WOW this place shore was different. Get it? Shore. Ashmedai laughed at his own joke. But this place was no joke- ah man he was on a roll today!

No, but, yeah, this place was beautiful. It was dark, but the waves literally lit up. They were blue and beautiful and- oh they looked just like the stars.

Ashmedai wanted to eat them.

Theoretically, if they were anything like the fireflies back home, if he ate them, or at least chewed them up a little, then they would make his mouth glow, right? Maybe he could roll in them?

Well, there was only one way to find out!

Ashmedai charged into the water, surrounded by the luminescence. He tried to chase them and pin them down, snapping at the water viciously. He would get them, if only they would STAY STILL.

Navigation - The Shimmering Shore

Pyralis was out exploring again.  She felt it was part of her duty to have a good and thorough understanding of the continent in which her family was making their home.  She was also willing to admit at this point that she was not being a good mother.  She should be at home with her kids and here she was out exploring.  Pyralis didn't know how to feel about any of it and so she chose not to feel at all.   Night time wrapped around her, dark and safe and still warm.  The wind shifted, bringing with it the ocean breeze and as she crested the hill she'd been climbing. Pyralis gazed across the coastline that lit up bright and blue, shifting and shimmering in the dark and for once in her life she was stunned into silence.  What was this place?  Surely it was a magical place.  She padded down to the shore line and sat quietly in the sand.  This was the mortals world… and Pyralis was finding it more and more beautiful with each exploration. Loud splashing caught her attention and she turned to see a man go charging into the water.  She stared in confusion as she watched him splash around, snapping violently at the water and she let out a deep laugh.  Getting to her paws she padded closer, head tilted to the side. "What are you doing?"  She was glad in some ways that he went in first.  At least now she knew one wouldn't be struck dead by wandering into such strange water. "Talk" "You" Think

There was a laugh, then a voice. Ashmedai stopped cold, glowing water flowing out of his open jaw.

"What are you doing?" He spat out a little more water, laughing.

"I'm playing. Ever heard of it?" Ashmedai was sassing her, sure, but there was no malice in his voice.

He kicked the water, "Ever seen anything like it? It's pretty stunning, huh? Reminds me of fireflies, or maybe the sky."

Ashmedai looked to the stars. Now, he really wondered which the water more resembled.

"I was thinking if I bit into them, maybe I could glow too. Maybe if I could find some pups, I'd trick them into thinking I'm a ghost. Or an adult- sometimes they believe in that stuff too."

Ashmedai came a little way out of the water, "Wanna try? I'm Ashmedai, by the way. What about you?

Pyralis smirked and chuckled. "Oh, I've heard of it. Just not often I see a grown man doing it." She'd never seen anyone near her age just randomly play for the sake of playing and it made her wonder if there was something wrong with this particular male or if it was just a personality quirk. "I have never seen anything like this. I thought it might be the work of spirits." She reached out a paw and lazily stirred the water, lifting it up to see if any of the glow would stick to her. "I also thought it might burn you if you touched it but apparently that isn't the case." Reaching out her tongue she licked at her paw and wrinkled her nose. "Personally, I think it tastes kind of funny." The man rambled on stating that he thought he might glow to if he ate them. "No thanks, I think I'll pass on eating them but if you don't mind I'll join you for a swim." Carefully, she moved into the water, trying to note any odd sensations or any burning but everything felt like regular water. "Nice to meet you, I'm Pyralis Abraxas. I wonder if there are any fish nearby or if this stuff kills them." "Talk" "You" Think

The woman said she had never seen a grown wolf playing. Ashmedai scoffed, "Really? Well clearly you grew up around the wrong wolves.

She touched the water as if hesitant, saying she was scared it might burn. Ash tilted his head. She was right, in a way. It totally could have burned, but it was also water. Water didn't burn.

"I've never thought water could burn. Just where did you grow up?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

She said she didn't want to eat them and that the water tasted weird. Ashmedai shrugged. Pyralis said she would join him for a swim and gave her name, musing whether or not there would be fish in the water. Ashmedai laughed a little, "Well, if there were any fish, I've scared them away by now."

