In the face of what Kerberos acknowledged to be the truth regarding himself, he knew that there was something …disorienting about having no specific path beyond that he was meant to be in these lands. He was, however temporary (at least, he sincerely hoped this was temporary) a nomad but he felt measurably lost without a nudge from Atka, who had been exceedingly, perhaps frustratingly silent. Her presence remained, of course, she had never truly left Kerberos’ side since he had seen her rise from the sea-foam in Shearwater Bay so many months ago, yet he felt like he’d, stupidly, misplaced his compass and was now just wondering in giant circles. He had scented, at least, two packs in the area though he knew nothing of them, and while Kerberos understood that they weren’t going to, magically, appear and spout off all the information that he desired to know about them, he was hesitant to approach their borders to simply inquire. His social skills were still, probably to Atka’s dismay though the Nereides Spawn felt no impatience from the Mother of Light, an extreme work in progress. He still shied away from being the first to speak in conversations and requesting information sort of warranted that he speak first, didn’t it?

Here in this forest he might one day come to know as Neverwinter Forest, it was dark, the canopy above stubbornly refusing to let the sunlight through it’s towering conifers. It was cooler in the confines of this forest then it had been in the hot springs, naturally, but there was something ominous about the forest that had salt water frosted, wet sand colored hackles to bristle with uncertainty along the curve of his spine. Bright, sea-green eyes took in his darkened path as he stepped slowly, cautiously, shrugging past overgrown shrubbery, feeling it tangle in the coarse tendrils of his fur. Seaweed swathed pearl was drawn tighter into his jaws, head lifting up to keep it out of the greedy grasp of sharp branches so it may not tear. If he lost his precious pearl, a gift of the Sea, a reminder of who he was and who he would become, Kerberos would probably go into a conniption. He shouldn’t have needed it but importantly, he wanted it. It was all he had took when he’d left, it was the trinket that he had decided he could not part with. The other trinkets had been either given back to the Sea, given to Atka and Sos’ shrines, or given to Silatyok (Tokio fears she is butchering the spelling) whom Kerberos had been…semi-romantically involved with.

Something grayscale moved up ahead, catching Kerberos’ attention, and the Aok boy froze, muscles pulling taunt as he studied the creature that neared, crouching in the barren shrubbery that was mostly dead twigs -- forgetting that Kerberos, sand colored as he was, looking much like his mother Aktaie (except for the cream of Lecter’s natural fur that dominated his chest and underbelly), that he did not blend well. Head lowered as he set his fragile possession down between his front paws, gingerly trapping the wrapped parcel between them for safe-keeping leaving his muzzle free, not that, mind you, he had any intentions of speaking to what his nose told him was a her -- and likely a pack wolf. Instead, Kerberos contented himself with watching her cautiously hoping that she didn’t see him (though this was likely, a futile hope).

Kerberos’ hope, though he had been aware it had been foolish, had proved to be futile. Sea-green eyes peered around him sheepishly when she called out to him. Yeah, Kerberos thought sarcastically, Great hiding place, Kerb,. She had invited the conversation with her simple, inquiring ‘hey’ and now, social society dictated that he had no choice but to indulge her. Ears thrust forth on his skull as a soft, barely audible sigh snaked it’s way from his flared, leathery nostrils. The girl’s posture was neutral and, at least, she was giving him plenty of space. The amazon/siren prince spawn was grateful that she’d acknowledged that he was (maybe not socially awkward) not exactly looking for conversations. It didn’t matter if, really, that Kerberos didn’t look for them but that they found him anyway; and while Kerberos classified that piece of truth as rude, it wasn’t meant to be sure. The nameless girl continued on with a little explanation of scenting him and finding him to say ‘hi’.

Despite himself, Kerberos found this sort of fishy suspicious. Who tracked someone down just to say ‘hi’? Obviously, Kerberos did not stop to consider that this was usually how these things happened, mostly because he wasn’t the type of wolf that went searching for social situations. He blinked at her, feeling the bizarre look that was perplexing as it crossed his muzzle. “Uh,” Pause was given. “Hi?” This was really awkward. Or was he the only one that felt it? A lot of things were awkward for Kerberos. He was just, still, an awkward creature. Not physically awkward anymore but mentally, now as he stumbled through the abysmal transit of teen to adult thought processes. He was trapped in that cocoon with no idea what he would be when he finally emerged from it. “Sure.” In truth, he had a lot of moments, too many, actually. It was curiosity that kept Kerberos grounded and pushed him to let her know that he did, indeed, have time to spare for her.

If Kerberos would have had the ability to read her mind and know that he, accidentally, was causing insecurities that Koontz suffered from to rise up, he would have, indefinitely, felt bad. Just as he did not understand her, she, given their status’ as strangers to one another, likely, couldn’t understand that he was just a socially awkward duckling. It was no one’s fault but his own and he was, honestly, trying to work on it but having been a hermit for most of his life, Kerberos was discovering that old habits truly did die hard, and it was taking a lot of effort coupled with encouragement from Atka. Kerberos understood the ‘Alpha’ and diplomacy part of her out-burst but the ‘Windwalker’ thing just went right over the Aok boy’s head. For a second, Kerberos seriously considered not answering. “Ok,” He finally offered her slowly, not sure why she chose him as a subject to build her skills since he was horrible at socializing. Of course, she probably didn’t have much of an option for, besides herself, he was the only wolf around, currently.

