When her travels began though the eastern portion of Boreas, she had seen the volcano in the distance and had noticed how little activity there was near it’s base. Even if wolves didn’t climb it that often, she had expected to see more wolves or at least smell their scents in the lands near it. It almost seemed like everyone was avoiding this area and it had made her want to do the same. Today though, the curiosity was getting the best of her. The closer she got to the volcano she more she noticed the heavy layer of ash that seemed to cover everything and that was when she began to realize that the growth and vegetation had at one point started much closer to the base of the mountain than it currently did. There were a few stubborn shrubs that were starting to creep closer, but for the most part this area seemed devoid of life.

With a cautious edge to her steps, Tamsyn started a slow climb along the side of the volcano. Her ears were perked forward while her mint eyes were taking in the fairly empty landscape. All the signs pointed to the fact that this volcano must have erupted in recent history, but since she was so new to these lands she really had no idea how recently that was. It put her a little on edge since she wasn’t sure just how calm the volcano was at this moment. Once she got a fair distance up the side of the mountain she turned so she could look back down the way she came. From this vantage point she could see the start of how far this eruption must have effected these lands. It made her wonder what areas she had been though recently that were actually still effected by it that she just had no frame of reference to know it.

She let a soft whistle of a breath out though her teeth with a slight shake of her head. It was moments like this that helped her gain some perspective and realize just how small the scope of her issues were. Her entire world felt like it was in turmoil at times, but in reality it was only a small drop compared to the devastation this must have caused. Tam looked away from the view to refocus her attention on the volcano itself to keep her mind from wandering into an existential crisis that she wouldn’t be able to find her way out of. It was then that she caught another wolf’s scent on the breeze and she turned her head toward it curiously. Someone else clearly had the same curiosity she did. She wouldn’t normally go looking for company, but her curiosity over what had happened here pushed her forward. It only took a few minutes of looking to spot the large gray male, catching a glimpse of the interesting deep red markings that accented his face. Tamsyn took a breath to steady her nerves before putting a gentle smile on her muzzle and altering her path to head towards him, being sure to approach in a way that he would see her coming rather than accidentally sneaking up behind him. ”Hello,” she said in greeting, being sure to give a chipper, friendly inflection to her tone. ”Sorry to bother you... I’m brand new to Boreas so this is my first time seeing this volcano. Do you mind if a bug you for a moment to ask some questions about it?”

This volcano was an uncertain death trap, Kai knew as much... but at the same time, he really didn't care. It'd be just his luck if the damn thing decided to erupt just as he reached its base, and though he certainly wanted to live to see tomorrow, if he didn't? Well, he wasn't about to dwell on that possibility now. If he had any intent to turn back he would've done it by now. No, he only cared about going further, dragging his large paws against the ash-dusted ground as he headed straight for the volcano. Admittedly things weren't as bad as they had been right after the eruption - not that he'd been close when it happened. He'd been all the way north in Winterfell's lands, though he'd scoped this place out a bit since then. Maybe not from so close, but it didn't take a genius to know that things were getting better near these parts... however many seasons it might be taking.

Though he preferred the north, he was fond of these eastern lands as well for his own reasons. The volcano in particular was a place he'd made plenty of fond memories, and he was eager to return and reminisce,  regardless of the danger this place might harbor. He hardly even considered it as he began his trek upward. It wasn't half as fertile here as he remembered it - any sign of foliage seemed reluctant to return, even after Boreas had been given a decent enough summer. It had been cooler than usual. but still the season had been a far cry from the deep, uncharacteristic winter that had gripped these lands for much longer than was typical.

Though he wasn't here specifically to see how the volcano's eruption had shaped the lands, it was impossible to ignore. Even near the volcano's base it was obvious that the eruption had scorched the slopes, from the sparse vegetation - only now were the smallest plants attempting to grow here in the ash and rubble - and as he climbed higher, the ash grew thicker, a reminder of exactly what had happened here. He flicked some off the top of a paw as he continued on, kicking off with his back legs to scramble higher, narrowing avoiding tumbling down the way he'd came as some debris came down with him. A skillful leap, more graceful than one might expect from a wolf his size, was just about the only thing saving him from a certain injury.

He was so focused on his own journey that he barely noticed the approach of another before she was too close to avoid at all. He turned quickly at first, his nose wrinkling as he regarded the stranger from a distance. A moment longer had him lifting his tusked head a bit higher, straightening his posture as he moved to take one single step closer. "Well, hello there," came his own greeting. He wasn't in the most cheerful mood today - this mountain brought as many foul memories as it good good ones - and his stare was steady and probing as he regarded her. The stranger admitted she was new here, and that she had some questions. Unusual - but far from the strangest thing he'd ever encountered. "What makes you think I know anything about this place?" His tone wasn't sharp, nor overly friendly, instead lingering somewhere much more neutral as he held back and waited for her answer.

