ooc; gonna keep it vague since stuff is still going on with the siege and w/e

Movement. There was something there, on the horizon. His ears pricked, but the figure (or figures, as he soon discovered) were too far to detect via his auditory senses. His eyes could not be fooled, however. He rose to his paws, having been resting atop his favorite knoll due east of the buffalo herds. He had been watching them out of the corner of his eye when he'd spotted the wolves entering the borders. Tail lifted, as he picked up a stiff trot in the direction of the party, noting that it was the warriors returning from the siege. They didn't look especially injured or disheveled, though that wasn't an easy thing to tell from this distance. He slowed his pace, moving to come into line with the Imperator. His tail would descend an inch or two and his head would nod out of respect. "Welcome home," he greeted Valentine, a single sway in his tail. He slowed his pace and meant to pivot and fall into line at Valentine's left side if the Imperator allowed it. "Shall I start spreading the news of our victory?" There was a slight eagerness to his tone, for he was curious and genuinely interested in whether or not Imperium had won the recent siege or not. He didn't expect Valentine to spell out every moment, a simple response would certainly suffice to quell the Praesidio's curiosities. "SPEAK"

It was a very short trip home. He'd been prepared to fight his way into the heart of Dione's pack, but it hadn't gone down that way. Instead the siege started and ended just on the other side of Lydovne's border. It had been quite possibly the most boring siege in the history of Alacritia. The blue/black form of Kyarst greeted him as he made his way into the territory, the smaller brute falling into step beside him. "Shall I start spreading the news of our victory?" At this a dry, humorless laugh escaped Valentine's lips. "To call it a victory would be to grossly misuse the word. Lydovne is no more, but it fell without a fight." The appearance of the once alpha had come after the pack had been lost. ""

The lack of humor in the Imperator's voice did not go unnoticed, and Kyarst could practically feel his curiosity growing. Valentine went on to explain that the pack was gone, but there had been no need for a fight. "What a pity," Kyarst would voice. He had been so certain that Imperium would emerge victorious. It seemed that that victory had been ripe for the claiming. A smile creased his lips as he thought of the reaction when they marched upon Lydovne to find nothing at all. "It was rather boring here as well. There was a single intruder - she was speaking to my nephew when I came across them. She didn't smell of anywhere in particular, so I'm certain she wasn't of Lydovne or any other pack." His tail wavered behind him. He hadn't even known he'd been protecting his own nephew at the time. It was some time after that he'd discovered Atreides was one of Drashiel's children. "SPEAK"

"What a pity," The Praesidio offered and in response Valentine growled in annoyance. Indeed it had been. All he'd received for his efforts was a child. "Indeed," he rumbled, his voice low and laced with disgust. His interest piqued at the mentioning of an intruder. "Oh?" On the heels of a lackluster siege, the chance to toy with a captive was oddly appealing. However, there was something odd about the way the guardsman delivered his news. Kyarst spoke in past tense, so had he dispatched the intruder? At face value it was a bit harsh, but he didn't know the details. Perhaps she'd threatened the Praesidio's nephew. Pausing to regard the Armada, Valentine asked curiously, "What did you do with her?" ""

He continued to pace alongside Valentine, somewhat pleased to be at his side receiving the first news of the siege. He noted the interest in the Imperator's voice as he mentioned the intruder, and he was not surprised in the least when more information was requested. "When I arrived it seemed like the boy had told her off, she was taking her leave and I thought it best to let her go. Of course I followed her to the border to make sure she didn't return." He wondered then, if he ought to have engaged her anyway. He hadn't, at the time, thought it wise to attack her for trespassing being it was just he and the boy. He hadn't been afraid of the woman, but he had imagined how bad it might be if he began to fight her and someone else slipped through or came after Atreides. It wasn't as if there had been many capable wolves left behind to defend the pack if he were tied up and Lysis was off in the Range. A curious, and perhaps slightly insecure eye glanced toward the Imperator's features, hoping he hadn't screwed up already. "SPEAK"

Kyarst's explanation was reasonable, but given the anticlimactic end to the siege, Valentine couldn't help the twinge of disappointment that swept over him. He needed some kind of release, some way to purge the aggressive energy that had built up in anticipation of destruction. "Good for the boy," he murmured. There was only one young male Armada in Imperium. "Atreides?" He couldn't know the exact details of the confrontation. Even if Kyarst explained to him as he'd seen it, the nuances of it won't make the retelling. The King began to move forward again. "I think, given the state of things at the time, that the decision was a reasonable one. In the future though, any intruders are supposed to be dealt with severely." Kyarst's rank didn't grant him the ability to forceclaim, but he was welcome to dish out maims as he saw fit and/or bring someone in who could do the claiming. ""

