The weather was, god drastically different than Boreas. She really chose the worst time to venture down to the southern continent given the fact that once you ran over the Bifrost it felt like you were in the desert. Her pelt was already equipped for the tundras of the north. The winter of Boreas didn't help shed that out any. But she had already come down this far, she wasn't going to turn tail back home just yet.

She had been at a loss for her sense of purpose now. Being with her family meant everything to her but... was she expected to find her own path? It kind of felt that way. She felt invaded by the pack that took over a portion of the north, but that wasn't why she started her wandering away from home. She knew she'd come back home just to tell her siblings and parents that she'd found where she needed to be. Or she'd come back with nothing and wonder what else she could be doing with her life. She was truly... at a loss.

She'd hide those feelings well though. She wasn't with anyone in her travels at least. She was hard anyway. Maybe she thought she'd find a place she wanted to live like stepping on the soil would be different. She wasn't feeling it here. Here paws walked quietly of the grove terrain, the shade was nice from the scorching sun here. She'd probably have to take a rest until night fall because the place was near unbearable to her. She stopped in her steps as her gaze looked up into the windless trees. She would take her break here.

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

Cináed finished up one of his usual patrols, going through his usual day and routine around the island, and once that was done he went out of the pack lands to see about hunting down something for himself and something to add to the pack's stores. He wasn't a huge fan of hunting, but it was one of those things that he could do well enough to get by and to make himself feel useful. It wasn't like they were ever really at a shortage of supplies on the island, but it also kind of felt like the least he could do since Chimera gave him a home and didn't really ask for much more from him than to patrol and contribute occasionally. He did mean to try teaching some of the younger wolves on the island some fighting lessons or something at some point, but he didn't really know if he considered himself a good teacher. Maybe he'd just find something for them to fight together instead.

He made his way out into the near by grove, hoping maybe he'd find some deer or something similar milling about. Prey animals liked all the berries and fruits around here so it was usually a pretty good spot to hunt. Either that or a bear and either way he'd have something entertaining to do. However, while he was trying to pick up on any scents to track, he ended up finding a scent that was strangely familiar even if he couldn't place it right away. Curious, he followed it through the grove until is golden gaze lifted from the ground and landed on the woman that was colored with shades of blue. Once he saw her it brought back the memories from his childhood and he realized why the scent was familiar. He stopped several feet away from her, blinking with surprise. It was the first time he had encountered anyone from his past since he moved to Auster and at least at first he didn't really know how to react. "Um... Hey, Onyx," he said after a moment, moving a bit closer as the initial shock started to wear off.

"Cináed"

Her eyes searched over the golden trees for a moment before she took a seat. Actually the trees here were quite beautiful. She hadn't really seen anything like them before. Up north it was usually pines or if she traveled a little distance just some regular oak trees. She'd never seen the golden leaves like these.

Just for a few moments, her eyes closed as she breathed in the air and listened to the noises around her. She was really savoring the moment somehow, she didn't plan on planting her flag here though. For a girl so sour, she was taking the time to feel the beauty in the place. Of course that would change once she heard the voice across her ears.

She heard him coming from the zone she was in, so by the time he was beside her she had opened her eyes and turned her head to face him just a bit. She didn't look at the familiar form, maybe a little different voice until he spoke. Which he was met with a roll of her eyes and a threatening smirk. Typical, Onyx was never really good at being social or nice for that matter. "I guess the weather suits you fine down here." It was... yeah a little bit of a mock. Not a good one, but the tone in her voice was away from welcoming. Little did he know though, she desperately wanted to save whatever friendship they had prior to Incendium's disband. She stayed just where she was sitting, her gaze moving back up towards the trees. "I guess I don't blame you much for leaving. With your dad and all."

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

Just as he had remembered her from the last time he spoke to her, Onyx greeted him with a roll of her eyes a hard smirk. Well, at least he could rest assured that nothing had really changed. He scoffed a little when she commented on how the warmer weather here suited him and he gave a shake of his head as he glanced away from her, wondering if he would have been better off pretending he had never noticed her scent and just going the other way. He had made a point of avoiding anyone from his past life until now and if anything she was just proving why he had left in the first place. For some reason he stayed where he was though, glancing back toward her as she said how she couldn't blame him for leaving with how his dad was.

