The ivory fea's ears flicked with irritation, her violet eyes gazing out over the steaming pools of water around her. She had been restless, wandering farther and farther from her new pack lands. Ever since her heat had taken over her she had been itching to keep moving and traveling. It had been awful timing on her part, joining a pack right as it rolled into spring. Amenti was only turning into a target for her annoyance and she had given up on just waiting it out there. She had been wandering for days, refusing to go back to Medusa and the others till she had calmed down. She let out a heavy sigh, her tail flicking as she padded quietly in between two of the smaller pools in the hot spring. Pausing, she leaned her head down to the water and sniffed it gently. The slight taint in the water stung her nose, but she didn't figure it would be harmful if she were just to soak in it for a bit. She had seen wolves around here before as she was passing by and they had been lounging in it so she didn't see the problem. She walked over to one of the many pools that seemed a little more on the shallow side and slowly walked into the middle of the pool. The water came up just past her stomach while she was standing and when she sat down she was submerged almost up to her shoulders. She sighed contently, letting the warm water loosen her muscles and relax her. The water did nothing for the irritation her heat brought to her though. If anything, she just felt like she was burning up now. Boiling even. She tried her best to ignore it, but it was no use. Sitting still seemed to only make it worse. With a soft growl in her chest, Alena stood and padded out of the water, shaking off as much of it as she could once she was on the pearlescent shore once again. Her wet fur pressed to her body when she stopped, only her head and the thick fur of her scruff remaining dry. She glanced around again, her amethyst-hued eyes looking for anyone or anything that could take her mind off of her situation. "Speech."

Bane had grown a noticeable limp in his stride in the past few days after Adette's funeral, the right forelimb being the responsible leg. It was foolish to have carved upon his flesh the new design on his Talutah mark by himself, the ceremonial antler going too deep and grazed a muscle. It forced his gouging to a stop as he waited for it to heal. The slash across the mark had been a good thing, a certain burdening weight being lifted off of his back and not returning since.

But he needed to relax his bruised muscle, the hot-springs of the eastern lands sounding like a good place to do it, with their warm waters and high salt count one as old as he could feel weightless and have everything soothed away after a couple of hours. As he got closer, ears could hear bubbling, nose smelling the almost nonexistent scent of salt. That caused him to give pause, a leg hovering over the ground as he pondered for a moment. Were the hot-springs created by the northern eruption? It was a curiosity and something he would never find out, so he continued on. Bane covering a few stides before closing his eyes and sniffing as an even stranger scent infiltrated his nose. The salty smell was hardly noticeable... but the heat of a female was prominent in the wind shift.

The grey wolf hobbled the rest of the way to the top of the hot-springs shoreside embankment and peered past the grass to see the source of that arousing smell. A white she-wolf across the opposite side of a shallow spring. Bane arooed a greeting and strafed down the side of the embankment until forepaws touched the shallows opposite her side. He wondered what she would do, for she smelled of Amenti and Bane didn't know what type of relationship Seracia and the pack of females had towards one another. "Hello she-wolf, is the spring a good temperature? Or is it to hot?"

The ivory fea's attention was suddenly drawn away from herself when a call echoed out across the springs. She turned her violet gaze to the newcomer, a large brute with dark fur and many scars gracing his face. She could easily smell the scent of another pack on him, Seracia she believed it was. Politics mattered little to her. She could care less if they were Amenti's allies or not. She took wolves as they came, not giving them any kind of particular treatment because of their pack affiliation. "Oh the water is fine. It's pretty hot, but not unbearably so," she replied in her naturally sweet voice. A slight grin touched her muzzle as she caught herself looking the brute over. He was clearly a good bit older than she was, but he was still a handsome brute. On a normal basis she could care less about what brutes looked like or if they were interested in her, but today she had all the interest in the world. She supposed it was her heat getting to her brain, but it was hard to ignore. It was a strange change of pace for the usually logical fea. "So what brings you here? Come to soak in the pools?" she asked innocently, wondering secretly if her heat had drawn him to her. "Speech."

