Evening fell by the time paws touched a land he'd never been to. The borders of Talis some distance behind him. He'd never been to a beach before, and when Kimahri had told him of one that shone in the night, he just had to check it out! Of course, when he arrived, there was yet to be any "shining" that the jaguar had spoken about. He frowned as he approached the waters edge, almost disappointed. "Where's the shine?" Kimahri gruffed as he stopped beside him, "Jump in and find out." "Hmph.." Kimahri could be such a smart ass sometimes, but in a way, he kind of liked that.

Welp, she was lost.  Valdís scowled.  What was meant to be a simple day trip and exploration routine had turned into an absolute mess of Valdís some how managing to get farther and farther away from home.  Before she was a pack wolf it hadn't really mattered.  Who cared where she went or where she ended up?  She'd find a place to sleep where she was.  She'd scavenge for food where she was.  Knowing where she was in relation to a fixed point was a habit that she'd lost somewhere after the tragedy.

Pushing through the trees towards the sound of the ocean Valdís froze as she took in the eerie glow of the beach.  Her first thought was that spirits of some sort were at work here and she approached cautiously unsure if they were benevolent or malevolent.  As she did she noticed an earthen male with a strange feline creature next to him. "Hello?  Are… are you talking with those spirits?"

No more rain, no more roses

The sound of the waves lightly hitting the shore was...soothing. If beaches were this calming and soothing, he almost felt inclined to move the pack here to live! It was relaxing, and the touch of the cool wind in his fur felt good too. His eyes closed momentarily as he let the sounds of the world wash over him, and for a long moment, he could almost feel all the worries and anger and stress just...washing away. Opening his eyes, he strode forward a few steps until his toes were touching the very edge of where the water stopped. He was hesitant at first, but if this water really did do what Kimahri said it did, then he was sure it would be neat to see. The sun finally began to set below the waterline, and the earthen male stepped foot into the water and almost immediately, the scene around him turned a magical glowing blue! "Whoa!" His eyes shone with the light of the water, and little did he know that the beach behind him was glowing too. He was enthralled and fascinated with what was happening, and he had no clue what any of it was. Before he could find the words to ask Kimahri what was happening, another voice spoke before him. He quickly turned his head to see another wolf on the shore not too far away, the soft sound of the water coupled with the blue glow seemed to almost make everything seem so...surreal. For a moment, he wasn't sure if the wolf that had spoken was real, or if it was a figment of his imagination from this seemingly fantasy beach. "Hi there..." He opted to return the greeting first, before he realized what had been said. Spirits? Was that what was going on here? He looked at Kimahri for a moment, the large cat merely flicked his tail and ears before speaking. "If spirits are what you wish to find, then yes. These beaches are home to spirits of ancient times." That was what the jaguar had been told growing up. And now, he was going to teach the young alpha about them. Dragon returned his attention to the stranger, green gaze steady and reflecting the blue glow which in turn, made his eyes and pelt appear ghost-like. "My name is Dragon. And you are?" He felt a sense of...calm here. Like the rest of the world melted away. And if what Kimahri said was true, then he believed it was the work of the spirits that made him feel this way. Maybe...they could guide him on his path of leadership. "Speech"

Valdís eyed the glowing lights suspiciously.  She knew better than to tamper with spirits and she had no desire to get close enough for something terrible to happen to her.  She'd heard stories of people getting possessed or being driven mad by spirits.  There were some, she supposed, who had managed to make bargains with them to gain favors in return but it just wasn't worth the risk to her.  The feline that was traveling with the wolf stated that this area was indeed home to spirits of ancient times.

"I see.  Are you making offerings to them or something?"

The man asked her name and she responded. "I'm Valdís Thyre, warrior of Crew.  You also smell like you're from a pack. Is there a pack down here?"

No more rain, no more roses

"I see. Are you making offerings to them or something?" He glanced at her, a look of confusion on his face for a moment before staring back at his paws. Was that what you were supposed to do with spirits? He looked at Kimahri, the Jaguar sitting on the shore with tail flicking as he nodded. "Offerings are a way to keep the spirits happy and on your side. But since I failed to tell you that before we got here, I suppose you'll have to figure out some other way. Else they'll eat yours paws off!" He grinned with mischief, expecting the young wolf to believe his words were true. Dragon's ears flicked back as he looked at his paws again, and he certainly didn't want the spirits to be angry because he hadn't brought them an offering. Turning to look at Valdis again, he grinned somewhat sheepishly, "I suppose an offering would have been a good idea if I wanna keep my paws, eh?" He joked before stepping out of the water. If there really were spirits in those waters, he would remember to bring them a gift next time he visited. He shook the water from his paws before answering her, "It's nice to meet you, Valdis Thyre of...Crew. Can't say I've heard of that pack before." Then again, he didn't really know any of the packs back in Boreas. Except for maybe Fiori. "There is a pack around here, actually. As a matter of fact, Talis is the only pack on this continent as far as I know. And I'm the alpha." He dipped his head to her, his demeanor calm as he stood proud. Was it the effect of the spirits giving him this feeling of calm and confidence? Probably. "Speech"

The man's look of confusion pretty much answered her question whether or not the man was making an offering. He glanced to his companion and the cat explained. She nodded. "My old pack used to leave offerings of meat and bones to various spirits to get them on our side for upcoming battles or to ward off disease but…" She shrugged. Fat lot of good it did them. She doubted the offerings made that much a difference and there were days if she wondered there were even spirits at all.