She decided to attempt to save what ever she found salvageable from their…conversation, and started over, starting with her name and a title and a pack name. This was immediately, a little more comfortable to Kerberos than just a random information dump on things that just went right over his ignorant (in the matters of her pack, at least) head. “Beta, huh? T-that’s impressive.” He spoke demurely, glimpsing down at his seaweed wrapped fragile package, wedged tightly and possessively between his front paws. After all, Koontz -- he reminded himself her name was -- couldn’t be much older than himself, if he had to guess. It reminded him of how Jinx and Kaskae had risen to take the helm of Shearwater Bay at a mere six months of age. The reaction had been very mixed from the members, some outraged that two pups were taking up the crown, some supportive. Kerberos fell under the latter group. He would have defended Jinx and Kaskae, willingly, to his last breath if that would have been what it took to ensure they continued to lead. They were his sisters and they had both been taught that valuable skills of leadership by Nanuq. “I’m Kerberos Aok, uh, ex-Mariner from Shearwater Bay.” The title was old but it was all he had. “Current nomad, I guess.” He added almost sheepishly, his tail giving a slight wag behind him.

The mention of his home seemed, at least it appeared to be this way to Kerberos, to have pricked Koontz’s interest. “So are you one of uh, Aether’s or March Owl’s…or someone else’s entirely?” Kerberos asked because the interpersonal workings of pack relationships outside of Shearwater Bay did not tend to reach Kerberos, so he had no idea that Aether and March Owl (eventually) became mates; and because Kerberos realized his question was, more or less, prying decided he’d offer some information about himself in compensation. “I’m one of Nanuq Kesuk’s kids. I mean, she adopted me, but she’s pretty much the only mother I’ve known, so yeah,“ Kerberos corrected himself trailing off awkwardly because there was, likely, a good chance that Koontz didn’t care. “I, uh, met March Owl…once when I was younger. She confused me with someone named Nevs, at first.” Kerberos recalled in a soft tone, looking at his sand colored paws for a few seconds before his sea-green eyes drifted back up to her, demurely, bashfully as was usual for Kerberos.

“Well, I don’t know how much you know about Shearwater or our religion but, one night I had a dream about Atka. She’s the bear god of light -- and other things, but she told me that it was time for me to leave. Said that it was important to the tasks she required of me.” Which Kerberos did not feel right divulging in so he would not, but basically, what he told Koontz was the gist of the exchange between the slumbering Kerberos and his God. “So, here I am. And you? I bet it doesn’t sound, uh, as crazy as mine.” Kerberos said in an attempt to be jesting without, hopefully, bringing down Atka’s seldom seen wrath upon him (because he didn’t think her tasks were a joke at all). To other wolves, their religion might not have been seen as ‘serious’ and Kerberos tried to be as accommodating as he could out of common courtesy for the beliefs of others.

Initially, Kerberos had no idea who ‘Aer’ and ‘Mo’ were before it sunk in a few second later -- who was he just talking about, after all?! -- and he shook his head, wondering why Koontz called them by nicknames instead of ‘mother’ or ‘father’. Idly, though he’d never ask, Kerberos wondered if maybe she was adopted too, or maybe the Flightless Falcons were just strange. To the Aok, his own informality made sense to him; after all his family status was confusing, but it wasn’t his place to judge and he left it go because well, there was not much else for him to do. “Huh,” Kerberos mused but did not dwell upon it further. It had been a long time ago, and though the confusion had always seemed to have stuck with Kerberos it was not something he often paid mind too.

“Yeah, it…is,” Kerberos hedged, sucking in a breath to let it out. “But I didn’t -- don’t,” Kerberos corrected himself softly. “question Atka. She is just as infinite as her knowledge, so she must have a good reason.” Kerberos had always been a homebody so being parted from Shearwater wore at his anxiety, making him itch, now more so than ever, to crawl back in his hermit shell, but Atka did not want that and, devout as Kerberos was, was not willing or eager to disappoint. Kerberos was, briefly, taken off guard when Koontz inquired about the bears, taking a step towards him. Small, perhaps, but noticeable to the Aok boy. He blinked his sea-green eyes at her for a few moments, before he offered her a tentative smile, settling onto his haunches, tucking his tail close to his left leg; a much more comfortable position. “Uh, sure,” Her interest was humbling to the devout boy, though after a moments hesitation he offered, “My beliefs are a little…er different than the traditional, I guess. It’s uhm, because I was, uh, am, I guess, a Nereides spawn. So my interpretation of Atka ties in with the Sea and some of the Nereides’ faith, but I know all the how-you’re-supposed-to-worship-but-Kerberos-is-an-outsider stuff.” Kerb said with something of a cheeky grin that turned sheepish with a slight rise and fall of his shoulders.

“What do you want to know?” It seemed, to Kerberos, to let her decide where she wanted to start and how much she wanted to know.