The bone colored female turned to look at him and Bane gave a low tail wag as her purplish gaze met his sapphire ones. She was pretty that was for sure, and the grey wolf took a step further into the springs, welcoming the feeling of warmth encompassing his claws and he couldn't help but wriggle them into the silty bottom. It really was warm. The female spoke an answer to his then-realized question and Bane couldn't help but lift a corner of his jaw in a smirk. Of course it was, it was a hotspring.

"I am in fact, and one as comely as yourself is welcome to join me." Bane sat down and lowered his front paws through the sandy bottom till his back was submerged underwater. He immediately began to roll and swivel his shoulder, noting with interest that the female was still standing by herself. "I guess I answered that question of if I'm here to laze about the water, but I also came to stretch my shoulder." The Seraciann gurgled happily, his name then being mentioned. "My names Bane Amenti female, what's yours?"

Alena smirked at his offer and watched at the brute slipped into the water till his back was completely covered and began to stretch and roll his shoulder. She chuckled and padded back into the water with him, not quite going as far in as him, but still enough so that the water rose about mid way up her torso when she was sitting back on her haunches. She sighed contently and her ears perked forward toward him again as he clarified that he had also come here to stretch his shoulder. He then introduced himself as Bane, to which she replied, "I am Alena. It's a pleasure to meet you, Bane." She let herself enjoy the warm water. It did feel good on her paws and muscles, even though it meant that she had to sit still here. Bane was a good enough distraction for the most part. "Did something happen to your shoulder?" she questioned, her mind forever curious for information no matter how trivial. Surely there was a reason that he had wanted to come to the hot spring to relax his shoulder. "Speech."

His shoulder gave several pops and Bane winced, his attention then going to the female before him and observing her ivory pelted form come into the hotsprings with him. The she-wolf stopped at a midpoint and sat down. The grey Seracian male saw her give a sigh and swivel her ears towards him as he shifted to lick his submerged shoulder with a inhaled breath. The water felt warm as it wrapped around his muzzle, Bane caressing his tongue along the wound with several hard licks to loosen any debris clinging to the surface area.

Dry ears caught her question and he looked back up as he blinked away the liquid invading his eyes. Her name was Alena. That was a very fine name for a fine female. "Yes, I'm afraid so, took a turn to sharp and too quick and impaled myself on a protruding branch from a fallen mimosa. It's been healing nicely though, except that it aches every once and a while." Bane answered. "What about you, any reason your here Alena?" The grey wolf inquired as he involuntarily sniffed in her arousing scent that permeated the air.

The fea listened as Bane explained his unfortunate encounter with a mimosa and then continued on to return the question of the reason to be here to her. "I've been very... restless the past few days," she answered honestly, her violet gaze resting on him. "I wandered off to get out for a while, hoping to shake off that restlessness a little, and ended up here." She shifted a little in the water, silently acknowledging that she had been traveling for days now and was none less anxious than she had been when she set off from Amenti. She had come to realize that wandering alone wasn't going to help her, but she wasn't sure what it was she needed to calm her nerves. She eased herself further into the water as she laid down. She was in a shallower part of the pool so the top of her back, neck, and head remained dry, but the rest of her body was surrounded by the hot water. It did feel good, but it was really hot for the ivory wolf with her thick coat and heat warming her skin. She sighed and turned her attention back to the handsome brute laying in the water across from her, trying not to think about it. Her eyes traced over the maze of scars that crossed his face, wondering how many battles the brute had seen in his years, or if he could even count them all. It wasn't often that she got to speak with someone that had a long history to tell. She didn't voice her questions however. She was afraid that she would bother him with her endless stream of questions. She didn't typically ask questions so often like this, but in this situation he was what she wanted information about and there was no way to observe him and find out how many battles he had been in, how long he had been with his pack, things of that nature. "Speech."

Alena had merely sat there while he spoke, Bane's head and upper neck the only thing protruding above the water as he listened to the she-wolf's reply. She said that she was restless... that was one way of putting it,?Bane giving a hearty laugh at her words. Restless, that really was a truly false way of telling the truth about her current condition. "Alena, your restless because of your heat." Bane chuckled as he finished rolling his shoulder the opposite way, standing up and giving his pelt a shake in the water.

