Despite winter fading from the year, the north was always going to be cold and chill. Torben didn't expect it not to be. With a call to Valhalla to say he was going out for a while, he began to head back up to the snow. Perhaps he knew he'd like it there, with his thick coat and heavy steps. He looked akin to a snowman of some sort. Moving effortlessly through the deep banks, he made his way toward a large structure in the near distance. A ship. Torben stood, amazed. He had not heard of ships as big as these except in stories. The great boat of the gods that rode down to the mortal realms, for the gods were much larger than mortal wolves. He recalled with a shudder that he had almost drowned on a raft, slipping into Boreas as he had. Movement behind him caught his attention. Torben glanced behind him, spotting the form of a male. "Lo there" he rumbled in greeting. SPEECH HERE 1/3 - explore new land (s.s. antiox)

Beauregard had visited the ship once before but, truth be told, he was still curious about the vessel even after that visit. He didn’t think it was quite as cold as the snowy morning he first visited but it was still relatively cold as he poked about. After a brief visit to one of the cabins, dusty as it was, Beau decided to head back onto the deck for some fresh air. He never thought he’d have to deal with such a musky smell in his life! There were weird things in there though, soft things, like the nesting his mother used when he was young… They, unfortunately, almost smelled the mustiest of the items in the room. Still, it had been an interesting poke in thus far!

When he returned to the surface, however, that was when he saw a man. This wasn’t the first one he met when he visited the ship but rather a different stranger, pale and ivory in coloration. He was going to call the man but it seemed the stranger caught sight of him first.

“Greetings,” Beau said softly. “Have you ever seen something of this nature before? It’s fascinating, right?” There was excitement in his voice. He really was a bit on the naive side.

"Aye." Torben agreed with the smaller wolf, confirming the fascination. His head dipped, giving a nod. Though he hadn't seen huge masses like this, he had heard through story and tale. The ship here would make a great shelter when he needed to rest before going back to Valhalla. He glanced from the lad to the hull, seeing it breached by various wilderness and time. "S' like a myth come true" he commented "have ye been here before?" Torben asked the other, seeing they were strangely at ease. Though they had come from inside the ship, the wonder was different. Not a first-time wonder. "if so, would ye give me a tour?" he asked politely. Perhaps something to salvage was inside. Something Valhalla could use. SPEECH HERE 2/3 - explore new land (s.s. antiox)

Beauregard's gaze lit up as the stranger spoke again. His way of speaking the common tongue was different, funny, an accent his mother had called it. No one in his pack had one but he found it easy enough to understand the other male. "Right? My kin have often shared stories of their pilmigrages but never anything like this." Behind him his tail began to wag.

"Once," Beau confirmed. "But I didn't really get the chance to poke around much. I'm still prodding about it now, and haven't learned much yet, but an adventure companion is always welcome!" There was a shine to his eyes as he turned in his paws back to the doorway.

"Follow me! Just be mindful some of these mini caves are awfully smelly. They've got these weird fur-like things in them and they can really hold in an odor." He smiled over his shoulder. "I'm Beauregard by the way! Beauregard Ravenwood."

Back into the hallway Beauregard went, this time traveling further before reaching a room he hadn't been in yet. He nosed the door, which had been barely hanging on by a hinge, open.

This room was different from the first couple of cabins he had been in. The room was larger and it smelled even more musty than the rooms with the furs. Scattered about were pale, sun bleached leaves with faint markings on them. There was a big thing made of wood, some other weirdly shaped wood thing that was smaller next to it, and things full of the leaves that looked like shiny, smooth rocks. A bigger leaf was stretched out across the back wall of the cavern and looked to be barely hanging onto the wall…. Parts of it had already crumbled to the floor. There were a couple trunks in the room as well, not that Beau knew what any of these items were by name.

