Break Free! [Ivory Ridge Meeting]

Kassander was troubled. After Katja had left on her journey and not returned, Yfir had fallen apart. Kapra had vanished, abandoning them without a word of where he was going though he was the heir to the pack's leadership. Had he gone after Katja? Kassander didn't know, and he didn't think Laufey knew either though Kassander had been too shy to ask the giant viking male. He and Rommel had just quietly continued to help Laufey hunt for and with the yearlings while the rest of the pack melted away until finally not even they could remain where they were. With only one trained warrior and five yearlings, one of which was half-blind and would never make a good hunter let alone a fighter, they simply could not defend themselves and hunt in the harsh northern lands.

And so finally the last vestiges of Yfir split apart, Laufey shepherding Katja's children someplace safer for them, and Kassander gravitating south. It felt... wrong to be packless. He'd grown up in Ebony, then Olympus, and even when he'd been released from his adopted mother's former pack he'd gone directly back to Ebony and had not been apart from it since then. This was his first experience with being a loner, and the healer found it... bewildering. Bewildering and more than a little distressing, as he'd never thought to find himself without both the safety net of a pack he could trust and the ability to lend his own strengths to help his packmates. Finding himself wandering aimlessly through the heat of the summer, he'd eventually made his way into the mountains, which were far cooler than the lowlands. The mountain paths were dangerous, but he'd spent enough time living on the side of a gorge that he hardly had to think about where he placed his feet. The necessary agility had begun to come naturally to him many seasons ago, and in much icier conditions than here.

He was startled, though, to come across a gathering of what was clearly a newly minted pack. There were no borders marked yet, so at least he hadn't really trespassed... yet... but it was pretty obvious that the young female who was standing confidently over the rest of them was claiming this land. Kassander started to hastily back away, but stopped to listen as the younger wolf began to speak, his ears pricking in interest.

In a lot of ways it sounded a lot like Yfir. Katja had been interested in trade as well, and she had chosen Yfir's lands for a similar reason to this Karabela. Even the desire for close bonds between the pack members was familiar and comforting. As she brought her explanation to a close, the other wolves who had more deliberately gathered around her began to speak up.

Rommel cast Kassander a questioning glance, and Kassander took heart from the fox's calm and reasonable demeanor. Clearly Rommel was not adverse to joining this pack, and the trio certainly had plenty to contribute to such a pack. Kassander slunk forward into the group shyly, bicolored eyes blinking up at her from a lowered position. "I would join you, if you would have me. I am primarily a healer, but my companion Rommel and I are accustomed to assisting on pack hunts and are capable of defending the pack if need be. We can also provide several trade goods for the pack... my companion Remy brews an alcoholic drink..." He trailed off in embarrassment, anxious to convince the new alpha that he would be worth having but not wanting to come across as bragging either.