Oh who would ever want to be king?

First of a few new threads for him ^^

His earlier travel took him to the coast, so this time he remained closer to home, following the river east a short distance instead.  Before he had wandered for practice, a chance at improving his skills in a fight.  Now he had no such goal, instead traveling for the simple pleasure of it.  Sometimes, even for one so immutable as he, a change of scenery could be welcome.

He walked past the caverns that gave the land its name without thought, heedless of the amazing sights they held. Instead his attention was trained on the riverbank, eyes trailing idly along it, though not really seeing much within.  His ears twisted constantly, though, filtering for anything that might translate as threat.  Though he could sometimes be caught unawares, today was not a day he wished that to occur.  Despite the fact that he was not looking for a spar, he wasn't so naive to think one might not find him instead.

Why he had wandered out this way, he honestly had no idea.  The itch had struck and he'd followed willingly, wondering where exactly it would lead and somewhat intrigued to find out.

Usually, he spent his time in the Spine, protecting his home from outsider wolves and other predators who sought to find a home in their lands. But wanderlust took hold of the young aspiring warrior once more and after resisting it for several days and realizing it wasn't going to go, he decided to go on a short trip and be back in a week or so. If they questioned him, he would just make up some excuse that he had gone to practice his sparring by tearing antlers from bulls. They did want him to earn a warrior trade after all.

These green lands were still unfamiliar to the Spine wolf, so he allowed his paws to take him where the gods wished him to be. Days passed but Arverk remained steadfast in his travels, continuing in his steady pace forward and forward and forward. He would know if it was time to go back, and right now, it wasn't.

Soon, he came across a river and decided to follow it, wondering where it could possibly lead to, but then it could lead to nothing. Not all rivers led to exceptional places...but this once did. Though his stoic facade remained firmly in place, he was rather awed by the amazing sights the cavern provided, having never seen such a sight before.

The swarthy male kept moving though, constantly on alert, his guard up, ready to fight should anything call for it. There was a brief change in the wind and the unfamiliar scent of a pack wolf touched his nostrils, a few moments later, he caught the form of the greyscale man.

The alpha wasn't looking to encounter anyone, and actually would have preferred not to. Solitude was a thing he sought at times, not for any reason particular, but only that at times his own company was preferable. So it was with some annoyance that the other male entered his sight, and he let loose a short sigh.

"Who approaches?" He asked, not exactly friendly but wishing no fight, so he kept from aggression. At least he knew that no packs lay nearby, so hopefully the other wouldn't feel the need to push him back.

Truth to be told, Arverk would have preferred to be on his travels alone, without meeting anyone. Not other predators and definitely not one of his own kind. But in the end, it was inevitable. That didn't mean he had to accept it with a big smile and open arms did he? He hoped it wasn't normal to give random strangers big smiles and warm hugs right after you met them, because if that was one of the customs here, Arverk was pretty sure he would either leave the Wilds altogether and journey North or only leave Ouroboros Spine packlands if nescessary.

Thank Jupiter that wasn't the case. The greyscale male spoke, asking a question. The swarthy whale simply took a few more steps forward and canted his head, piercing blue eyes analyzing the fellow male, running his gaze calmly over the other wolf's form. Deciding that the other pack wolf would not dangerous, he flicked his tail in a bored manner and shrugged his shoulders. "Nobody," Arverk replied softly but it rang through the air sharply, "Nobody at all."

At first, Dante was too surprised by the answer he recieved to have much of a reaction. He stood staring a minute, but the prevalent thought in his mind was 'you've got to be kidding me.' Just his luck that he'd run into this sort exactly when he had no patience to deal with it.

"Nobody. Gotcha. Have fun with that." Who the hell answers that sort of question with nobody? Apparently he either felt Dante didn't need to know his name or he was messing with him. The former, the alpha didn't much care about. Loners and their secrets hardly bothered him. The latter, though? He wasn't much in the mood to put up with the latter, were it the case.

Either way, he looked a moment longer before shaking his head lightly and starting to pass, not much interested in continuing this strange first impression.

Arverk was analyzing the other wolf's reaction at his words, he didn't mind telling the greyscale male who he was, but he liked to know how other's worked and with a few well placed albeit weird statements or questions, he usually got what he wanted. And he did. This wolf was not a wolf with a sense of humor, apparently, nor did he know of the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus where the hero, which in this case was Odysseus, tricked Polyphemus by saying his name was nobody. But that was to be expected, he did not know the backgrounds of the natives here.

