He woke to the bleak sun and greeted it alone. Another splendid day rose over the harsh wilderness of Salsola, bleaching the bark of its glorious pine forests and settling low over bones that were swallowed into the depths of its marshes. The land here was merciless and wily, much like its ruler.

The Thistle King had been expending energy by exploring lately. It was well within his jurisdiction to remain lounging about the Ruins, had he wished - There were plenty of pawns that could have done the exploration and mapping for him. But Sirius Revlis was a man that detested stillness and laziness, and the thought of milling about the Throne-room and growing complacent filled him with loathing.

On this day he headed East, passing through the welcoming grasp of Millstone and the sheltered haze of the Lesser forest. The territory was divided here, into neat sects that he and Eris had deemed to be known as Borgatas. Each had been given a symbolic beast, and as he passed through the land of Vulture, the Boss stopped frequently to carve a small, basic winged form into the bark of some of its pines. He sheathed the hunting knife in a small leather pouch, strapped to his upper leg by ropes fashioned from the dried and cured intestines of a deer.

Soon the ocean sang to him, and the King was lured by the thickening scent of salt. The land of Owl, Tecolotl, bloomed before him in all its might. The land was dotted with the occasional remnant of human life - Rusted signs that were knocked at jaunty and grotesque angles deemed this place as Cape Chignecto Park. Sirius ignored such skeletal remains of humanity, delving deeper into land that he had not yet fully memorized. There were secrets to be uncovered here yet, and the Thistle King determined that he might find them.

However, solitude was fast becoming tiresome. There were others that might have willingly accompanied him - While the Hunter was, by nature, a lonesome creature, Sirius found himself desiring the company of one in particular. Tilting his maw to the open sky, the Boss released a demanding call. Come to me, Auxiliary, dark one. As he waited for a response, Sirius set about carving an owlish face into a nearby twisted pine.

He had just finished detailing the eyes of the owl, when the woman's step drew sharp attention. His blade carved the last incision, and dark, foreboding eyes gazed out unto the man. Yellow teeth glinted in a half-smile, wicked and sharp.

When Eris came into view, he was reclining against the tree, rising only to allow her the simple greeting of a nuzzle to either cheek. There was a swirling magnetism to the with this day, a strange conflict of scents that sought to stir his blood in primal and forbidden ways. The Thistle King's pupils narrowed, observing the hungry stealing of vibrant lime eyes across his own bared frame. His Auxiliary was beginning to show the virtue of her wild and untamable gender, the curve of her womb swelled in slight. Different pheromones filled the air, than those he had noted around her before.

Change made the woman dangerous, unpredictable. While he did not fear Eris' infidelity, for she was as loyal to him as he desired her to be, this newness and strangeness made her slightly unfamiliar. The scent of her crawled under his skin, and lingered there in an itch that would not be scratched.

Her tones spoke of no deception, and Sirius allowed himself to relax somewhat, although his narrowed eyes remained fast to the shamaness. Pregnancy filled her with that same strength and desirability brought on by her spirituality. She was a dancer between two worlds, and the dark stillness of the spirits and the other garnered a feasible amount of trepidation within the man. He did not meddle in the madness that she did, lest the spirits devour his mind and leave him a crippled man.

"Darling Eris," Came the throaty purr, breath slipping between yellow daggers to hiss from silver tongue, "I seek nothing more than your companionship. Does such a reason satisfy you?" He held out a creamy palm, indicating that she might take it. The sea called to him still, and perhaps it would entertain the restless King to explore its crevasses with the ebony woman. "Come with me to the waters. I seek them to clear my head."

The woman did not disappoint him, eagerly accepting his outstretched hand. For a moment, he gazed at the connection - Wiry black fingers twined in elegant but hard cream. The contact was unfamiliar, but pleasant; It seemed to signify the closeness that he felt for the ebony witch. She was family, and she alone deserved total trust. For all his adoration of the newly-founded Family, the Thistle King was cursed by his constant veneer of paranoia, that which hounded at his heels and sought to steal away any hard-one happiness. But with Eris, such a vigilance could be relaxed. She was his; although her body might have belonged to Larkspur and childbirth, she was his. She was the rock, the center of his beloved Family.

Narrowed pupils finally deviated from the clasped hands, roving once over the Auxiliary's face before drifting to the path they walked. Her question echoed in silence a moment, the man's face shadowed with deep thought, his poisonous gaze lingering on the far horizon. Surly ocean breezes caressed warm bodies, bringing with it the thick scent of salt and memory. "Change is in the air," It sounded foolish, even as it rolled off his silver tongue, and the Thistle King frowned. "The other packs need to be watched. They shift and move more than this very ocean - I will not have them interrupting our plans." The ocean revealed itself before them, breaking in white foam on the rocky bay. A natural stairway descended to their left, and Sirius took it, offering Eris a strong arm to move down some of the larger steps. The sound of the ocean grew stronger, luring him onward - They would surely reach the sea-caves soon.

His mind wheeled relentlessly, even in this apparent peace. "The Associates, how do they fare? I see they all remain, thus you find them fitting?" He trusted Eris' evaluation of the newcomers - While she may not yet possess all the skills of leadership, her ability to read an individual's worth was almost uncanny, and greater than Sirius' own. His paranoia often blinded him to potential, and the Auxiliary's recruiting skills were invaluable.