He felt a panic seeping into his core, a fear that he'd never felt before. He had looked up to his father, and his mother, but he'd never had any true responsibility - there had never been anyone he was truly accountable to. There was now, and he feared he'd let Valentine down. 'Good for the boy.' Kyarst nodded, he had been rather proud of his nephew that day. He nodded again as Valentine queried the boy's name. Yes, it had been Atreides, the only nephew he had here in Imperium. Kyarst moved smoothly alongside Valentine, waiting to see what he would say about the choice his Praesidio had made. 'I think, given the state of things at the time, that the decision was a reasonable one. In the future though, any intruders are supposed to be dealt with severely.' A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I'll keep that in mind for the future." His cranium twisted toward the Imperator as he walked. "It would have been nice to let loose some pent up energy on her," he commented idly. It was a rare day that he wasn't looking for a fight, but protectiveness had taken hold of hi when he saw the stranger so near to the boy. "SPEAK"

Valentine definitely agreed with Kyarst on his final comment. There was an incredible frustration building up inside him. It twisted through him, sinking long fingers of malcontentment into his bones and whispering words of agitation in his ears. He was feeling uncharacteristically cruel and there was nowhere (not yet, anyway) for him to loose his venom. "Indeed it would have." The chance to toy with a captive could have been the release he was craving. He padded on, his gait slowly adopting a predatory slink as he continued to dwell on his frustration. His tone somewhat joking, he queried, "Any other noteworthy news before I go looking for lippy loners to maim?" ""

It seemed the Imperator and Praesidio had reached a familiar chord - they were both itching to do something to somebody. He hadn't realized how much he'd wanted to until he'd realized that he'd had the opportunity with the intruder and had let it pass him by. 'Any other noteworthy news before I go looking for lippy loners to maim?' Kyarst's lips twisted into a devious grin as he paced beside Valentine. "Only this," he started, allowing an elongated pause to pass them by. "Can I tag along?" Tone held a jesting note as his brow arched up in mock-curiosity. "No seriously," he tagged on as an afterthought. "I guess i'll take my leave unless you're in the mood to share life stories." There was something of a longing to know more about the Imperator, but he didn't want to push the subject - especially if the man was in the mood to maim. His tail flickered idly behind him, prepared to leave Valentine be if he wished it. "Speak,"

"Only this..." The pause was great enough to lift the giant's gaze from the horizon and settle it on the Praesidio. His brow was mid arch when Kyarst finished his statement and Valentine, surprised by it, let out a booming laugh. The sound died away quickly, fading to soft chuckle and then silence although his lips remained quirked in a slight smirk. Life stories? An interesting idea. Valentine did wish to get to know his members better. He wanted them to be a cohesive, close knit group, and what better way to start than to make himself available? Valen did, however, really want to maul something. "I'd like to leave Imperium out the western side, so if you'd like to walk with me you're welcome to." ""

His comment didn't go amiss with the Imperator, and the smile would stretch just a bit wider on his face because of this. He didn't know how deep it went, but there was a newly discovered desire within him to have Valentine think highly of him. Perhaps it all fed his arrogance and self-confidence, but who didn't love a man who knew who he was? He pondered these things as he waited for a response to his leading statement. Would Valentine even give a rip about knowing who his Praesidio was? It didn't take long for the answer to come, and as the gavel hit the podium Kyarst knew he had found a man at least moderately interested in knowing who served beneath him.  Cobalt cranium would dip in a gentle nod as he offered his response. "I'll take you up on that offer." He adjusted his course to fall into line with Valentine's path out the western side of Imperium, oddly curious as to where the man was planning on going. Then, after deciding it wasn't his business after all, he started in again. "Well, since it was my idea I suppose it's only fair that I start us off." He wouldn't dream of demanding information from the Imperator that he wasn't willing to share himself. "I was born a Prince," Well, sort of. "The son of Isardis Armada." And his sister, Sendoa. "My family was always huge, and still is to this day - though many of them are scattered far and wide, many others I haven't even met yet." He would have to keep this brief, or else he might bore his new... friend, was it? "I was trained in warfare, speaking," Yes, his father had always been eloquent of tongue. "And perhaps appreciating a good woman." The last was spoken mostly in jest. "Isardis was an albino, you see, and we believe that led to some illnesses. Those, along with the plague made him unable to lead after several years as King. My mother took over but she too fell victim to the plague and the pack was handed off to a relative." There was a distaste in his voice upon the word 'relative'. Taken was more like it. He still hated Athena for the way she had handled things. "Unpleased with the new leadership, I took my leave of what was then called Glaciem and struck out on my own - leaving Alacritis completely." He cast his gaze to Valentine, offering a last bit of his vague story. "I only just returned here and reunited with Lysis shortly before I met you." There, that was a start, wasn't it? There was quite a bit left out, moreso to keep from boring Valentine completely than for any other reason. His past was his past, and though he wasn't thrilled with all of it he had come to realize there was no point in concealing it. "Speak,"

