"I assume we're getting close?" The ground was hot under his feet. The earth around them was dry and cracked in places, leading to the dormant geyser ahead. Hyperion continued to follow his newfound companion, carefully placing his steps where hers had been. His burnt golden eyes reflected the sunlight as he scanned their surroundings. Heavy black paws moved across the ground with an easy rhythm. This was another place he'd never seen before. "Miss Esperanza, is that geyser still active? Does it only rest during this dry season?" his head cocked slightly to the right, he quickened his pace to match hers, brushing his shoulders with her. It felt wonderful to have a friend again. The feeling of curiosity kept sliding through his veins. His eyes were wide and bright. How could it be that so many years had passed him by, and there were still so many places he hadn't seen yet? The old male sighed, a smile moving into place. These lands were wonderful, just begging to be explored. There weren't many years left to explore them, however. And the poor brute still hadn't settled down like he'd wanted to. The thoughts were pushed from his mind as soon as they'd come. He couldn't think about that now. He left those memories in the cave. He left them with Esperanza. From now on, he would keep looking forward. Walk. "Talk."Think.

Esperanza looked to the older male and tilted her head slightly, thinking about the geyser. She had not seen it active, and she never seemed to have asked her friends, or her new pack about it. She placed her head forward as she sniffed around for anything suspicious. "I am not sure," she spoke and looked around, leading the way to the pack site. She would make sure he would not be in the territory completely, for she knew how dangerous the alpha could be.

"Thank you for escorting me," she spoke and bowed her head in thanks. Her emerald orbs looked into his gold ones, and she didn't know what to say. All she knew she could say was a thank you. Her ears fell forward as she heard a few familiar howls, but she knew they were a safe distance in.

"Isardis...Sin...Sendoa," she spoke as she named off the wolves that have given off the deafening howls. Her heart sank as she also had her tail between her legs, and her head down.

His golden eyes met her emerald ones as three loud howls broke into the silence. All thoughts of the geyser were forgotten now. He knew from the sound that they were far enough away - Hyperion would be safe for now. But the frantic patterns of Esperanza's behavior were beginning to scare him. She told him she felt safe with this pack. Had she been lying to him? To the male who she considered a father? He felt a small twinge of pain in his gut. The gentleman certainly hoped he hadn't been lied to. But as he took in the angle of her ears and the position of her tail between her legs, he saw it. All of Esperanza's body language was screaming "frightened". What was going on here? The dark brute stepped close and put his face near hers. "Remember that you can always trust me, dear. If this place frightens you, we can leave. We can walk away right now." Part of him knew that she would never agree to this. But Esperanza needed to know that option was always open to her. Wasn't it? Walk. "Talk."Think.

Esperanza looked to the male and sighed, "Isardis will not be happy with my leaving if I ever do. I think that if we do decide, he will hurt me severely, if not kill me. I was chosen as a brood because some males thought I was pretty, and that was all I was good for. I understand your concern, and sometimes I do feel afraid, that much is true. But I had chosen this pack, even though I don't seem to fit in here." She spoke and nudged the older brute before her.

"I thank you for your help, Hyperion, but, sometimes, even life can throw things at us and we must learn to move through them and open them with open paws. I will think about your offer, but since we are here, I do not wish for you to get hurt for my doing, and I hope you get out of there before the alpha finds, and harms you just like how he might do me."

Her words were serious and demanding. She cared for her friends, and would go into Isardis, or any other wolf's jaw and fight, just so that they could survive another day. She didn't care about herself. She would at least be with her family.

