Bearclaw Valley intrigued him. Enveloped by impenetrable walls, the lush territory within seemed secure - a tiny world of its own, tucked away in the safety of its small mountain range. Circling around it, Talion found it to have only one entrance, which was tempting in its security and terrifying all the same. In the event of a flood or fire, a wolf could be easily trapped within its confines.
He noted yet another flaw: a pack, right on its outskirts. Giving their territory a wide berth, the young Roux-Abrhen made to avoid the wolves there entirely as he continued in his exploration of what could potentially become his home for the Winter. He made his way gingerly through the rocky mouth of the valley, careful of the uneven ground, though paused abruptly in his tracks at a sound just ahead. A voice, distinctly wolf, hollered joyfully and the thunder that followed was enough to cause Talion's heart to rise and take residence in his throat.
Someone had roused a stampede, and as the sterling yearling saw the herd of deer veer toward the territory's only opening - toward him - Talion promptly tucked himself away behind a sharp-sided boulder. As expected, the herbivores moved around him, some over him, too startled to even acknowledge his existence.
They vanished into the glade at his back, and Talion peered over a dark shoulder at their alabaster tails to exhale his relief. The boy gathered himself then, shaking debris from his coat, and flickered a raven lobe in the direction of an enraged voice.
At once, he made his way swiftly in the direction the voice had come from, and happened across an infuriated male as he rounded on a young female. "What happened!?" he huffed, gathering his breath as he eased to stop beside the duo, pulse still racing from avoiding being trampled. The dark brute was clearly pissed off, leading Talion to assume that the fault lay with the young wolfess who now faced the offended stranger's fangs.
He could see the dark brute's point: he'd been tracking the deer, intent on keeping the herd close to his own pack's territory as a rich food source so they did not need to travel so far to hunt in Winter's fast approach. The pair continued to bicker, spitting insults and testing patience, and Talion couldn't help but think of how pitiful the entire argument was. The herd would be on alert for a while as a result of the female's surprise chase, but they would settle and likely return to the lush grazing that the valley had to offer.
When an opening on the day left room for his input - he had almost been trampled on his way along the path, after all - Talion opened his jaws in attempt to encourage peace between them, but promptly closed his mouth when the young wolfess shot him a mischievous grin. While she may not be a Nereides, he fully acknowledged that she was a female and as such, would be stubborn as hell.
The offended Northerner took his leave, but not without rumbling something in the girl's direction. His words were of an unfamiliar language and meant nothing to him, and so Talion merely observed his departure with pale eyes. "Wow," the young Roux-Abrhen said when the strange male disappeared among the foliage, "he must be fun at parties."