Location:: The Boneyard

They had headed west as she suggested, and Duchess knew this part of Auster wasn't the most beautiful. The south central lands of Auster were arid and mostly barren, this was an easy show of that.

Duchess' paws are careful over the surface, her eyes were ahead but her paws were wary along the crumbling ground. She had been here before, maybe her movements had shown that. Her ears flicked around but it seemed they were the only ones here. She wasn't so worried about what they would come across though. Hopefully they would cross through quickly. She only briefly turned her cheek towards the brute to make sure he was still close by.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

Artorias had never been to the Boneyard before. There'd been no reason to explore the desolate barrens littered with long-dead remains picked clean by scavengers and the elements. But the sylphlike fae had led him out of the maze of bamboo and in this direction, so he followed her, his larger frame dwarfing hers as they walked nearly side by side. Massive paws trudged easily over the craggy terrain, navigating it as easily as she did with her more fluid and graceful movements. Artorias wasn't scared of the Boneyard like he had been as a puppy—but it certainly didn't stop him from being creeped out by the whole vibe of this place.

The two wolves walked quickly across the terrain. Every so often, Artorias would turn his fiery gaze down to Duchess, though why he didn't quite know. It might have been to make sure they remained together and she was in his sight, but they hadn't separated since leaving the bamboo, so that didn't quite fit. "It's so quiet out here," he murmured in observation, taken aback by just how lifeless the arid land truly was. "It's like we're the only wolves out here." The misting rain continued across the land, keeping the air cool and damp, but doing little to help the water-parched ground.

"Artorias Carpathius"

They both traversed the boneyard carefully, each of their own sizes against the rough terrain. Duchess avoided the bones her paws came across, certainly not interested in making contact. The land was brittle, and it was like there was no life here at all. At least with Dragon's Blood Grove, there was still life inside the lands. These were literally filled with long time death.

She carefully glanced towards him as he spoke the obvious, though Duchess had been testing it through her ears. Only the rain was around them, but that was nothing new to her. "Auster has been like that for a long time." She had lived in near solitude with Draco for all of her young life, but she hadn't traveled as far east to notice when the pack moved in. Her relationship with Draco was mutual despite the harsh memories that surrounded him. She couldn't say she didn't miss him at times. "You were born in The Hallows?" She asked quietly, as if to start conversation or at least get the dreary surroundings away from them. "As notable as you are, I don't recall your name." Her voice edged on shy in a bit of embarrassment because he did hold a high place in the pack during her time there. His name was said at the one meeting she attended, but she was tending to Indigo and the band's leave during those times. "My name is Duchess."

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

For a while, neither wolf spoke, both of them alert while they crossed the craggy, dangerous terrain. It was only once Artorias had begun to speak that his traveling companion chimed in as well, explaining that all of Auster was like that. He hummed pensively; she must not have encountered Fenmyre then. While chunks of Auster did remain isolated, more and more activity had begun to spring up on the southern continent. A couple different bands and groups had passed through and travelers of all sorts seemed to seek out the Hallows on a semi-regular basis. Auster was beginning to flourish, no doubt in part to the two packs taking up residence there .

The violet and ebony woman asked if he'd been born in the Hallows, and Artorias nodded his head. "I was. Spent my whole life in the pack." Well, sans the one season he spent training with the Armada. "My mothers led the pack for a while, before... before Ulric took over." Artorias carefully avoided bringing up Resin's death. There was no need to dredge up that downer of a conversation. The diminutive fae mentioned not knowing his name despite his affluence, and the large dire brute gave a short laugh. "I dunno about 'notable'..." he replied with a bashful grin and folded ears. "I'm Artorias. It's a pleasure to meet you, Duchess."

They were almost across the Boneyard by now without anything dangerous surprising them; a relief, to be sure. "Do you always travel alone, Duchess?" he asked, turning curious fire opal eyes toward her again. He was more than a little surprised that a fae as pretty as her was wandering the world alone. From what he recalled, the band she'd left with had all seemed so... intimately close. Or at least she had been with its giant leader. Something must have happened to have her roam solitary for now.

"Artorias Carpathius"

With green grasses on the short horizon in front of them, Duchess picked her pace just slightly so they could get out of the desolate yards. It wasn’t the most attractive place to be at least. Even her time here with Segin was spent just straight shooting through quickly to get to the other side.

The brute spoke, not stumbling on words but with a cut in his voice. She knew he was referring or at least thinking of Resin’s death. She knew Resin herself though maybe not too personally. Her death had taken a toll on Indigo too. She didn’t respond in any manner to bring up the situation, just nodded and continued to move through the land. She smiled gently to his own quiet laughter, she was probably testing the waters with flirting with him. More subtly than normal.

He asked if she had traveled alone, her jaw tensed slightly to the thought of leaving the band behind so often these days. "More recently yes." It wasn’t a lie, though she still regrouped with the band and hunted for them when she felt like it. It was kore dependent on her mental state. "I came down to Auster to scout for resources for the band. I think we will be moving south again soon."

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

Duchess' subtle efforts were working on the young brute. Though they were sharing small talk, Artorias didn't realize Duchess was testing the waters between them, so to speak, finding it just a conversation without the overt flirtation to raise any red flags. He noted how her saw set when he mentioned her traveling alone and the band. Ah, so there was something sore on that subject. Art made a mental note to not bring up the band again. Duchess explained that she was recently a solo traveler, and that she was scouting the lands for resources for the band. The prospect of them moving back to Auster for a time came up and Artorias gave an understanding nod. "You're always welcome to crash at the Hallows for a while if you need beds, food, maybe some good drink," he offered with a rakish grin. "We've gotten very good at producing wine now, and the cellar's always full of the stuff. If you partake, of course."

It wasn't long before the pair had reached the opposite side of the Boneyard, their paws finding bus green grasses once more. Artorias paused long enough to glance back over the arid and lifeless segment of Auster. Yeeeah, he'd be happy to never come back here again. Turning bright eyes back to Duchess and to the lands they were headed for, he felt the rejuvenated excitement of exploration and discovery welling within his heart. "So, where are we headed next?" he asked his partner, wondering just what sort of resources she was scouting for.

"Artorias Carpathius"