In Dire Straits - when barbarism meets religion

So this was the gods' land, was it?

The sleek male had found his way across the curiously alive terrain, though the air was dry and seemed to threaten death at every passing moment. As though it were an entity all too familiar in these lands, and it found itself rather displeased at the new inhabitant. With an inward grin, cheeky and arrogant and invisible on the outside, the mutt took shameless satisfaction in denying the entity's wish. Oh no, he would not greet death here, if not as a well-matched opponent in this game of wits.

Here he would thrive and welcome the challenges that came.
He would overcome them, claim them.

The dry rocky land gave way into a magnificent chasm, that from the looks of it had been put to some theatrical use. Resting himself at the ledge of this canyon, staring down to where he could almost imagine center stage to be, he wore an air of nonchalance about him, heavy and boding. A subtle pursing of his lips would be all that betrayed his curiosity, his eyes focused on these pits.

If he listened hard enough - which wasn't too hard to do when the air itself was deathly silent - he could almost hear the roar of the gods as they cast their support for their respective warriors. Blood spilled and limbs torn and lives slain, but it was all a bloody good show.

How barbaric it all was, but if it kept the brutish in line and could satiate their bloodlust in a manner that didn't risk his life, then so be it. They could have their blasted spars and matches, but Polaris would stick to what he knew he could accomplish. Not that he couldn't hold his own, of course, should the need arise. But he had greater ambitions than to win momentary favor in such tasteless acts.

Oh yes, Polaris had great ambitions.
He could only hope he'd been sucked into the right cult to fully realize them...

ooc: prp for uri with crux

text speech: #297ab5

CRUX

thorn in your side

He had seen the stranger, a newcomer to the Valley. Still, the stranger stank of the world beyond, but soon enough he would be fully engulfed in the people of Oukoku-Kai, absorbed into its core like a carnivorous beast, swallowing whole and making them all parts of the whole. Crux had been born here, of this land but not of it completely. Conceived in the lands beyond, like his lost siblings. Had they all vanished, to never be seen again? Died, alongside his sister? He would not flee like his brothers had. He would not die like his sister had. He would survive.

He would become great.

He was unlike so many of the pack, born of Bacchus blood though he knew of it only from the words of his half-sister, Carissi. His rounded nose, sharpened ears, curled tail, and savage fangs that dipped past his lips and gleamed permanently. Crux was nothing like most of his kin here.

This one, though...

An almost exact reversal.

Crux slipped out of the shadows, striding towards the bondless with purpose. His head was held high and his ears pricked towards the stranger. Flaming eyes flashed as they focused on the stranger, admiring the blues and whites of the stranger's pelt. He slowed to a stop a mere handful of meters away and tilted his head, studying the other's face. You're new here, he stated. A fact. What's your name? No heavy scent lay on him yet, so he doubted a bond had claimed the other starry male, and he was new enough that no rank besides bondless made sense. What's your goal?

OOC

Dialogue - Thought