A barely muffled yawn sounded behind him and the grey Rakeeb couldn't hold back the fond smile that wormed into his expression nor his eye roll that followed. Typical, he demands to tag along and yet he's half asleep. Fixing his expression back into it's usual frown he twisted awkwardly upon the mares back so that he could see the pale male trailing behind him, his pale form contrasting greatly to the stallion he was sat upon rich brown tones. For some reason Alex was still sticking around, still stealing his bed, still interfering with his life and seemed as if he had no intention of leaving any time soon which left the young Rakeeb helplessly perplexed; despite sharing a bed with the other he was pretty sure he felt nothing for the older male aside from friendship and Alex was known to sleep with anything that moved and only butted into his life because it entertained him. As if sensing he was being stared at Alex looked up, ice blue eyes heavy with sleep and a satisfied lazy grin was flashed at him “See something you like, oh mighty one” the ghostly male asked, earning a huff from the rakeeb as he twisted to face forward, placing Hibiki's reigns into one hand he raised his now free arm and shot the male behind him a ever so polite gesture, gathering the reigns back into both arms as his companion roared with laughter behind him.

Bring Alex had disaster written all over it, but the pale male claimed to be on good terms with Ichika's leadership and really, even if he had order him to stay behind he knew Alex would have followed regardless. Their pace was slow and careful through the mountainous terrain although the distance required to travel to the foreign pack was short; this Ichika was and always had been since it's founding, disgustingly close to Anathema. Despite how the closeness irritated him he had been assured the pack was both peaceful and of no threat; heck, Jace was a member there so he couldn't really kick up a fuss with the foreign pack even if he truly wanted to. Yet the more he thought about it the more it seemed that maybe it was the close proximity or perhaps plain curiosity about the female's invite that brought him outside of his pack lands to speak with the newly appointed lead.

From the brief encounter he had with her he had formed little of an opinion, which was neither good nor bad, although he leaned slightly towards a more positive opinion of her due to her initiating and personally involving herself in building and working upon pack relations. Some leaders preferred to designate a member to do all the leg work and talking and so he could only respect the woman for her seemingly eagerness to work for her packs benefit. Silence swallowed the pair as they moved, both consumed by their own thoughts as the landscape passed them by, the horses only needing directing every now and then to remain on course. Eventually both Beyaz and Chiya looped back; an indication that they'd seen someone and in unison the birds landed upon a rider each, Beyaz taking Alaki's left shoulder and Chiya landing promptly upon Alex's head.

Urging his mare forward the wind quickly began to carry the vaguely familiar scent of the female leader he had met at the meet and as she came into view he brought Hibiki to a halt and promptly dismounted her, his katana clattering around with the movement before settling back against his side. A thud behind him indicated that Alex to had dismounted. Leaving his horse behind him he stepped forward until he was within a comfortable speaking distance of the female. “Good to see you again” he spoke softly, not bothering to raise his voice and felt heat to his side as Alex moved to stand beside him.

A bundle of feather drew his attention for a moment, earning a quick, curious stare, blue eyes tracking and following the bird for a few seconds before the young Rakeeb drew his attention back to the female, altogether dismissing the owl. Despite having personally trained many of the crows within Anathema, the storm coloured male had little interest in animals aside from their uses and how they can benefit him and his pack; if an animal is of no use then it is nothing more then food waiting to be killed and eaten; such was life. Although at times it seemed Beyaz was an exception to his typical judgement upon animals, ever since a few months ago he now saw the albino crow, for the most part, nothing more than a nuisance whom followed him everywhere he went; ever since he'd been betrayed so badly he'd found himself unable to trust and attach himself to anything, not even a clearly loyal crow.

Eventually it seemed as if the woman had the situation under control and offered an apology and explanation, of which he simply inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement and allowed a fraction of a smile to touch his expression. The female continued to speak, introducing herself as X'yrin; at the females words he felt Alex tense beside him and he turned to look at the male, but before he could figure out what was up with the Zepar or question him, the pale male spoke. “What happened to Nayru? Did something happen to her?” his voice was scarily serious for once, losing it's usual mocking touch it so often had. Alexander was still very much a mystery to the young Rakeeb but he did recall hearing the pale male mention once being a member of Ichika and so it only made sense he would be acquainted with the leadership.

Ignoring Alexander's question he decided it best to introduce him and his companion first, so that conversation would be a lot less confusing. “Ah, I'm Alaki, the current Rakeeb and this here” he indicated towards Alex with a small gesture of a hand “Is Alexander Collins.” he explained and wondered if the name would mean anything to the woman.

Silently he listened to the others explanation regarding this Nayru. It was rare for Alexander to be serious and even rarer for him to genuinely inquire about another without some sort of irritating underlying meaning to his words. Since the idiot Zepar had moved to his left, the grey samurai found himself turning his head more than what was comfortable to observe the pale male; although he was growing accustomed to his partial blindness, it was irritating still that his field of vision was less than others and he was overly conscious about how others may view it, maybe that was simply because he himself saw his new limitations as a weakness. As Z'yrin explained that this Nayru was of good health he noticed Alex relax, the pale male seeming to slip back into his usual cocky, all too relaxed stance. Curiosity burned within the Rakeeb, question eager to be asked filled his mind, clinging to his tongue desperate to be spoken, although he managed to force them back. He'd get his answers from Alex one way or another when there wasn't another present.

