After settling things with his alpha orochi had made his decision he would not go back on. Wherever Laufey was, he would go. His brother couldn't reject his companionship, or at least orochi felt that he wouldn't let him. His paws reached the borders of the pack he knew measly nothing about. Yet he would remain loyal, he would stay here until he died if that was eat was required of hom. Asking as he knew Laufey was alive and safe up until ur left this planet. The gods could only do so much for the boy. No he refused to be known as a boy, he might have been a year old but he was big and had enough experience in adult life. The beast raised his head in a howl and patiently got homself to level his head with his spine. Maybe he was a little crazy like his mother. It wouldn't surprise him. But orochi also knew who his father was, but didn't seem curious about that. His gray tail wiggled a lottle, he would crawl from the bottom to get higher, he had broken bones to get to this point in his life. Orochi didn't want any of it to go to waist. Speech,

The voice that called to her was youthful, and for a moment Katja's eyes closed in a silent prayer for patience and understanding. Whoever had passed the word that Yfir was taking in stray babies for training was going to find themselves tied to a rock at the bottom of a very deep lake if any more showed up at the borders. But, gods be ever so kind, she would get through this. Stalking toward the source of the call, she was surprised to find a young male every inch as tall as Laufey. She studied him through narrowed eyes as she paced to within speaking range. His coloration was even similar to Laufey's, though this boy had more white than Laufey. A relative, perhaps? It was too great a coincidence otherwise, but she would not assume. "Can I help you, boy?" she asked neutrally when she'd closed enough distance to be heard without shouting. She rethought her words immediately - surely even with a yearling stranger she should at least attempt diplomacy, however distasteful it may be to her, and introduce herself. Whatever the boy may want, it would be... practice for her. "I am Katja Finnvi, drottning of Yfir." "

There it was, that word. The word that dragged him down just because he was younger. Orochi had been through intense training any youth shouldn't have gone through, but he still had gone through it and witnessed it first hand. So he knew enough to be respectful at that. Even if the word sting and was insulting to him he dipped his was towards the alphess. "Greetings, my name is orochi kigu, my brother is Laufey and he lives in this pack" he started. "I wish to join the ranks of yfir, I may be young but I've had formal training in the battlefield. My skill are not the best because of my age but I would like to have some sort of military rank within your pack. If you want me to train I will, my brother looks up to you and I want to offer my life and services." orochi shifted a little watching her carefully. Would he be judged because of his age? If so he'd work even harder to earn what he thought would make him stronger. He couldn't rely on the world after it had destroyed his life. Speech,

The young male confirmed that he was in fact Laufey's brother and continued on to state his desire to join the pack, told of his training, and of his wishes. Katja remained silent until he had finished, then for a beat more as she made it clear she was giving it thought, before she stirred and spoke. "I am gladdened to hear that you have had formal training, Orochi Kigu. It would be a great asset to the pack to have another capable warrior. However, being a warrior isn't simply about training, it is about trust and earning that trust, and at your age you will be considered by most in this land to be a liability until proven otherwise. It is my policy to pair all young wolves regardless of training with an older mentor to assess their skills and provide any remedial training they might need. You and Laufey would both be paired with mentors, and assessed. If both your mentor and myself judge you are ready you will be moved to warrior whatever your age at the time. If you are not, you will remain apprentice until you are, however long it takes." She cocked her head to the side to watch him. "Knowing that, do you still wish to join Yfir?" "

Liability, she was just trying to push his buttons wasn't she. Guilty until proven innocent it sounded like. Orochi raised an eyebrow for a moment, suddenly his blood was rushing through him. It pissed him off so much that he liked her. She reminded him of his mother and her crazy ass, even if Katja was the saner of the two women. He would keep his smile and wiggle his behind a little. "If you want me to earn trust I will, you know what's best as the leader. Laufey means the world to me I would never leave him behind, or anyone he holds dear. Or who I might hold dear in the future." he stated in his rather seductive girly voice. His movements were obviously on par with a flirty female even if it seemed odd. "I also have a question though....did you know a man by the name of jaeger?"/i> before his mother died. She had spoken the name of his and his brothers father. Somehow he was determined to find out what happened to his missing link of a male. After all, his mother had hated men, but it had given her no right to hide away his blood that was flowing through him. Speech,

