Solare was still wandering. She didn't know where she was going, or where she had been, but there was something in her that kept her moving, kept her on the road. The vast, open plain was only occupied by the occasional bird, and the mountains behind her. She could either go south, east or west, and it was south she had chosen, for the warmer climate in winter. It did surprise her that she was looking ahead, planning ahead, but there were a few things she couldn't plan for. It would be a problem if other wolves came and found her here, as they might decide to have a little fight, and Solare wasn't in the best way. Her fur was beginning to turn dry and brittle, which wasn't a good sign. It wasn't illness, Solare would have felt it by now. But... She did feel rather hungry. The problem was, there was little prey in this area. No rivers for fish - for that, she'd have to head east. Birds were impossible unless something else had already gotten at it, but there were a few buffalo in the distance, steadily walking through the grass-coated mounds that were distinctive about Buffalo Knoll. Solare instinctively took a few steps - no chance. Buffalo were big, scary, and had big ass horns. If she were with a pack, it would be different, but today she would just have to pass through. Keeping her head down and looking as harmless as possible, Solare slowly journeyed towards Buffalo Knoll, and stopped, like a wall had sprung up in front of her. This was claimed territory, and the pack had made it clear.

Valentine was ambling along the border with his head in the clouds when the pale woman caught his eye. Immediately he abandoned his patrol and made a beeline for her; her presence so close to his domain demanded his attention. She didn't howl to announce herself or foolishly cross into Imperium, so for all he knew she was just pausing to catch her breath, but regardless, she was close enough to his home she needed to be checked out. "Can I help you?" he boomed as he approached, his gaze trailing over the woman in an assessing manner before rising to seek her gaze. "My name is Valentine and I am the Rex, or alpha, here in Imperium." The King slowed to a halt, his posture relaxed and his tail held in a lazy, half curl at his haunches while he waited to hear what the woman had to say for herself. ""

Solare slowly began turning away from Buffalo Knolls, knowing that sooner or later, a none too happy member of the pack would come and find her on the edges of their territory. She didn't want to have to fight, and if the pack territory was this heavily guarded, the wolves here wouldn't be too impressed if they discovered a loner loitering on the outskirts. It hadn't been intentional - she was just focusing on finding food as quickly as possible. They couldn't blame her for trying to avoid starving to death, could they? But she was on their territory - they could do with her what they like. Solare was about to leave when, from nowhere, a wolf began approaching her. The she-wolf jumped a little at his sudden appearance but she stood still until he stopped in front of her. He was far taller than her, which was surprising as she thought of herself as rather tall. However, it was the way he carried himself and the way he spoke that betrayed his rank, and Solare, quite frankly, would have preferred not to have found out. "I see," the golden she-wolf replied, matching his stance but with a little uncertainty about her. "I am Solare, and yes, if you could. I was searching for a place to stay. A pack." "Speak!"

His ears perked as she mentioned looking for a pack. Had she sought out Imperium or was her presence just a lucky happenstance? Valentine was genuinely curious. He wasn't sure how far word of Imperium had spread, or even if it was still spreading. "Ah," he rumbled thoughtfully. Slowly the King took a seat as his eyes sought the distance for a moment. He didn't mind offering suggestions as to what pack might suit her, but of course he was biased. If she seemed suitable for Imperium he was willing to pour on the charm in an effort to woo her to the pack. As of this moment he knew nothing about her, not even her name, so for now he was content to simply test the waters and put suggestions out there. "Well, what exactly are you looking for in a pack? Alacritia has a little bit of everything." ""

The golden lady didn't smile. She didn't move - she was barely breathing. She had never been nervous before, but there was an aura around the larger wolf that made her shiver in good ways and bad ways. She didn't dare sit either, as she doubted standing up again would be easy. Solare realised how much of a state she was in, and how bad she must have looked, but she couldn't do anything about it. Solare's ears flicked forward and she said, in reply to the Rex, "I have no specifications, sir. I am not a lover of war, however I would not be against it if I were required to assist in battles." She was getting a little dizzy - up until now, she had resisted the temptation to collapse and pass out, but she didn't know how long it would last. She had lasted until now without trouble, though - she reassured herself that she would last until food was found and any necessary medicines administered - that is, if she found someone who knew plants. "Speak!"