The Spine wolf's blue gaze followed the movement of the greyscale wolf, his expression remaining stoic and impassive. "Which pack are you from?" he asked, his eyes remained expressionless as he expertly concealed his curiosity. Despite feigning disinterest, Arverk actually wished to know more about the natives around here, to collect information about them. That was what Outriders did, right?

Before he could pass, the nameless wolf asked a question, and the idea of refusing to answer was tempting. Yet no harm could come from revealing where he was from, not here on neutral ground. "I am from the Plateau." He did not give his rank, feeling it unimportant at the given moment. Now that he was closer, he knew that there was no recruitment potential here - this wolf was spoken for. Which was fine by him. Recruiting was something he hardly enjoyed on a good day, though the outcome was generally a happy event. He appreciated receiving new packmates, just not finding them himself.

"You?" He turned it back, more out of courtesy than any real desire to know. He wished to be on good terms with the surrounding packs, yes, but since he rarely ventured out having close contacts or friends outside his own pack seemed more trouble than it was worth. They had no enemies for need of allies and, so far, had held little trouble with keeping themselves safe and cared for. Alliances were born of necessity, and it was a need they had yet to encounter.

Surprisingly, the greyscale male answered his question which was unexpected to the shadowy Roman for he had thought the other wolf would ignore him given the fact he hadn't been exactly polite to the stranger at first. But he supposed not all the wolves living in these Wilds were similar to the ones in the Spine which was good because it would be easier for him to extract information from them. The gods had been good to him to lead him to such..peaceful lands.

"The Spine," he replied, dipping his head to lick a patch of ruffled fur on his chest. "What's the Plateau like?" the swarthy whale asked with an amiable flick of his ebony tail. He was not near home territory after all, and it would not benefit him in anyway if he decided to pick a fight here. Besides, the stranger might be of one of the surrounding packs nearby for all he knew. Better to be careful.

The spine - Mordecai's old pack. He noted this silently, making no mention of it. He wasn't sure if this wolf had been one of his friends old packmates, or what terms they were on. He didn't even know if Mordecai had informed the wolves of the spine of his new home - or if he wanted them informed. Best to stick to his own business.

Had he known the other sought information, likely still he would have spoken. Their lands had few secrets and Dante had few fears. "It is large, forested. An ideal place to settle. I have heard some of your spine - mountains, yes?" Now that conversation was happening, he found himself resenting the other a little less simply due to the distraction. It wasn't his fault the alpha had been caught in a random sour moment, and Dante tried not to punish him too harshly for it. It was easier that he was respectful and seemed genuine in the conversation.

Forests. Arverk was a wolf of the sea, of mountains, of the North at heart. But like his mother had once said, home was wherever those he considered family was. His home was Ouroboros Spine, with the wolves that inhabited it, and his home would forever be with those wolves for it was with them that his loyalty lay. He would adapt to the new environment, after all, he was versatile and adapting to the environment was easier than adapting to a new lifestyle.

Arverk offered Dante a vague nod, best not to reveal too much information of the Spine. He bet his leaders wouldn't be too happy if they found out an outsider knew how their territory was like. "I'm used to the sea, so I would have to adapt," he offered the greyscale male. It wasn't exactly a lie, but neither was it the truth too. "My name's Leviticus, but everyone calls me Levi. What's yours?" He'd be damned if he gave the stranger the name Tonravik bestowed upon him.

Once again, no one must know.

Dante could not claim one home, as his birth pack had not been particularly stationary. Yet of all the types of lands he'd inhabited, forests held an appeal others were unable to beat. "I'm a tree dweller, so it was a natural claim for me." Natural home maybe, though the claim bit had been less easily accepted. This he kept to himself.

"Dante. It's nice to meet you Levi," he allowed, dipping his head politely. Soon he would need to head back, but for the moment, he began to ease into the rhythm of conversation.

last post from me :)

While Dante might like forests the best, Arverk loathed them. He felt as if he could not breathe when he was underneath those thick canopies that blocked out the sun and the sky, it felt unnatural, and he didn't like it, not one bit. But since his pack had quite a lot of forests in it, the swarthy whale knew he would have to adapt to it. And he would do his best, but already he spent most of his time on ridges where no trees stood.

It was just easier.

"Nice to meet you too, Dante." Arverk dipped his head respectfully as he turned to leave. "I hope we meet another time," and with that, the Roman began walking towards the direction of Ouroboros Spine. He was ready to go home.

"And you," the alpha returned, watching him depart a moment before too turning towards home. It was past time he should be heading back as well, and speaking of it made him long for the trees once more. He enjoyed the freedom to once again roam a bit, now that his betas had more mobility of their own, but he would never go for long. Always he began to wish to be back after a short while.

Speaking with strangers just never had the same appeal as sharing time with his own packmates.