The youth's manner of speaking was odd, disconcerting, though she couldn't really put a definite reason to her unease. Something about his mannerisms bespoke something other than his age and appearance would suggest, and for a moment she considered that this might be Loki in disguise, manipulating the mortal realm in the way he knew best... Had she just accepted the trickster into her pack? She inclined her head in cautious acknowledgement of his words. But his question completely wiped away her reserve. The comparatively diminutive alpha jerked in shock when he spoke Jaeger's name, as though she'd touched a live wire. "How do you know that name?" she demanded, going from neutral to ice-cold and ice-sharp in the space of a few seconds. The fur along her spine and shoulders raised, she stepped forward aggressively. "Why do you ask me about Jaeger? What do you know of him? Tell me!" The last was said in a snarl, fangs flashing white beneath her deaths-head mask. Inside the darkness uncoiled within her with the swiftness of a striking viper, fear and hate born in her childhood, nurtured through an adulthood she'd spent tracking her cousin, mingled together into a sudden fury. It was only tempered by the knowledge Auora had given to her her, knowledge imparted to her sister by the norns in a dream, that Jaeger was dead and she was freed of that oath with that death. Only that memory kept her in place, muscles quivering with the strength of the emotion that reared it's head. Jaeger was the only reason she and Auora had even left the Finnvi family to come to this heathen land. Jaeger was the reason she was along, the reason Auora had been crippled. What did this boy have to do with Jaeger?

When she snapped, Orochi took a few steps back. His eyes changed from the joy he had felt to sadness. He hadn't meant to press anything of her past. Obviously from her reaction she did know of the name, but, it was just that, only a name. He pressed his ears against his head and lowered himself, he meant no harm, he didn't want this to thwart his efforts to be accepted. Nor did he want his brother to be kicked out for it. "I know nothing of him Katja, I apologize. It's the name of me and my brothers father, we never met him my mother didn't even speak his name until her final breaths to me." his paws spread digging into the dirt. He looked at her with a saddened look, if his father had done something to make katja this distraught, then he was no father to Orochi. He sighed, and stood, "I was only curious....if you knew what kind of man he was....but if he was a devilish creature I don't wish to know. Katja, I'm sorry, please do not judge me or my brother by a simple name-sake." he pulled his ears up. Letting down his guard slightly. Trust, and bonds, that was what a pack was made up of right. Then he wanted to protect her, protect this pack and whatever and whoever was within it. Speech,

The child cowered down submissively at her interrogation but he seemed to know almost nothing, only a name. A name, and the fact that Jaeger had sired children here and abandoned them with no knowledge of their family, their glorious heritage. One more mark against her cousin, and may the gods hold him accountable for it. How many Finnvi children wandered the land unknowing? Well, here was an opportunity to begin to pay restitution for her cousin's mistakes. "Your father is a curse on the Finnvi family," she spoke very clearly, her disgust coating every word but the fury was tamped down, buried once more beneath rigid self-control. "But the gods have led you and Laufey here despite his wickedness. You are both welcome here, the more so as it seems we are cousins." Though her words spoke of welcome and familial bond, there was still an edge of ice, and distrust. If Jaeger's madness had infected these twain... she was no motherly soul. It was Freya who spoke to her, not Frigga. She was not equipped to wipe away any stain of Jaeger from these children. Still... as the only family they had here, was it not her duty to see to teaching them the Finnvi ways? She would simply need to make the attempt. "Familiarize yourself with the territory, but take the time to find Laufey and tell him the good news if you wish as well. You will both be too busy for socializing shortly." With that she turned on her heel and disappeared into the long grass of the plain, heading deeper back into the territory. "

The boy would instantly understand why he had felt so alone, why his blood had felt so dirty. His mother had been an insane beast of a woman, belonging to the old empire of Amenti when it was run by Canttina. There was evil there, and when he spent time training with his mother, he honestly believed he was evil and didn't want to be. After all, he cared for his brother, after all their litter mates went missing there was only him Laufey, and Vahva. The two boys had been raised in Valhalla for a huge majority of their lives no matter how much their other mother Raven tried. So, what Laufey had said might have been completely true and what was happening here was his head clicking into place. This was his home, and he needed to hold it dear. Katja was related to him from his fathers side, that gave him more than enough reason to be here. He wanted to train, to get better, and to protect what was dear to him. "I can't thank you enough." Orochi squeaked a little as he carefully set foot within the borders. He watched her leave, tail flicking behind him as he gave a small and simple sigh. She was strong, a lot stronger than he was for sure. He was starting to see that his size wasn't everything in this world. Speech,