As much as she wanted to be in Auster from the moderately warmer temperatures and just her overall general liking of the continent, she needed to get away from her father. Every day she was dreading more being with him, he had brought it upon himself as much as he was trying to mend the relationship he ceased to realize was broken. Relm was coming up on a year old and while that really wasn't such a long life, her time that he had wasted while sitting around in the Col, waiting for this Lurid's pack, plans, or whatever, it all started there. Relm wanted more to live off the land, or well, maybe. Maybe she just felt a disconnection because she didn't want to feel locked down like she had, or at least it appeared to be for no reason. It seemed Kefka had done what Agria had done to him, and that thought had crossed her mind more than once. She typically didn't wander far from Kefka, she didn't want him ripping apart the planet in a panic to get her back home. And she was wondering just how hard her not-plan of running away would actually work. But, it had worked her her parents right? Kefka had said they were on the run for three years. Did she even have the energy to do that? Her mind explored the possibilities as she sat on the ebony beach, watching the crystallized icy water push and pull at the shore's surface. The day was getting late, she hadn't noticed. But it would appear she wouldn't be coming home tonight. Walk "Talk" Think

His brief respite in Auster had been gratifying. Getting away from the icy bite of the north had been exactly what he'd needed to feel refreshed. After his and Zosime's run in with that bear he had decided he'd had enough of the north. He'd left the girl on her own without a second thought. Now that he'd had time to mull it over he decided to head back. He was about positive that's where Odyssia was and he couldn't hold off on the Spartan reunion for long. He wanted directions and a purpose and he wasn't going to get it if he didn't work towards it. The fights he'd participated in weren't going to satiate his appetite for destruction for long. It was the idle time that was truly his enemy. The young wolf often spent time trying to ignore his past and previous traumas. He found it far easier to shove them deep into the farthest recesses of his mind and focus on anything that involved the present. It was lately, with too much silence and time on his paws, that he found his mind enveloped with the thoughts of his father. The young pup-like part of him wistfully doted on the idea that Mortar was alive and well and hopefully hadn't kicked the bucket yet. That was the naïve part of his brain that refused to accept that his mother was actually dead and Mortar had been a shit excuse of a father in her absence. He couldn't help but feel bitter that he hadn't gotten to enjoy a normal childhood. Instead, from the moment he could walk, fighting techniques and battle had been shoved on him. Rising often before the sun and often forced to train until his paws were bloody and his muscles were so tired he couldn't get up from the ground. Then there was the matter of his tail. Had it not been for the piece of shit he would still have one of those too. He barely had a visible nub now. The raging thoughts of his "childhood", if he could call it that, had sparked some other emotions as well. Guilt. He often thought badly about his father but he'd left Zosime much the same. Granted he always had the intention of returning, but he had barely spoken a word to her before he was gone. He often didn't care, but it was on this day he was feeling particularly remorseful. He was never officially her guardian, but she was about the closest thing to family that he had. Even if he wouldn't admit it out loud. It was nearly dark by the time he pulled himself from his own thoughts and realized where he was. Sands darker than he was shifted underneath the weight of his paws and he stirred it around with interest. What an odd place. He kicked it around for a moment longer before a familiar splash of pink in the distance caught his attention. He drew closer and it was easy to see that his assumption was correct, it was the girl he'd met previously. He came closer to her sitting form and stopped about ten feet away as he eyed her curiously. "Didn't expect to find you all the way out here." He rumbled. "I don't believe we introduced ourselves the last time we met." He said with a toothy grin. "Seeing as we were too busy tearing in to each other." He supposed a grudging respect had formed for the slightly younger wolf. He liked any one who wasn't afraid of a fight. Walk, "Talk" Think

