Walk | "Talk" | Think Afternoon sunlight spilled across the wide valley at a sharp angle, setting the green and yellow fields ablaze with fiery colors. It was quite a beautiful sight, or at least would have been to someone more inclined to notice. Rune's frosty blue eyes took it all in with disinterest, his attention focused solely on landmarks and points within the territory that matched those directions given to him by his friend and crush, Alamea. East, amid the valleys. Avoid the sands. He had been doing his best to follow the instructions, sticking clear of the deserts and clinging to the green hills in the hopes that he might be rewarded with finally locating the elusive sanctuary of Valhalla. Eventually he did. It was hard to miss the telltale scent markers and the heavy border where their home began and the unclaimed territories ended, the place on which the running grey wolf had drawn quickly to a stop and took a moment to catch his breath. His black striped tail swung to either side in an agitated movement, ears and eyes alert as he stood tall and peered into the grassy plain with some level of difficulty. How did these wolves live here? It surprised him how high the grasses grew in places, so very much unlike the green forests back in Tortuga. But that thought only fueled the unrest that still coursed through his travel weary limbs; and that was not his real reason for being here. The reluctant rogue cast another furtive glance across the valley before tilting his muzzle upward and giving voice to a loud, quick howl, a single name laced into the summons. Alamea. Rune did not pretend to have many friends - the acquaintances he had once had were mainly for pack purposes alone. It was only the rosy-eyed, little white wolf that had managed to make him want to be around her, to want to share company with her and then some, that called to him time and again. She was an unexpected source of stability for him, and with the pack he had once known crumbled away out from underneath his feet, leaving him stranded and alone and homeless, that little bit of stability seemed like a beacon in the dark. Likely she would be surprised to see him at this hour - he had promised before to arrive early in order to have the day with her - but without a home to return to who was there to miss him? Expression stoic, brow tucked into a frown, tail fidgeting on the ground as he made himself sit, Rune waited.

Tiny paws picked delicately through the grass, a rabbit grooming itself a little ways off. Rose orbs narrowed as she drew in its scent, ivory fangs dripping with saliva as she filled her nose with the warm smell. Licking her chops she took another step towards it, dropping even closer to the ground, ears perked for the slightest sound of movement. Muscles in her back leg contracted, tensing as she readied herself to pounce. With a slight growl she bound forwards, chasing after the fleeing form. The small creature just a paw length away when the call came. Her head lifted and the rabbit bound away, dashing down a warren hole. Her prey was forgotten however. A thrill ran through her whole body as she heard his summon, her head lifting and paws skidding across the ground as she pulled up into a stop. Head shot up along with her tail, which began to beat against the air. She loped towards the sound eager to see him again. She rushed through the tall grass before a thought came to her. Suddenly she stopped again, a playful smile gracing pristine features. Lifting her nose she felt the air rush past her, before she moved down wind, circling past the boarder of her pack. Body lowered, she stalked forwards. The grass parted before her as she finally snuck up beside him. He was a few paces away seemingly unaware of her. Her rump wiggled as she prepared to launch. With a playful growl she leapt out at him. Speech, Thoughts

Walk | "Talk" | Think He had no reason to be impatient, but he was. All the while that he sat waiting, his mind was abuzz with thought, worry, anger, expectation all clouding his head and making his legs feel as if tiny ants danced within the pads of his feet. But only his tail moved, shifting upon the ground with an agitation that he could not quite stifle. Surely he posed an unfriendly figure there upon the border even safely on the side of neutrality, his expression one mirroring the excited mixture of emotions within. And underneath those troublesome thoughts, Rune continued to hope the wolf he sought might arrive swiftly and spare him the pain of waiting. Naturally he had assumed to be greeted straightforwardly, to spot the small white figure of the wolf parading through the grasses to greet him with possibly a smile and, if he deemed himself lucky enough, an excitedly eager spark within her rosy pink eyes. But he saw none of that, just the slanted afternoon light playing along the grasses, accompanied by the occasional rustle of a rodent or the call of an insect. Restlessly his pale eyes continued to roam about in search of her, half wondering in the back of his mind if he would truly even be able to see her in these grasses, when he heard a faint noise, a sudden consistency in the rustling that he had at first chalked up to a nearby creature making for a den. It was not until the sound grew closer that he realized he had been mistaken. There was only a second's worth of time for Rune to turn his head and recognize the slim, dainty figure that growled and leaped out of the grasses to be the one he sought as she tackled him where he sat, and no time to prepare. Unbraced, somewhat startled, the grey wolf was taken down onto his side with the weight of Alamea falling atop him, and as a bit of the wind was knocked from his lungs the tension that had been coursing through his body exited with it. Regaining himself quickly, he found himself smiling, practically grinning, as he reached up and nuzzled her chin, her cheek, placing light and eager licks against both. Shifting a little beneath her so that he could press his face into the fur of her neck, basking in her scent, her warmth, her presence, he closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't know how happy I am to see you," he murmured roughly into her fur, the initial unabashed excitement slowly beginning to ebb though he clung to it, wishing to keep the harsh realities at bay for just a while longer.

