You said that’s not funny, but it wasn’t a joke

The tawny brute carefully stepped between the steaming pools - at least as carefully as his massive paws could. The rocks felt warm against his paw pads and he knew from experience that the water was even warmer. His journey around the eastern portion of Boreas had felt like a deep trip though memory lane. It seemed like every land he walked though had held some kind of memory and it was all incredibly bitter sweet. Even if his reason for coming back to Boreas hadn’t been his own choosing, he was beginning to believe that this was what he had wanted all along. It felt better to be here. It felt like maybe he was getting back to whatever path his life was supposed to take.

He had spent the better part of the morning scoping out the borders of the packs that now bordered where his former home had once stood. They both seemed to have very similar scents between them - as if their members crossed and mingled frequently. There was a lot he could tell about these packs from the safety of the unclaimed lands around them, but it didn’t tell him what kind of temperament they had. He wasn’t sure why he was so curious about them when his mother had made it very clear that she wasn’t comfortable living in the Mangroves for the time being, but he was. Maybe he was just more curious about how things had changed in his absence.

Ulric made his way toward the outer edge of the hot springs again, stopping before he reached the trees that surrounded them. He settled on his haunches at the edge of the outer most pool, letting his front paws dangle into the shallow water. The warmth felt good on his travel worn paw pads and for the time being he was happy to let the water soothe them while he tried to decide where he would head next.