She was lost in thought in the waves and the darkening sky when the familiar young man approached her, or well, spoke out. She wasn't necessarily startled though. It took only a second of her quick gaze falling on him to realize the not so stranger, and a small, sly grin came across her maw. Her head was turned only a little more than normal as he had approached her on her blind side. His voice was nearly enough for her to recognize though. She guessed he thought it was funny to find her here. She wasn't entirely sure what kind of reasoning he had behind that. Why she was here alone, almost into the night. Away from Auster? She wasn't sure, she cared little though. She expected to meet him again one day eventually. She expected later rather than now. She wouldn't admit, though maybe a little to herself, that she was a bit happy to see the male again. Yeah, he was pretty fun. She couldn't say that about most. Her neck rolled with her eyes as she stated, "Ugh, I just needed to get away from my dad." Her gaze came back to him for a short few seconds with that same side smile. But then her expressions relaxed as she looked back out at the ocean. "I just can't deal with him." She found her mind lost in the thoughts again, not long though. The young man had her attention more than her unplanned run away. "Oh, uh, I guess you like asked for my name or something." She shrugged, it seemed introductions or names weren't the most important to her. She could agree, their teeth in each other was the only introduction she needed. "Relm." She nodded, and expected him to respond in turn. But honestly, she wouldn't have really cared. Would there ever be a reason to call him by his name? Walk "Talk" Think

The pink wolf greeted him with a grin and he noted the immature eye roll that followed her statement. Getting away from fathers was something he understood at least. Had he been a different wolf he probably would have noticed the similarities between the two of them. Dead mothers, shit fathers, and personalities that screamed "fight me!" if the chance arose. He wasn't that type of wolf to keep track of such things so instead he drew a little closer and sat down roughly a foot away. Close enough to talk comfortably and yet far enough away to respect each others personal space. He briefly wondered if they'd end up fighting again, this time on a lonely beach, but he let the thought slide for now. "Rhaegath." He rumbled back to her as she introduced herself as Relm. It seemed like she wasn't any better at civilized conversation than he was. He wasn't accustomed to being or playing nice with others. He certainly lacked any proper manners. So he sat still for a moment as his gaze wandered out across the chilly ocean. "I might know a thing or two about hard to deal with dads." He finally spoke with an awkward tinge to his voice. Rhae wasn't exactly comfortable about sharing any sort of insight to his own emotional traumas. Half the time he didn't even understand them. It was much easier to just be the angry little shit that he was and go on about his day letting that one particular emotion fuel his actions. It'd gotten him pretty far in life so far. But actually toning his personality down a notch and attempting to get along with someone else? The concept was foreign to him. It was much easier just to clash teeth and claws with someone and call it a day. A small part of him was genuinely curious as to how her father could be so terrible. An even smaller part of him was bitter that he didn't have a parent to complain about at all. Mortar had left him alone at the age of 6 months old. The smallest part of him might have been willing to let her vent to him, but he was in no way capable of asking her any questions to lead up to that. He also had no idea how to come up with a proper solution to any problem. He fought every single one of his problems head on with tooth and nail. He definitely wasn't equipped for handling emotional baggage. Walk, "Talk" Think