His ear flicked and a slight scowl crossed his lips at the mention of his father, his golden eyes shifting down to the ground in front of him. "What dad?" he questioned with a sarcastic bite to his tone, looking away from her for a moment. Not once in his entire childhood could he remember a time when his father had actually acted like a father, like he had wanted them, and now that he was living in Fenmyre and watching how Chimera was with his kids he realized what all he had been missing. "I moved somewhere that no one would know who I was for a reason," he muttered, glancing back toward Onyx again. "That isn't exactly the legacy I want following me around."

He sighed with another shake of his head, glancing up at the leaves above him for a moment. This unwelcome walk down memory lane was certainly not what he had planned on or wanted for his day, but now he wasn't given much of a choice. Still, as he thought about what life had been like back in Incindium, he knew it wasn't all terrible. The times he had with Onyx and her siblings were probably the highlights of it all. "How's your family?" he asked after a moment of silence, bringing his gaze back to her with a small moment of genuine concern. He knew that his father's inability to keep his shit together had affected them all so he just hoped that everyone had managed to find a new route in life like he did.

"Cináed"

Watching Cina uncomfortable and well generally not happy didn't bring any joy to Onyx. Surprisingly. She had a very tough face on all the time. As if no one mattered to her, as if nothing could bother her. It was a very false pretense. Cina had been, when she looked back at it today, her only friend in Incendium. She always had her family which was sad to think that he never did. But Onyx wanted more than that. It just seemed to be the way of life. You always wanted more. Cina meant more to her than he or anyone else could know, only in fact that she wanted someone just that but closer than acquaintance, all she wanted was a friend. She wasn't very good at it clearly.

She hadn't said anything at first, a squinting gaze towards him as they sat under the maple trees. Long enough for him to ask about her family. It was an easy answer, "Just where we were left. A little older, a little more independent." Boring, unfulfilling. She could do whatever she wanted now, but she was stuck just right there with her family. She didn't hate her parents and siblings in the slightest but she needed to know where she belonged. It was not left in the pines. "You saying you had a problem with me that you never wanted to see me again?" It was a joke in a smirk, but not one Onyx would have expected him to agree with or add on. She was a little naive to the ways she acted, she didn't really know any better. She did need to open herself up to the ways others felt and be a little more observative. Because she was really really terrible at being in tune with everything around her. She couldn't imagine, or know why she may have been so unlikable. She didn't see it.

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

Cináed gave a little nod when Onyx told him that her family was just where they had been. At the very least it didn't really seem like there was any bad news to report, if she would have shared something like that with him anyway, but he could at least be a little relieved at that. He'd spent far more time with Onyx and her siblings than his own siblings back in the day—so much so that his own siblings started to feel more like enemies or competition than family. He didn't know if that was his fault, their fault, or their father's fault, but regardless he never felt like he clicked or fit in with them, especially not at the end. In fact, he was pretty sure the last thing he ever said to his father and siblings was when he threw his name into the running for the heir position despite the fact that they clearly didn't want that from him.

He looked her way when she questioned him on if he had a problem with her and didn't want to see her again, the smirk on her lips making him smirk back in response and scoff softly, giving a shake of his head as he looked back up at the leaves above them with a sigh. "Not you exactly... Anyone that would have connected me with my father and thought less of me for it." He still remembered how he had felt at the Ashen tournament, how they had only been allowed to participate in the fights and nothing else because of the pack they were related to. He had felt responsible for it because of his father even though he had literally no say in what had happened in the past between the packs. As soon as Incindium fell his only concern was separating himself from that as quickly as possible.

Cináed was quiet for a moment before he added quietly, "I am sorry for abandoning the rest of you though." He didn't know if his presence with whoever was still there or lingered around in the north would have made any difference, but he did feel like he had some kind of responsibility for the fall out of what his father had left behind. He gave a small shrug, letting his golden eyes come back to hers again. "I've dropped his name. I've made a new life here. It's been good for me... Maybe moving would be good for you and your family too." He didn't know what exactly their situation was now, but he was a big fan of letting a change of scenery bring a change in perspective too.

"Cináed"

As much as Onyx may have played tough, she did listen to what Cinaed told her. She did care what he had to say. It wasn’t easy for her to show in the slightest but right there under the surface she did care. She let her insecurities get in the way, she did struggle a lot. But if only she could tell him how she felt. That deep dark secret that maybe wasn’t such a terrible one of pushing everyone away without even realizing it. She did feel abandoned, but she knew how hard she could be. She knew she wasn’t the best at this, but she wanted to be better. She wanted to change.