Movement was slow at his current depth, but as he sloshed up to this female he couldn't help but feel aroused as he inhaled this wet she-wolfs scent again. "So, you leave Amenti and go off to be by yourself, constantly suffering that ache because there's nobody to help you out with you current condition." Bane gasped into an ear after sniffing her cheeks to memorize her scent. "Let's get out of this water, it's getting to hot in here and I feel as if we could learn more about each other on shore where are minds are focused and not being put to sleep by the water."

Alena smirked and replied dryly, "Clearly," when he clarified that her heat was to blame. She laughed as well, glad to be in good humor for once about it all. Any half-witted pup could tell her heat was getting under her skin and irritating her. She knew spring was in its decline and soon summer would sweep away the irritation, but there was still a good week or two that she would have to put up with it. She hated spring for this exact reason. She watched as the brute stood and shook off the water that clung to the portion of his pelt that was now out of the water, waiting curiously as he slowly moved through the water toward her. She held still despite her surprise as he leaned down and sniffed along her cheek. She took in his scent as well, storing his unique scent in her memories. His truthful, suggestive rumbles in her ear send a little shiver down her spine, only making the fire in her worse. She willingly stood at his suggestion, her curious violet gaze meeting his briefly before she turned and padded out of the water and onto the shore. She shook the water out of her pelt, the thick, wet fur pressing flat to the curves of her body. The ivory fea looked to the brute again, her eyes questioning. "What more would you like to know about me, Bane?" "Speech."

"What I want to know. I'd like to know many things Alena, and I would like you to answer after I'm done." Bane raised an eyebrow as he lithely began to circle the female, taking in everything that her shapely form had to offer. The older wolf knew exactly how to proceed with this hormone driven female, and he wasted no time letting the words stream out of his muzzle in a cascade of desire-heavy whispers administered to each ear as he circled Alena in the shallows they stood in.

"I'd like to know the shape of your hind-legs and the feeling of your tail against my stomach, the soft taste of your ears and the warmth of your pelt. I want the moon to shine elsewhere to hide us and I want you satisfied and without burden of this female anxiety that you've stricken with.?I want the springs to be our place of solitude and I want to ravish you with the skill of an experienced wolf in a sovereign joining of passion. And I want to know who said that wolves should stop after it's all over? Because I don't think anybody has... and you both know we can last the evening together." Bane ended his smooth words and stalked up to her muzzle with a sloshing of anxious paws. Without another word Bane pressed his forehead against her's and gazed into Alena's violet eyes with his own sapphire ones as he took to waiting for her response.

Alena's violet eyes followed Bane as he began to circle her, losing sight of him only briefly as he passed directly behind her. Then he spoke, his whispers meeting her ears and sending shivers down her spine. Each word sparked the fire that was slowly growing in her, setting her ablaze with need. Every thing the brute spoke was tantalizing and intriguing for the ivory fea. He came around to face her as his words finished, his forehead pressing to hers and her eyes looking deep into his. Her heart was pounding in her chest and the burning lust that raked through her showed clearly in her violet gaze. When she spoke her voice was soft, a slight rough edge to it thanks to her breathlessness. "I want you to have all of those things. I want you to take away this heat and I want to know what it is to enjoy the skills you have, Bane." She panted ever so lightly, losing all logical thought as she stared into his eyes, amethyst to sapphire. Never once did her gaze waver or a single thought of doubt pass through her mind. She wanted him and nothing else. "Speech."

Alena's consent was heard, the grey wolf wasting no time as he grazed their cheeks together with his muzzle and began to trace the female's ivory pelt with his chin, past her neck, side, and legs all the way to the top of her tail. A low rumble of satisfaction echoed in his chest and ?got one foreleg hooked underneath the wispy fur of Alena's stomach, then the other. Bane trailed nibbles down her ears and to the base of her head where his fangs secured a hold on her neck scruff, the water of the hot-springs sloshing around their ankles as the male's stance was adjusted to where his weight rested on her. With a smooth and ardent press of his hips Bane began, and the warmth of Alena merged with his own.