Alamea had not known if her plan would work but she was oh so happy it had. Her weight pushed against his and she felt him begin to fall, both of them tumbling towards the earth together. She landed on him giggling like a child. She leaned towards him and flashed a salmon tongue across his cheek. She mirrored his grin and accepted his affections. He shifted beneath her and so did she, ever so slightly so as to get more comfortable. She arched her neck as he nuzzled her. "I missed you!" Ever since the pack meeting she had been trying to distract herself with anticipation of their next meeting but in hind sight it couldn't really compare to the real thing. All the packs problems suddenly forgotten as she twisted to lick his shoulder. Her mind briefly flicking back to the hunt and a flash of guilt swept through her, she was supposed to be helping the pack by bringing them food, but surely she was entitled this time with the boy? She was entitled to enjoy herself. She processed his words over a long while, digesting them, letting them stew and elevate the joy within her. Under it all though? Almost in a whisper she spoke again. "Is everything alright?" She continued to lick his shoulder before angling her neck some to rasp her tongue over his closest ear. Speech, Thoughts

Walk | "Talk" | Think Rune could not express how great it felt for him to be able to forget the troubles that had been plaguing his mind, if only for this short moment. Alamea's unexpected greeting and excited affection did well enough to keep those thoughts temporarily at bay, allowing him instead to focus upon her nuzzles, her kisses, the weight of her laying atop him. Eagerly he continued to nuzzle into her neck as he felt her rasp her tongue against his shoulder, feeling as if the absence they had shared had been considerably longer than it truthfully was. At least at the beginning, when they had first parted with the promise of meeting again, he had had pack life to distract him. Now however... Thoughts took a definite tumble as they coursed along their new path, evident by the sudden stillness that slowly crept into him. She caught it too, heard it in his voice or noticed in his movements, and naturally gave voice to it, nothing more than a whisper against his ear. He said nothing at first, still reluctant to even admit the news was truth let alone state it aloud and make it real. But even as he kept his eyes clenched shut, drawing back just a little from the pretty white wolf who had grown to mean so much to him, he knew he was past the point of denying it. He was working towards remedying things, and so he needed to own up to the fact there was a problem in need of fixing. "Tortuga's been taken," the grey wolf answered, his voice quietly hoarse as the subject was very close to his heart. The loss of the territory was nearly as bad as losing his mother a second time. "Someone came in and claimed it right out from underneath Morphine's paws." He let his pale blue eyes open to peer up into Alamea's sweet face, meeting her spring pink eyes with a noticeable disappointment and sadness within his own. "I haven't seen anyone from there since." He has successfully spoiled their happy reunion, he was sure of it. He could only hope that Alamea would understand how deep of a loss it was for him, and not hold his sudden sad mood against him.

Reunited at last, that's what it felt like. It could have been only a few days and she probably would have felt that way. She was just so wrapped up in her joy of having seen him again. Her own misgivings about the future were kept at bay, what mattered was the here and now. She would wait for his response, wondering if she shouldn't have said anything. Maybe it was best if she didn't know of what was troubling him? But shouldn't she try and help him, at least be there to comfort and support him. She could at the very least listen to him, let him vent to her. Finally he drew away from her and she kept her gaze down, waiting. Had she made the wrong move? Finally he began speaking. The words hoarse and obviously pained. It struck her suddenly, he had lost his home. Her gaze snapped up. He continued to speak, opening his eyes, and she was struck by the sadness in them. She shook her head and rushed towards him, covering his cheek in licks. "Oh Rune." She gushed, "I am so sorry." She knew it wasn't enough; her sympathies weren't going to bring his home back. She was suddenly struck by the need to share her own problems with him, but wasn't sure if she should. She sighed and began in a whisper. "I know it's not the same-" She trailed off unsure before taking a deep breath and continuing in a hushed tone. "There is a pack to the north, and they are preparing for war with us here- and... I'm afraid." The last words were even quieter as she buried her face in his neck fur. Speech, Thoughts

