OOC: All Argead and Imperium wolves are welcome at the meet and greet!

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He'd give it to this Valentine guy, he could pick the seriously cool territories. I mean hell, with his reputation he probably had his pick of the litter. He'd picked up tales of the recent wars in these parts, and he was this weird mix of nervous and excited. 'So, hovering somewhere at the top of my list of those I ought not piss off...' He grumbled to himself. Honestly though, his territory was pretty bomb. The trees that spilled over the basin before him were rich with pale petals and smelled heavenly. Mithras would bet his tail that they'd be heavy with fruit come fall. He could only guess at what else was covered under his vast reign, but he wouldn't mind a harmless peek someday. The curiosity was too much, it was the ultimate forbidden cookie jar. Gods above, he'd have to keep an eye on the kids... As he tipped his howl back in a howl, he made a mental note to warn him about the girls, just as he'd warned the woman of Celestial. They deserved a fair warning, after all. His howl played out polite and interested, but lacking urgency. He definitely didn't want to put anyone out just to say hello! There would be other days. He settled in to wait, sitting prim and upright, tail draped over his paws. He looked upwards, watching white spring clouds drifting by to pass the time. "Talk" "You" Think

Curiosity drew him in like a moth to flame. If he wasn't mistaken the voice that now called for him had not long ago howled out a claim. Alacritia was in need of stout leaders. The voice that had rung out across the land sounded strong. Valentine hadn't been left with the impression that the caller was a jittery mess. No, he'd sounded sure of himself and blessedly not at all like a hippie calling a bunch of flower children together. Valentine was cautiously optimistic. As soon as he laid eyes on the howler Valentine's train of thought derailed and abruptly burst into flame. Holy sunset and star baby, batman! He didn't know where to look. There were dots, splatters and swirls everywhere in the most outlandish colors and nonsensical patterns imaginable. He was looking at the very definition of a freak...and he didn't know how to feel about it. There was a certain beauty in the outlandish chaos; a wildness that was almost - but not quite - too wild to be palatable. Valentine honestly didn't know if he should be repulsed or infatuated. Blessedly there were no horns poking out of the man's head - Valentine checked twice. His misgivings didn't slow him down for a moment. There was the slightest hitch in his step as his train of thought met its untimely end, and then he recovered smoothly and played the pause off as the beginnings of a confident lilt. As he met the mismatched gaze of the caller Valentine dipped his head in greeting. "Greetings," he rumbled, "What business do you have here?" ""

For some odd reason, Valentine arrived without the fireworks and splendor Mithras had been expecting. He instead brought only a distinct presence with him, one that rivaled Katja's in it's strength. The lands were his, the air was his, gods above, the stars in the sky atop his fields were his. Mithras made a firm note of that, and tagged it with a P.S. "Serious talk" time with the girls. Mithras took a deep breath, trying to collect his many thoughts in the hopes of forming a coherent response. He gave Valentine a quick nod of respect, then said, "My name is Mithras Aeris, leader of Argead, recently formed in the northwest. I wanted only to introduce myself, get a personal sense of the neighbors, things of that nature." He sat back and forced his shoulders to relax. Being on edge was too much work, and if Valentine was going to rip him to pieces, well, he'd probably deserve it. So instead of dwelling on it, Mithras looked out over the flowering forest yet again, taking a deep breath of the sweet spring air. "Pardon my distraction, but this glorious scene behind us has driven me to it. I can hardly imagine what other splendors are hidden in this realm... My daughters would go wild with the petals." He chuckled and shook his head, lost in the thought of it. They'd raised hell over a scrap of fur, he shuddered to think what they'd do with a few million petals. "I'll have to keep them well distracted with work back home." Artemis had been bothering him about going on more patrols outside the borders but Mithras still worried that she was too young. Perhaps soon though, once the floods subsided. "Talk" "You" Think

So far Valentine liked where this encounter was going. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with yet another weakling begging for an alliance. He would say it as often as he had to: alliances were relationships built on trust and trust had to be earned. Anyone who came to him for the first time with only an alliance on the brain likely wasn't worth the effort. That Mithras wanted to make it clear from the beginning that he was only here to introduce himself and test the waters spoke volumes. He returned Mithras' respectful nod and said, "It's a pleasure, Mithras. My name is Valentine and I am the alpha, or Rex, here in Imperium." He was on the verge of saying more, of throwing aside the stiff caution he usually wore in official situations like this and being himself, and barely managed to stop himself from launching into a jovial thank you for not leaping into truce nonsense. Doing so would have given this perfect stranger a glimpse into his inner workings. Realizing this, Valentine was suddenly aware that without realizing it, he'd decided to be infatuated with this Mithras character. That wouldn't do. He steeled himself. A split second after Mithras' gaze darted away Valentine's followed out of curiosity. Accustomed as he was to the sight the King looked only for things out of the ordinary. He squinted a little as he tried to find what had captured Mithras' interest. His expression cleared and a smile came to his lips as the man explained. Valentine chuckled and offered, "It is a rather remarkable place." One he guarded jealously. "Your daughters sound a bit like my youngest," he commented thoughtfully. ""

