[Asra]

The clouds coalesced in thick blackness against the sky. No, Asra thought to himself, not clouds. Ilya came to the same realization belatedly and Asra could feel the nervousness rolling off his mate’s body in waves. He was surprised he couldn’t hear his teeth chattering in his jaws, but the fellow followed Asra with no complaint, just a long ling of endless worried narrative about the size of the fire that was ahead of it. It was against an animal’s instincts to head towards danger, at least that was the conventional knowledge passed about, but they both knew that if their help was needed, they must go there. The wind was in their favor and Ilya would follow the fox no matter what lay before them.

They smelled others first. The sweat of their paws pressed into the dirt. It was a unified scent, all similar from diet and lifestyle.

“Smells like, er…” Ilya started.

“Wolves.”

“A lot of them. I’m all for offering my services in the healing arts but uh, should we really be walking into this blindly?”

Asra rolled his shoulders. They would take a different route towards the fire. There was only so much information they could glean with their eyes. Running into wolves could be a blessing in disguise. They could help one another. He liked to think positively. After all, they were civilized creatures. The fox trotted forth, backtracking in his path slightly and moving closer to the black smoke, even as the trees began to thin, the cover they offered to the pair quickly retracting into nothingness.

“Keep your head low, Ilya,” the fox said. The legged creature immediately crouched as much as he could manage, much to Asra’s amusement, “but move quickly.”

“Tch. Alright.”

A dry flat opened before them and in their line of sight was a copse of trees that had already been blackened with flame. Embers glowed from deep within their skeletal frames. Many trees were in the process of collapsing. The stench of wolves was everywhere. Asra’s ears flicked back. Something wasn’t right here. They should leave. It would have been nice to commit action to his thoughts but before he could do much else Ilya yelped and bounced back; they had been spotted and a great black creature barreled towards them.

Asra stood his ground, eyes on the approaching monster, failing to notice Ilya’s inciting scramble for cover.

@Bea

[Aves]

These were not denizens of the valley. That much she could take in even from even this distance. Not only would a fox find nothing but hungry jaws in Oukoku-Kai but the one who slunk behind him was a downright abomination. Perhaps they had become more accepting, like Alteron, in the days of her absence. After all, their high priest had been a hellhound. Falco had tried to tell her that the way the valley was ignorant in many ways, one of which being all creatures could prove useful to a pack but old prejudices died hard. Green eyes flickered like the embers around her as she observed the pair. No. They didn't belong here. If they did, they'd be headed the other direction and fast.

There was a quick decision to be made here, for not only was the window of a surprise attack shutting with every breath like the dying fire around her, while new and exciting, was hot and dangerous. A tree far too close for comfort toppled and Aves leapt from the cloud of embers straight towards the odd couple. They wouldn't have been her first kill of the day, but maybe the feathered beast could be of some entertainment. But of course he had to be the one to flee. She paid little attention to the stalwart cotton ball for Alteron already had one to many foxes in her opinion. There could have been opportunity here. The raven hellion obviously followed the fox, Aves could have grabbed it and held it hostage, demanding compliance for it's safety. But his colors shone through as it was left in his dust. Ah well, so much for loyalties. The target was only shy a few inches on her but had none of her bulk, most of the body dedicated to spindly legs that scrambled to get away.

Aves didn't have the head start she wanted here and had to work hard to catch up. Fangs would snap to grab his tail, his proper canine tail. If she landed she would dig in her heels to slow him down, flinging him back towards her. If that failed she would try to outpace him just enough to run by his side. Here she would body check him, hopefully sending him toppling for easy attack. If she had to settle for running him down so be it.

She would be returning home with feathers today, be it to serve Alteron or plucked from his corpse as a decoration she cared not.

[Julian]

Julian did not get far, pausing in his mad scramble when he realized Asra did not follow him. He would never leave without Asra, even when his nerves overwhelmed him. The wolf darted past the fox and straight towards Julian. He yelped with surprise as she clamped down on a mouthful of his tail before he had time to react and yanked the entirety of his body backward, launching him into the earth. He threw his legs up as a barrier to keep her teeth from causing anymore damage, even as the well-deserved pain hit him. His friends described him as a masochist, but he wouldn’t just throw his life away while his mate was in danger.

This is what you get for not jumping in to protect him. You should have noticed he wasn’t following. You fool.

A low flustered laugh rumbled from deep in Julian’s throat as the she-wolf pinned him down. His heart was pumping with the thrill of the pain and the danger. He offered her a nervous, toothy smile.

“What a fortuitous meeting. Most people start with names, but I won’t complain.” He coughed and his tongue lapped sheepishly at the tip of his nose. “I’m Julian and you are…?”

