Pyralis was finally free of her annoying brats! Strolling through the ravine like she owned the world Pyralis was aglow in the warm summer… or would that be winter, evening. She could've stayed in Auster but her irritation had been burning so hot that she kept walking and walking until finally it and cooled off and she found herself wandering through the bottom rim of Boreas. It was nice having a babysitter once she'd gotten the girl in a trauma bond and could be certain that the young woman would always return where she wanted her. As a bonus she'd begun fight training with her pups and bit Ashiel particularly brutally just to watch the girl react. Classic case of bleeding heart, the girl was alarmed for the pups safety. It was a perfect arrangement and one that would allow Pyralis to keep her sanity… assuming she had any, apparently the topic was up for debate amongst the family. "Talk" "You" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Well, Alarik had certainly never been here before. This ravine had almost taken him by surprise. He'd been to the lands surrounding it, but had never ventured into its depths. Especially at night. Really, what was he thinking? This place looked, and felt, dangerous to him. And yet his curiosity had gotten the best of him, and he'd decided to take a look anyway. But he couldn't deny that it had taken a little pep talk to convince him. And that pep talk had, embarrassingly, consisted of him calling upon the knight in shining armor he used to imagine himself to be as a pup. Knights weren't scared of shadowy ravines.

So here he was. He kept his ears perked and constantly swiveling, as if expecting that telltale snap of a branch. It was a dark night, but surprising warm. He did a bit of sight seeing and was just about to turn around and go back when suddenly he caught a scent on the wind. Female, older than him. Recently a mother. That knight in shining armor made himself known again, and he decided to track the scent just in case the woman needed help.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

When he saw her, he took a moment to appraise her. She was large, and looked plenty strong. Not the type of woman to be a damsel in distress. But that didn't mean he couldn't say hello. "Hello," he called out softly. Not very creative, but oh well. "What brings you here at this time of night?"

Pyralis continued her exploration. She'd felt a sense of pride that she'd managed to find the ravine at all though she wasn't sure what practical use she had for it. Apart from running prey into the ravine to corner them she saw little use for it. Though perhaps Seth would appreciate the variety of plant life, her servant girl, Lydia, might appreciate it as well. Amon would probably be bored. Unless it could be used to spread their legacy or bring about world domination it was probably irrelevant. Stretching she was about to press closer to the ravine walls to examine some particularly odd looking moss when a young voice called out to her. A handsome young man of decent size examined her warily. She grinned as she debating how best to answer her question. Looking for little boys to snack on? Oh, that would probably not go over well. "Enjoying the night air and the ecstasy of living. What about you? Don't tell me you've followed me all the way in here to take 'advantage' of me?" "Talk" "You" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

When he had taken a moment to acknowledge her stature he let his eyes meet hers. There was something, a strange light in her eyes, that had him wanting to shiver. But he suppressed it. This woman reminded him of the woman he had briefly run into last season, the one that had mistaken him for a member of some other family. Abramis? Abraxas? Something like that. And of course Alarik had politely corrected her, told her that he belonged to another family entirely.

The woman, whose name had been Mercy, had an attitude about her very similar to this woman here. Some sort of menacing quality, predatorial. It put Alarik a bit on edge. And so did her sarcastic response. But he gave her the most geniune smile he could manage, because he was nothing if not a gentleman. "I would never dream of it," the young man responded. "And I apologize for disappointing you, but I did not follow you in here either," he said. "I caught your scent while exploring and came to see if you needed help. But you don't seem the type to require any assistance."

But still. He never failed to be polite, even when interacting with the kind of women that made him feel like a mouse under the gaze of a cat. "Alarik Xanilov," he said, lowering the crown of his head to her as he introduced himself.

Pyralis was almost giddy as she watched the expressions play across his face. Oh, this was fun. She vowed then and there that this recent litter would be her only one. She missed her freedom. She missed being able to wander where she would and the variety of creatures she would run into and the opportunities for fun. It wasn't something she could do tied down but soon enough her pups would be old enough to accompany her on her travels and travel they would. She would break in their endurance, run them through the most treacherous terrain until they were worthy of he name 'Abraxas'. Pyralis let out a laugh as he mentioned that he had had followed her in case she needed assistance. "Awww… what a sweet lad." He had the same doe-eyed kindness that was so prevalent in her new servant. He dipped his head and introduced himself as Alarik Xanilov. What a polite little gentleman. Pyralis rolled her shoulders languidly forward but did not dip her head in return. "Pyralis Abraxas and don't sell yourself shot. Your presence is 'assisting' me out of my boredom. I don't suppose you've any skill as a hunter? I'm positively starving." "Talk" "You" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

The woman did not bow her head in response, but Alarik couldn't bring himself to feel surprised by that. It was just more evidence of her arrogant nature. She really was like Mercy. He idly wondered if the two had ever met one another.

