This territory, one of the ones right next to their home, was an interesting one. The grasses here had already begun growing brown, showing signs of dying off at winter’s approach. But there were still the scents and signs of different prey animals here, taking in water from the lake that gave the place its name. Simurgh padded alongside the dog companion her father had given her as she scanned the territory with curiosity. She had spent so long within their pack’s territory, more focused on hanging out close to home, but there was so much of the world to be seen! Sim’s tail wagged behind her as that mischievous side of her mind started coming to the front to play. Surely she could find something more interesting to do than just explore this territory, right?

And that was when her gaze fell on a medium-sized cat drinking from one of the smaller parts of the lake. It was a caracal, a creature with sandy fur and ear tufts that looked so soft and fuzzy! Without giving her companion warning Simurgh let out a whoop and charged for her newfound opponent. The cat had no idea that the pup was coming for it until she crashed into its back legs and began trying to wrestle it to the ground. The cat was thrashing as it tried to pull itself away from the young wolf, not pleased that this kid had suddenly decided it looked like it wanted to fight!

"Speech," 'Thought.'

When it came to the western lands of Boreas, fall and the subsequent arrival of winter tended to be a relief more than anything, at least according  to Veigar. Though he'd grown up in these parts he never quite loved baking under the hot summer sun. He much preferred the cooler seasons that followed. The cooler, cloudier days had a way of making Veigar feel a little less reclusive - not that he tended to wander too far from home anyway. Under the watchful eye of his raven companion though his traveling radius was growing, slowly but surely.

He was sure he'd come this way before, but it was unfamiliar enough that he couldn't be entirely certain. He moved slowly, nose low to the ground and he tested the scents here and imprinted them into memory. This place was plentiful with prey animals, with water, with... wolves, among other creatures. At least one currently, judging by the young scent that he caught wind of. Interesting.

At least a kid was less of a threat than a fully grown wolf. He moved slowly, not as though he expected he could go completely undetected, but he liked to hear who he was about to roll up on before he made his presence known. Before he could get much closer though he heard the sound of a scuffle. Veigar stood a bit taller, feeling his fur bristle uncomfortably. Surely they weren't fighting over a spot here at this watering hole? The humidity in the air told him this was far bigger than a puddle.

"Not enough room for the two of you?" He called out, unsure whether he was making the right assumption about what was going on but speaking with as much certainly as he could muster. If he was mistaken he could pass off the comment as a joke, or simply leave - wasn't like this wolf smelled like any pack he was familiar with anyway.

Fangs found flesh as Simurgh tumbled with her opponent, the cat growling as it wrapped forelegs around her body. She heard the huff of her dog, the canine swiftly moving to grab her and pull her away from the feline as a stranger made himself known. The cat was growling and spitting as it kicked her in the gut and made distance between them. It was focused on its aggressor, and as Simurgh was released by her companion, sucking in breath, she allowed her gaze to shift instead to the wolf that was there. He smelled of another pack and was older, but that didn’t bother her. Sim straightened, taking a couple extra breaths before she spoke.

“I was testing my strength.” Simurgh stated proudly, lifting her head so that she could peer at the stranger. “I’m not going to get stronger by just sitting around and not practicing my fighting. It’s about my size, it’s a fair fight.” Sim glanced over at the cat, who was still eying her warily. She stuck her tongue out at it before looking back at the older male. “Why do you ask?” Simurgh frowned. She hadn’t exactly realized that what she was doing might be considered “wrong”.

"Speech," 'Thought.'

Another scent reached his nose now, that of another canine. Interesting. He couldn't really make hide nor hair of what was unfolding, only that someone seemed to be in a sort of scuffle, evidenced by the growling and heavy breathing. But as he spoke, ears swiveling in the direction of the sounds, whatever was unfolding seemed to abruptly stop. His eyes stared blankly, unseeing, in the direction of the child and her companion.

When she spoke he only further honed in on their position, taking a few steps closer. "You're not wrong," Veigar admitted, as conversationally as he could muster. His gut instinct was always to try to seem as close to normal as possible - at least for as long as he could muster - so even if he didn't know who the voice had been fighting he'd agree right along with her. "Wish I'd started picking fights when I was your age. Smart."

Veigar could be nice enough... if not a little weird. There was no reason to be mad at a kid, after all. He could handle his emotions better than that, anyway, especially these days. "I was just wondering if you'd try to get all territorial on me for stopping for a drink. Didn't know if maybe you lived around here or something." Veigar shrugged, sniffing at the air as he lowered his head slightly, turning toward the shore near to him and moving toward it.

Simurgh watched him as the male drew closer and, to her surprise, even agreed with her. This brought a confident smile back to the girl’s face, and she puffed up her chest as she looked up at the male. “I do my best! I want to become a strong fighter, and become someone in a leadership position like my dad one day. I can’t do that if I slack now.” The idea of applying herself, and getting some training in, filled the chimeric girl with energy. She wanted to be strong and make her family, and herself proud. In her mind Sim was already doing the things she needed to do in order to achieve that goal. If this stranger didn’t disagree, then surely her idea wasn’t wrong.

At his question, Sim blinked a bit in surprise. “Nah, not really territorial.” She explained. Should she have been? The importance of pack borders and relations was something she wasn’t really aware of yet, not that her family owned this land anyway. She was aware of the different scent on the man’s coat, but she assumed that was just the scent of his family and where he lived.  Glancing at her companion, she decided to make her way over to the water as well. Connecting with this male over a drink didn’t sound too bad. “My family lives close by, but we don’t live here.” She would go on to explain.

“You don’t seem to be close to your family right now. Why are you out here without them?” Seemed silly to come this far just to get a drink… so maybe he was doing something more. Maybe he had some sort of mission he was trying to fulfill?

"Speech," 'Thought.'