Kintla Flatlands in the heart of the beast they will lay

For @Valerius, set in some nondescript area of Kintla Flatlands. Seemed like a good middle ground for them to encounter one another!

He lost the herd somewhere in the mid-morning fog that had yet to burn off. A mere annoyance, Mordecai had been hoping to gauge where it was that they had been heading in their westerly direction. What he was really doing out there, away from the borders was another story entirely. It had been a good day for a pre-dawn run, a chance to exert energies that were otherwise pent up. A quiet calm had come to the Spine, and the leery worry as to whether or not it was good or bad had troubled him deeply. In a way, Sitri's words had been somewhat true, that bad things came at the end of calm periods; Mordecai's previous hope that it wasn't so was nothing more than a sliver now.

So getting out and away was perhaps the best practice he could have prescribed himself. He chose not to trouble the recruits beneath him, nor bring his concerns to Cara or Kaname, neither of which he had seen in days past. Her ventures at the borders seemed fewer and fewer, but the markings were strong as ever. She lingered in the territory and he, well, he found he still avoided her in light of all things. Her help, for the most part, was not something he found he wanted. He anticipated her eventual resistance. Huffing to himself, the herd was nowhere to be found beneath the edges of a stout copse canopy. They had eluded him, and he kicked at the ground irritably.

murder by death — that crown don't make you a prince

He had not ventured from The Sunspire since Ame had taken him in when he had wrongfully trespassed and led a predator cat into their lands. It was kind of amusing how even after he left Noctem Vagus, bad luck seemed to follow him everywhere. He had hoped that it would pass the moment he left Noctem Vagus to tried to make amends with his brother, that the fates and the gods would take pity on him but no. His life had to be miserable, the moment the doubting of his older brother began. The silvery white wolf cursed the moment his fatal flaw took over instead or reigning it and ruling it instead of it ruling him.

But he was healing, thanks to ignoring his exploring urges and not moving much, only patrolling his side of the borders. He was bleeding his life out, and he was still working, surely that earned him a few merits?

However this time, Vale had decided to leave The Sunspire for a bit. Nobody knew him at The Sunspire and he was pretty sure nobody would miss him. Only Ame and that gray pelted wolf who's name he had not bothered to remember even knew he existed. Leo was fine with that, no official meeting with his packmates until he looked more presentable without wounds crisscrossing his body.

Truthfully he didn't know where he was going, mostly just moving forwards, absorbing the scenes and scents that met him. The silver white wolf wasn't really very scruffy looking, instead he looked the opposite, sleek silver white fur, bright blue eyes, it was only the wounds that marred him for the moment. He would have to see which would turn into scars.

A moment later, he heard someone kicking something, the scent of a pack wolf, though not one that he had ever encountered. The scarred Roman moved forward silently, and saw the wolf though he made no movements to introduce himself, instead took a few steps forward, emerging from the shadows that hid him.

As he composed himself, Mordecai became acutely aware that he was not alone. There was simply just something about the way the air had shifted around him, some sort of tellatale sign that either he was being approached, or had unknowingly approached someone else. By the time he had brought himself to scan the terrain around him, it became a short search. From the fading shadows emerged another wolf, cloaked in a silvery, maybe even ivory coat. He stood out against the autumnal foliage, but not without an air of regality that Mordecai picked up on. For a moment, the tawny Ostrega wondered if he had stumbled in too close to a pack, but then doubted his speculation. This territory did not seem suitable for a pack, at least not with winter coming.

Holding his ground, he was absent of words and instead held a curious gaze. A quiet prompt, a greeting, Mordecai was not clear. Though he kept himself neutral, he couldn't help but study the electric blue gaze of the yearling, finding it was not unlike that of Lucius. But in the same stroke, Mordecai would have probably have been reminded of the ambitious yearling by any light-colored, blue-eyed wolf.

The silver white wolf watched with faint amusement at the other wolf with bright eyes of the ocean. The man reminded him strongly of Scipio, his younger brother, although this wolf was probably three years older than him. And it seems that, other than a bit of appearance resemblance, there was nothing in common between his brother of the sea and this stranger. Vale tilted his head sideways, the light catching the scar that marred his face, and deciding that if this male decided to be rude and not greet him, he would greet him instead with a bite. Or maybe not.