Relm, as he did, did not put in relation things they had in common. She didn't know of the horrors of his own mother, but Relm also felt no remorse for the loss of her mother. Anything she knew of Agria was nothing. Agria was an empty shell when she was very, very young. And Kefka killed her once Relm was weaned. She didn't feel any connection with the woman. The loss of her, and even the gruesome experience of her bleeding out meant nearly nothing to her. It wouldn't be anything she cried about. And sure they liked blood and fighting and stuff, apparently pain was exciting for both of them. But him adding in that he knew how to deal with dads, it may have made her raise a brow to the thought. She wouldn't go all heart to heart with him. That wasn't really her. She had no problem trash talking her dad, or anyone, but she also wasn't the type to go on and on and on about herself. She knew she was great or superior, these were things her father had taught her she would feel one day. But she didn't really see a reason to go around and flaunt herself. She wasn't very tyrant herself. She wouldn't question his own, she didn't expect answers like that from others. "He's like, keeping me hostage. He forced us up north until the cold weather kept festering." Her tone was less than emotional, more just stating with ignorance if anything. But she did feel Kefka had taken her near prisoner. Even if she was a bit exaggerative. "He's always following me. I bet he's watching us right now." She rolled her eyes again, the thought of the stalker was on her radar, but she didn't sense him nearby. He was probably losing his shit back in Auster. But Kefka always stayed on the outskirts and stalked, he almost never interfered with Relm and her doings. Most of the time she appeared to be a loner pup all on her own. It was a little unsettling to her that she had a father who was the only one she shared her life with and he treated her so distantly. "I kinda want to run away." She confessed, again less emotional with a shrug of her shoulder. She didn't even expect the brute to put his two cents in at all, she didn't care if he did or not. But at least she was able to get a physical plan out of her mouth, it felt like it was starting to come together now. Walk "Talk" Think

Rhae released the tension he hadn't realized had been building up in his shoulders as she began to speak. Once he realized that she wasn't going to be a ball of emotional stress and start crying on him it was easier for him to listen to her. He hadn't quite known what to expect when he'd opened himself up to a conversation with her. Feelings other than base carnal desires, anger, and well that was pretty much it. He wasn't sure what he would have done if she'd just burst into tears, but he appreciated that she seemed to be better than expected. His world and way of living were way different than most. He grew up fighting and learning how to lock his emotions away if it didn't further his own skills. Being an emotional pin cushion for another wolf? Definitely not anywhere near his skill set. The idea that her father could be watching them set him on edge. Unconsciously an ear flicked towards behind him to see if he could pick up on anything, but he wasn't quite sure if it would get him anywhere. His immediate solution would have been to fight the man, but that was his go-to solution for everything. Fight it into submission. She seemed to have a better, far less violent, plan in mind. He snorted out a soft chuckle as he eyed her curiously. "I would if I were you, fuck all that." He wasn't overly helpful, but he could see why she wouldn't want to deal with it anymore. It seemed she had her own hellscape and demons to deal with. Different than his own, but still similar in a way. If Mortar had stuck around he probably would have either mauled him or ran away himself. It was a good plan if she was tired of putting up with her father's shit. "Any idea where you'll go?" It reminded him he still needed to start heading back north. Zosime was probably pissed at him. The thought brought a smirk to his face. She was never going to let him hear the end of it this time. The thought briefly crossed his mind to invite Relm to join him. After their spar it'd opened him up to at least tolerating her company. He wouldn't have minded another traveling companion to spar with on a regular. There was also a part of him that wished to see Relm and Zo together. The idea of them butting heads and going at each others throats held the promise of some good old fashioned entertainment, even if the thought was rather twisted. It was a better alternative than admitting he sort of liked her company in a foreign kind of way. Walk, "Talk" Think

He spoke less than her but he gave enough emotion to put his point across. He knew about dad issues, so he wasn't going to talk her down from running away. And Relm sure did have some Daddy issues. She wasn't giving him everything he needed to hear, because he didn't need to hear it. And he might not have cared. She probably wouldn't. She was more than capable to take care of herself as she was approaching a yearling. Even in this forsaken season. Even with her hidden ailments she thought so, knew so, anyway. She gave him a quick glance and slight smile as he rejected the thought of her stalker father, and he moved on to where she would go instead. It wasn't really an idea she brought to mind, she just knew she had to get far away from him. Far, far away. He wouldn't be easy to lose, she had to think a plan out carefully and stay on her toes after the deed. She didn't think Kefka would hurt her, but she certainly thought he would hurt anyone who harbored her. She was thinking along the lines of her needing to stay with him. But in reality, Kefka would have never believed that Relm would have run away and assumed she was being held against her will. Clearly that wouldn't be the case, Kefka would be entirely blindsided when the time came. "Far. Away." She exaggerated with a quiet chuckle, raising a brow and a little extra on her grin that time too. She still didn't really have an idea, but she believed it would come to her when the time came. Her gaze looked back out at the frozen oceans, she definitely found more comfort in that rather than the young brute she didn't necessarily hate. She still would have rather had his teeth in her. "I'm not going to make it home tonight." She stated, not really intending anything to come out of it. But the sun was nearly finishing off now, there was absolutly no way she would make it back tonight, or tomorrow morning, or even beyond that. Walk "Talk" Think