Her hope that the stranger she had chosen to encounter would be receptive to her approach seemed to have been in vain and the male didn’t seem entirely pleased that she had come over to speak to him. Now that she was closer and fully facing him, she was able to see the fairly large tusks protruding from his upper lip and just how much larger he was in size. It never seemed to fail that the wolves she met in Boreas were all somehow more interesting or intimidating than herself - something that she had never noticed before in her previous home. His question made her pause and after a moment of consideration she  gave a small shrug of her shoulders. ”I don’t suppose I have any reason to think you would. I was too focused on studying the land that I hadn’t considered that you may be new to it too.”

That had been something that hadn’t even crossed her mind in her worry over having to approach a complete stranger. She glanced away from him for a moment to look at their barren surroundings once again, adding, ”I was mostly just curious to know how long ago it erupted since it looks like it was at least fairly recently... But maybe not, maybe this area just doesn’t grow much plant life.” Being able to leave her focus on her current topic of study helped to distract from the uncertain and awkward interaction she new found herself in. Tamsyn looked back to the larger male give him a polite smile and a small nod of her head. ”Oh well, sorry again for bothering you.” She began to walk away, carefully making her way across the rocky terrain and noticing how much deeper the ash was as she made her way further up the mountain side.

Almost immediately she answered him, stating that she had no real reason to think he knew this place. He hadn't meant to make her feel like she'd been wrong to think that, not necessarily, but really he'd just wanted to be difficult for a moment - and apparently he'd succeeded. "I do happen to be familiar with this place, actually. Quite familiar." He hadn't really considered this place his home, but he'd visited it enough times to say he was familiar with it... the eastern lands of Boreas were ones he'd spent quite a bit of time in, before he'd gotten tangled up in the whole slavery mess.

Kai's gaze followed her own, shifting to get a better look at their surroundings. The slope of the volcano was quite barren, though he wasn't the least bit surprised at that fact. To someone just visiting for the first time, they'd likely be surprised at just how desolate this place seemed.. like something out of a dream, perhaps. She spoke up, curious about whether it had erupted recently, or if things were just normal; but she seemed inclined to think she'd been disturbing him, and turned as if to leave. He let out a sound, a weird mixture between a scoff and a laugh, as he turned to slowly follow her. Kai might be in a less-than-pleasant mood, but he'd been painfully lonely lately - more lonely than he cared to admit - and she seemed decent enough company for now. His younger self likely would've wondered when he'd gotten - well, like this - but he didn't care to question why he turned and followed her, however slightly.

"It hasn't been that long since it erupted. I think it happened... last winter." Everything had been a blur, though, and the winter that had settled in after the eruption felt like it had lasted for an abnormally long time. It was hard to pinpoint just when it had happened. The north felt like it hadn't even gotten a true summer; at least down here, further south, things were much milder. "Things down this way were.. hellish, to put it lightly. I'm lucky I was so far north when it happened. Likely would've turned to ash," Kai commented lazily, letting out another chuckle at the grim thought as he kicked at some loose ash, watching it crumble and fall to the wind. Maybe being in Winterfell at the time had been to his advantage - he very well could've been here at the time, and who knows what would've happened to him then? Once he'd thought servitude a worse fate than death, but he was beginning to realize he quite enjoyed living.

Tamsyn stopped and turned to look at the male when he stated that he did actually know something about this area and got up to follow her with a scoff. She eyed him curiously for a moment, but let it go and continued on around the mountain so she could keep her attention on the barren landscape around them. She could have sworn from the way he had reacted to her that he didn’t want to be bothered, but it seemed like she had been wrong. She tried not to dwell on it, instead listening as he told her more about the eruption.

Her assumption that the eruption had been recent was correct - not quite a year ago it seemed. She looked at the heavily ash covered land around them and wondered how long it would take to return to normal... if it ever did. It would certainly take years, that much was for certain. She gave the red-marked male another glance when he mentioned how he had been lucky to be further north when this all happened. It was something she could easily agree with. She tried not to think about how many wolves had been in the path of the eruption when it happened, but it was an inevitable topic in her train of thought. It was far easier and less heartbreaking to focus on the current state of the volcano, but to understand how it had gotten this way meant she had to consider the event itself as well.

She thought again about the dormant volcano that she and Natha had discovered and how full of life it had been. She knew the land around this volcano would recover eventually as well... it was just a matter of being patient and letting nature take its course. ”It seems calm enough now at least,” she commented as she shifted her gaze to look further up toward the top of the mountain. ”I doubt there will be a lot of wolves clamoring to visit for a while, but... Maybe everything can begin to heal and regrow now.” Even though she was thinking more about the land itself and the nature she was sure had been here once upon a time, she realized it reflected to the creatures that had lived here as well.