Ashmedai moved around slowly in the water. "So, can I ask what brings you out here? I never even knew this place existed."

As he waited for an answer, he sunk his face into the water until his nose was just above the glowing surface, his eyes going crossed slightly as he watched the water glow when he swam forward.

Pyralis sat back in the water, her tail wagging lightly as she lifted up both forelegs and examined them. "It's a shame this stuff doesn't stick to fur for very long." She watched the blue tendrils slide of her fur, blinking out and hitting the water. "I've never thought water could burn. Just where did you grow up?" "A long ways away, and when it gets hot enough it can scorch the flesh right off of you." She could remember the geysers and hot springs that blossomed to the south. It wasn't exactly part of the original homeland but it was an are a slated to be conquered and thought of as sacred. "Did you grow up around here?" He asked her about what brought her out here and she shrugged, not having any real particular reason. "I'm an explorer. I decided one morning to walk from my den until I hit the ocean and here I am." She grinned. "To be honest I had no idea this place existed either. That's what I love about exploring, all the new places to see and things to do. What do you like to do besides play in the water?" "Talk" "You" Think

Ashmedai trailed through the water, his eyes having trouble focusing on one or the other glowing dots. Pyralis mentioned that it was a shame that these things didn't glow for longer. Ash nodded, "Fireflies keep glowing after you crush them. I wanted to roll in enough of them to look like the sun. I ate them a lot too. They taste much worse than these guys, though."

The woman explained that there was a place where water really could burn. Ashmedai looked at her with wide crystalline eyes. He would definitely have to go look for that place or a place like that soon.

Pyralis asked if he grew up around here and he shrugged, "I grew up in a pack called Imperium. My dad was- uh- actually the alpha." Ashmedai didn't really feel like going over it. He had loved Imperium and idolized his dad. Then it was gone. His dad was gone, his mom was dead, and he didn't have a home to return to. Ash just shrugged, "It's not a pack anymore, though. It didn't even last a full generation. It burned bright, hot, and fast."

So Pyralis was an explorer. She just woke up and decided to walk to the beach. "I get that," Ashmedai laughed. He had been like that since Imperium had fallen.

"I left this whole place once. I left for a good while, but now that I came back, I realized there's way more to this place than Imperium."

Pyralis then asked what he liked to do other than playing in the water. That was complicated.

"Well, I like to play in the snow too," he started simply. "But I also like playing in blood. I used to want to fight all the time, the bloodier, the better. I liked to cater to my instincts first, he tried to say without bluntly stating that he spent a good amount of time looking for food, fights, and fucks."-but now I just end up wandering a lot."

Ashmedai shrugged, "It's not unhappy, but I get bored, so that's when I came back to this area. Visited a pack called Abaven- or really just visited an old friend there. I doubt I'd be welcome in the pack. Then I decided that I wanted to try to circumnavigate these lands until I found a place or person I loved enough to settle down for a bit."

He had been pretty still while he spoke, and as he peered down below, he was pretty sure he saw a "Fish. Shhh- that's a fish, isn't it?"

"Oh ew!  I've eaten fireflies before when I was little.  I thought they tasted like snot."  She let out a laugh at the memories that ticked the edge of her mind.  Days before she was a yearling.  Warm summer nights and fragile lights floating briefly in front of her face before they were consumed by an ever darkening night. Ash explained the pack he grew up in and that he was the alpha's son but that it was no longer.  She nodded absently.  Burning hot and bright.  Sounded like her kind of pack though time was beginning to temper a bit of her wilder nature.  She had learned patience and strategy but even then it was her preference to just move as the wind guided her. The boy… well, he wasn't a boy was he.  He looked to be her age but his mannerisms made him seem far more youthful than he actually was.  He still liked to play not just in water but in snow and also… in blood?  Her brows raised and she grinned.  Now they were getting somewhere.  "Bloody battles are the best!  I can't wait to sink my fangs into flesh once my brats are weaned.  I promised my brother I'd be a good girl and stay out of trouble til they're old enough to fend for themselves but well… momma needed a little vacation." She nodded at his plan.  "I can understand that.  I hope you find what you-"  She paused as he stated that he saw a fish.  Pyralis squinted down into the water.  They'd been talking and standing still so long it seemed the fish were slowly coming back… at least she thought it was a fish.  She lowered her voice as she watched the dark shape shift in the water, it's form outlined by the glowing blue bubbles that shifted in it's wake.  "Yes, I think it is.  Think you can catch it?" "Talk" "You" Think

She had eaten fireflies too? Maybe it was a universal pup thing? Ashmedai thought back to those days... some of them weren't even that far off!