"Salve, greetings. May I ask, who are you?" he said politely with a regal dip of his head. It was formal, maybe too formal but it was his way. The mischievous glint was in his eyes, along with Angelus Mortis gleam of a genius or a madman, accompanied by the look that said however bad you think you are, I'm worse and it was true. But he didn't need to know that.

It seemed his silent greeting had been enough to prompt speech from the other, who queried Mordecai as to who he was. Though the wolf seemed young, the way he held himself spoke multitudes about him. While Mordecai had never been aware of any packs that rested directly within the plains, he also knew that he could have been wrong. A lot of things had changed since Silvertip had relocated itself to the Spine, and with that had come direct sideline knowledge of what was going on across that vast expanse of ground.

Dipping his head in acknowledgement, he was prompt in response. “Mordecai. Who are you?” The question was followed with a cant of his head, a curious query in which he used to try and determine just what kind of creature he had encountered. Perhaps he had a pack nearby, hence the exuded sense of reign. Or maybe he didn't; the thought had also occurred to the tawny Ostrega that there were plenty trying to get their act together and lay claim to something before the snow fell. The thought that the wolf before him was neither had yet to cross his mind.

The other wolf dipped his head and replied, saying his name was Mordecai. "I am Valerius Leo Angelus Mortis, or just Valerius". He didn't even know this wolf in front of him, there was no way he was going to tell this male to call him Vale or Leo. Those were reserved for wolves that knew him, pack members perhaps, but certainly not strangers you met in the middle of no where. Vale paused for a minute, brilliant blue eyes scanning him before speaking again. "So what brings you here to the middle of nowhere?" he tilted his head.

It was the tiniest attempt to start a conversation, it would be interesting to know about these lands that were called Teekon Wilds. He actually hadn't explore much lands yet, having been injured by a cougar and resting at the Sunspire. In fact, the mountains were the only place he had been in since his arrival, and the exploring, outriding blood in him could not stand being stuck in one place.

The name should have resonated within him. But it didn't, even when Mordecai connected it together as a mouthful. Chances were, in time after their meeting, he wouldn't remember it anyway. Valerius was much easier to remember, much easier to manage. Though Mordecai was far from just a simple-minded wolf, he preferred to keep things simple, and the omission of his full name came as readily as not introducing himself at all.

“Tracking. Not much else you can do in these parts, really.” Not that the Flatlands were boring either. Mordecai found beauty in them, found them easy to traverse, but there was usually not that much going on within them. No major threats unless they were to count the packs that lingered in and around it. But even then, those things weren't really threats as long as they conducted themselves properly. “What about you? Not every day I come out here and run into someone,” he went on to say, leaving out that it was only once in a blue moon that he actually came out there at all.

“Tracking. Not much else you can do in these parts, really.” he flashed a brief grin at the other wolf. "Well, my main goal was to find my brothers. They're somewhere here in the wilds but I don't feel like wandering around the whole place so I settled on questioning everyone I meet." he canted his head sideways, almost in a questioning manner. "You haven't heard about them have you, there's Hadrian, Lucius, Arcadius...?" he left the hopeful tone out of his voice, there was no use in false hopes, he knew.

And Valerius also knew the difference between lies and the truth, if this male sought to lie to him, he wouldn't even have time to blink before he would be pinned against the ground with blood pouring out of his chest or his eye, depended on how he felt that day. Cruel and merciless, he was not, he was merciful but he would go to extremes when it came to his loved ones.

It was that lack of hope in his voice that left Mordecai wondering if he was really that keen on finding his siblings or just trying to track them down. Had he been more inclined to lie though, Mordecai may have considered the idea that perhaps this was a bit more than odd. But to him, and giving his own disposition, did not consider the endless possibilities. Nor did he consider that any sort of evasion would net him possibly injury, either. “I know a Lucius,” he said, “but I can't say that I know he has any siblings.” A shrug followed his statement. It was truth, because Mordecai did not often delve into the pasts of others in spite of his curiosity. Though sometimes, it certainly had the better of him.

“Why do you want to find them, though? I mean, obviously family is always good to have, but why were you all separated?” If there were as many of them there as he had listed, Mordecai couldn't help but assume that they were more native to the area than he was. Perhaps they were remnants of a pack that had fractured or otherwise dissolved. But even at length, he could tell that Valerius belonged somewhere, but where that ultimately was eluded him. He had met wolves from the Spire, but none of their scents had stayed with him. Even at that, his query was truly none of his business.

The two talked for a moment more, before Mordecai chose to move on.