the while in the back of his mind Kotori was musing over the idea of letting the lowest-ranked fighters attempt to prove they should be able to move up a rank by bringing him ears or tails of pirates.  Kotori imagined if he thought on it too much he’d find reasons it was a bad idea.  Right now it sounded fun.  Ko wondered if he did such a scheme if Azure would be sad he hadn’t thought of it first for the Armada.  His brother hated the pirates with a passion.  

“Oh, and Cinaed.  I’d like to see these fighting skills of yours at some point.  Perhaps you’ll entertain me with a spar tomorrow?”  It was one thing to hear about another wolf's skill but the real proof was in the fight.  

"Kotori Fatalis"