There was something off about the woman, something he couldn't quite place. He studied her as she spoke, noting what he assumed was tension in the way she held herself. Nerves, perhaps? Maybe that was what was up with her. That would be an understandable reaction to being confronted by a pack wolf while loitering on the border, no matter how relaxed the conversation was. "Hm," he mused. She didn't give him a whole lot of information to work with, but nonetheless he'd try. "Well, where do your interests lie? Healing? Hunting? Fighting? Or..." Valentine paused to look the woman over again. She wasn't looking very good and it was becoming more obvious that something was up. Dropping his line of questioning for a moment, he asked, "Miss, are you alright?" ""

Solare had drifted off into her own mind - she tended to do so when she wasn't concentrating on a particular task. The bad thing was that she was concentrating, she was trying to absorb every word the slate man said. She did eventually process his speech, but it took a few seconds of hard work and a little shake to bring herself back to the real world. She tried to relax her muscles and calm her nerves, but she had no interest in whether she was successful. Solare hesitated, rewording her reply in her mind before speaking. "Hunting and... My studies," she said softly, as if she were in top form. The Rex seemed to have noticed her condition while she answered. She nodded with a little swallow, eventually clearing her throat to speak again after her small pause. "I'll be alright," she replied, "Please, don't worry yourself..." "Speak!"

It seemed the woman was intent on making this a painfully slow process, offering minimal information to serve as answers to each of his questions. Honestly he wasn't sure how to help her. Unless she was willing to open up and tell him more about herself there was no way he was going to be able to get a good read on her. At the very least all he would be able to do if she kept giving him skeletal answers was decide she wouldn't do in Imperium and send her somewhere else. Hell, she hadn't even offered him her name yet! She assured him that she was alright and, unable to prove otherwise, Valentine dropped that line of questioning and went back to the original topic. He didn't quite believe everything was as fine as she wanted him to believe, so he'd keep watching. "Good hunters are highly sought after," he offered, his thoughts fixing on the word 'studies'. Something like Renhett's hobby, maybe? "What kind of studies? Tell me about them." A demand? Yes. He was growing impatient. Okay, okay. He couldn't, in good conscience, just let her obviously unwell state slide. Valentine sighed. "These are my lands. It's my job to worry. The idea of a loner passing out on my border is especially concerning. I do want to know more about your studies and I do want to help you choose a pack, but I also want to make sure that you are well enough to do so." ""

{OOC; Solare gave her name in her 2nd post.} The golden lady could sense the atmosphere becoming more tense. She wanted to pace and dig and turn circles, but she kept still. What was she doing wrong? Did she say something bad? Solare didn't think she had, but she didn't know this man. He came from a different place with different people - how was she supposed to know what he was offended by? "I enjoy any kind of learning, really," she answered. "I find some things more interesting than others, but I don't study one subject religiously. I'm more interested in the history of the lands." After the slate man spoke, Solare realised the gravity of the situation. She was in ill health. It wasn't just a simple graze. "I apologise if I sound a little blunt, sir," she began, "But I am in good mental health." The golden woman whined a little, eyes wide. "It's the rest of me I'm unsure about. I do appreciate your concern, Valentine." "Speak!"

She had a solid interest in history, eh? Hm. History was useful. You could learn a lot by looking at the mistakes and successes of the past. That being said, Valentine wasn't entirely sure Imperium had a place for a historian, unless she used her knowledge of the past to impart wise advise, but even then any advisory position would have to be earned. Nonetheless, this information set his gears into motion. Without a shadow of a doubt he knew Imperium could use more hunters and it wouldn't be much of a stretch for her to make her home in the pack as a hunter before branching out into better and brighter things if she wished. If she played her cards right she could make a name for herself. "No apology necessary," he murmured. So something was up. He knew there had to be something. "It's the rest of me I'm unsure about." Valentine frowned, the expression more a show of concern than displeasure. He couldn't see any wounds, but that didn't mean there weren't any. Likewise, it was possible that it wasn't an injury that was bothering her. "Would you like me to get one of my healers? Perhaps there's something they can help you with." ""