The day was average – as was every other day since the beginning of Ruiko’s life as a rogue. Kinis had accompanied him earlier on a hunt, but as a small group of two, their success had been limited. His stomach, in turn, gave a jolt at the memory, and the tawny regal’s lips curled in disdain at the thought. Had he not been stubborn, the Tainn male would have taken his brother back home to Swift River, where he would have claimed his position as second beneath his headstrong brother. But the idea was not satisfying enough, and with the dispersal of most of his siblings, home was no longer where the heart was, for his was still charred and black at the ruins in the Wildwood.


The creek was an area he frequented often; with Ranger’s abandonment, they two males had travelled a bit away from the thicket; the area only served as a reminder to the she-wolf who had left him, and her had found his mood consistently sour within the land’s confinements. What was once going to be a home had become nothing more than a bad memory, and upon Kinis’ encouragement, the two were seeking a new life once more. Soon, Ruiko would claim his land and a pack would grow; a pack of loyal wolves who did not suffer from wanderlust.. else they would then suffer the pain from his sharp and powerful ivories.


Sweeping his long limbs down the slopes of the creek bank, the cream fur of his paws became muddied with the water as it washed over his toes. This offered a cool escape to the humid heat of the day, and just as the golden wolf was about to sway his figure in further to the cool water, the dark figure of another wolf caught his eye. The stranger was male, his pelt an inky black. Ruiko had yet to see the wolf about, which led him to the only conclusion that he was new to Relic Lore. Whether the stranger planned on staying or not was of little concern to Ruiko, though the blatant thought of attempting to lure the stranger as recruitment was almost a tempting idea, though he did not fall to such notions so fast. For all he knew, the traveling stranger was a royal pain in the ass and within a week Ruiko would wish for nothing more than to rip his throat out. With that thought in mind, Ruiko instead turned his muzzle downward; his own tongue lapping at the refreshing thirst quencher, though his eyes flickered to the dark wolf every so often, making sure the stranger made no sudden movements of attack.

As his eyes briefly flashed up to regard the other, Ruiko made no pause in his mission to satiate his thirst. The dark male had seen him, and the lowering of the stranger’s tail was enough to put the beast at ease for now. Finally drawing his muzzle up from the water, droplets spilled from Ruiko’s creamy chin as his gaze studied the other male with mild disinterest.


Ruiko was a wolf who could walk away from such an interlude without saying a word and feel no guilt from his lack of social ability, yet the situation he found himself in demanded diplomacy, and the regal male rocked himself back to his haunches, his muzzle giving a light dip in quiet greeting. “Another wolf passing through Relic Lore?” The Tainn wolf had found himself far more familiar with the land’s inhabitants since his life of a Lone Wolf; before, his days in Hidden Tree pack lands and Swift River had always demanded his presence to stay closer to home. Now it was rare for the male to be in one place for very long.

As moments passed, Ruiko’s question went unanswered; the dark male took to simply studying him, his figure remaining to a neutral posture. There was a number of ways for the Tainn wolf to handle the other’s seeming disinterest in conversation. Ruiko was partly tempted to show the wolf manners with a flash of his teeth, but he refrained from such; he had never been talkative, and perhaps the wolf before him was rather simple-minded. Intelligence did not bless everyone, it seemed.


“No interest in talking, hm? Luckily for you I was never much of a conversationalist myself,” he offered, his own gaze turning disinterestedly from the ebony male to steal a glance to the gently moving waters. The rogue had no intention of leaving just yet, for while his thirst was satiated for this very minute, he knew that would change in a few passing moments. Only then would he continue on his way, for he had many things to do before the sun would settle against the lands of Relic Lore. For now, the silence between strangers was a refreshing change for him.

The dark male’s response wasn’t quite something the hefty tawny wolf agreed with; when a simple question was asked, to Ruiko it seemed less offensive to respond in turn, rather than ignore the one polite enough to attempt brief conversation. However, the rogue made no comment as such, and instead regarded the stranger with his quiet stoical mask. As the other male responded that he wasn’t sure if he was passing through or not, it only enticed a small nod from the Tainn male.


Once more shifting his gaze to glance down to the water, Ruiko bent his muzzle once more to take a quick drink. When finished, the tawny wolf finally lifted himself to his paws once more. “I see,” he mused dryly, hardly able to contain the uncaring notes of his voice from sounding too obvious. “Good luck with that,” he offered, holding back a light smirk as he realized how daunting those words sounded. Without another word, Ruiko made his way down the creek, leaving the ebony wolf behind to his quiet desires.