The sun set far sooner than Álarr was ready for but such was the features of winter. The days would grow ever shorter, the nights even longer. A pastel haze of cream and soft rose colored the horizon as the last of day began to fade from view. Álarr continued to tend to his broken paw and with Brynhildr's help he'd gotten a fire going and now laid next to it while he pulled juniper berries off the cedar stems. It was a mix that would typically be used for arthritis but the effect on inflammation and swelling would help with his injury. In the mean time he listened to the quiet hush of evening, made even fore silent by the absence of birds that had already migrated south.

The older he got, the harder he found it to really settle in somewhere new. Not that he'd had much practice doing that. So far Avalon was a perfectly fine place to settle, though truthfully as long as he was with Twig he had no doubt he'd make wherever they ended up feel like home. Today he simply felt grateful to be alive and well, no matter where he was, though a short stroll across the Range helped him feel reinvigorated once again.

Night would soon be upon them and he'd return to the den he and Twig shared, but there was a sliver of daylight left he intended to enjoy. It seemed he wasn't the only one who had such a thing in mind though, as a mostly-cream colored male came into his view. Whatever he was doing, Corvus wasn't quite sure, but he was eager to get to know his packmates now that he'd begun to settle in. A gentle smile touched his lips as he approached, making no effort to conceal the sounds of his pawsteps. "Evening," he rumbled softly. "Mind some company?" Small talk had never been his strength, but he always found a way to be friendly and personable to his peers anyway.

Álarr set a bowl of water neear the fire to warm up and in the mean time he worked on mashing the juniper berries with his trusty deer femur pestle. Brynhildr nestled close to him, her white feathers blending with his snowy fur. Truth be told Álarr didn't feel nearly as prepared for this winter as he'd like to be. He'd only just started feeling settled and had barely gotten time to gather and preserve herbs for the winter. At least he was already familiar with these lands so it didn't take him as long to find what he was looking for.

Álarr looked up as an earthen man approached and greeted him, asking if he'd mind company. "Not at all, please sit." The man seemed familiar but Álarr could not remember if they'd ever met so he opted just to introduce himself. "My name is Álarr Imperialis, a healer here. What of you?"

Twig was far craftier than he could ever imagine being, so he wasn't completely oblivious when he saw Álarr doing something by the fire, even if he wasn't completely sure what exactly he was doing. In his younger years, he likely wouldn't have paid much mind to something like this but now that he was older he found himself more intrigued by things he knew little about. No doubt that was just a sign of getting older, he supposed. "Thanks," he rumbled, glad for some company. Though he was beyond content with Twig at his side, they'd both grown lonely living alone. The security of being surrounded by a pack was definitely something they both found themselves missing.

"Corvus Destruction. The name Imperialis sounds familiar," he mused out loud. He'd met so many wolves, so he wasn't sure where he'd heard the name from exactly, just that he had heard it before. "My wife and I joined Avalon not long ago. We were members of Abaven before it disbanded." The way his voice wavered slightly made it clear that wasn't his favorite topic, but he wouldn't shy away from it either.

The man mentioned his name as Corvus Destruction and Álarr's breath caught in his throat for a moment. A flicker of sadness touched his heart. Corvus explained that he and his wife joined Avalon after Abaven disbanded. "Ahh, I see. I can relate. I joined Avalon after Fireside disbanded. Seems there's been quite a few shifts in the pack landscape lately." Old packs fell, new ones rose, and there had been more challenges this past year than he could ever remember prior.

"I don't mean to pry, but did you know a woman named Rhythm by chance? She was my step-mother and she lived in Abaven." She was gone now to. Álarr felt the sting of loss. More and more he was becoming aware of how much he'd lost this past year.

Corvus knew very little about the packs that existed on this continent - or had ceased to exist, he supposed. He nodded somberly to Álarr's words. "That's the one thing we're always able to count on, isn't it? Change," he mused thoughtfully. He remembered how things changing had once seemed catastrophic, and while he still didn't necessarily like change, he knew it was always survivable no matter how hard it seemed.

"I remember Rhythm well," he answered quickly. "I was never close to her but I remember her being around for a good chunk of my life. She's my cousin Theory's grandmother." Thinking of Theory always brought a pang of guilt to his chest, and made him wonder if he hadn't done enough to find her. He had to hope he'd see her again someday, but with how much time had passed it was hard to be very hopeful at all. "So I guess in a way we're sort of related, at least by association," he suggested with a small grin. It was a stretch but it was nice to feel some sort of connection with someone here, since he hadn't really fully settled in yet.

Álarr nodded at Corvus' words about change. It was ever constant and while he knew it was an important part of life he couldn't help but wish it would slow its pace. Corvus stated that he'd know Rhythm and that she was the grandmother of his cousin Theory. It was a small world indeed. Álarr nodded. "So it would seem! I'm glad to meet someone else who knew her. Since the disbanding of my previous pack I've been feeling…" His tongue paused on the tip of his canine teeth and he shook his head for a moment. "The word I desire escapes me. Disconnected, perhaps. My whole life I've always been surrounded by my family. It is strange to be part of pack without them."

Though he tried not to let it get to him, the guilt was sometimes overwhelming. If Theory was out there somewhere, in desperate need of help, could she forgive him for not searching for her still? If she needed him and knew he was simply settling down somewhere new with Twig, daydreaming about a family they might never have... he tried not to think about it for too long. The truth was that she'd always be happy for him even despite everything, and deep down he knew that, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty.

At least the other male seemed pleased that Corvus knew his grandmother; the world really did feel small sometimes, even in all its vastness. His words hit close to home though and Corvus nodded along solemnly. "I know the feeling well. I'm lucky that I have my wife Twig alongside me now. Without her..." He'd always been a realist, knowing he could conquer anything, but she'd been at his side for so long now that he wasn't sure how he'd go on without her. "I'm not sure where I'd be, but surely not here." The smile he offered was a somber one at best. Her love felt so unconditional that imagining going on without her felt like a task too monumental for him to even imagine, so he made a point not to.