Speaking of pups- "Wait. You have pups?!" Ashmedai exclaimed in kind of a hushed voice as if it was a secret. So she liked a good battle too, but she had pups? "Are your brother and pups in a pack, or like, do you raise them alone. Maybe it's the water, so I couldn't smell them, but I wouldn't have guessed you were a mother."

She explained that she promised to be good, but that she needed a vacation. Ashmedai laughed, "When they're weaned, let's go destroy something- or someone. Preferably someone and someone kind of if not wholly deserving."

Pyralis confirmed what Ashmedai thought was a fish. She asked if he could catch it. "Dunno," he replied simply. Ashmedai moved slowly, shifting his weight and not moving his paws. He bent his legs slightly, readying his jaws and dove into the water, sending small tendrils of blue water in his wake as he attempted to catch the fish.

OOC: Leaving it up to you on if he comes up with the fish or a mouthful of kelp or whatever else!

Pyralis nodded at his question about her having pups. "Yes, a little boy and girl, about a season old now." Had it really been a season already? Was the secret to making time go faster to have kids? "No, we aren't in a pack. More like a traveling band of rogues only we have something of a basecamp for now until the pups grow older." She laughed at his invitation to go destroy something. "Why wait? My servant girl can care for the children just fine and I'm down for a little destruction any day. Do you have something in particular in mind?" His attention was back on the fish and she watched with delight as he set about trying to hunt the creature lurking in the water. There was a great sense of anticipation and then bam! Ash dived into the water and emerged with the left fin of a manta ray. Pyralis let out a laugh and exclaimed, "What the hell is that thing?" "Talk" "You" Think

She had two kids? Ashmedai was honestly impressed. He wondered if she was in love with someone if if the children were the product of something else. He decided he wouldn't ask.

Hold up. "You have a servant?!" How fucking cool was that? "Man, I thought I was tough, but you, Pyralis, are something else." She even had a band of rogues. Pyralis asked what he had in mind and Ash thought for a moment. "Well, if there were enough of us, I'd suggest we raid a pack, but if not that... Maybe we can find an unfortunate loner to keep your servant company?"

As Ashmedai's jaws snapped at the water, his teeth sunk into... something. As he pulled it up, he was pretty sure it wasn't a fish. He struggled against it, pulling it towards the shore. It was pretty heavy... and floppy. Ashmedai shot Pyralis a look, begging for help.

Pyralis drank up the man's praises. Yes, she certainly was something else. He could ask any of her family members and be told much the same though the emphasis would vary between amazement to disdain. She giggled a bit as he looked at her. She had no idea what to do with the think so she pranced over and grabbed the other floppy wing until the thing was suspended between them and flailing. Suddenly it's barbed tail lashed out and lacerated her right shoulder. She yelped and dropped the thing. "Ack! Drop it! I don't know what the fuck that is but its not worth the trouble." Reaching around she licked absently at her shoulder. Stupid whatever-the-fuck that was. She paused for a moment to clean the wound a bit more then decided to answer Ashe's statement about a raid. "I bet I could talk my family into a raid but the head of said family is away on business at the moment. I don't want my servant girl having any friends. I have selected and conditioned her very tediously and I need her to remain isolate to maintain my control. Perhaps we could find you a servant though, hm?" "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis came over to help Ashmedai struggle with the fish thing. Then it's tail- it had a longer tail like a cat or something, not like any fish Ash had seen- flew forward and cut Pyralis's shoulder. She called out to drop it and Ashmedai obeyed with no complaints. He tried to slide the -whatever-the-fuck fish thing away a bit before dropping it.

