Lament Pyre Creating a band on the eve of a volcanic explosion made for interesting times. Their temporary base in Auster was a small camp, with quickly dug dens and a clean space for their healer to work. Their supplies was lackluster at beast, and he had no news on the Hjarrandi band. Not willing to let that debt sneak up and smack them on the nose, he would start his search for the woman. The part of him that hoped she was dead, as his debt with her, kept quiet in his stern thoughts. He moved across the Bifrost, entering the start of the affected zones the moment he stepped away from Hermit’s cove. He moved through a chilled zone, and shivered in his short fur. He was built for harsh heats, not for the cold this winters volcano had brought them. He stepped off the Bifrost and into the gambit. At first, things where well, but when the ash began to fall, it shrouded his vision and he breathed into his lungs. He stumbled backwards, but his entry into the Briar was already shrouded. He coughed, stumbling into the brambles on more than one occasion, and ignoring the ting of the bites in his coat. He was a fool, putting himself into this maze, and ignoring the warnings of the ash-filled sky. "Speech"|"Ademic"

t'was more dangerous here than the north, though she was loathed to give up her various supplies so easily. the eruption had caused her to flee from Corpseghoul, though she had come back a few weeks after it had passed. the ground was unstable in a few places, and more than once she had to be careful, yet she escaped relatively unharmed. ash and soot clung to her pelt, giving the girl a much needed camoflage against others' noses. Huntington moved quietly, the bundle of herbs in her mouth the only thing apparent outside of her dark features. if she turned toward another, they would clearly see her white facial mask before she glanced away again. nothing of note was here at first glance. that is until she heard the shuffles of another's paws on the earth. twisting away from the clear path, she would move carefully further into the briar patches. ahead of her, she could see the form of a man struggling against them. she paused to consider him, seeing his coat tangled with the foliage and coughing despite this. he stumbled like a blind man. a brow raised above her pale eyes. though she was a few paces away from him and had to look over a patch of brambles, she could still see him. "are you well?" her accented tone finally asked. surely he had a reason for stumbling about as if drunk. ""

Lament Pyre He was choking on the falling ash, which limited vision around them substantially. He could feel it in his lungs, and his hacking cough was black when he tried to expel the substance. He had caught his coat a few times on the brier, but wasn’t trapped by them yet. It was only a matter of time, if he could not find a clear path free. It was the combination of poor visibility and the chaotic placement of the bushes, that made things so difficult. When the ashen woman appeared from the fog of black rain, her voice a mark of a foreigner, not that Lament himself belonged here. His homeland of Haert was lives and worlds away, or so it felt. He wasn’t sure what to make of her, the soot-toned Lady with nonplussed attitude, like the end-of-world scene about them affected her not at all. For those that did not know the Ademre, Lament would appear to be outwardly calm despite his predicament, his expression - what could be seen of it under the soot - was calm, even if his eyes glowed with frustration. His paw on the other hand clenched and moved subtly beneath him. “I’ve been better.” he admitted, forcing himself to stand still, and let the soot collect across his back, as he turned to the stranger. Did she know the way free of this briar, despite the easy way the soot concealed the paths around them? "Speech"|"Ademic"

she supposed his reply would be acceptable enough to any wolf. though Huntington prized herself on being better than any other wolf. "oh?" she exclaimed quietly, as if an ah ha bulb of thought had gone off. her pale eyes sought the ground. he was quite surrounded by the brambles, stuck and unable to move. her gaze returned to his face, a silent question of it he was truly been better than this. of course he had been; he was alive, was he not? wolves did not wander aimlessly without a reason, burs sticking to their coat and blood on the air. "then if you do not need assistance getting out of here" she would pause, deliberately glancing around again "I shall leave you be." she had already spotted something that may help him on her side of the proverbial tracks. a large log, able to support a wolf delicately but support it did. she could lay it across the top of the brambles so he may step on it, run quickly along and balance, to get to the other side. but if he did not want her help, she was quite happy to leave him here to the wilds. she twisted her body away from him, swinging her front half to the side. she seemed to consider though. as if to sweeten the "deal" though, Huntington would add; "I spotted a bee's hive nearby. if there is honey to be found, it could help your cough." "SPEECH"

Lament Pyre He could hear the disbelief in her tone, and still his expression remained stoic, giving away nothing on the inner workings of his mind. He shook out his coat, casting away the ash that had collected there, only for it to begin to collect once more, the moment he was still. She perhaps took his silence as dismissal, for she already spoke of leaving. “If you have not lost your way, I would gladly follow you” The warrior would say, stepping closer to her slightly taller frame, careful to catch himself only the minimum amount of times on the bushes that littered the ways between them too closely. He left behind small clumps of fur, but he was hardly sentimental about it. His coat would grow back, assuming he was ever freed from this place. He knew little of herbs, but he wondered if, by her words, she followed the path of a healer herself. “How do you propose we relieve the bees of their honey?” he mused, but then perhaps this ash had killed them off, or at least forced them to move from their home, as many of the wolves of this land had. The ash continued to fall as heavily as ever, and he had to wonder if it would ever end. The wind that pushed the substance down onto them was gentle, but showed no signs of letting up. How could she see further then a few wolf lengths from them? Or catch a scent when the ash had buried all so thoroughly. "Speech"|"Ademic"

the man did not wait. instead he forced his way between the brambles and to her. she raised a brow but said nothing until he spoke of losing her way. was this fool one of the many who believed in such things? she turned more away, walking a few steps to allow him room. "perish the thought" the girl had not 'lost her way'. she knew exactly what she wanted out of life and pursued it relentlessly. though right now she did so cautiously due to her limited knowledge of Boreas. walking more toward the tree she had seen the hive at, her eyes never strayed from the object itself. there was no buzzing. no sign of the insects. the small snowpile could have masked them. "not to worry; the bees have died" she added, though her tone was far from cheerful. it was factual as she raised herself from the ground, balancing her paws against the tree's log. reaching upward, her limbs grazed the hive and she gave a push. the object was already bitter from the cold and gave way easily. with a thump it hit the earth. though a bit broken it was otherwise whole. winter killed the insects that would otherwise flee from the hive and sting the assailant. lowering herself back to the ground, Huntington approached. "please, sit" her eyes pin-pointed a spot a few inches away. she could smell the honey within. though it was a bit rigid from the cold, it was still usable. "I shall break the hive." and otherwise tend to his wounds that he failed to acknowledge. "SPEECH"