Crash Upon The Rocks

Kai had been taught by his father that there was beauty to be found everywhere, even in the most unlikely places. Even from a distance he'd been able to appreciate that there was a peculiar beauty in the volcano's violent eruption, regardless of its destruction - today he felt no such thing as he gazed upon the frigid waters. Instead he found himself ruing everything he had gone through, and wishing he could somehow replicate the unbridled freedom that the sea's harsh waves embodied. If only...

After a brief pause, she responded to his thoughts. He let out a soft huff. Perhaps death would not be such a bad fate, after all; it certainly wasn't something he feared. There were worse fates than death, like a life of servitude - he felt his mood, already quite sullen, sour even more at the thought. Perhaps unlike her, he had nothing holding him here. He could flee these lands entirely and never look back, and would he be noticed? He certainly wasn't needed by anyone here but that was how he preferred things. Acere would notice his absence, but how far from his pack, his responsibilities would he go to search for him? At what point would retrieving him and trying to keep him there stop being worth the price he owed to them? Throwing himself to the sea and letting it take him, gambling on whether or not he survived, didn't seem a terrible plan... but his bitterness kept him here, glued to the spot.

"Valhalla," he repeated, his tones neutral. "Sounds fancy." He appreciated a strong name like that, but beyond that he didn't honestly give a damn about her pack. He was so goddamn sick of packs these days - he'd be completely find if he never found a pack wolf again for as long as he lived, he'd decided. He hardly even cast another glance to the black-furred mountain lion. Maybe he should be a bit more aware of these two strangers in his presence, but he had no doubt he could hold his ground if they tried to ambush her. And if not? Whatever. He was too reckless to bother to be half as alert as her companion was.