Ashmedai came over to check on the woman, "Holy shit, what even was that? Are you alright? Did that thing... have a snake for a tail?"

He didn't know anything about healing at all. He didn't even know where to start. Luckily, Pyralis started talking about fighting again. Ashmedai eyes her shoulder, "Your family- not pack- has a leader? It's alright if it takes a while... It probably would take a good group of wolves, so I might try to rope in some friends too."

Pyralis mentioned that he should have a servant and a smile crept onto his face, "Yeah, you're right about that. I gotta find one. You could give me tips on how to- uh- condition them, right?" He had no idea how much effort it would take to keep a servant, or how to get them into such a position that they wouldn't just leave or attack him while he was asleep. It was worth a try though!

Pyralis shrugged. "I have no idea what that thing was. It sure felt funny in my mouth though and as for the tail…. it had some sort of barb I think." She wrinkled her nose and the laughed and shrugged. "Just my lucky lately on these adventures. Don't worry about it. I've had much worse." She winked at the man and then moved to get out of the water. Shaking out her coat she sat down and worked at cleaning the salt water from around the wound. She nodded at his question about her family. "Yes, we have a head of the family so to speak. He's been the one calling most of the general shots but we're still allowed to roam and wander where we will." She chuckled darkly as they talked about 'conditioning'. "Well, I suppose it depends on what you want the servant for but you should pick someone squishy, you know? Soft, kind, and definitely low in self-esteem. Those are the wolves you can manipulate into just about anything. You start with the right canvas and it all becomes a lot easier." "Talk" "You" Think

Okay, cool, so Pyralis wasn't like dead or anything. Ashmedai was a little relieved. He'd feel bad if the mother died and her kids grew up with no mother. Did they have a father? He remembered that he was curious before. Maybe that was better left unasked.

She said it was just her luck on adventures like these. Ashmedai smiled, "What's an adventure without battle scars?"

Ashmedai left the water too, giving his thick coat a hearty shake. Pyralis said they had someone calling the shots, but they could roam too. "Huh, it's like a pack, then, but also not. A pack without borders or boundaries... wait, maybe that's just what a family is." Ash laughed. He wouldn't know, his family WAS his pack. Sparrow's too. He didn't know any non-pack families until now.

Pyralis's laugh caught Ashmedai's attention as their conversation shifted into something a little darker. Someone  squishy? Ah- he hadn't met a ton of wolves like that, and recently the ones he had, he ended up feeling a little bit of a soft spot for. Why couldn't someone just willingly decide to worship him like that one boy back in Imperium so long ago?

"Okay, how do I find someone like that and also make sure their family doesn't hunt me down. Actually- I don't have pups, so I dunno what they'd do, but having one sounds a little fin in itself, so I'd like to at least explore that possibility. How do you keep them loyal?"

If only he had a plethora of loyal followers at his command. That would be the life.

Pyralis chuckled at Ash's statement about scars. "Truer words were never spoken!" She'd come up with some cool story about a sea monster to tell her kids on her journey back to the canyon. It needed to be something sufficiently cool but still believable. She was pretty sure both her kids would eat it up and then all of a sudden she felt a pang in her stomach. She really was a terrible mother. Out having the time of her life the second the brats were weaned but… well she hadn't been 100% in to having them. If she was honest with herself she had them because she was expected to and not much else. Course… she had thought about shaping them into her own little minions. Pyralis nodded. "That is exactly what a family is though we don't intend to be packless forever. Many of my family are ambitious and seek to start a pack that the whole family can live in. Me? No thank you. Running a pack just isn't my style. I have enough responsibility with two kids and even then I don't do that well." Pyralis pondered Ash's questions. "I'll be honest, I ran into mine accidentally and the thought just came to me. My brother, Amon, is the planner. I'd say hang out in places with longs of interesting herbs and plants. Healers are almost always to squishy and kind for their own good. You could also poke around pack borders. See if some twerp's run off crying. Get 'em young. They're easier to manipulate at that age." As for loyalty well… he needed to form some sort of trauma bond with the victim but she honestly didn't think she was that great at it judging form Lydia's occasional lecturing. "It really depends on who you pick. My brother is the one well versed in trauma bonds. I don't really get it, if I'm honest. But my way of thinking is if you have someone with a family or siblings you can threaten to kill or maim the family if they do something you don't like. You can threaten to kill or maim them. Oh! You're a male. Just forcebreed them and use the pups as collateral. Heck, the abuse alone should break them down enough you can start. I had to maul Lydia pretty good before I could get her to listen. She ended up being a good deal more spirited than I originally planned for." Pyralis stood and stretched. "Of course, if that's not your thing you can also make some empty promises to. Serve me and I shall get you a dozen virgins and your own pack blah, blah, blah. Promise something then never deliver but you have to watch more closely with that method because they will turn on you eventually unless they're really stupid… or mentally handicapped. Another good target." "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis detailed out that their family might want a pack one day, though she wasn't interested in leading it. Ashmedai's tail wagged softly behind him, "My family was in a pack once," he mentioned. "If your family does get a pack, I'm gonna come visit with my band of servants and we should go raid every pack there is." It was a silly suggestion, and Ashmedai just barely held back the laugh.

