Grey skies and a weak drizzle offered Muses some reprieve from summer's scorching heat. The temperatures were unbearable most of the time, but she could not simply resign herself to staying in one place all day. She wanted to be able to investigate as much of her new home as possible, but that could not be done by the light of the moon alone. The milder weather allowed her to step beyond the comfort of her den, though at great cost. The rain, though it did not seep into her dense undercoat, weighed her down. It made her uncomfortable, giving her a sense of drowning, or waking up on shore. These were not things she wanted to think about, in addition to having the need to shake out her ivory fur every few meters it seemed.

By some miracle she had reached the Sea's Plain well before sun down, which would allow her some time to test her paw at fishing. Trotting over grass covered sand, she scanned the area for some kind of rock or log to have a better vantage, but found that the shore was nearly perfectly flat straight out to the sea. The tide had pulled out, though Muses did not know that. When she expected to see shallow little pools of lazily swimming fish, she was disappointed when the crystal waters yielded nothing, even though she had waded nearly to her elbows deep. Hesitant to try and go any further, lest she be swept out to sea, she turned, and began to trudge back, lazily dipping her head to lap at the water before recoiling in horror.

The immense concentration of salt was like a punch to the face, and completely unexpected. Spluttering, she struggled to get back to the shore, horrified that anything could live in water so poisonous.

Pyrrhic was enjoying the freedom that came with leaving the confines of Risen. Out here he had no daily tasks to concern himself with and only his brother and Tsarvix to look out for. It was nice not having to get up at odd hours to patrol and to only hunt when he was hungry. He was also enjoying the chance to make decisions entirely on his own. At home his father’s word was law and he had to ask permission to do what he wanted. In the wilds, though, he was the highest authority and he quite liked it that way.

He spied in the distance a pale, nearly blank form. Definitely mortal which he expected so far north. After a moment of consideration Pyrrhic began to pad towards the figure on the shore. He’d had so much success with his first mortal that he was eager to try again. Perhaps Abraxas would see fit to give him another one.

As he drew nearer the figure’s features became clearer and he was allowed several moments to assess the creature. Female, by his estimation, with a lean build and a height typical of mortals. Pyrrhic might have scrutinized further had not the woman surprised him by bending down and attempting to drink seawater. He’d learned as a small child accompanying his father to the beach that saltwater was best left to the fishes. That settled it then. If she didn’t know the basics then she was a mortal in need of intervention and who better to intervene than a young up and coming godling?

”It can make you sick, you know,” he called as he approached. He clarified, ”The saltwater. If you drink enough of it, it will turn you inside out.” His stance was relaxed and his expression open and friendly. As the saying went you caught more flies with honey than vinegar - and though he was new to it Pyrrhic was very much in the business of catching flies. ”How the fish don’t pickle themselves is beyond me, but...” he trailed off with a faint smile on his lips and a shrug of his shoulders.

She parted her jaws in a strained pant, the insides of her cheeks still tingling from the unexpected taste. Already distressed, it did not serve her well to be lectured by a stranger. Turning, ears lowered in embarrassment, she was surprised to see that the wolf, though vaguely close to her age, give or take several months, was already so aggressively built. Bear-like in stature, the way he loomed over her reminded her of being under the shadow of the mountain she lived on. The foreboding familiarity caused a shudder to inadvertently run down her spine. "Luckily it only took me one mistake to figure that out." She muttered lowly, but not so quietly that the dark accented wolf wouldn't hear, a bitter glare turned at the rocking waves.

Yet she was obviously soothed by the male's friendly disposition as she turned her warm but weary smile to him. "How anything lives in this water is beyond me. All the water I've ever known has always been fresh, aside from the hot springs." The scent of sulfur was more than enough warning to not drink the water. "Is all the water around here like this?" She frowned, wondering how anyone could survive such conditions. "Can you eat the fish that live in this water?" Lament had shown her how to fish by putting her head under water, but she was even less enthused to do so in the sea. She looked doubtfully from the brown furred wolf, back to the water, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"I like it here, I think, but I miss the mountain I grew up on." She mourned quietly, closing her eyes briefly to remind herself of the familiar taste of the glacier fed creek that ran through the den-site. "My name is Muses, by the way. It's nice to meet you!" With a wave of her feathered tail, she introduced herself enthusiastically, pleased for having remembered the social norms of the society she now belonged to.

"Luckily it only took me one mistake to figure that out." At this he chuckled before offering reassuringly, "Everyone who knows better knows because they tried it too so you're in good company." Some, like him, were warned away from it but tried it anyway.

