He'd spent so much time in the neutrals, lately. Learning, hunting, exploring. There was so much land here. So much life.

For so long, all he had known was death and sand. It was a part of him still, and it always would be--blood, sand, pain. Heartbreak.

No one would love him now that he was a monster. That was fine by him; monsters didn't need love. Ares and Lyssa had seen his grief and blessed him with a rage that burned, steadily larger, in the core of who he was. No one would ever take what was his again. He was more, now. Not whole--he would never be whole--but a purpose sat heavily upon his shoulders and guided him.

Augustus had little time for affairs of the heart. Many of the inhabitants were pairing up, mating off, birthing litters of anklebiters for a new generation to succeed. He watched them from afar, the happy little families, all so... boring. So complacent.

Lilac sky eyes turned and met those of a wolf, black and white and brilliant red, in the middle distance. He recognized the look of him--that of a fighter, someone who'd fought tooth and claw for everything he had. His eyes narrowed even as respect grew, quietly, inside him.

This wolf was not like the others, either. He was shaped differently--a subspecies, perhaps.

Augustus stood from his comfortable spot in the sun at the top of a rolling grassy hill, and made his way towards the male, his posture not altogether friendly, but not outwardly hostile.

"Χαλάζι," He murmured, internally sighing as the familiar word rolled off his tongue. That kingdom was gone, he reminded himself; he'd been the one to burn it to the ground. "Hello," He said instead, stopping short of the wolf. You have the air of a gladiator." Perhaps even a King-- "I'm Augustus. Where do you hail from?"

Not everyone would be as willing to tell such things as Augustus was--he would proudly boast the destruction of his previous pride, if it could be called that--and he wouldn't be offended if the man didn't want to speak of it. Loose lips sink ships, as they say.

If Augustus noticed the shiver that raced along the man's body, he didn't comment on it. His lips might've curled a bit slightly in response, though.

"Hallo - as do you, comrade."

Augustus couldn't help but stare at the man's brilliant golden eyes--he'd first been drawn by the bright red of his chest, but it was nothing compared to the sparkling suns he used to see. He was reminded quite suddenly of someone from his past--yellow eyes and a monochrome pelt--but he pushed those thoughts away as readily as they came. He had no time for that, now.

"Hail, Augustus. I am Rainer, of Bacchus."

Augustus nodded in greeting, his lips still curled into a rueful sort of smile. "Bacchus?" He inquired, taking a seat before him, his curly black hair-tipped tail settling over his paws. "I have not heard of such a place in my travels." There was no reason to lie; he wanted to know more about the mysterious man, anyway.

"Vhere do you hail from? It is not often that vee see felines - especially of such power."

His chest didn't quite puff out with pride--he knew he was a sight, but vanity wasn't high on his list of priorities--still, it was easily recognizable that he took the compliment for what it was. "I am from a kingdom that has since been burned," He gestured to the distance, to the snaggled tops of the mountains visible there. "Beyond the jagged wall of those teeth; a desolate place with little water and less foliage."

He took a moment to survey their surroundings, a snort of amusement leaving him. "Nothing like this place." He took notice of Rainer's accent, and wondered yet again what Bacchus was. Where it was. No wolves he'd met so far sounded like him, and none compared in appearance, either.

"Have you been in these lands long?" He would save any prying questions until after he knew him a bit more intimately--he didn't want to seem too eager. Small talk, however, was not a great strong suit of his, as he tended to save his words for when he had something of importance to say, but... Well. An exception could be made once in a while.

"Our ancestral lands are far north, beyond zee mountains of zee Fringe. Zoon, ve vill return zere - ve vere scattered years ago und now regroup."

A fallen Empire that was determined to rise once more. They were so alike, Rainer and he. Augustus, too, had come from beyond the same mountains that Rainer had traversed to get here, and somehow the stars had aligned in such a way that they would meet in the middle. Augustus was not a man who believed in fate, but if he was--well, this meeting couldn't have been coincidental. Maybe the Gods had sent him this. A meeting with another like him, two forming countries; perhaps they could build on one another. New nations needed allies, and the strongest of bonds were tested with time. It certainly helped that Rainer was a sight, too.

"Vhere do you call home now?"