Pyralis ran into her servant by chance. Well, if that was it, then Ashmedai could have probably easily claimed some of the softer wolves he had come across. He just hadn't thought about it really.

She detailed out all the kinds of things he could do to keep a slave. It reminded him of Meiu- that was his name, right- back in Imperium. A crooked smile rose onto Ash's face, "I get it. I had forgotten there was someone I used to kind of do that to, except my father was the big and scary and he thought- maybe rightfully- that I was keeping him safe from my father so he chose to follow me into anything. He'd do anything for me. I wonder if he wandered off after I left."

Ashmedai wasn't entirely sure about forcebreeding. His father had at least instilled a decent respect of women into him. If they happened to have pups by someone else, though, that might be a different story. Ashmedai didn't particularly like pups to begin with, so he didn't really want a bunch running around him, even if they were collateral.

"Too bad you can't just make someone stupid. It's gotta be hard to keep them scared enough to obey, but not enough to break them to be unusable, right?" Ashmedai remembered Angelus's slave- was it Nako- that never did anything in the pack no matter how Angelus tried. Ash guessed he had been broken a little too far. A part of Ashmedai hoped that that useless slave had rotten in his lack of motivation.

"Why not just have your brother breed Lydia? Then you have collateral and more servants."

Pyralis chuckled. In truth her family could raid just fine on their own but it might be useful to have a mortal with a little army that they could send in first or perhaps use for other purposes. "Haha, well, keep your eyes out. It will come into being eventually but it's difficult to say when. I just hope I'm not an old lady by then!" Honeslty, Pyralis didn't expect to live past 6 or 7. She lived to roughly and made to many enemies to really entertain the idea of living to a ripe old age but that suited her just fine. She had no idea what she would do if she lived to be like 9! She listened with interest as he talked about someone he'd almost been unconditionally turning into a servant. "Hmmm… he sounds perfect. Shame you lost track of him. Did he mention anything about a family or homeland that he might have returned to?" Pyralis let out a dark chuckle. "Actually… if you beat in someone's head enough you could maybe make them stupider but that gets tricky if you want them to have any functionality and I'm no medic." She nodded. "Yea, that's the trick though you know if you can seduce them first before breaking them in, make them love you and do anything for you well… then you're most of the way there." Pyralis bristled suddenly and growled at the idea of her great brother, the star of the Abraxas line, mating with a slave girl. "Never! My line are descended from a god! We will not sully our bloodline with bastard pups, especially those of a lowly servant girl!" She took a few deep breaths and shook her head. "I forbid anyone from breeding with my servant. I kidnapped her to raise my children I don't want her busy with her own." "Talk" "You" Think

Pyralis said the pack would be coming, she just wasn't sure when. "Most good things are like that, huh?" Ashmedai teased. Speaking of old ladies, Ashmedai couldn't believe he was already 4 years old. All the adults around him had seemed so cool when he was younger, but he didn't feel like he had really grown up a ton since then.