Kyarst agreed to accompany him to the western border and quickly fell in line. Since he'd brought it up, the Praesidio offered to go first, which was just fine with Valentine. He went on to explain a bit about his family; confirming things that Valentine had surmised from his connection to Drashiel and shedding light on other details. "And perhaps appreciating a good woman." Jest or not, this statement earned the Armada a chuckle. The word 'warfare' caught the King's attention; now there was something he could appreciate. "...of what was then called Glaciem..." Glaciem? That was the pack Odette now led, was it not? "Glaciem is still around," he stated, his tone carefully neutral in the hopes of concealing his curiosity. Valentine glanced at his companion in the hopes of gauging his reaction. ""

Kyarst was fully aware of Glaciem's new standing, although it was of no affiliation to the Glaciem he had once known, and at times, loved. It was no surprise, however, when the Imperator made the statement that Glaciem still existed. It seemed a simple statement, and Kyarst found his brow furrowing in the sort of absolute certainty that often ran through Armada blood. "The Glaciem that stands now holds no affiliation with the one I was born into. My father conquered the previous Glaciem and never bothered to change the name. I suppose the tenants Isardis ran out came back after my relatives lost it." Well, he didn't suppose, he knew it to be true. Athena had run his Glaciem into the ground as far as he was concerned - and whoever owned it now was of no concern to him. He hadn't heard much more than whispers about them, to be truthful, and hadn't really thought of them until now. His glance would fall then to Valentine curious as to how this new information might strike his King. "Speak,"

He grunted in response to Kyarst's statement, mind filing this new information away. He knew who lead Glaciem, but this was news to him. At some point he needed to make his way up north to see Odette again. She'd been interested in an alliance when he'd seen her last and while he wasn't particularly keen on it, it wouldn't hurt to investigate further. A narrow break in the land where a nearby stream had begun to forge a new path was quickly coming within reach. The sides of it were loosely packed and precarious, and while there wasn't a long fall between them, slipping in would be no less unpleasant. The grass on either side of the line grew right to the edge and cut off abruptly--something that gave Valentine an idea. Perhaps this was a place he could use in the future for bringing down buffalo? The fall wouldn't be enough to kill one, but perhaps it was enough to trap or injure. Hind legs coiling beneath him, Valentine lazily launched himself over the gap and then paused on the other side to wait for Kyarst. It was his turn, wasn't it? "My turn, eh?" He rumbled thoughtfully. "Not much to tell, really. My mother ruled--and continues to rule--a pack growing up, but I spent part of my first year with my father. I returned to her when I was still quite young and was brought up on warfare too." His childhood had revolved around it; fighting and bloodlust woven into every fiber of Arcanum. "Shortly after the turn of my second year I decided to make my own way and founded Imperium." He shrugged and turned a slight smile on his Praesidio. "Told you, there isn't much to tell." That wasn't quite true. Much had been omitted from his very brief story, but like Kyarst, he didn't wish to bore his companion. ""

Kyarst had, regrettably, not been paying much attention to the landscape they were traversing. While he knew most of it like the back of his paw by now, he was still not able to spot the break in the land before Valentine did. The area was rather precarious, and when the Imperator reacted to it Kyarst followed suit, noting it's depth and how secluded it was. This spot would be dangerous for any romping children. He cleared the break only moments after Valentine, ears pricking as the man began to tell his story. There wasn't much to it, as the king plainly mentioned, but it was interesting enough. For one reason or another Kyarst liked hearing histories. Valentine too had been born royalty, a piece of information Kyarst would not soon forget. The cobalt Armada offered a nod when the Imperator finished before providing a response. "Half royalty then, eh? Your father didn't want to rule alongside your mother?" Perhaps it was stepping over an invisible boundary - he wasn't sure - but his curiosity was obvious upon his features. Riches and royalty and kingdoms, all of these were his bread and butter. Another thought crossed his mind, though, and he tagged it on as an afterthought - speaking moreso out loud to himself than directly to the Imperator. "Might want to keep the kids away from that spot back there, but it'd be a nice trap to lure intruders into." It would be a hell of a spot for raiders and sieges as well, should they ever come to Imperium soil. He made a mental note upon his memorized map of the landscape, deciding in his mind to explore the area further at a later time. "Speak,"