With Alex back to normal, or alteast as normal as the pierced male got, the scarred samurai turned his head, his gaze falling upon the female once more. “Well that's good. Nayru was too damn hot to die or be ill. God forbid if Ichika lost such a beauty” Alex spoke the words causing the storm coated male to flinch in response, quickly suppressing a groan he mentally cursed the pale Zepar with every fowl word in every language he knew. Without looking he knew that the pale male would have that damned innocent expression sat upon his mug, as if he was some naive pup who didn't understand what he was saying and meant know harm; very quickly the Rakeeb had learnt that Alexander knew exactly what he was saying and doing and relished in the fact he could speak his mind often without getting into to much trouble. Counting a few seconds he squashed his initial reaction of which was to beat the living day lights out of his companion and he looked sheepishly towards the female leader, praying she hadn't taken offence from the idiots words.

“Remind me why I brought you with me” he whispered underneath his breath, the words barely audible. “Sorry. Seems at some point he lost his brain and is now nothing more then a helpless idiot. Do not take offence from his words” he attempted to mimic Alexander's ability to speak with both sincerity and innocence, the words quite clearly an insult to the pale male whom simply laughed at them. “And you met Skye? Is she well? I haven't seen her in awhile. As, yes. I'm her elder brother, although we're not all that close sadly, so I doubt you'd have heard mention of me” the ghost like zepar explained, answering some of the Rakeebs questions along with X'yrins.

Thankfully it seemed X'yrin didn't take offence from Alexander's words; whether it was simply due to an understanding nature the female may have possessed or something else the young Rakeeb did not know nor did he care all that much; he was simply grateful that Alexander had yet to cause trouble between himself and the golden female... yet being the key point, for the storm coated leader knew the ghost like Zepar all to well and the longer this meeting went on the higher the chances were that Alex would make yet another inappropriate comment. Stealing a glance at the other he gave a pointed stare and hoped for once the male would behave himself, considering he had practically begged to be allowed to tag along on this meeting it seemed only fair that the Zepar should behave. “Talkative and interesting, huh? Well that's one way to put it” he responded in jest, disturbed by the thought of the woman’s sibling and Alexander together.

A small sound drew the Rakeebs attention away from the moment, his limited sight zoned in on the small owlet once more and he ignored the conversation between the female and Alexander, curiously watching the young owl; such a young and clearly untrained bird it seemed odd that the woman had brought it with her, for he personally left all young crow caged where they couldn't cause members trouble and they remained as such until they were old enough to work the system. If a bird wasn't trained it was useless and yet the woman had the thing with her. A fragment of him picked up on the words being spoken and Alexander's response to them, “No need to be sorry, it is as it is and i'm glad to hear she is well. Although I do like the idea of things happening for a reason” even without looking Rakeeb knew Alex was playing all the cards at his disposal to draw the woman’s attention; family issues, sympathy, that damned innocent smile and relaxed nature. Of course he knew what the other was up to, having witnessed it too many times and he hoped the Zepar would stop his antics sooner rather than later.

With that said it seemed the conversation moved away from the Collins family and to the true purpose of this arrange meeting. Switching his attention away from the bird he smiled slightly at the woman, a false expression that didn't reach his eyes but he knew a smile would work better the remaining expressionless when forming a relationship with another leader. “I'm actually acquainted with a few of you're members, Jace and Temo Wolfe” he responded carefully, “And likewise, Alex was previously a member of Ichika and so I know some of your pack and culture and yet you are right in the fact we do not know enough.. considering the close proximity between our borders” he titled his head a fraction in consideration, awaiting the females response. Beyaz stirred lightly upon his shoulder, fidgeting around so that he grew more comfortable before settling down again.

Listening to the she-wolfs words it seemed as if there was a significant lack of communication between pack and leaders within Ichika no Ho-en or maybe the female was simply being humble regarding the knowledge of her own pack. As the gold woman elaborated upon her previous words he considered them and his own position within his own pack; Anathema had been the first pack he had truly dedicated himself to, the first which he felt he belonged to and the first he was privileged to lead; despite the ever changing members of Anathema he had always believed he knew to some level what was going on within the lands and was confident he had a good understanding on what the band of misfits stood for and the culture tied to the pack. To him it had always been simple because from the start he had fitted in almost naturally as if there was no other pack he should belong to. Although his promotion to Rakeeb hadn't been taken well by all and some still conveniently forgot his rank, for the most part the pack had accepted and respected him as their Rakeeb and he was glad for that.

Hearing the females words it became apparent that X'yrin was a new leader of the neighbouring pack and still adjusting to the sickening peaceful life that they all seemed to embrace. Following the female's leader he seated himself down on the ground, Alex seating himself beside him in a casual sprawled out manner, upon Alex's head Chiya stirred and lifted her wings, relocating to one of the near by tree branches whilst Beyaz seemed content to stay beside the storm coloured male. “I encountered Jace and Temo before they joined Pheonix Valley and I was the one who educated Jace in various... self defence matters” he chose not to mention the specifics of what he had taught Jace, knowing that others wouldn't be pleased he'd taught her poisons and sparred with her. “From them i've heard their opinions of your pack, although that's just one view. Aside from that what I know is from rumours and I believe little of it for I have yet to ascertain it as truth. Sadly my knowledge is rather limited outside of knowing you strive peace, that is correct, yes?” he spoke equally carefully, not really sure how to answer the woman's question. Turning his head he looked over to see if Alex had anything to add.

“I was previously a member of Dahlia de Mai and chose to follow Nayru to Ichicka for she gave me a chance to prove myself within a pack. Although it didn't last long i'm afraid, I find I grew bored of the peaceful lifestyle many appear to lead.” which was truth, for the pale Zepar thrived in unpredictable situations, loved gambling, poking fun at others and generally being an infuriating nuisance towards others; although he had managed to give up drinking and taking drugs in excessive amounts. Within Ichika he had felt like he was the odd one out and so he'd left, it was that simple.