The woman, Muses, as she soon introduced herself, was a fount of information and Pyrrhic soon found himself smiling softly as he took in the offered statements and questions. Her eagerness to share little snippets about herself with him was promising. "There's freshwater inland, but any water you find on any beach here is salted. The fish are good!" he offered enthusiastically. "My father smokes them over a fire and they're very good that way." After a moment's thought he added, "And they aren't salty at all, not even when raw."

"A mountain, huh? I've never seen one of those, but I've heard they're so big the imagination can't do them justice. I live in a castle. And I'm Pyrrhic," he said warmly. "Pyrrhic Abraxas, son of the Fallen God." Pyrrhic added the last bit casually. He was just testing it out. Mentioning his godhood had gotten him pretty far with Tsarvix and he was eager to see if he could duplicate those results. "It's nice to meet you too; been a bit too quiet for me lately." He hadn't been alone for long, but for a social butterfly like Pyrrhic, he was nearing his limit on solitude.

A gentle smile rested over her maw, natural and easy, making it clear that she already found herself comfortable in Pyrrhic's presence, despite having only just met him. Most wolves seemed to be easy to get along with, despite their strange appearances, and she found that meeting new friends was a rather exciting adventure. It was odd to be able to encounter so many young wolves like herself - barely out of their whelp stage - with so much freedom and autonomy. Their confidence was utterly inspiring.

"Your family controls fire?" Her eyes grew wide, pale purple saucers set shallow upon her china visage. Fires were dangerous on the mountain, and even worse towards the foothills. It was said that her father's wrath would bring punishment to the lands, to rid them of heathens, to clear them of evil. His bolts of thunder would strike their target, causing them to burst into flame, or simply be obliterated. Looking to the Abraxas boy with renewed curiosity, she wondered if perhaps they were connected somehow.

"I'd like to try fire-fish one day." She blurted out, rump wiggling excitedly. Her interest was less about the fish, and more about how anyone could possibly control fire in a way that produced food. Fire was generally dangerous, and avoided at all costs. "I don't know what a castle is, but I can tell you that I have yet to see anything as tall as my mountain, since my arrival here." It was nice that, although Pyrrhic did not know what a mountain was, he seemed to be capable of appreciating it for what it was; incomparable to anything else, and absolutely majestic in its own right.

There was yet another thing that piqued her interest. A mention of a Fallen God did not go unnoticed. He mentioned it so casually, almost in passing, that she might have missed it. But Muses herself was a daughter of a gods - nothing quite as spectacular or omnipotent as her father had been, but surely it was worth something. Misinterpreting his statement, however, she bowed her head, tail lowering towards her hocks. "Oh, I am sorry to hear about your father." Her heart hummed as she thought of how much they seemed to have in common. It was nice to no longer feel so lonely. "My father--" She choked a little, feeling a sudden surge of emotion rush through her. "--tragedy befell my pack... I am not sure what happened, but I pray that the gods took him before his enemies did, and that he will guide his heir - my eldest brother - so that our family may rebuild, wherever they are now." There was a wistful note to her voice, as if she longed to join them. It had never been an exceptionally pleasant life, but more than her own happiness, she reveled in that of her family members. As long as they were happy and safe, what more could she want?

"Your family controls fire?" Her surprise took him aback and it showed on his face. He was so used to being around fire that it didn't occur to him that it might be an unusual thing. His appreciation for his family's superiority grew. Perhaps fire was a gift to his people from the Fallen God. Pyrrhic hadn't considered that; its commonplace appearance throughout his growing up had him assuming until now that it was just one of those things everyone had and mastered with age. There was no other explanation for it; fire was a God thing. "We do," he said with surety as if he hadn't just reached the conclusion he was about to share. "Our mastery is a gift from the Fallen God."

Muses went on to mention that she wished to try smoked fish and Pyrrhic, seizing on the opportunity, couldn't resist tossing out an invitation after explaining what a castle was. "It's a big stone structure with lots of rooms in it. It's kind of like an above ground cave system. There's only one castle in Auster so if you ever go down there, howl for me and I'll let you try some smoked fish."

Her next statements confused him. Why was she sorry about his father? There was no time to dwell on it, however, as she went on to tell him about her own family. Honestly Pyrrhic wasn't sure what to make of what Muses said. It sounded to him like her family was aligned with one of the usurper gods and he didn't know how to spin that in his favor. Befriending mortals only worked if you were nice to them and he doubted she would like him if he told her it was good that her pagan family had been slaughtered. For her benefit his expression saddened. "That's awful, I'm sorry. You're not, " he had to fight to keep his voice sad because it wanted to be hopeful, "All alone now, I hope?"

"Talk"