Anything even mildly interesting was enough to capture his attention, and he deemed this female interesting enough to follow... at least for now. Rather than stalking after her, he merely continued on in the same direction she was going, moving at his own lazy pace. There was little purpose to his movements - he had no goal in mind today whatsoever, he was merely exploring the volcano and checking out the remnants of the eruption. His own mind didn't wander to those that no doubt perished in the eruption; the affairs of others didn't concern him. Instead he was more prone to dredging up memories he himself had formed here, most of them many years ago, and trying to recall exactly how this mountain had once looked. It'd definitely been quite a bit different than this..

"We can only hope," Kai shot back at her, chuckling almost morbidly at the thought. "At least we'll both be dead before we realize otherwise, right?" If the volcano decided to erupt while they were up here, Kai knew they'd perish. That thought didn't bother him very much, but he wasn't sure his current company would agree with him. He knew not everyone possessed the innate ability to be so calm and collected when discussing their mortality. That thought alone earned another low chuckle, barely audible at all. "Name's Kai, by the way." Might as well give his name if he was allowing her to entertain him for a short while, despite not feeling overly friendly so far today.

A soft chuckle left her as she shrugged and replied, ”I suppose you’re right.” There was no telling just how many years it was going to take for this land to recover and he could very well be right in saying that they would be gone before then. She did wonder how it would look if she came back two, four, or more years from now - how different would it look then? Perhaps if she stuck around Boreas that long she’d have to find out. It felt weird for her to think that far in the future when it wasn’t all that long ago that she hadn’t wanted to live another day, much less four more years. It seemed like her thought process had changed a lot recently.

Tamsyn pressed her paw into a patch of ash at her feet, lifting it to reveal the paw print it left behind. The ash left behind on her paw pads was barely visible among her black fur, but it reminded her of when she would walk though the snow and leave a trail of paw prints in her wake. These prints were just far more morbid and a sign of much more destruction than the ones she would leave in the snow. ”I’m Tamsyn,” she responded when he introduced himself, lifting her mint gaze to his again with a slight smile. ”It’s nice to officially meet you, Kai.”

Luckily for him, she didn't sound the least bit phased by his arguably morbid comment. Kai let out another faint chuckle at the thought, though he didn't ever spend long thinking about his own mortality - what was the point, really? He certainly didn't see one and he'd gladly argue that obsessing over such things was a waste of time. So was trying to convince other wolves not to take such matters so seriously, which was why Kai was glad she didn't argue with his words, words that were far from a threat, though he had no doubt some wolves might find a way to take them as such.

His own attention wasn't on where his paws were going, at least not any more than was really needed to be sure he didn't lose his footing as they climbed. "Likewise," he responded simply, wondering why he was even bothering with pleasantries on a day that felt as gloomy as today. The state of the volcano's slope seemed to mirror his mood quite a bit. "So, what's the plan? See how far you can climb, or are you aiming for the top?" Even he hadn't reached Mount Volkan's peak and he wasn't sure how safe such a feat was, though he wondered if she realized that. He cast her a curious glance, the tusked male raising a brow in inquiry. He wasn't apt to follow her much farther, having seen just about all he needed to during this visit.

Tamsyn hummed as she looked up toward the top of the mountain once Kai prompted her for what her plan here was. Was she really daring enough to go for the top of the volcano? She wasn't so sure. In all honesty her curiosity felt just about satisfied. She was an explorer at heart, but even her exploring nature had a limit when it came to volcanos that had been active in such recent memory. "You know... I think I'm ready to head somewhere else," she finally replied as she shifted her eyes to look at the large male next to her. She chuckled softly and added, "Maybe I'll come back and try to climb a bit higher when I'm more sure it's actually dormant. I'm just now getting some better luck in my life so I'm not sure I want to test it on a newly calm Volcano." She gave the ash-covered landscape one last glance before going to turn her path back the way she had came. "Thanks for telling me a bit about this place, Kai. I appreciate it. Maybe I'll see you around?" With that the smaller, scarred wolf gave him a parting smile and went on her way, carefully making her way back down the mountain. It was most certainly going to be a place that she would resist... but maybe not for a couple more years or so.

There was a difference between being reckless and completely idiotic, a line that Kai sometimes walked a bit too tightly. The eruption had been just recent enough that he didn't think a trek to the top was a great idea, and Tamsyn seemed to agree with him. He let out a quiet grunt of agreement. "I was thinking the same," he responded casually. Exploring Mount Volkan again, post-eruption, had been an interesting experience... but it brought back a lot of memories he wasn't so sure he wanted to spend time dwelling on right now.

He found himself chuckling at the female's words though. "Hopefully your good luck continues, for your sake. I'm still searching for a bit of luck myself these days." He found no need to elaborate, flashing her a faint smile anyway. His pace had slowed and now he turned to head back down the mountain, albeit on a  slightly different route than the one he had taken here. Kai nodded to her words, shrugging, though he maintained his lazy smile. "Perhaps. Until then," he dipped his tusked head before turning to leave.

-exit Kai-