Stavanger Bay And in the morning sun

Finally.

She was renewed.

Her leg had been healed, and with the thanks of Oryx, and the help of Sunhawk, she was once again the ferocious Kraken. Despite now healed, Umbra was still overall weak. She had no wolves to her name, and no one to call a 'packmate,' or an ally. Suppose there was him, but at the same time it had been sometime since she saw Sunhawk.

Whenever he disappeared, she could only wish him well. He did help her after all, and one day she would beat the fuck out of him, but also repay any debts. It was her code, an eye for an eye, and a debt for a debt. If she saw him, she would try her best.

Though now here she was, stretching at the sunset, a crazed grin to her face.

What was Umbra supposed to do now?

Of course, rule the sea.

the day wanes into the set of dusk; hale tundrian’s steps heavy and tired. still, he keeps going. sailing towards a port that he knows not. just knowing that he is going somewhere. it crosses his mind again to go to moonspear, that he should’ve went there the first time as he originally planned …but his paws carry him north-east, following the route he would’ve taken with raleska. the bay stretches out before him, cool sands pressing against his aching pawpads. glimpse is given to the sea, calm despite the rise of her tides, before he turns his back to it and heads towards the ashtrees, seeking shelter for the night.

it’s been too long since he’s had a good night’s sleep …—

a scent dances upon the wind and his steps pause, head snapping in the direction of the stranger, previously missed by heavy glacial gaze. as it was, all he sees is a silhouette, not even sure she’s really there. regardless, a low chuff is given.

She raised her head and turned toward the beast- a man of giant ice, reminded her a but of the stone-priest from the coast, but he was more like an icerberg of nordic origins then anything. Feirce-looking, and she enjoyed that so. A warrior that would've been paraded in her homeland, especially with the nasty scars tattering to his face and chest.

He greeted her so, and as raised her head in pride, not standing down to the bigger one. A kraken was no pushover, "what brings you on this fine night?" 

Umbra did not suspect another attacker, for he shown himself. Her guard however was still high, as the seafang did not know if it was simply an illusion. These lands were quite aggressive, she knew she needed to keep a look out.

to the hale nomad, she is unreadable …and not just because he cannot see her facial expressions in the dying dusk. she is a stranger and wintersbane errs, naturally these days, on the side of caution; but there was no need for hostilities nor the assumption of them. she shows no such display and he keeps his posture casual. the tides, he half-jests. i’ve travelled from the south-west. i was hoping to shelter here for the night. though wintersbane isn’t sure what a good night’s sleep was anymore, he also knows that isn’t the end of his desires for this place.

longer, even. he seeks to claim this place upon the desire for family and an empire that his children would one day rule. something he can leave them — quellcrist and those that follow and would follow her — beyond a ill-reputation.

Umbra rose a brow to his last phrase, and inquired so, "ambition?" by the look of him it wasn't unexpected. He was large, ferocious man that even at a glance she too, could tell he was a worthy warrior. A man such as that would normally try to make a name for himself. She too, wanted that goal. Though she could not dwell to harshly on the man, or wrack a nerve as she did to the two wolves by the coast; the kraken just healed.

she didn't want to break again before becoming something more.

"you are trying to claim?" just as Umbra had failed to do by the cliffs.

ambition was certainly one way to state it. he doesn’t answer verbally, just makes a non-committal noise and offers a simple shrug of his shoulders. he does, however; study her closely with sharp, gelid gaze as she asks him if he’s going to claim. she was here, lounging. how long she was here since the moment he came upon her well, that was a vast unknown to him. perhaps she already had designs on the place. left to the lone wilds, wintersbane knows that fighting isn’t optimal. not right now. not when he could be injured. with no one to tend to wounds or hunt for him if it was serious …well, that’d practically be a death sentence.

it was, in part, some of the reason why he’d chose not to fight rosalyn or eruzlie.

yes. he rasps simply, studying her closely for her reaction.

He admitted so, but when Umbra gave a sniff to the air, she could smell no one by the wind. There was a grin to her face as she deducted he was like her. In the way to claim an area regardless of comrades to call forth, but a simple home to stake toward. She admired that aspect. Calmly so, she watched him with a stoic gaze of a questioning words.

"A pack? Or simply a place to stake into?" Though that didn't mean his plans were exactly like Umbra. She only staked a claim not originally for a group- that could've been a later conquest, but just a simple claim. However the otheres did not grant the kraken that success, and instead injured and broken her bones.

Her cloudy eyes gave a glance to around- admitting it was a nice place. While she preferred a cliff above all else, as long as the sea was near, Umbra would be satisfied. 

a pack. there was no use in pretending that anything less would sate him. not anymore. perhaps there was a part of the hale tundrian that would always feel slighted with anything less; a lost prince of a cunning empire that fell with the death of it’s nightingale queen and the fracturing of it’s kingpin’s sanity.

ironwilled and tested against the rock and sea this place is carved from. he didn’t, particularly, care if they were warriors or not; any and all would be accepted into ironclan’s fold. what mattered was they felt it was home enough to rise among its ranks and remain. that they had what it took to live as an iron and saltwolf. the sea demanded those that lived among her be hardy and hale …and wintersbane would accept no less.