He entered the room with a wrinkle of his nose. "What do you suppose this stuff is? Smells like half-wet, rotted plants here…"

"Torben." The other wolf, Beauregard, would say a companion was welcomed. He took that as an obvious sign to come closer. Torben didn't want to spook anyone with his height, so he resisted encroaching on personal space when he could. He walked slowly after the lad, glancing around at the suffocating location. He felt the walls closing in on him due to his size. He barely fit through some locations as is. When Beauregard stopped in front of a door, nosing it open, he moved closer. They both entered, with the lad asking what sort of things was there. Torben approached a window, peering at the moth-eaten fabric. "Looks like a sun-blocker" he explained to the younger wolf "ye can put fabric over an openin' to keep t' room shady and cool." He lifted a paw, touching the fabric. It seemed brittle, and it was. Too old to really stand a chance against touching, it crumbled at his pressure. Some fabric fell to the ground, and others just 'fizzed' out of existence. SPEECH HERE 3/3 - explore new land (s.s. antiox)

The stranger introduced himself as Torben, a name that was just as unfamiliar to Beauregard as the albino man himself. The yearling turned his attention towards the older wolf as he spoke and found that Torben knowing the answer was… well, more interesting than what the item itself was. He’d have to get to know Torben a bit more before the two of them parted ways.

The ashen cream male tilted his head and frowned as he watched as the albino creature reached out to touch the sun-blocker… only to watch it crumble. “It must be ancient…” He breathed out. “Like a leaf fallen in autumn left in the sun for seasons…” He moved towards one of the chests and began to nose at it.

At first, the chest wouldn’t move but, feeling it give even slightly was enough for Beau to continue to prod at it. He let out a soft grunt as he bore his weight on the flooring and pushed against the trunk, smacking it against the wall as he did so. It took a moment but, with creaks of protest, the lid of the trunk started to come up… only to crash back down noisily when Beau slipped out of position. The ashen cream male glanced over his shoulder at Torben with a grin.

“Wanna give me a paw? Looks like something is in here. It’s heavy.”

He moved closer to the chest that the lad was eyeballing. His own eyes drifted over the box before he reached a hefty paw out and tried to lift it. The weight wasn't heavy for him but he did grunt softly as the lid protested. He managed to push it open, darting forward with surprising speed to shove his head and shoulders into the gap. This would allow Beauregard to look. "Drag it out" he rumbled, requesting to see it too. He stared uselessly against the inside of the chest "let's see what we found, aye?" The ship was silent other than their speech and movements. He wondered if a pack had claimed this location before now. It would be a nice respite against the chill of the wind if the wolves weren't used to it. Knowing a pack had indeed claimed part of the north, Torben realized he didn't know much about them. Other than a few faces and a name. SPEECH HERE

Beauregard was surprised at the strength the other male showed. The lid, while it had been heavy for the yearling, seemed to give way to the older male. Torben might have gotten more force behind it though? Beau didn’t dwell on that fact, merely grateful that the lid was open and that the other male was keeping it that way. At Torben’s request for Beau to drag whatever was inside out, the ashen cream male moved to do just that. “On it!”

He was surprised to see that it wasn’t just one object in the chest, but many. He knew removing them all from the chest would take a while but if they could at least get a grasp on what these things were, and what use they might have, then they could decide if it was worth getting all of them out.

He grabbed the first roughly shaped object in jaws and tossed it out onto the floor. It was cold, a bit lumpy, and had a bit of weight to it. It reminded him of his knife almost, just not sharp. After tossing a few more to the floor with heavy “kerklunk” and rattling.

“There’s more, but it’ll take a while to get them out,” Beau told Torben. “Why don’t we see if it’s worth the effort first? I’ve got a few of them. They’re a bit… weird.” He walked over to round and oval-ish pieces that he’d tossed on the floor and sniffed at them. They were large medallions of some sort, metallic, with symbols inscribed on them that jutted out from the main base. The ones he had gotten out had the symbols of fire, water, and a couple different flowers on them.

Whatever they were made of had withstood the tests of time thus far. Beau flicked an ear curiously. Could these be used somehow to make more weapons?

