Atreus trotted south, and south, and south some more, before he finally came to the land he'd been told to find if he wanted to get experience fighting strangers. He'd camped close by that night, devoured a rabbit in the chilly autumn evening, and now this morning he'd arrived as the sun was still barely over the horizon to survey the land. It wasn't particularly impressive compared to his own wild, mountainous home. Just a kind of flattish plain with a few rocks and some ponds. The autumn-browned grasses were splashed in places with blood, though, and he could smell it thickly in the air, as though it had soaked so much of the earth as to be a permanent fixture. He could get behind that. He stalked around a bit longer to get his bearings on the terrain before he stopped and raised his heavy muzzle to call out for an opponent, as he'd been instructed.

She had been here before. A few times and honestly, her opponents had gotten the best of her. Of course, they both had been Alphas of other packs so she wasn’t quite surprised. It may have left a sore bruise to her ego, but she wouldn’t let it tamper her efforts to get better. Spending nearly every afternoon training within the castle’s training arenas, she was getting better. Better enough that she slipped out through the doors and made her way north.

Across the land bridge, through the canyons and over the hills until she stopped for a rest right at the border. Ensuring her gear was okay, her companions well-rested, and her belly full, Bramble set out across the field. Time seemed to not pass here. The same bloodstains littered the rocky floor as she picked her way toward the center of the plains. Tumbleweeds danced by as she searched. Her teal eyes switched back and forth until her ears picked up the sound of a howl.

Someone was requesting a sparring partner. It would be perfect! She couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. Without wasting any more time, Bramble moved to make her way toward the caller. Thankfully it would take no time at all until she was approaching a slightly shorter but denser male that roughly her age. Her tail wags a few times without her notice - it is just a reaction she is used to when seeing another wolf.

“Ready to dance?” Bramble says as she comes to pause a few feet away from him.