It was rare for the male to visit the Lagoon. Ruiko enjoyed water; in fact, he had lived in a pack that had thrived off such a source, but somehow the lagoon with its swampy land had never appealed to the large male. During the summer black flies infested the land with hateful determination while in the winter it provided a sickly grey slush to cloak the territory.


However, the day found Ruiko in a more appreciative mood. The lagoon before him glistened with promise, while the lands felt far less wet than those of the marshes. The sun brightened the smooth surface with an appealing glow, despite the knowledge that winter would soon be upon them. Prowling along the edge of the incline, the large male’s bright eyes fell upon a flash of ivory in the water. Blinking as he regarded the figure, he realized the wolf was intent upon washing themselves in the massive body of water, and for a moment, Ruiko believed the she-wolf to be Jaysyek.


Loping down the slope, the tawny wolf’s pace soon slowed as the wolf came to closer view. At first he considered the female a stranger, until he caught sight of the strangely curled tail. Ushering a low snort, Ruiko Tainn prowled closer to the water’s edge, his stoical features staring quite unabashedly at the girl in the water. “Look what the tides brought in.”

Having announced his presence, the Tainn male watched the she-wolf turn slowly in the water, her eyes falling upon him though he was unable to read her thoughts. Curious to him was the scar that ran the length over her right eye and down to her snout – the tell-tale milky white of the pupil revealing that she had been blinded by the injury.


Her words stirred his ears to cup forward, his shoulders to lift in a shrug. Stoical as always, Ruiko paused for a moment before replying, and once more his words were nothing but brash. “I am always well,” he returned smoothly, as if hinting that her disappearance on him had truly affected him very little. It wasn’t as if they had been lovers. “I’d say the same for you, but it looks like you ran into some trouble on your journeys.”

Her poker face was impeccable – she was unwilling to mention what happened to her eye, and Ruiko had enough gentlemanly sense to not ask. Instead, the regal male gave a dip of his muzzle, moving back a few paces from the water to give her space if she wished to come out. After all, it was a colder season to be wafting in the water for so long.


Her question sounded something purely polite, and the regal male had to contain a grin from surpassing his lips at the thought that perhaps his presence made her uncomfortable. Did she think he was going to seek her once more? That he hadn’t learned his lesson the first time with her flighty presence? “My adventures have been rather tame,” he offered with a shrug of his shoulders, not seeing the benefit of ending the conversation where it stood. “I’ve been in Swift River for a few months now to help with the puppies.”

The ivory she-wolf moved from the water then, and as her paws hit the earth to pull herself from the cold lagoon, the tawny male noted how thin and malnourished she appeared. No, her time away from Relic Lore had certainly not been kind, and he doubted the life of a lone wolf was helping much. Either way though it was not his concern; she had made it very apparent that it was not when she had left months ago.


“By ‘all of the packs’ you mean the entire two that exist within Relic Lore lands?” His words were dark, yet amusement could be found in them. Was Vlarindara trying to coax information from him about Grizzly Hollow? “Not to my knowledge. Swift River hit a rough patch is all.”

The conversation was prodded along with awkward small talk – the regal wolf vaguely wondered if the ivory girl truly cared about the well-being of the River pups and was only inquiring to be polite, but he did not question it. The meeting between them was best left brief in his mind, and without adding any fuel to erupt to a fire.


“They’re well and healthy.” There was a small pause as he recalled the youths at the pack hunt. “They grow far too fast for any of our liking, but that is what seems to happen.” Moving down the light slope to the water, the Tainn male allowed the rogue her space, though his muzzle bent down to quench his thirst.