The man seemed friendly enough and Zalen relaxed, just as the hawk took flight deeper into the city. This seemed to irk the handler a bit, but he brushed it off as he introduced himself. Zalen wondered of which pack he belonged to, since he smelled not of Anathema, the only pack that Zalen was very familiar with.

Well met, Niro. Zalen said after the man had given his name, I would be more than happy to have you as company, though I must admit I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for. Which was true, he had no clue what he was looking for, but he wanted to give Lucia something the next time he saw her. Last time they had shared each other’s presence she had been so distant that he couldn’t help but want her even more. Perhaps a gift would warm her icy heart.

Zalen turned and began to head in the direction Tobias had flown, searching the ground with keen eyes, peering into the darkness of store fronts, Niro, where do you hail from? You seem like a wolf with responsibility. Do you lead a pack? Zalen was cautious in the way he asked this, he didn’t want to sound rude.

Zalen listened to the man speak as his eyes scanned the gray rubble about them. So this man was from Cour des Miracles, a pack of which Zalen had only heard mentioned one time. He did not know much about them, nor where exactly they were located, but this did not bother him now. He had become increasingly aware of the turmoil in Nova Scotia, especially between Aniwaya and Crimson Dreams, but as far as he was concerned, the rest of the packs were still relatively peaceful, save perhaps Salsola and their slaves and the madness that was Inferni.

Suddenly, something of color caught his eye in the mass of gray and he stopped in his tracks, looked at the spot intensely, all senses focused on it. There, in the dirty, was something. He trotted over to it quickly, sniffing around before moving some rubble aside to reveal one of the strangest objects he had ever seen. He lifted it gently, it was small and fit in the palm of his hand. It was a multicolored cube, made up of small blocks of white, orange, yellow, blue, red and green scattered around its six size. As he examined it he found that its face could move independently of each other, and this amazed him.

Standing he quickly brought it over to Niro, the excitement of the find getting the best of him, Look, what do you think it might be? What a strange hume thing… He was completely lost as to what it might be, but it was beautiful and strange and would be perfect to give as a gift to Lucia, a wide grin came to his face.

Zalen was so wrapped up in his thoughts about the weird gift in his paw that he had completely forgotten about the mohawked man and his golden eagle standing beside him. After coming back out of his thoughts he looked dumbly at Niro for a moment before regaining his sense, Oh! Uh… well the reason I was looking around here for something was to find a gift, and I think this’ll be perfect, whatever it is. he said this while spinning one of the faces of the cube over and over again.

Zalen looked up at the bird perched on Niro’s shoulder, now giving it his full attention. It was a large and beautiful bird of prey and Zalen had never seen one this close up before and a part of him wanted to reach out and stroke its golden brown feathers. Having an eagle or hawk to help one hunt must be very convenient.

Tell me Niro, how does one become a bird keeper like you? Is it hard to train them? Do they make good companions? He was only asking this because sometimes days could get quite lonely in his den, and perhaps a bird or other animal companion might be good for his soul. Though he wondered with the experienced he had had with the red tailed hawk in the burnt lands might steer him away from that particular breed. Still, he was curious to see what Niro had to say.