Walk | "Talk" | Think He should have known better than to think she might misunderstand or fail to understand at all. Somehow Alamea seemed to know the significance of the home he had left behind, even if he had failed to tell her all of the details surrounding it. Perhaps she was only thinking of what it might have been like to suddenly lose her home, the Valhalla, instead, and it had triggered the sudden sympathy. Whatever the case, Rune was grateful for it, pale eyes closing as she scattered soothing kisses across his cheeks. He had been right to come here and find her. He may have never received such affection inside the pack, but it was definitely what he needed to feel whole again, something he could cling to in order to feel that sense of normalcy return. The whispered voice of the little white wolf drew Rune's eyes open part way, staring upward into her face as she continued to lie above him. The look about her face warned him that she was conflicted by revealing anything, and when she finally did he knew why. Valhalla was being placed in a compromising position, readying themselves to defend an enemy from the north. If they might place the heavier brunt of their defensive force against that onslaught, it left them vulnerable in others. And had he been still a part of a pack, the information would have been incredibly valuable and easily manipulated into a gain for them should they have been of a mind to take advantage of it. But he had no pack anymore, no higher ups to report the information to now. If anything, the naturally strong desire he suddenly had to defend the little white wolf made him consider for half a moment the thought of staying and seeing out the end of this war, to know for himself that she would be fine and come out of it clean. "Maybe," he started to say, pausing as if second guessing himself before continuing, "maybe I should stay. Make sure you're safe." He came from such a different background than most of the wolves there that he doubted he would mesh well inside their community, particularly knowing where it was he came from and those he associated with. But it was still a thought in his mind, and considering it bought him a little more time to be with Alamea, more closely than he had so far gotten to be, it was definitely at least worth consideration.

OOC. Pulling out the couple table, aw yeah! There was nothing she wanted more in the world than to stay like this forever, let all her worries drop away for now and forever, to simply spend the rest of her life in this moment. Reality had a funny way of pulling others back though and while she could wish with all her might, it would not change the current situation of things. His words, softly spoken, nearly broke her heart. There was nothing she wouldn't give for him to stay, nothing she wouldn't do to make it so they never had to leave each other again and yet. "Rune? you-?" How could she put her thoughts into words? "You have no idea how much I want that, really I do but? what about Tortuga?" Surely it would be in his best interest for him to keep an eye on his homeland? To look for an opening maybe, to look for some way that he could return. The last thing she wanted was for her to stop him from returning to his home. Talk like this

Walk | "Talk" | Think He could tell the moment the words left his lips that they had been the last thing Alamea had been expecting. Just the surprise that overtook her was enough to let him grin a little more easily, one of the corners of his mouth pulling up in a smirk, while he watched her spring pink eyes as she attempted to gather her thoughts to answer. It was fun surprising her, especially with something that even he would not have considered any other day, were it not for her. He had been so preoccupied, full of his own personal anguish and rage at having his home taken away, about plotting to reclaim it. And she voiced this same thought, professing to wholly liking the idea but showing an overall larger concern for himself and his goals, those same goals that such a move would compromise. Her compassion touched him. He had been raised around those who, by nature, thought of themselves before others more often than not, and even he was guilty of the same at times, allowing pride to govern his actions even when rationale spoke against it. But she was so unlike all of that, so unlike all those others that he had known. She was everything they had never been, and the curiosity of it as well as knowing that she had seen something in him worthwhile made him wish to keep her all the more. So while he should have been worried about his plans and how ensuring Alamea was safe might interfere with them, might set him back, he truly was not. Perhaps a little, but not so greatly that he felt the need to give it voice. Instead, he answered her quietly, his voice low as he tucked his forehead beside her cheek, "It's not going anywhere." And it was true. No matter who came and went upon the volcanic mountain that he had for so long called home, the mountain itself would remain. It should have been comforting, and in a small sense it was, but he still felt a great dislike over those who presently claimed it as theirs, regardless of whether he planned to put his efforts on hold or not. But that was another thing. Tortuga had always been home, had always been the pack he had deemed most perfect for him. What of all the others? Would Valhalla even look at him the same as they would those others who lived amongst them? Would they trust him despite his heritage, despite his future plans? Rune laughed shortly, "It's a nice thought, isn't it? We'd get to see each other all the time. I'd get to know you were safe everyday." Despite the virtuous offer, it only took voicing the plan for him to see the faults in it. Smile beginning to slip, he added, "I bet they're a lot different than what I'm used to, huh?"