The man introduced himself and his suspicions were at last confirmed. This was in fact Valentine. He claimed his title was Rex here, and Mithras smiled with appreciation. It looked as if Valentine was going to say something, but he stopped himself. Mithras decided not to linger on it. The other man would claim a similarity between their daughters. "If so then I'm all the sorrier for you!" Mithras chuckled, then sighed, a smile on his face. "I've got three. Two of which seem fit to send me to an early grave. To tell you the truth, I built Argead for them." He craned his neck over his shoulder, gazing back towards the western horizon for a moment. They were somewhere in that distant unknown, getting into gods knew what. He missed them.

He had faith that Faria would keep them safe, but that didn't make him any less eager to be home. He moved on the final bit of his purpose there. "Anyways, I'm also here to let the other leaders know that I will be holding Forums on each solstice of the year. Any pack wolf willing to come under a white flag of peace is welcome in our lands to share what they've learned, to teach and be taught, and to just entertain with the other members of the realm. Furthermore, we'll occasionally be holding lessons close to borders so that other pack wolves or loners can attend if they wish. Wanted you to be aware!" He smiled again, and stood. He did not want to take an excess of Valentine's time, he was sure he was busy, but he also didn't want to seem impatient with him. Mithras rolled his shoulders forward and dipped down into a languid stretch. On second thought, perhaps he could just bask in the floral spring breeze for the rest of his days.

Upon hearing Mithras' words Valentine chuckled. So supposedly there were girls out there that rivaled Rhys in zeal, huh? Three of them. The thought was honestly a little scary. Scarier still was the thought of Mihras' three and his youngest three in the same place. Without a shadow of a doubt Valentine just knew they'd tear shit up. He was already a little worried that his kids might one day burn the barn down or stampede the whole herd of bison off a cliff or something, so doubling that kind of energy had to be a recipe for disaster. "To tell you the truth, I built Argead for them." Valentine nodded in understanding. "When I founded Imperium I didn't have any children, but I started it with them in mind. I wanted a place to raise them right." The decision to start a pack had been spur of the moment, but everything had fallen together at once and his reasons had propelled him on. It was a decision he didn't regret. Valentine's ears pricked at the mention of a gathering. What Mithras informed him of sounded like a conglomerate of opportunity. There would be chances for his members to learn new tricks of their respective trades and it would also give him a glimpse into the inner workings of the other packs. It would be a good opportunity to size up the competition. "Hmm," he rumbled thoughtfully. "That is a wonderful idea. I'll certainly keep it in mind." ""

He was pleased (in perhaps a somewhat childlike way) that Valentine was of a mind with him in several different ways. Not only did it give him hope that the notorious man might look them over the next time he went a-knocking but more than anything, it gave him hope that he too might one day become a great leader. He was excited to think that he might find Valentine waiting at his borders when the seasons changed again, excited for whatever his pack's proximity might bring. Mithras decided that their meeting had run it's course, having accomplished all he'd planned, so he cleared his throat. "Well, I didn't come here to steal up all of your time!" Mithras gave a crooked grin as straightened, and gave himself a bit of a shake. While the darker man was bound to be busy with other tasks, given the chance Mithras would probably pester him all day with some nonsense or another, so it was best to nip things in the bud while he could still be conjectured as "courteous." "It was a true pleasure to meet you, Valentine. Feel free to come calling whenever you'd like, if you ever have a need. I'm excited to see what the future holds for our two packs." And whether it be good or bad, that was true. Mithras was excited to feel like he was a part of something again, even if that was only the wibbly-wobbly game board of power. And more than that, he was eager to see if he might be able to earn a chance at Valentine's friendship in the future. He just knew their packs could do great things together if given the chance. But instead of melting down into a puddle of begging and pleading, he gave a last quick bow, expecting the Valen would stop him if he had a need. -exit unless stopped- - Mithras

Short, sweet and to the point. No snipping, no disagreeing and not even a hint of alliance begging. It was a good beginning. Granted, not much had been exchanged. While it listed towards the positive Valentine's opinion of the titan was largely neutral. And he still didn't know exactly what kind of pack Mithras led, although he was guessing something not quite as militaristic as Imperium since he intended to hold gatherings centered around learning. Valentine simply watched as Mithras prepared to depart. He was content to leave things as they were for the time being. "It was a true pleasure to meet you, Valentine." A pleasure indeed. "Likewise." Valentine returned Mithras' parting bow with a dip of his head. "Good day, Mithras, and safe travels." ""