The woman was not as broken as she had once been, her foolish and near suicidal voyage out of the pack lands had done her some surprising good. It could have turned out quite badly had she not met that healer. She had to return, so reluctantly she had turned back towards the north, once the thought of her home, her pups had filled her with joy but their distance had only worked to chip even more away at her heart. She knew the path well, she had once considered it her domain, her?s for the taking if she only could grasp the power of her silvery god?s second. Now it only seemed too cold, too full, crawling with Armada?s. She was taking as slow a route as possible. The geyser was the last stop before hitting the border again and her life as nothing more than a breeding machine. Two figures popped into existence upon the horizon, both of rather similar coloring. When once she would have approached, with head and tail held high and pride evident in her eyes, now she dropped her tail, curling it inwards slightly and tilted her head down and to the left so as best to hide her dead eye. One of the figures, the female carried the scent of Glaciem, though the earthy toned woman did not recognize her. That was not surprising however considering the time she had spent hidden away in her den for the past weeks. She did not speak, did not make any indication she was there. Speech,

So she was afraid. Hyperion kept his head close, rubbing his muzzle against her cheek for a moment. "That is the only thing I hate about packs, Esperanza." The rough voice deepened. "They steal away your freedom." Then, with a flip of the wind, a new presence made itself known. Female. From Glaciem. When someone had lived as long as Hyperion had, they understood that not all threats came from males. He pulled away immediately and assumed a protective position. No one would hurt Esperanza. He had made a promise to die for her, if it came to that. Please, don't let it come to that, he thought desperately. Amber eyes jumped around, frantically searching for the source of the scent. Then he saw her. The maiden was coated in earthen tones, initially hiding her figure from sight. The dry ground here allowed her to blend in. But she still stood out to him. Her tail was hidden slightly between her legs - being outnumbered probably frightened her. Hyperion responded by immediately making his posture less aggressive. His hackles disappeared into his coat and his golden gaze melted on contact. What a beautiful young lady. He had been raised to treat women with respect, but this was different. Some odd feeling came over him, making his knees weak and nearly forcing him to bow either way. He dipped low out of habit, his maw parting to utter a greeting. "Good day, miss. We didn't..." he paused to clear his throat. "We didn't see you there. Forgive me. I mean, forgive us." How was this happening? His head was spinning. Hyperion was normally so articulate and eloquent, and here he was babbling like an idiot. But why? How was she doing this? It had to be her. The moment the girl appeared, everything changed. It felt as thought the world had shifted directions. Overcome by dizziness, Hyperion began to blink, swallowing the butterflies that flooded his throat. "I assure you that I wasn't trespassing. I only came to escort my friend. I will be leaving now... it was lovely to meet you..." But he hadn't met her. Good lord, what was he saying? Usually only females that looked like Aurora made him feel this way... Walk. "Talk."Think.

Esperanza could sense the emotion that ran through him. Her eyes stayed on the female and as she turned, she could see Hyperion's movements. She knew he liked her, but she had not known many wolves in Glaciem, and she didn't wish to fight any of them. Her emerald orbs looked into the ones of the females as she sent an emotion that could tell that the female better be aware that the male beside her had been attracted by her. A smile formed over her as she nudged the older male. "Go and say hi," she spoke to him and looked back to the female, as she waited for what appeared like forever until Hyperion had the courage to say he would greet the female before them.

She could feel the scarred flesh of her left eye burning as they turned to look upon her, and she ducked her gaze. Steeling herself. The male responded with aggression and despite herself she chuckled to herself, any gods that existed up in that stretching sky had a sense of humor if she ended up being attacked here, so close to safety, so close to her children. If he jumped for her she would not fight, could not, she simply didn?t have the energy to care about that anymore. She kept her head down and continued to approach expecting a growl and then the sensation of jaws clamping shut against her flesh at any moment. She was not expecting to hear his voice, his age apparent in his vocals, not unattractively simply there. She stopped suddenly, not too far from the pair now? A bemused expression took hold of her half hidden face as he spoke. ?Forgive you for what?? When once she would have played off of his statement pretended to be hurt and have to find it in her overly generous heart to forgive him, now she was simply blunt and to the point. They had not disturbed her, had not hurt her? they needn?t apologize for anything. Despite herself she had to smile as he spoke again, lifting her head some, though still doing her best to hide her eye. Her depth was still off, but what she could tell even with her impaired sight was that despite his obvious old age, he had aged gracefully. His posture not as strong as it most likely was sure, and his body covered in lots of scars but there was a roguish attractiveness to him. All this she noted without feeling much of anything, simply an observation of habit. ?I won?t tell if you don?t.? She joked weakly. Her smile dissipating just as quickly as it had arrived as she stood, shifting her weight from paw to paw. Speech,