"Crew is pretty new. We're in the old Ivory Ridge lands if you've heard of them. It's in the Eastern region of Boreas." Dragon stated that there was a pack in Auster named Talis and he happened to be the alpha! Valdís blinked rapidly her jaws parting just slightly in surprise. Wow, she'd some how managed to stumble right into an alpha. She wasn't sure if she should try brokering some sort of relationship or not. In truth it wasn't really her place. She was just a trainee after all and she had no idea what Chaos' had planned as far as pack relations go. She felt she should say something but 'congratulations' certainly didn't seem right either. "Er, well, huh… sorry I just never expected to bumble right into an alpha down here. I'm not sure what to say. What is your pack like?"

No more rain, no more roses

He mused over what she said, about the kinds of offerings her old pack used to do in order to please the spirits. His gaze turned back to the water for a moment, and although he had never been brought up to learn about things like this, it certainly was an interesting concept. If spirits did exist, then he sure as hell didn't want them to bring their wrath on him and his pack. He figured it was best to play it safe, especially if Kimahri believed in them. He turned back to her, his gaze thoughtful. "Well if they do exist, then I hope I didn't piss them off by not bringing an offering." He shrugged a bit, somewhat skeptical about the idea, though he was curious about it all. She explained to him that her pack was a new one, which explained why he hadn't heard of it, but the former pack that used to be there was one he was vaguely familiar with. His mother had spoken about an alphess that had come to visit back when they all lived in the North lands. "It sounds sort of familiar. My mother used to be the Alphess of the pack before it was Talis. It used to be called Ivalice, and we lived up in the North before it changed paws and we moved down here. If I'm not mistaken, a she-wolf by the name of Karabela led Ivory Ridge, didn't she?" He had to ask, though he wasn't sure. He did recall his mother mentioning her, so he hoped he had the name right at least. Whether or not this woman knew the former Alphess of Ivory Ridge, well...it was interesting that it too had changed. All that aside, he noticed she appeared kind of flustered, or something along those lines when he said he was the Alpha of Auster's lone standing pack. He chuckled a bit, humor sparking in his eyes. "I guess it's not common to run across an Alpha now and again, huh?" Now that he thought about it, it probably wasn't. He didn't run into any other alphas either, so he could see where her surprise came from. "Hm...I'd like to think of Talis as a pack that doesn't care whether we have allies or enemies. My mother had a more...peaceful approach, but I didn't think that worked very well. Life is kinda boring if everyone is holding paws and dancing around throwing flowers, don't you think?" He seated himself, tail curling around his paws as he looked at her. He wasn't sure who she was or what kind of wolf she was, let alone her intentions. Though he was curious about her and Crew just as she was curious about Talis, but how much information was too much? He'd have to play it safe for now, though she did appear sort of...innocent and genuinely curious. "I guess you can say we seek to benefit ourselves unless of course, there's a benefit to helping someone else. Then again I haven't tried out our new customs yet, we've been here for about a year and I've yet to meet any of the other alphas to determine who would even be worth calling an ally or an enemy." He would huff at himself, though frankly he was usually too busy to go off traveling to all the other packs to bother with it. "I do think we'd do rather well in terms of trading and crafting, though. The lands in Auster, including ours have some unique features that I've found quite interesting. Maybe even valuable to some, but I haven't quite looked into that yet. What about Crew?" "Speech"

Valdís listened intently as Dragon spoke of his pack and she filed the information away. Most of it was probably common knowledge to the other pack leaders in Boreas and Auster though it was all new to her and there was always a chance that Chaos could find the information useful. Valdís nodded at Dragon's question. "Yea, I think so. I never met her, she was gone by the time I joined." She grinned at his description of Talis. "Oh yes, I quite agree. I suppose it makes it difficult to find allies when the packs are spread out in Boreas and you're the only one down here. Well, that I've come across anyway."

She shrugged lightly at his question about Crew. What to say about Crew? "We're a tightknit group." She refused to allude to their size. Dragon seemed nice enough but his comments about Talis were enough to make her suspect that Crew, being so small, could be a potential target and she wasn't too keen on that just yet. Not til she had the rank of Warlord in her jaws. "Much like you we look out for our own and don't expect any favors from other packs, especially if they don't have a backbone. Honestly, I'm still new and if you really want to know what Crew is about you should come visit. Our alpha, Chaos, would be more than happy to let you know." She stretched and gazed at the sky. "Thanks for the chat Dragon, I better be getting back. I've a long way to go."

-exit-

No more rain, no more roses