Her exploring proved to be a bit fruitful as she roamed around on her own for a bit. Her encounter with Archelaus had been a refreshing one and she was glad she hadn't scared the male away when they first started talking. She had only hung around the territory for about a week sniffing out plants she'd recognized before deciding to leave. She had no means to carry any herbs with her so she'd just have to find her way back to the place again. Now that she'd been there she was sure she could find it again. She was confident in her memory as she now had to use her nose as a sense of "sight" really so she had a pretty good idea at how to return. She wasn't sure where she was going but she let her feet lead her. It was a peaceful walk really. Nothing had bothered her so far and while hunting was difficult it wasn't impossible. She didn't catch anything big enough (or catch anything often enough) to fill her stomach but it was enough to keep her from starving to death. Rabbits were easy once you figured out where the frequented. All she had to do was hide herself and wait long enough for one to come in range and if she was lucky she'd catch it. She wandered some more and she'd ended up... well she still wasn't sure where she was. She'd never been here before either but it smelled like death. It didn't take sight to know she'd ended up in a rather horrid place. She'd never been to a tar pit before but this place wasn't very appealing to her. She'd found out quite quickly that it was probably a place she should leave quickly. It'd been by accident that she'd found herself stepping on the very edges of one of the tar holes. As soon as her toes touched the strange sticky substance she reeled back and instantly tried prying it away from her toes. It wouldn't come off easily though as she sat and tugged at her fur. It had a funny acrid taste that made her snout wrinkle in disgust. This place really was horrid. How'd she manage to end up here? Walk, "Talk" Think

He'd gone to go find more food for his little brother. Why he took it upon himself to care for the blind brat was beyond him, but he supposed he was doing it since his dad wasn't around to take care of him anymore...and maybe somewhere deep down, he did care even if he didn't show it on the outside. He'd been tracking a small deer outside of the Plains where he and his little brother had been staying, feeding him and caring for him since Obscuro didn't know how to hunt, and Enigma had no clue how to go about teaching him when he couldn't see. It was frustrating, but he had nothing else to do anyway. Quietly, he followed the deer to these pits. It stunk of death and rotting flesh, the tar smell not helping as it masked his sense of smell. Growling in irritation, Enigma finally found it when it stopped, watching as it looked around with a wary eye. He slunk closer, body low to the ground as he peered around the rock he was hiding behind. A sound from beyond the deers place sounded, spooking the creature. To his delight, the deer spooked right towards him and he took the chance. Bursting from his hiding place, Enigma's jaws closed around the deer's leg and he brought it to the ground. Wasting no time, he quickly took hold of its throat before it could get up. Crushing it's windpipe, the deer fell still, his work was done. As he was about to grab it and drag it away, he heard another sound behind him, curious as to what it might be, he decided he would check it out. Picking up the deer by its throat, he dragged it with him. There was no way he would leave it behind for someone else to take without him being around to fight for the dinner that he caught. Minutes later, he spotted another wolf not too far away, a female judging by the faint scent that trailed by. Amber gaze watched her for a moment, and it looked to him like she got herself into some sort of sticky situation. Scoffing, he dropped his catch and closed the small distance, his attention alert just in case. "You Should be more careful. It's not wise to run around here you know." "Listen to me talk," 'and know my thoughts.'

So.. why was Áki here, anyway? He'd spent much of the spring season in the northern part of these lands, but with summer's arrival he'd felt restless enough to wander south. With no plan in mind whatsoever, he'd started his journey toward the Western side of Alacritis. The weather was much warmer now.. and he swore the temperature only rose with each day that passed. He wasn't suited for these hot lands, and his heavy coat suddenly felt oddly burdensome as the afternoon sun beat down relentlessly on his back.

He'd been aiming for the ocean. A dip in the sea sounded quite refreshing today, and he grew eager as he caught the scent of briny ocean water. It was still a few miles off, but he was getting closer quickly. He hadn't realized what sort of landscape he'd been approaching until the sudden stench of.. something very unpleasant reached his nose. The tusked male would frown as he padded closer, taking in a deep breath. The land beneath his paws seemed to shift, from a pleasant dirt to something much stickier. His nose wrinkled as he took it all in - his mind had been wandering and now he was suddenly stuck somewhere disgusting.

