Arrow Lake Spoiler Alert: Bambi's mom dies.

Open to anyone. Njal is off exploring and it'd be kinda fun to have a Vale wolf intercept him, but I'm game for anything! Spree?

Since his encounter with the youthful shadow that was Jace, the warden had sought out his wife and stuck to her in every conceivable manner; there was no doubt in his mind that they would have children in the coming months, which was both liberating and strangely enough, unnerving. Njal was not a mindful individual, as charming as the northman may have been in person. Having the truth posed before him (by a yearling, no less) caused his flights of fancy to wither away within his mind. No longer did Njal think of teaching his children to hunt and to fish, to run with the wind and carry ice in their blood; he thought only of himself, aged and useless, fading away amongst the adults that would carry his lineage. Being told to lay low and be waited on had spoiled a part of the beast, who had broken away from his wife in the early afternoon, days after his encounter with the dark boy. He was a patriot to this land, loyal and dutiful, and without his duty he was nothing.

With an eagerness rising in him that had previously been curbed by sickness, Njal had charged through the territory while Tuwawi slept. He entered the forest in the south-east of the wilds with a clear desire: to prove his worth, his manliness, to the woman that would birth him many sons; to show Fox that he did not need servants and caretakers. Most of all, it was to prove to himself that he was still in the prime of his life. These thoughts rang clearly within his mind as he patrolled through the trees, winding along natural paths and rooting in the soil for the scent of prey. It was dangerous to hunt a large creature alone. Njal hoped that the rutting deer would be preoccupied with one another and not pay too much attention to his burly self, should he find them.

But he was not so lucky.

The trees thickened as he followed the trails towards the mountains, and with a desperation Njal abandoned the trees only to take to the hills. They became craggy and dry, peppered with low bushes and few notifiers of nearby prey, but he continued. Nothing would stop him as he hiked up the mountain, pushing past the encroaching weariness in his body as it took hold. He could taste copper in his saliva, and each breath was stinging, but he would not stop. When Njal reached a safe ledge near the top of the mountain the hours had worn away, and the sun had begun to arc lower in the sky; he had a few more hours of colour-streaked light before evening would fall. Plenty of time to find something of value.

He eased himself down from the ledge and sought out a safe passageway amongst the rocks, emerging on one side of the lake. The fluid within reflected the darkening trees, a rainbow for a sky, and his grizzled figure - something he glanced at and felt a small sneer rise upon his face, marring it, before he turned and continued to move.