Pyralis asked if Mieu had a family. "Yeah, he did, but they were also a part of the pack so they all probably scrambled." Ashmedai shrugged. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

At the mention of bashing someone's head enough, Ash nearly cringed. It wasn't the thought of maiming someone as much as making a once fully functioning wolf dumb. "Sounds like one of those things easier to do with pups. Plus less clean up if they die, right?" Okay, maybe that was a little too far. Ashmedai wasn't quite sure anymore.

When Pyralis mentioned making them fall in love first, Ashmedai nodded slowly. He half felt like that was how his father had gotten so many loyal followers, though he wouldn't say it aloud.

Ashmedai had suggested forcebreeding her slave with her brother, Pyralis bristled and started spouting off something about a god. Ashmedai shrunk back slightly, if only out of surprise. When she was finished, Pyralis said she had kidnapped the woman to raise her kids, so if the servant girl had her own it would be a distraction.

Ashmedai smiled lopsidedly, "Well, I can't say anything about gods or not-gods. I mean, you don't have wings or glow or anything, but I don't even know if gods are really supposed to do that stuff or if those are just stories." He shrugged. Gods seemed fake, but he wasn't going to just tell people that. Besides, they were just talking about conditioning, so maybe her parents had conditioned her to believe that to... Ash wasn't sure. Maybe boost her confidence? Maybe it had started off as a joke that never ended and now, generations later, no one could even know it was a joke in the first place. If that was the case, he kind of pitied Pyralis for being led on like that, but it didn't really eat at him inside or anything. Besides, he could sort of relate.

"I understand a little, though. I wouldn't want my bloodline being passed on through someone lame either. My family is all powerful, and when my father bred with-" Ashmedai couldn't think of a proper word for Rhythm. He took a breath, "- with someone totally unworthy, I refused to accept her offspring as my siblings. I haven't seen them since they were pups. I doubt I'd even recognize them." That was impossible. They were still pretty similar to his other family members, so it wouldn't be that hard to tell them apart from other wolves.

Looking back to Pyralis's shoulder, Ash commented, "Does Lydia know healing?"

Pyralis swiftly put two and two together as he mentioned that the pack probably scrambled. Something had happened to Ashe's pack and that's why he was wondering and had no idea where anyone was now that he was back. Pyralis was of no help. She was fairly new to this continent and despite her wanderings she knew little of the packs. "Perhaps he wandered to a nearby pack? I have to say I don't know much of the packs around here. We should go investigate some time." "Sounds like one of those things easier to do with pups. Plus less clean up if they die, right?" She chuckled and nodded. "My nephew Seth would probably know. He's a medic and well versed in anatomy. If anyone knew just the right spot to hit and with what amount of force it would be him but he's been a bit busy lately…" Her thoughts drifted to Asharya who was still ill. Pyralis would never entrust the healing of her daughter to the slave so Seth was in charge of the healing with Lydia acting as assistant. Pyralis let out a great laugh at the talk of 'glowing'. "Oh goodness no! The Fallen god did not glow to the best of my knowledge. Our breeding is sign enough and our strength. Several of my family are taller than I. Though… because of the banishment we are bound now to mortal bodies, glorious though they be they are still mortal. That's why we need to reclaim our place in paradise." Her brow furrowed for a moment. What exactly would happen to them if they died in these bodies? She had never bothered to ask Amon much about that. Honestly she'd been so intent in her wanderings she never gave her divinity much thought. She listened with interest as Ash mentioned his family, she ignored the part about his family being 'all powerful'. They were mortals. The application of that word to any mortal family line was hilarious and clearly if their pack had dissolved and left one of their sons as a roving loner they weren't really that powerful. "It's frustrating isn't it? Amon keeps close eye on our family members to ensure that all pups are worthy of the bloodline. Any that aren't are killed. What happened to your family Ashmedai. Are you the sole bearer of your lineage?" Pyralis nodded. "Lydia is a skilled healer, so is my nephew. I don't care much for healing arts myself but I recognize their importance in a group of wolves that expect to face frequent battle." "Talk" "You" Think