It was interesting, at the very least, if not wildly bizarre. And mixed with the awful stench of tar was the sign of two wolves that had passed through recently. His crimson gaze scanned his surroundings, searching for them - the promise of company was intriguing. At the very least, it would outweigh the terrible place he'd found himself faced with. It didn't take long to find them, and when he did he'd flash them a wide grin from a distance. "Afternoon!" he'd call out in his gruff northern accent, his voice jovial as he directed himself toward the two strangers. "Did you kill that thing," he'd ask the white-furred male, catching sight of the deer at his paws. "Or did you find it stuck in this awful..." his voice trailed off, searching for the word for the black substance that pooled all around them, but drawing a blank. "..stuff?"

table by argent/neffs

Ears flicked backwards in irritation as she continued to tug painfully at the tar on her fur until finally she managed to rip it off with some strands of hair to accompany it. Come one, really? What the hell is this stuff? A soft growl accompanied her thoughts as she put that foot down and began working on the let front paw. Once she got this off of her paws she intended on going back the other direction until she was far away from this place. If there was more of it she could only imagine what would happen if she stuck more than a couple toes in. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. In her irritated tugging of her fur she realized she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. It wasn't until she heard paw steps and the dragging of something heavy, accompanied with the scent of blood, that she rose her head and flicked her ears around rather nervously. She normally was so on top of watching her environment that it bothered her she'd been so lax. "You Should be more careful. It's not wise to run around here you know." She frowned at this and turned her head towards the voice to, hopefully, look directly at him. She tried to get a good sniff of him. He didn't smell like a pack and he reeked of deer blood. That must have been the heavy dragging she heard. It must have been nice to be able to catch such a big creature. She almost envied his ability. "Had I known this place was here I would have chosen a different direction. I suppose it's a bit late now." She said with a sour facial expression as she thought back to the muck still stuck to her left foot. "If it's so bad here then why are you here?" Yeah that was a pretty good question. Or she thought so at least. She certainly didn't like this place so why would anyone else be here? The better question was how did he find a deer here? Out of all the places he could hunt he was here. That made absolutely no sense to her. Of course while she was mulling it over the sound of another voice, this one sounding a lot different from the first male, reached her ears and she smacked herself internally for not paying attention once again. She was sucking at this today. "Afternoon." She spoke softly. This male seemed happier in his tone than the first one. His other words seemed to be directed towards the first male and Armai's ears flicked forward. His question was as good as hers, or even better really, asking if he'd caught it himself or if he'd found in it the... stuff. Her nose crinkled in disgust as she thought about it. The tar was absolutely the worst thing she'd ever tasted so if he'd pulled it from the muck then she decided he was definitely crazy. Who on earth would want to eat anything that came from this? I think I'd rather starve to death. Walk, "Talk" Think

The silver woman turned towards him after she got what she could off of her foot. He quirked a brow when she turned in his direction, something seemed...off. The way she spoke about the pits only furthered his suspicion. Couldn't she smell the tar? Or maybe she didn't know that there were tar pits littered around every step and corner? Interesting. He smirked at the look on her face, his posture relaxed now that he knew she wouldn't be any sort of immediate threat. If it's so bad here then why are you here? He scoffed as if the answer was obvious. "I--" Another presence would cause him to close his mouth, a voice laced with an unfamiliar accent sounding. "Afternoon!" Amber gaze found a large male with...were those teeth? He had never seen teeth like that before! He was speechless for a moment, the male's question about his catch almost going unnoticed by Enigma's own surprise. But when the girl greeted the tusked man, Enigma would shake himself free of the surprise and take a step back towards his kill as if warning them not to approach any closer to it. He didn't know these two, they could very well be together for all he knew. "I tracked it here, and I caught it. It's easier then chasing it over open ground." He responded, his gaze turned to the woman for a moment since she had questioned almost the same thing first. "I wouldn't eat anything out of those tar pits even if I was starving. I'd rather drown then go through that choking poison." His gaze turned back towards the male. While the other male didn't seem to have ill intentions, Enigma wouldn't throw away his caution until he could be sure. Then again, he probably would end up keeping his rough and tough exterior anyway. "Listen to me talk," 'and know my thoughts.'

The female seemed far more pleasant the the brute. Áki regarded her for a long moment - her greeting was simple, and though far from rude, it had been a bit.. lacking. Well, these two seem like a cheerful bunch, he would think inwardly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, his expression remained pleasant enough, but the wide grin had softened a bit.

The male seemed wary. Not afraid, but definitely taken aback. Áki made no motion to close the distance between the two of them; perhaps a bit of space was not only safe, but would reassure the strangers that he had no bad intentions.  As he shifted his weight from one paw to the other, he swore he felt a bit of resistance, as though some of the tar had found its way to the pads of his paws and had clung there. Great. Just great.

"Don't worry," he'd offer Enigma amicably. "I can't speak for this lady, but I'm not interested in your kill there. I've already eaten today." He wasn't full but he was far from starving, and to eat the food killed by another simple wasn't his style. Perhaps if he was actually at risk of dying of starvation, but he'd been lucky enough to never experience that thus far in his life. "My name is Áki, by the way." If they cared at all for small talk. Both seemed a bit more reserved than he, and he wouldn't be surprised if their main concern was staying far away from him.

table by argent/neffs