"These very Straits," He answered, honest. "We have a claim on land in a forested area to the North, but we will be heading South towards the desert within a fortnight." You can never run from the fire for too long; it follows. Perhaps the fire comes from your very own feet, burning a path of oblivion as you run. Augustus embraced the flames. He'd done so since he was a child; he was loathe to find out who he was without that heat. "I have heard of a stronghold there. Whispers are of it being a--" He licked his lips, trying to think of the word. "Fallacy. Mirage," He landed on after a moment. "Red sands and rocky outcroppings. A fortress."

"Aye, my birthplace vas far, far colder zan zis."

Augustus snorted, a soft rumbling chuckle escaping him. He'd never known cold a day in his life. He wondered what it was like. The seasonably warm autumn the Straits had fallen into was enough to make his bones feel like ice; the cold of the desert was nothing compared to the cold of a northern snowstorm. "Is that so?" He asked, intrigued. He'd heard of snow in passing, but he'd never stopped long enough to take it in or give it any real thought. He'd never seen it in person.

"For... five winters I have roamed, never stayed long anyplace."

He nodded, a bit more solemn to hear so. There were many a strong pack in the Straits--he wondered why Rainer had decided not to join any of them. Surely they would've taken him. Augustus would've.

"Und you?"

"Not nearly as long," He confessed, glancing towards the setting sun, bleeding red across the horizon in vibrant streaks as he thought back to how long this entire affair had lasted. "A handful of seasons." He decided. Maybe an entire lifetime. "Settling anywhere is.... difficult, when you are accustomed to a certain way of life, no?"

This was nice. Augustus didn't often like things that could be categorized as nice--beautiful, yes. Decadent, absolutely. Nice? Not so much. But this meeting was one he'd enjoyed so far; the company was good. This wolf shared with him the struggles of leading a people, and there were not many who could understand that. Adrift in a sea of shifting sands, a world that didn't belong to either of them but maybe it would, someday.

"Are you all lion or is your... pride? varied in species?"

"We are varied," Sort of. "Or, will shall be. For now my companions are all feline, but we will grow. I have seen so many different kinds of wolves, and so few variations of my own species," Something he intended to fix, at some point. He wanted to uncover the secrets of the so-called Fringe dires; where did their fury, which he'd seen save them from even certain death, come from? Where did hellions get their strange genetic markers--horns, fanciful tails, elongated ears. Why were the same things not seen in his own species? Of all the lions he'd met, they'd all been the same. Some, like him, with no manes, some with manes that ran all the way along the length of their bodies, back and stomach. All lions, all the same. No varied tails, no strange ears, no horns, no fury.

He had his own version of the Fringe's fury, but that was different. That was a gift bestowed to him by his Gods, not something wrought of careful breeding.

"We will remedy that soon."

"Mysterious, delicious. Have you scouted it?"

"The desert, yes. We have to prepare for the crossing though. The land is treacherous; the storms are frequent. It will not be an easy journey." And oh, he was looking forward to it. Could Rainer see the fire that burned in his pastel eyes? It was an easy thing to miss; lost amongst his bright, jagged pelt. Rainer seemed the sharp sort; he probably had.

"Far, far north, beyond zee Fringe - we lived in a valley of eternal vinter, vith a cave of hot springs. It has been many years but I remember it like it vas yesterday."

He listened intently as Rainer spoke about his homeland; ears pointed forward, eyes slightly dilated. Not only did he like the way the man's voice sounded, but he liked the way he looked when he talked about the home he would soon reclaim. He was intrigued, too, by the thought of an eternal winter. He'd never seen snow. It had iced over a grand total of one time in the desolate valley Augustus had been raised in, and that had thawed within a day's time.

"Zhere vas a frozen lake that trembled always, breaking and reforming by days rather zan by seasons. It glowed from vithin, like a slumbering beast. Vee return soon, to claim our birthright."

"That sounds incredible." He told him honestly. It did; wondrous. Augustus could nearly imagine it, if he thought back to the way the ice had looked hanging from sandstone walls that single time.

"--Zhat is vhy I am rebuilding it."

Augustus was pulled from his thoughts by this statement. Had they ever established that they both led their respective kingdoms? Augustus had assumed, from the way he held his head high and without fear, but no, they hadn't.

"It will be a glorious empire, I'm sure." He offered, carefully. Was this a diplomatic situation now, instead of two strangers trading stories in a neutral land? Had it ever been that in the first place? "Perhaps our empires can be allies, when the time comes." Not a question, but a suggestion. Bonds strengthened with time, and bonds made while a kingdom was at it's weakest were often the strongest formed.

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