-Fade to Black-

Alena's eyes slid closed briefly as she savored the feeling of Bane brushing his cheek along hers and his muzzle down the length of her body. His touch trailed sparks of need through her, making her even more excited and anxious for him to begin. The large, gray-hued brute didn't make the ivory fea wait for very long, however, as he quickly took his place over her and wasted no time pressing himself to her. She let her thoughts fade away as she gave herself up to the moment. Thoughts of what might happen later or the consequences of mating this time of year for her never crossed her mind. She only wanted him to take care of this aggravating heat, so that's what she let him do. -fade to black- "Speech."

-Fade In-

Bane slid off Alena's back with a submerged splash into the hotsprings soothing waters and let himself sink into the bubbling liquid. Ears still swiveling and flicking above the water and Bane shook his head before using his tired forelegs to stand upright. Alena's fur was pressed against, the springs moisture covering her pelt as he rubbed against his Amenti partner. His sapphire gaze met hers clearly for the first time since they began and to Bane she looked absolutely?flawless with the moisture covering her pelt.

Grey fur was dripping with hotspring water too as he licked her muzzle. "Alena... it was my pleasure."?He looked around tiredly, thoughts going to the white furred she wolf next to him. "You must be exhausted from all this... do you... you wanna go rest somewhere together for the remainder of the night?" The grey wolf asked, the physical toll of doing what he had done rapidly catching up to him. Sleep seemed like a great idea, though if she said no that would also be ok with him. "Whatever you wish to do is fine by me."

The snowy fea followed Bane's lead and sunk happily into the warm liquid for a few moments, sighing with relief as her tired legs folded under her. She was absolutely exhausted, but in the best kind of way. She glanced up at him as she heard his paws sloshing through the water, her violet gaze finding his. She pulled herself into a sitting position, a soft smile on her muzzle as he spoke. Alena returned the lick to his muzzle, noticing again how handsome the brute was. It had been a strange encounter for the normally careful fea, but one she had enjoyed none of the less and one she would not soon forget. "The pleasure was all mine," she replied chuckling softly. Her ears turned toward him at his question, considering it. She was really too tired to start the trip home tonight so resting somewhere nearby was probably her best option. Who was she to turn him down after the great time he had given her? She gave him a little smile and nodded. "Sure, I'd like that." "Speech."

Bane sloshed around behind the sitting she-wolf and rubbed her back and nudged her towards the shore. Alena let out a laugh and spoke, Bane letting out a giddy, almost hyena-like laugh except at a far lower pitch than the sand dogs. "And mine as well you beautiful female you." Bane nuzzled the side of her neck and a paw went over her neck behind her ears as she licked him. Alena gave a smile and voiced her approval at his offer, Bane withdrawing the embracing paw with a splash of water and wading up to the shore.

Bane stalked into the trees, mind still fuzzy with what him and the female lupine following him had done. The loose earth in the area of the hot-springs were perfect for sleeping on, the gritty sand shifting between his paws as he found an encirclement of bushes over a log. Bane hopped over the low log motioned for Alena to come to him. The Seracian let the Amenti adjust herself on the ground and he snuggled up against her back when she was ready. Sleep soon found him, Bane laying his head over her neck and a paw across her side, the sounds of gentle exhalations the only noise he was making a moment later.

-Bane is asleep- ?

Alena followed her mate for the evening toward the shore, her tired legs trembling under her slightly. Her head was still fuzzy and she knew her muscles were going to ache in the morning after all of the constant activity the two of them had done. Maybe she should go take a dip in the hot spring in the morning before she headed home. The ivory assassin followed Bane into the makeshift den of sorts made out of a fallen tree and bushes, easily settling herself onto the soft ground and letting the gray brute do the same, smiling a little as he pressed against her and immediately drifted off to sleep. Her violet eyes drifted closed and she whispered softly, "Goodnight, Bane..." before slowly drifting off into sleep herself. -sleeping Alena- "Speech."