But when the woman gave her name, well. Then Alarik could afford to be surprised. He was meeting an Abraxas face to face. But perhaps he shouldn't say that and inflate her ego even more... "Abraxas," he repeated. "Funny story, a woman I met once mistook me for a member of your family. Similar markings, I suppose," he said.

She told Alarik not to sell himself short, saying he was in fact providing assistance by slaking her boredom. He couldn't help chuckling. And then she asked if he was a skilled hunter. "I believe so," he said, with a humble shrug of his shoulders thrown in for good measure. "What do you think we might catch in this place? We might have to head to the mouth of the ravine, even prey animals probably aren't stupid enough to run themselves into a corner."

Pyralis watched with fascination at the surprise that spread across Alarik's face when she mentioned her name. Oh dear, was she gaining a reputation? He repeated her last name and she waited patiently. Apparently her families presence in these lands was starting to make some waves. Not that it really bothered her. She chuckled. "I don't think we look that much alike, what fool told you this?" She had no idea that she'd already met the woman. Pyralis supposed it wasn't her place really to talk about the markings that stained her family when she had a glaring patch of white right across her face, marring the markings that would proudly denote her heritage but no matter. She was living up to her name well enough. "Glad to hear it. Let's feast." She chuckled at his words. "I don't know, I've met some pretty dumb prey animals but I have not scented much of anything in this place. We don't have to hunt here. Are you from this area? Perhaps there are better hunting lands nearby." "Talk" "You" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

This woman, Pyralis, said she didn't think the two of them looked anything. "Not you and I, perhaps," he said. "Maybe this woman knew another member of your family. And her name was Mercy, to answer your question. Tall woman, white with black markings." He said, offering a brief description in case the name didn't ring a bell for her. He had to say, besides the fact that she was a bit rough around the edges, this Pyralis was so far proving to be pretty harmless. He felt more at ease the more time he spent around her. But he knew better than to let his guard down completely. He didn't doubt that a clever woman like her could easily pretend to be friendlier than she really was.

But, for now, she made good company. And Alarik wasn't about to turn down a hunting partner. He shook his head in response to her question. "No, I'm just passing through. But on my way to this ravine I passed through several miles of prairie, no doubt we could find something there." It was less than an hour away, if she didn't mind a short walk to get the meal they desired.

Pyralis let out a barking laugh as he stated that the one who had told him this was a woman named Mercy. "Aha! It is indeed a small world. I know that woman. Ran into her some time back, she's a spit fire. Hmmmm… I suppose you may resemble one of my cousins a bit but I still find that silly of her think. Then she is more the brutish type." Secretly Pyralis hoped to run into the woman again. She'd been a blast to travel with but like all things fun it just ended to soon. Alarik stated that he wasn't from the area but that he'd passed through several miles of prairie. "Ah… that sounds good, prairie. Deer, chickens, good food. Proceed sir Alarik and I shall follow. Dinner awaits!" Oh goodness, what would Amon think of this if he saw? Well for one he'd probably accuse her of preying on younger men but honestly he'd offered to help and she wanted food. "Talk" "You" Think

ooc: feel free to start a new thread in one of the better territories for hunting.

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Pyralis barked out a laugh, saying she had met the woman he was talking about. Small world, indeed. Alarik laughed a bit too and shrugged as she spoke of the resemblance between him and other members of her family. "I suppose we may never know what she was thinking," he said with a glimmer of humor in his orange eyes. Pyralis wasn't the kind of company the young man normally kept, but he actually kind of liked her. She was interesting.

She seemed to be in agreement when Alarik offered the prairie as a hunting site. He smiled a bit when she called him Sir Alarik, thinking of his puphood days when he really did go by such a name. Those had been such happy, carefree days. He nodded and turned away from the woman, still keeping her in his line of sight because while he was a trusting man, he wasn't an imbecile either. He took the first few steps back in the direction he'd come. "Less than an hour east of here, he told her. "Let's see what we can find."

-exit Alarik-

OOC: okie dokie!