"Ye got a few of them?" Torben tried to say this clearly, aware his Northern accent got in the way. He looked curiously at the medallions before reaching into the chest. He managed to drag out a bottle of whiskey, his wolf mind knowing it was a drink of some recreational nature. It smelt aged. Placing it on the ground the right way up, he peered back inside. "What are they?" he asked Beauregard, prodding the medallions with one massive paw "what ye call them?" If the boy didn't have a name for them, what did he call them then? "I'll take this" he added, giving a nod to the whiskey "it, ah, ain't really... I want to make sure it's safe to drink." He almost said Beauregard shouldn't have it - Due to his age. Torben didn't want the lad to think he looked down on him. But Torben didn't want the lad to become intoxicated on his watch. "I know some healers who can identify it." SPEECH HERE

“Yeah,” Beauregard confirmed as Torben questioned him. The accent was thick and took him a moment, but he got the gist even with the other male partially in the chest. He was examining the medallions when he noticed the albino male dragging something out of the chest as well. His gaze flicked to it, hearing the liquid in the container sloshing about. His ears twitched curiously, wondering what it was that he had grabbed when the older male reminded him that he’d grabbed some things first.

“I’m not sure of the proper name for them,” Beau furrowed his brow and nudged a medallion with his paw. “But I’m willing to bet they are some sort of metal. Like my knife, just smooth instead of sharp. So fancy metal pieces I suppose. They’ve got neat little depictions on them though. Could be a nice gift… or if there was a way to reshape them I bet you could even make them into other stuff. My alpha-to-be talked about crafting with metal…”

He let his gaze flick back to the bottle. Beau tilted his head to the side and frowned before speaking again. “Tell them to be careful,”Beau urged in a quiet tone. “Members of my pack would tell-tale of bad stuff carried like that… could take a wolf’s life if they drank even a sip of it.” He was referring to poison; his pack had never experienced alcohol before. “You should take care too. Having that stuff break open on you probably wouldn’t bode well either…” His voice was genuinely concerned.

“Though these healers…” His tone shifted, curiosity growing once more. “Are they from your pack?” He hadn’t learned much about any of the packs here yet… Maybe now was his chance to find out about one?

His alpha to be... "Izza new pack forming?" Unaware he would come to meet Audra, one of the potential members, in the coming weeks "ye should bring them back to yer base" Torben suggested kindly, dipping his head to the metal pieces "mayhap yer alpha can make use of them" Or "one of yer folk can. It'd be something, to bring back inventory fer a pack-to-be." He chuckled, wondering if it would score Beauregard brownie points. He shook his head. "I dunno any healers in me pack" he confessed to the lad "Valhalla's too new fer me" No, he'd find a healer on the road "s' just whiskey" he was touched that the boy was concerned but there was no need "alcohol" he corrected to the broader term for it "some folk actually make a livin' off it" he pawed the bottle "and it's more valuable t' more it's aged." The wolf didn't know Valhalla by scent, so Torben assumed he didn't know them at all. SPEECH HERE

At Torben’s question, Beauregard gave a nod. “Yeah, once spring comes. My alpha-to-be is still in training for now, but she’s reaching the end of it. We’ve got some friends in another pack though.” He smiled proudly at this fact. He was glad to be part of a new forming pack - it was going to be his home, his family! At the mention of him bringing the metal bits back to his pack’s base, he gave a firm nod. “Probably a good idea, yeah!” He was appreciative that he’d be able to bring something back too. Torben had gotten the strange bottle, and he got these weird metal chunks. Beau’s ears twitched at the mention of another pack name. Valhalla. So it seemed that Torben was relatively new here as well, possibly. At least new enough to a pack in the area. He tilted his head to the side as Torben explained that the stuff in the bottle was Whiskey, alcohol. Beau wrinkled his nose. “It doesn’t sound appealing.” The yearling said softly. “Are you new to Boreas too then?” He asked. “If you’re new to this pack of Valhalla… I’d guess so but…” He offered a small, sheepish smile. “You don’t sound like others I’ve met here…” "Speech," 'Thought.'