even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Alarik had decided to take this exploring thing to a whole new level. For a while he had heard about this other continent, and he decided now would be the best time to see it for himself, while the weather was still cool. After all, he heard it was a tropical sort of place, and big furry creatures like him didn't do well in tropical places when the temperatures got too high. He traveled across the land bridge connecting Boreas and Auster, and only a couple hours later found himself in a lovely grove. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he took it in, stopping and turning around in a circle right where he stood. This place was lovely, the kind of place he wished he could share with someone else.

There it was again, the hopeless romantic inside him coming out to play. He knew he may not meet that special someone for months, or years. Or ever. But the latter was depressing, so he preferred not to dwell on that one. He just had to be patient, and if fate willed it, he would come face to face with that special woman eventually.

Smile still on his face, Alarik sighed and walked further into the grove, just letting himself enjoy this moment of exploration and discovery. Because even this would not last forever.

Faine decided that it would be okay to stay around the grove for awhile. The berries were still abundant and maybe she could somehow harvest some for Talis if there was ever an emergency and they needed food. She thought about it for a bit and took in a deep breath, trying to think about what she remembered about berries. She remembered her mother told her that there were good in case there was a shortage of prey or if you were having a hard time hunting, they were easy to pick but some caused illness. Ah yes, she was thinking about cherries, those were no good. But they grew on trees, and therefore she didn’t have to worry about them here. Her ears flicked as she heard somebody approaching, so it seemed like this place attracted quite a few then. It made sense, the place provided a nice snack for travelers. It was a brute, not as large as the female she had seen earlier. Not as tall as Kharnage or Dragon either. She smiled softly, “Hello,” she said, “I’m Faine,” she introduced herself. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Alarik walked along, lost in his own thoughts when suddenly a voice reached his ears. He came to a halt and looked around in surprise. Had he been daydreaming so much that he had missed the scent entirely? So it seemed; sure enough there was a woman standing several yards away. He looked over her briefly, she was smaller than he was, and her coloring was much darker. In fact, it was her coloring that intrigued him and had him staring for perhaps a moment too long. It was a deep brown that had reddish tones to it, complimenting her brilliant red eyes. He chuckled shyly, hoping to dispel the awkwardness that moment of silence brought along with it.

"Sorry, you caught me by surprise," he said softly. And you're beautiful, so I was speechless for a moment, the pathetically romantic part of him wanted to add. Luckily, the more sensible Alarik stopped the romantic Alarik from making a fool of himself. He smiled at the woman, whose name was Faine, and bowed his head in greeting. "Lovely to meet you, Faine," he said. "My name is Alarik."

Her tail flicked as she could feel his eyes lock upon her and hearing a small chuckle leave his lips, he excused it though that she had taken him by surprise. She laughed softly, deciding to dismiss whatever that was and moving on. “It’s alright,” she said kindly, “A pleasure to meet you Alarik,” she said and dipped her head in greeting as well. She tried to pinpoint some type of smell on him, though it didn’t seem like he belonged to a pack. “Have you been to this place before Alarik?” she asked, she wondered if he too had ever eaten berries before and if not, she could teach him a little something that would be valuable in the end. From what she could tell he seemed just barely younger than her, probably by a year, so she may as well make some sort of impression on him. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

This woman was very kind, and seemed more than willing to forget the awkward moment and spare Alarik any more embarrassment. And for that he was grateful. He just smiled at her for a moment until she spoke again, asking if he had ever been to this place before. "No, never," he said in reply, looking around at the beautiful grove again. But it wasn't long before his eyes were on the lovely woman again. "This entire continent is new to me. Normally, Boreas is the place I call home."

But then, gesturing with his chin at the bushes and foliage around them, he said "But we have a place back home similar to this, an orchard that produces some of the most delicious fruit in the summer. The apples may be my favorite, especially when they're soft and ripe." Alarik gave a wag of his tail. There were so many good memories made in that orchard. Memories with his family.

“Ah,” she said, he had never ever been to Auster before and instead he lived in Boreas. “That’s funny, I’ve never been to Boreas before,” she said and smirked. She planned on going though, in fact, she was going anyways on the raid. She nodded as he explained that there was a place similar to this one back in Boreas. He talked about apples and that caught her attention, her mother had talked to her briefly about fruit but many of them grew from trees. She assumed that perhaps these wolves waited for them to fall upon the ground rather than climbing the trees. She flicked her tail and moved towards one of the bushes, “Many of these bushes hold berries, I suppose they can be somewhat similar to the apples you were talking about, they’re both considered fruit.” she said and picked a strawberry for the boy. She walked over to him and placed it on the ground, “Try this,” she offered. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Faine said that she had never been to Boreas before, and it was then that the flirty and romantic side of Alarik decided to surface. He grinned at her and wagged his tail lightly behind him. "Maybe I could take you there, show you around," he said. When he mentioned the orchard and the apples he enjoyed so much, that seemed to catch her attention. He watched, tilting his head a bit in curiosity as she walked up to a bush and plucked something from one of its branches.