When Cinaed had suggested that she or anyone else could have thought less of him for leaving or being a part of that fucked family, whatever it was, she reassured him, "You don’t have to worry about that. He was a dick. We don’t ever have to talk about him again." Her ears perked slightly as he apologized for leaving, but she knew she couldn’t really blame him. Her family was so close knit and, well, happy that she couldn’t relate and she couldn’t imagine having life any other way. When the pack disband, Onyx still had her family. Cina? It seemed he had no one. She noticed this now. "Yeah, I have... missed you. The most. But don’t let that go straight to your head." It was uncomfortable for her to say out loud but it was her attempt at opening up a little bit. Still it was a tease with another raised smirk, she assumed he’d follow along.

Her expressions dropped a little more seriously because she couldn’t tell him what was next for her and her family. If she would even be with them either. "It’s just me, for now." Her tone was filled with uncertainty, she was struggling a lot to see where she’d be next in her life. She tried her best to live in the now though. It wasn’t easy. "I don’t suppose... you’d be willing to show me some of the best spots here."

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

He didn't know why it was so surprising hearing Onyx say that she had missed him the most, but it was. She had never been the type to seem all that friendly or like she had really wanted him to be her friend, but now that he was older and he was able to see past his own ego and tendency to let his attitude flare up at the littlest thing he could see better now that it was just how she was and how she approached things. He returned her smirk, playing off a bit of the awkwardness with her with a chuckle, replying, "Yeah, I guess you're alright too." He gave her a bit of a teasing grin, relaxing more now that he was sure that there wasn't any hard feelings or resentment between them. He had always been worried about what wolves from his past were going to think about him that it had just been easier to separate himself from all of them, but now he was starting to wonder if maybe that had been too harsh of a reaction.

She surprised him again when she mentioned how it was just her for now since her and her family had been really close from what he remembered, but it had to be good for her to go out on her own at least for a bit. Everyone needed to spend time on their own to figure out who they were in his opinion. She asked him to show her some of the best spots around here and a teasing grin tugged at his lips as he replied, "You sure you can handle the heat down here, snowball?" He chuckled and got to his paws, nodding his head for her to come with him. "I'm just kidding. Of course I will. This grove is a pretty good spot for hunting and gathering, but there's better looking places in Auster for sure." This certainly wasn't how he had expected his day to go, but he wasn't exactly upset at the outcome either.

"Cináed"

Onyx did see him differently in age, as she did of herself too. There were a lot of changes in her that had led from her solitude in the north. She knew she had a longing for more, whether that was a pack or a band or just a different place to live needed to be discovered. A part of her couldn't wait to go back north to be with her family if only to tell them where she wanted to be. But another part was almost dreading it. She didn't want to go back to the mostly uneventful life she had back in Boreas. Ever since she separated from her siblings and parents as was meant to be for growing up she couldn't find a true settlement in that.

Onyx only squinted at first as Cina name-called her, but she did put up the gentlest of smiles if still that joking, sarcastic kind. She knew Cina would understand. But when he continued on and asked her to follow along she chuckled out loud and waved her paw forward, "No, you are right. The fuck if you think I'm traveling around here during the day under the sun." She didn't move from her seated place under the trees, her brow raised though before her gaze moved down to the ground under them. "If you want to be a good host I suppose you should come back after sunset. Otherwise I'll figure it out on my own." She was still sarcastic in her tones, but she did hope he would come back or at least... consider. Maybe if anything he'd come find her in a couple days before she went to head back up north.

"Onyx Destruction"
F2U base by Snowylaika

Onyx immediately shot down his offer to go showing her around Auster right now, the usually north-dwelling wolf clearly not a fan of the hot southern weather. He chuckled and wanted to roll his eyes, but he did remember how long it took him to adjust to this new climate when he first moved down here so he gave her a bit of slack. She did at least give him an alternative, claiming that if he was a "good host" he would come back after sunset. He scoffed a little, replying, "Oh yes, I definitely wouldn't want to be a bad host to my unexpected guest." Ciná chuckled and gave a little shrug as he added, "But alright, we can do something after sunset. There's a cedar wood forest just south of here with a river that runs through it. Why don't you meet me there tonight? That'll give our little tour a head start." Once she agreed he nodded and started to head back toward Fenmyre, figuring he was better off getting a bit of rest through the rest of the day if he was going to be wandering through Auster tonight. "See you later!" he called back over his shoulder before he disappeared into the grove, backtracking his way over to Fenmyre while he continued to reflect back on things that he hadn't thought about in ages.

"Cináed"