He saw Asra dart towards them in his peripheral vision, fearless as always.

“We’re not here to fight, we saw the smoke and followed it here to see if anyone needed our aid,” the fox boldly interjected. Julian’s eyes darted over to him, worried he would draw too much attention, but Asra continued momentarily locking eyes with the hellhound. “He’s a doctor, after all.”

“Ah, yes, good point. I am a doctor,” Julian contributed with a nervous smirk, “and Asra was the one with the heart and mind to offer our collective charity. So, if you would kindly consider letting me to my paws, I would greatly appreciate it.”

[Aves]

Ah, so the creature had some loyalty after all. His attachments lead to his capture as Aves struck true and tossed him about. Much to her delight but not to her surprise he didn't put up much of a fight, only pushing her away to defend herself. While she was raised to find battle scars a sign of power she would rather not be grievously wounded for the long march home. Once she pinned him to the ground she looked down on him with a cruel smile...that didn't last long.

Head cocked, bewildered at the smile and nonchalant chatter. She blinked, at a loss for words until the fox ran towards them. The hellion wasn't putting up a fight but maybe his friend might. A fight he could never win. Aves swung her head around but was careful to keep pressure on her captive.

"You two are smarter than you look then," noting that neither would be fighting back, "Help? You're too late. Oukoku-Kai was destroyed today, not that they would have accepted your help in the first place."

Aves looked back to her captive, both curious and suspicious. A doctor? The crested wolf had only been in Alteron's borders for a year but as far as she knew she hadn't heard of any healing rank. The smirk, and the outlandish request, irked her however. Paw moved between his feathery neck and pressed into his throat. That should shut him up.

"Well, it's your lucky day then," her smile returned, "Our pack could use a doctor." She leaned more weight on her paw, "But you'll have to work for our trust before we'll let you do your work. And maybe I'll consider bringing your little friend along, too."

[Asra]

“Not much for introductions then?” Asra heard Ilya begin to babble excitedly, even as he was being crushed underpaw. The fox let out a small huff of air in annoyance as he heard his hellhound mate follow with, “Kokokuk? Kai?”

As much of a foolish display Ilya made of himself under the wolf’s paw, the real chump in the situation was the wolf. She seemed to think herself as very clever and oozed arrogance, glancing over at the fox in a threatening manner, speaking flippantly of their intelligence even though she was the most socially lacking of the three. Asra defiantly met her gaze every time she looked at him without hesitation. She seemed to be under the impression that he was useless because he was small, even though Ilya was squirming excitedly under her foot even as she applied more pressure.

“We know nothing of that faction,” Asra pointed out to her. Maybe if she thought about it, she would realize that, of course they wouldn’t. Death Valley had been home to a secretive cult. Outsiders would not possess that knowledge. “Fire can be unpredictable. We were only following the smoke.”

She confirmed her thoughts on Asra with carelessly thrown words and the fox only offered the faintest of dubious expressions.

“Sure. Consider taking your paw off my friend’s throat. It doesn’t take trust to see you’re turning him into a mess; he likes it too much.”

[Aves]

"Obviously you aren't." she stared down the fox, "You two would have been dead on sight if we'd let any border guards live. What I'm doing is a mercy."

Acid eyes narrowed. This was not the reaction she had hoped for. While a godling Aves had garnered respect (or so she'd like to think) but never had anyone feared the lucky runt. Now she had never felt the real need for those to tremble before her, but that was the intent here and her failings were frustrating. Had this been a wolf she might have admired their pluck, known they had the makings of an Alteronian. But the wolf had eaten things bigger than this fox and his defiance was maddening. Aves kept her cool the best she could.

"Huh?"

The fox's words caused her to look back down at Julian, his expression making it clear that the writhing she felt underneath her had not been discomfort. Quite the contrary. Aves lifted her paw and stepped off the hellion. Defiance from one, pleasure from the other? Satisfaction was stripped learning this creature *wanted* the pain. Living with Falco all her life made her think intimidation was easy, it came so effortlessly to her brother. Perhaps this was why he was Magus and not her.

"Get up. Once this place is purged, Julian, you and your pet are coming home with us. Any funny business and the fox is the first to go." It was clear threatening the hellion wouldn't work. Hopefully these two were attached, "If either of your run know I'm not alone and we will find you."

While this encounter hadn't gone exactly to plan Aves was still pleased. Her heart hadn't stopped racing since they returned the the valley and between dismantling the pack that had lied to her her entire childhood and collecting new recruits the rush would last for some time.

"I'm Aves." The introduction finally came, though she craved having a title she could stick with her name. Falco was sure taking his time on bestowing one. Her smile was still satisfied, 'Welcome to Alteron."