She said what these bushes held were called berries, and Alarik nodded as his eyes lit up in recognition. "I've tried berries before, but the kind I had were smaller than this, and darker..." he said as he nudged the strawberry with his nose. He didn't know that the berries he had eaten were called blackberries. He took a little leap of faith and bit into the fruit, tail flipping from side to side with excitement as the juice seemed to explode across his tongue. It was so... sweet. Much better than the blackberries.

He looked up at Faine, his orange eyes bright. "That's really good," he said. "Sweeter than anything I've ever tasted, including apples!" The young man said with a laugh.

The brute offered to take her there and show her around and she smiled, “Maybe,” she said softly, she had only just met him so she was unsure but maybe if he hung around a bit longer she could actually befriend him. “I’ve only heard a few things about the region, is it nice?” she asked him, a little curious about it if she had to be honest. Alarik explained that he had berries before except they were a different kind, and she nodded. He began to wag as he took a bite into the strawberry and he looked back up at her. Well, at least he thought that it was really good, even sweeter than the apples he had eaten. She smiled at that, “Yeah, berries are pretty good.” she said, “That one is called a strawberry, they’re the larger red ones.” she said, “And if you look very closely they’re covered in small seeds.” she said. She looked back up at him and took in a deep breath, “You know, berries are pretty good to find if there’s ever like… A famine going on. A majority of them can be eaten and they’re good for the body, nice if a wolf isn’t picky.” she explained to him. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

To his offer, she said maybe. But hey, it wasn't a no, so Alarik just smiled and nodded before going to the bush to get more of those berries. She told him they were called strawberries, and that if you looked closely you could see that they were covered in seeds. Alarik leaned in and squinted a bit and sure enough, they were. "Cool," he said, smiling as he plucked a few more off the bush and set a couple of them down in front of Faine.

"Good, because I'm not picky," he said with a goofy grin, picking up another strawberry and wagging his tail like a pup while eating it. This woman was smart, thinking of berries as a substitute for meat during a famine of prey animals. He'd file that information away for later. "But what would you do if there was a drought causing the famine, and that drought also wiped out the berries?" he asked, mostly just to keep the conversation going. It was a thought provoking question. Maybe Faine, as smart as she was, had an answer.

Alarik smiled in a boyish, charming way and ate another strawberry as he awaited an answer.

She smiled as he noted that he wasn’t picky, and then he asked a rather good question. “Well, considering there’s two continents there’s probably some other place with water.” she said, “I mean this place is nice, but I’m not too sure if berries are as abundant in Boreas, but I’m sure if you’d look hard enough they’re there.” she said. “If there is a drought, that means that the animals are also looking for water. But because of that they’d be weak, so perhaps stick to hunting down prey. You know what I mean?” she asked, “There’s also Alfalfa, that helps when wolves mainly need to gain weight though.” she said. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Faine didn't take long to come up with an answer. In the case of a drought, she said she was sure there would be at least one or two places that still had water. Lakes and more abundant freshwater rivers, Alarik thought. She made a good point by saying that during a drought, the prey animals would be thirsty too, and would seek out such places as well. Not to mention they'd be weak; easy targets. And on top of that, Faine mentioned alfalfa as a means of wolves gaining weight. Alarik couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're as smart as you are beautiful, Faine," Alarik said with a genuine smile. Some males might say such things just to woo a woman, but not him. He said such things because he meant them. Faine was lovely, and deserved to know that.

"I hope I never see a famine or drought," he said then. "Some wolves do awful things when they're desperate. I wouldn't want to see that."

It seemed that a compliment would easily slip from Alarik’s maw and Faine at first didn’t know how to react. Mainly because brutes weren't so open like that so she hadn’t gotten compliments often, not that she went around fishing for them anyways. She flattened her ears and looked away, chuckling softly, “Thank you,” she said. Well at least he was nice, Faine probably could’ve run into somebody much worse. The younger man then went on to talk about how he didn’t want to experience a famine or a drought, mainly because desperate wolves did terrible things. She flicked her tail, her mind immediately going to the raid that was going to commence any time now that spring had fallen upon the lands. She didn’t think Talis had to worry about water anymore, but medicine was just as essential for the upcoming winter. “Yeah,” she said, she wondered if even though she was a healer, she would have to enter the battle and get her paws dirty. “I don’t think that would be very fun,” she said, getting half lost in her thoughts. “I mean so far it doesn’t seem like it’s happened, though this last season in Auster was kind of rough.” Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

He noticed that his compliment made her a bit bashful, but that only made him smile more. Even if nothing more came from this little meeting, Alarik was happy to have made the woman feel flattered. He finished eating one more strawberry and then licked his lips clean of the juices, smiling jovially. But, the woman was a bit quiet when he mentioned the terrible things that desperate wolves did. Maybe something about his words upset her. It wasn't his intention, of course.

