At the waters edge

So this was Boreas, the man thought as he mused to himself. He had never been to the land, nor had his mother, though the family he’d been raised with spoke of the lands. A tale of an ancestor who had once held a pack here… it wasn’t a bad idea, Alaois thought to himself. Holding a pack in a land of soft hearts tended to run rampant. A small smirk played on his features as he padded along, his blue-green gaze shining thoughtfully as he padded along. He wasn’t entirely sure where his journey into this land would lead him, but he knew where it began. His loyalty to a fiery woman had led him here, away from the family he’d grown with, away from his aging mother, and Alaois did not regret it. He was an adult now and could no longer be held back by childish things.

Besides… better a would-be conqueror than the doormat of some great Empire, right? He had always been ambitious and felt he had been of the right mind to follow the Phoenix of War. She had proven her prowess before in conquering one Empire for the sake of her father… and he had joined her cause, aiding in feeling the opportunity to prove himself. One did not simply rise to be a conqueror themselves without a stepping stone on the path to success. But Calida was more than that to him… she was beautiful, strong… the ideal woman. But what was he currently to a woman of her caliber? A loyal follower? No, that wouldn’t do. He would need to do more. Be more. One day, perhaps, he would win her over, but for now, he needed to figure out how he was going to get strong enough to do so.

He had been wandering near the river, an unknown body of water, when he heard the hateful roar of some bear. Hmm? How interesting. The man quickened his pace as morbid curiosity washed over him. Who was being challenged by a grizzly? What had they done to earn its ire? Had they merely stepped too close to it?

It didn’t take long for the bear to come into view and, with it, came a horned stranger. With a flip of his head to get his bang-like mane out of his eyes, Alaois made a decision. The stranger hadn’t asked for help, hell, probably didn’t even know he was there, but the thrill of a challenge rose in Alaois’ heart. Why not? Fighting a bear would be a worthy first story for these lands, and even if it was beside a stranger, the man would not mind sharing the glory. He was ambitious but greedy he was not. There was no reason to fight over who would kill the beast, especially given the danger of such a predator.

“Here Teddy, Teddy!”

Now that its charge was over with and it had turned to face the first wolf he raced towards it. He snarled as he drew close, the bear aiming to run at him head-on next. The scarred creature wasn’t scary to Alaois though. He came dangerously close, leaping to the side as the bear pounced in his direction and tried to “hug” him. He lashed his tail back and forth as he lowered his head to align with his body and kept his attention on the creature. Maybe the two of them could take turns lashing out at the grizzly… whittle down its stamina and then take it out. Maybe he could use some of the claws or something as a trophy of sorts.