If was creating a pack, she concluded he wasn't associated to the stone-people of the coast. Then, he was no enemy of hers- only those two were the bane of her anger. She still was bitter against the lost, and swore a day of vengeance when the day she makes a name and gains more power. None of it would happen, if they had let her live in peace.

"Yet, you have no one to claim it with." she said.

wintersbane is left to ponder and watch as her silence engulfs him. when she does speak, it is a point towards the obvious and wintersbane regards her carefully; polar gaze cold and probing. he doesn’t know her and those words, though they didn’t sound threatening, could easily be misunderstood; taken as a threat. that she did not want him to lay claim to this bay …though she smells as if she, too, is just one.

not yet. he agrees, though the statement carries a weight all it’s own. he was of the mind that a place needed to be established before recruitment could begin, else he’d just be gathering a growing band of rogues that called no place home.

"That is not much of a pack," she commented with a rather snort. She would think even before considering making one, to gather a few allies of sorts. Her mind immedietly went to @Sunhawk, who was somewhere on the horizon. He was probably the closest to a 'comrade,' at the moment, who somehow was sticking with her attitude. The kraken did appreciate him so, despite the annoyance he gave.

Of course, the seafang would never admit so.

However even this man, did not have a comrade like she did.

everything has to start somewhere, wintersbane says with a simple shrug of his broad shoulders. in the morning i’ll begin to map out borders. once and only once he had them established would he put forth full blown efforts to recruiting. having a place to call home, for recruits to go; the barebone foundation is where the hale tundrian chooses to start this time. you can stay and help. help build ironclan. or you can leave the bay come the morning, is what goes unsaid lingering in the salty tang of air betwixt them.

once his claim was staked, once he began to lay the proverbial stones of foundation he was less likely to tolerate idling.

Umbra would not fight for the land, as pretty as it was, she was not strong enough to try and fight over it, nor' did she want to. There was nothing specifically tying her for this piece that she would want so, only Dragoncrest Cliff gave such a feeling, but it was something the kraken would have to wait for another day.

"Ironclaw would sound stronger," she mused with a smirk, toward his name of Ironclan.

However, he proposed for her to help with the possibility. Umbra wouldn't be opposed, however, she was striving for not a lowly rank, and did not enjoy being ordered around. She found no reason to join the Packs that was scented for these reasons, as the seafang was not someone to easily bend for anothers well. She thought, with a devilish smile.

"If granted a high-title, I prefer the name of a Sealord, but I wonder what you would propose with the offer." Her words were simple; 'give high rank, then i'll join.' The kraken also thought she would have to find Sunhawk later, to drag him into the mess that was to become Ironclan, if she was accepted.

yes well, wintersbane draws with a terse twitch of his lips. clan signifies unity. for thats what a pack was, was it not? unity. or at least, it was meant to be …until wolves like him showed up, at any rate. it is a high order, what she requests, especially since they haven’t even shared names. i can title you ironlady, directly beneath me in the hierarchy, wintersbane pauses there. with the potential to rise to saltqueen — my equal rank — in time. for now, that is the best he can give her given their circumstances.

Umbra assumed a denial, but she still asked with a tease to her loyalty. She wasn't accepting some title of a lowly common-wolf, but surprisingly, he offered a bargain. The chance to arrive with anything higher somewhere else was low, unless she specifically made a pack for herself. Though with only one to her name and many enemies upon her back, the chance was very low.

It was the best offer to be gained, especially since the only one that could be above her, would be him. The kraken had confidence in herself to rise further. She may not elsewhere- it was the best chance.

"Very well," and so she accepted, "I am Umbra Ferox, perhaps Saltlady is.. Unusual for I," it was hard to see herself as a 'lady' sort of name, "perhaps request a name-change on a later date," the deal was made at least, "I have a companion to find as well, he is a silly wolf, but worthy to join Ironclan."

going to go ahead and wrap up with my post. <3

we can discuss it when the time comes. he was open to being flexible with rank name changes. for now, however, priorities were on claiming and cache filling and recruiting. the nuances could be hammered out when the foundations were lain. i am wintersbane. ansbjørn. fearghal. sawtooth. all of them and none of them. either way, he only offers her his first name for it is the only one that held any semblance of importance to him now.

you are free to recruit him, then; and any others you come across that seem worthy. wintersbane says before he stretches. i will begin mapping border placement in the morning. first, he needs to rest; allow his body time to recoup from his journey. for now, i'm going to find a place to get some shuteye. he offers these words as a goodbye and leaves her on her perch, heading inland where the ashtrees cluster together the thickest.

he finds a small place, beneath sweeping branches to nestle. the ground is hard, uncomfortable but for now, it suffices.