Reunited with his brother was just a box checked off his list. There were things Viktor needed to get done, and if you wanted things done right, he'd do them himself. Learning the lay of the land, getting to know the wolves that inhabited it. All things that would only come with firsthand knowledge, and exploration. Undeterred by the strange geological events, Viktor was going to learn. He would know this place. He would know the wolves, the packs, the structures that existed here. Getting to the bottom of it, and allowing his thirst for knowledge to drive him, the man ventures south.

Carefully shifting between the borders of packs, he wouldn't come so close as to toe the lines. Not yet. Not before he knew where the threats were, and what those threats may entail. The weather grew colder as Viktor trailed south, walking the length of a gulch between hills. A place that looked like it should be grassy in warmer days, hampered by slushy snow-- grey and well-trodden. Strange, but not all together unpleasant. He'd climb the hillside and use that as a vantage point, looking out across the shifting landscape. A regal picture against the red afternoon, all told.
"speech"

coded by NachoMumma

Between her dramatic loss in the raid, and the red sun shifting earth in the Shimmering Shore, a blow had been made to Lia’s confidence. She had been on the path to getting somewhere too. She’d been letting the momentum carry her, and it had gotten her far. She found herself ranked in a new pack, her revenge on her stepmother complete. For a moment, it had seemed there was nowhere to go but up.

Now… now she wasn’t so sure. She found herself pacing away from the pack, struggling with the emotions roiling inside of her. She didn’t mind the cold, and paid little attention to the landscape around her. She almost slipped by the stranger on the hillside without noticing him, but her little fox alerted suddenly at her side. She turned her attention across, and then up. Notting the dark wolf on his perch, set to survey this land.


"Lia"

Outlined against the ruddy landscape, swathed in strange light, her antlers catch his attention first. Prey? No, the body shape is canine. A wolf, with a crown of antlers placed elegantly on her head. Viktor assess her openly, coming to the conclusion that they're not worn but grown. He doesn't allow for surprise to color his expression, only appreciation.

"I'm not intruding, am I?" His words cut through the stillness, the tenuous calm of the red afternoon. Though Viktor knows he hasn't crossed any pack boundaries, at least not blatantly, he could only hope her response would give him a bit more clarity on both his situation and location. An easygoing, confident smile colors his face, though he doesn't come down. Not yet.

"speech"

coded by NachoMumma

It was no surprise that the wolf had seen her first. Her attention had warned, and he was clearly scouting out the territory. How long had his eyes been on her? There was a hint of something in his eyes that she wasn’t entirely sure of. “Oh, no, not at all.” She promised him, coming to a full stop and turning her attention up towards the stranger. Her doubts didn’t mistically leave her, but some distraction seemed to hold them at bay, at least for a little while.

“I admit my mind was elsewhere. I didn’t disturb you did I?” she asked in return, a very light hint of tease in her voice, as if she didn’t quite have the confidence to commit to it.

"Lia"