It was hard to imagine that he was sitting here having an almost normal conversation with someone. Most of the time he found other's presence annoying. Lately he'd been plagued by various wolves all under a year who seemed to have an endless supply of questions. That or he just had buttons that were quite easy to press. Maybe a mixture of both? For once he was glad that nobody expected him to be normal and he wouldn't be tormented with a torrent of "who are you, why are you so angry, let me annoy you to death with my endless supply of words". He'd fully accepted he would never fit in with the general populace. So long as Relm didn't hold any high expectations of him and would be fine with settling any disputes by beating each other up then he assumed that their "friendship" would be fine. He had expected a more detailed plan from the resolve she'd shown, but he supposed he understood why she didn't. So long as she got away, there "where" part didn't matter. He stared at her grinning face for a brief moment before following her gaze across the ocean. Her statement sounded absolute to him. "I'm heading north..." He started off, saying it slowly as though he'd lost his train of thought. The truth was he wasn't good with being nice. He didn't do things for other wolves and he certainly didn't offer to have them accompany him. "You could come with me if you like." He was cringing inwardly now, refusing to look at the woman. Her telling him nose would be the easiest thing to relive the awkwardness he felt. The words had felt foreign like a stranger was speaking them, but it was too late to snatch them from the air. She would have heard him speak them by now. It was probably about the kindest thing he'd offered for everyone with the exception of fighting on the behalf of someone which he supposed didn't really count. Fighting the bear with Zosime had been more of a survival instinct than an act of valor. Excluding that, he'd never done anything nice for anyone. He tended to be a selfish little fuck who did things for himself and got annoyed with everyone before he even had a chance to show he had a tolerable side of him. That being said, he wasn't sure how to feel other than this unbearable awkwardness that sat heavy in his chest. Walk, "Talk" Think

His offer was strangely genuine, awkwardly genuine. If they hadn't met before she would have taken it a different way. A joke maybe, or perhaps some kind of weird way to lure her in to kill her. But she found herself similar to the brute, and she wouldn't write off what he was trying to do. Of course, she wouldn't jump right in all willy nilly happy as a clown. Instead she chuckled quietly, her chin pulled in to her chest and her eyes closed for a few seconds while she was amused at his attempt to be nice. Her face turned toward him again, her working eye turning again to see him better but with a raised brow, "As long as you promise to stick your teeth in me every once in a while." She may have been putting it off as a joke if only to make him feel less awkward about his offering. She should have after all turned it around, wanting to put her teeth into him. But she meant what she said and she wasn't joking. She finally stood up, her gaze moving back out to the ocean. This encounter may have been a bit awkward, the two of them more aggressive than wanting to sit down, have tea, and exchange gifts. Relm tried to make their conversation more tolerable at least. She hoped the brute noticed. She couldn't just up and go with him to the north. The north, ugh. She tried to choke it down. She wanted away from her father but she didn't necessarily want to be alone. And she wasn't quite fond of pack life, or at least she didn't really know how to feel about it. "I can't just go tonight though." She stated, she knew she had to plan this out right. "He'll come looking for me. I'll have to plan ahead, make different tracks." Walk "Talk" Think