With Kyarst at his side, Valentine started forward once more. He was beginning to find that his irritation was fading, or rather, that it was taking a backseat in his emotional scape. That was just as well. In Valentine's opinion royal blood was overrated. Just because your parents or grandparents scratched out a claim and then faithfully peed a circle around it didn't make you some kind of superior being. In fact, the brute was inclined to take the stance that children born into such privilege frequently grew up to not only be vain and entitled creatures, but less capable than their rogue or "regular" pack counterparts. It was a stereotype he desperately hoped his children would avoid. "They didn't quite have that kind of relationship." Did that make him a doubly royal bastard? "Even if they had, my father had his own pack in the beginning and my parents' ideologies didn't exactly mesh." Kyarst's final statement drew a deep and agreeing rumble from the Imperator. The last thing he needed was for one of his kids to fall in. ""

Kyarst was pleased to be getting to know the man in charge, even if his tale had been rather vague. He understood, and even appreciated, the desire to keep some things in the past. Another piece of information was added to the puzzle, however, as Valentine mentioned his father too had held a pack. Kyarst had the nagging feeling that he must know who the man's parents were, but he also didn't want to assume anything and get caught with his paw in his mouth. "I see," the Praesidio offered in response along with a nod, figuring that was just about all the information he was going to get out of the cobalt man at his side. The Armada certainly didn't want to push the subject past whatever invisible privacy line might between he and the Imperator. He decided, then, that another subject matter might suit them - as things had fallen relatively silent for several moments. "What's your favorite thing to do to the intruders you find?" He wondered if Valentine's mind was as dark as his coat. "Speak,"

"I see," his Praesidio commented simply and Valentine briefly looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Was that not a satisfactory answer? Perhaps he was uncomfortable with the illegitimacy. In any case, there was a lull in the conversation that prompted the brute to change topics. Valen chuckled darkly, his mind snapping back to the wound up state he'd found himself in. "My favorite thing," he mused. Now there was a question. At this point Imperium had only had a few trespassers and while he was inclined to maim, he hadn't found a favorite maim yet. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a smirk. "I'd have to say maiming. Give 'em a scar, a limp, something to remind 'em of their mistake. I'm partial to disfiguring the face. Blinding is good too. Hmmm," he murmured, before offering, "Force claiming is up there as well." The two were often interchangeable, actually, but he was in a maiming mood today. "And you, Kyarst? Do you have a favorite?" ""

The Imperator truly seemed to be thinking over the question the Armada had posed, and Kyarst found his level of intrigue growing with every passing moment. The answer wasn't long awaited, however, as Valentine slipped into mentioning several of his favorite maims - aside from force claiming. Ah yes, maims were entertaining. He'd delivered a few in his day, but most had occurred outside of Alacritia. It was a different world out there. The question was then turned on him, and he recalled something Valentine had said. "Blinding certainly leaves a statement," he mused for a moment. "My father blinded my half-brother, Taurig, due to his betrayal. I wasn't there but apparently it was quite the scene." But that wasn't really an answer, was it? "I like leaving scars, on the face preferably. Something that doesn't ruin their life (unless I mean to) but will serve as a constant reminder. Something a stranger would ask them about." He'd only seriously maimed someone once, and that was because the brute wasn't smart enough to give up while he still had his manhood. The other times had been more out of spite than actual reason to maim. Those were dark days. Even now, as he discussed it, he felt anger rising within him - and the desire to do someone, anyone, bodily harm. Perhaps that was just the curse of the Armadas rearing its' ugly head. An eye shifted to Valentine as they walked, finding it amusing that their ideas on maiming had been relatively similar. "Speak,"

Several pieces fell together at once. Ah, so that old horny bastard that used to live in the north was his grand pappy, eh? How many Taurigs could there possibly be? The world was too fucking small. While Kyarst was probably proud of his heritage, Valentine definitely was not. He despised his father and his name, and for that reason he'd taken and made his own. The brute was loathe to make his parentage known because to do so would be to be recognized not as an Imperialis, but as an Armada and as the product of a deadbeat father. His work would no longer be chalked up to his success, but to the success of his predecessors. He wasn't the son of Taurig. Valentine was the patriarch of the Imperialis family. And no matter how he felt about his Praesidios (and, if he stopped to think about it, Drashiel's children) he had no desire whatsoever to become part of their family. For that reason he kept his discovery to himself. In regards to Kyarst's statement about blinding, he said, "It certainly does." As for his Praesidio's favorite maim... Valen chuckled dryly. "I like the way you think." He paused to think, trying hard to rid his mind of the information Kyarsgt had unwittingly given him, then, "While I appreciate maims, I do try to force claim trespassers who might...be of use in some way." Useful in any way, really. "It should go without saying that should you alert me to such a trespasser, you have the right to keep them as your own." There were exceptions of course, but Valentine was unlikely to take control of such a Servus if the spotter was interested. It was only fair that they be rewarded for their efforts. ""