As the aged male regained his confidence, he noticed that this female was standing in an awkward way. Her head was tilted strangely, ducked down as if she was hiding something. He moved his head minutely, giving the girl a sympathetic look while trying to meet her gaze. Was she hurt? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her voice. She asked what he was apologizing for. Hyperion let out a quiet laugh. "For reacting in such a hostile way. I didn't want you to think I was going to hurt you." He watched as a smile hinted at the edges of her lips. The dark brute was aware of the nudges that Esperanza was sending his way. He even managed to blush a bit. "That's very reassuring, miss. I wouldn't want any trouble with your alpha." Before he could stop himself, he gave her a wink. It wasn't unusual of him, of course. But it still felt different somehow. "My name is Hyperion. Would you consider giving me yours?" Walk. "Talk."Think.

Esperanza looked to her friends and smiled as she saw them. The smell of the cold oak, and maple filled her nostrils as she lsitened to the sound of the birds and other things that fill her senses. "And here they are, making love with emotion," the femme chuckled and lied down, watching the pair.

She watched him shift almost to get a better look at her and she immediately pulled back ducking her head more. Her scar always seemed to burn when others were looking at her, not painfully, just? like an itch she could never quite scratch. The Valhallan healer had taken a look at it but in truth she wasn?t sure anything could fix the way it felt. She could only hope her fur would grow back around there? Since there was no point wishing for her eyesight back. She nodded awkwardly as he explained the reason for his apology, and shrugged, at this point she could honestly care less if anyone wanted to hurt her. There was only emptiness where once pride lived and she would not really stop any attempt on her person. The one thing that had kept her fighting only a little while ago, her children, had left her to her despair and so she had no qualms with leaving them anymore? they clearly could take care of themselves. The woman had to chuckle as he spoke again, this time less friendly and a bit more sinister. ?You?d be better off staying away from him and the pack then. It seems that all he and by extension we attract is trouble.? She did not fail to notice his wink and despite herself found herself staring. The blood rushing to her face and she found yet another reason to hide it. ?Narsha,? She began, stumbling slightly, ?Narsha Ga-In Beg.? Her ear flicked some as the other woman spoke but she chose to ignore her. Speech,

His face fell a bit when the girl ducked again and seemed to back away. What was she afraid of? Hyperion felt the irresistible urge to break down her walls and make her feel safe. But he had dealt with wolves like this before. Gaining her trust would take much longer than usual. This he was used to, as he was a bit wary of strangers as well. He tried to display this in his face, a look of empathy. I understand, my lady, he wanted to say. Please look at me. His golden eyes were warm and distracted as Esperanza spoke, but his ears had been dulled a bit, and as a result he was unable to hear her. He started to tilt his head her way and ask what she had said, but then the pretty earthen female was speaking again, reeling in his attention like nothing else. Her voice sounded empty and saddened, but there was a trace of hope left. She was a fighter. Something terrible had happened to her, but she was still powering through. Much like him. She suggested that Hyperion stay away from the Glaciem pack, and he responded with a grateful nod. "You are not the first to tell me of the trouble that follows the Glaciem pack. I suppose I will keep my distance..." For now. Something deep inside the male churned at the thought of leaving this female alone in such a brutal pack. He believed that Esperanza could fare well enough on her own, but this woman was wounded somehow. Her tail was tucked and her words were careful. She needed healing. She needed time away from the Glaciem pack. And Hyperion wanted to take her away. He wanted desperately to free her, but he knew it would be impossible. This alpha sounded cruel and possessive. There would be no way he would give away a piece of his property. The older male grimaced, as the thought disgusted him. He kept his gaze on the woman as she, at last, introduced herself. Hyperion felt a smile begin, and he let it spread until it brightened his face. His golden eyes seemed to glint in the daylight. "Miss Narsha," he bowed once more. "It is my greatest pleasure to meet you." Walk. "Talk."Think.