Rhaegath waited in agony for her answer. Ready for the simple yes or not to end the torment he'd just set himself up for. He doubted anything in life would ever be as hard as trying to do something nice for someone else. He much preferred physical torture over whatever the hell this was. He wasn't sure what he'd been waiting for, but her answer was surprising and unsurprising at the same time. The awkwardness fell away as a soft chuckle fell past his lips. His body relaxing with each passing second. Nothing had changed. She didn't look at him like he'd grown two heads. It would be as simple as she'd travel with him and they'd get the opportunity to fight one another whenever they wished. It still astounded him that he'd managed to find a similar damaged soul akin to his own that preferred clashing teeth rather than gushy feelings and talking. "I think that can be arranged." He enjoyed any opportunity to cause physical pain to someone else. And she was asking for it? Even better. His gaze followed her as she stood up and looked back to the ocean. He'd never had the displeasure of meeting her father. He wasn't entirely sure what she'd have to do to get away from him. The simplist answer in his mind was just to fight him for her freedom; but that was her choice, not his, to make. If she wanted to go through the effort to come up with a different plan to run away from him then that was all her. "Stick to rivers, double back on your trail, and maybe roll in something smelly to throw off your scent." He suggested. He'd never run from anything in his life, but he at least knew what to do to keep someone from finding him. "You can always meet up with me later once you've lost him." Walk, "Talk" Think

His advice wouldn't go unheard, she after all hadn't done this before. But had he? It was a thought that rushed through her mind. In fact, she barely knew anything about the young brute other than their like-minded interests. "Whatever you say wise guy." Relm typically came off as pretty rude to others. Whether she meant to or not. Kefka's personality rubbed off on her drastically, he was the one she spent most of her life with anyway. Not that it was prominent to herself but she hoped that Rhaegath would see past her behavior, read her mind, maybe those things weren't exactly easy expectations. But at least if she pissed him off enough, he would hold up to his promise of making her bleed. She finally went to turn away from the icy shores of the beach, stopping closer to Rhaegath after a few steps to mention, "I'll probably stay in the caverns nearby tonight. I'll have hell to deal with when I go back home though." She almost wanted to mention that she could handle Kefka anyway, her voice cut off rather abruptly as she took an inhale to continue but nothing followed. She may have considered that a lie, not that she was really against lying. She had seen Kefka kill her mother, and she wouldn't expect anything less of him even to her. She once admired her father religiously, and he broke her apart with everything he forced her to do. And he broke her from not giving his child an affection that she openly craved, that any pup would especially in the absence of their mother or any company. How could he be so naive to not see her own resentment boiling over the surface. She'd start to move off towards the time's cavern to rest up before the longer journey back to the southern lands of Auster. She didn't expect Rhaegath to follow her or even say good luck, it wouldn't have hurt her feelings. Walk "Talk" Think

A brow rose at her comment, but no offense was taken. He would hold up to his promise of hurting her. Her irritating him would only help further that. If she wanted to fight then he'd happily give her one. Until such time, well she had an old man to get rid of and he needed to go track down Zosime. He wasn't entirely sure if Relm had even taken his advice to heart, but he didn't care one way or another. If she wanted to make her life harder by making it easy to find her then that was her prerogative. His gaze followed her as she stepped closer and spoke once more. "Have fun, I don't envy you." He was at least glad his father had chosen to leave him alone rather than continue to pester him for the rest of his life. In fact, had he tried, Rhae probably would have tried to kill him at some point. As it stood, he didn't have to deal with it any more. Now Relm just had to figure out how to get rid of Kefka and then he'd have another woman following him. He train of thought stopped at that one. Two woman following him everywhere. ugh. What had he just signed himself up for? He supposed he'd find out. At least if they got too annoying he could just fight Relm again. Zo too since she was getting bigger. He supposed he could handle it. Relm started to walk away from him and he rose to his feet, barely giving her another glance as they parted ways. "See ya around, Relm." He said before continuing his way down the beach. He supposed he had to go track down the other annoying pest that followed him. She was probably furious with him. -exit Rhae- Walk, "Talk" Think