But eventually she responded, and even if she sounded a bit distracted, her words gave him some relief. "Oh, really?" he asked. He wondered what sort of troubles this land had faced. Surely they weren't too terrible, or he would have heard about them in Boreas, right? "What was it, a dry season? Prey shortage?" he asked, concern in his eyes as he looked at Faine. If she and the wolves she knew were in trouble, maybe he could help. He'd scented a pack on her fur, but hadn't asked because he didn't want to be too nosy.

“When it is winter in Boreas, it is summer in Auster, the seasons are switched.” she said, “So it was a very dry season, water was running dangerously low and prey were getting aggressive.” she said, “Like that’s not too bad, but also the fact that a lot of herbs have dried up because of it. The wolves in Auster need medicine in case we get sick during the winter.” she explained to the younger brute. “But now that autumn is here I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that anymore.” she said, “And maybe the prey will start breeding since technically it’s spring, so we won’t have to worry about food as much.” she added. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

This was actually not the first time Alarik had heard of the opposite seasons down here in Auster. The first one to tell him of the phenomenon had been that Pyralis woman. It wasn't that he hadn't believed her, he just wanted to see it for himself. And maybe he would. After all, summer in Boreas could be dreadful. If the heat got too bad, it was nice to know one could take a vacation in Auster and find some cooler temperatures. Or maybe it didn't work that way. If not, he could always retreat to northern Boreas like last summer.

"Aggressive prey? Hmm," he said. Times really must have been rough if the prey animals had gotten irritable. He listened with interest as Faine told him that now should be breeding season, meaning they should have less trouble finding food. "Well that's good. And, if you don't mind me asking, who is this we you speak of?" he asked.

"I can tell you belong to a pack, but what are they like?"

Suddenly it seemed like Alarik would ask who the we was and she took in a deep breath. He could tell she belonged to a pack and he would ask what they were like. She was unsure if she should actually answer, “Well we as in, there are plenty of wolves who live in Auster.” she said, “That don’t belong to a pack,” she noted meeting Pyralis who seemed to know her way about Auster but didn’t seem to belong to a pack. She was hesitant about explaining Talis, but she would do it in her own way for now. “They’re nice, welcomed me in and such. But they’re also strong,” she said, “They have a strong sense of sticking together and being loyal to each other, as well as making sure everybody is taken care of.” A lot of it was true at least, and that was probably all she was going to say. “Do you belong to a pack?” she asked. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

Alarik could tell that the woman was hesitant to say anything about the pack she belonged to, and he couldn't help but wonder why. Why would a pack be secretive? Wouldn't they rather make themselves known, to attract potential new members and create feelings of fear and respect in other packs? Still, he respected the fact that she didn't want to talk about it.

Instead, she just vaguely described the pack and the wolves that were part of it. Saying that they were nice, but also strong and loyal. Well, even if she didn't want to share much with him, he was happy to know she was in such a good home. "Sounds like a great place to be," he said. "And no, I don't currently belong to a pack. But, I recently found out that my brother is part of a pack in western Boreas, so I may be joining him soon. I'd like to have a place to call home," Alarik said with a nod and a gentle smile.

She nodded when he said it seemed like a great place to be, “It really is nice to be honest,” she said, and she let him continue. He did not belong to a back but his brother did, the pack being in the western areas of Boreas. “Yeah, I’ve traveled almost all of my life,” she said, “Pretty much a nomad during my childhood, but it’s nice to finally have a place to call home. Where other have your back and such,” she said softly. It really was nice, at least to her, she knew some wolves could care less about packs and such. Yet, there were plenty of advantages that she saw to it. Walk, "Talk" Think

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

When Faine said she had traveled around for most of her life, Alarik smiled a bit. Her story sounded much like his. Except his traveling around hadn't really been a choice. For him, it was more like being forced from your home and escorted to a new place. But that meant being given a better chance at survival, so of course he wasn't about to question it. Maybe if his mother hadn't sent him and his siblings away, they wouldn't have survived the trouble back home. But still... it'd been so long since he'd seen his mother. Was she even alive?

Taking a deep breath and trying to banish those thoughts, Alarik turned his attention back to Faine. She was talking about the benefits of being in a pack. Always feeling like someone had your back. "That's definitely one of the best parts of pack life," he said, nodding in agreement. "But another reason I want to join a pack is to... I don't know, feel like I'm a part of something. I want to put my skills to good use and feeling like I'm making a difference. I want to have that feeling of purpose," the young man said, staring off into the grove. But eventually his eyes moved back to Faine once more. "Do you feel that too?"

The younger individual explained that another reason why he wanted to join was because he felt like he was putting himself to good use and such. He asked if she felt like that too, “For awhile I was on my own just trying to survive, it get’s… Lonely.. And boring.” she said, “And then I found the pack I’m currently in now, took my chances and actually wanted to make some friends and help out.” she said, “I’ve got a job to do, a purpose, there are wolves I have to look out for and they look out for me. I’m trying my best to help out right now, especially after the harsh season, trying to make friends and get close to them, earn their trust.” she explained. Walk, "Talk" Think