Cors Ossum strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

No birds sang in this part of the wood. Zerxes hadn't heard a single peep in over an hour, but found no discomfort in the silence surrounded by old bones and the stench of decay. Rather, it felt homely. Around him, trees were draped with dormant creepers and dusted with snow. Despite the rather heavy snowfall the night before, not much peppered the ground thanks to the thick canopy above. Between his paws rested an equally thin rabbit carcass he'd been nursing for the better part of the day. There had been little meat to begin with and sucking out the marrow in the bones was hardly worth the effort it took to crack them open.

Not for the first time, the Zamora cursed the fact that no pack would likely take him in this condition even if he could pretend to bow to any leadership. He would be thriving if he had others to help him take down worthwhile care. Now, he was forced to scavenge other kills or catch the unlucky rabbit that was slower than the emaciated wolf.

The benefit, at least, to resting in this forlorn place was the in built security system. There was hardly a place to step without crunching through some skull or another. Z had actually delighted in the music made on his way to the center of Cors Ossum while others may have avoiding the place for that very reason. He heard the music now and lifted his head from his meal with an ugly snarl. Starving as he was, Zerxes wasn't about to surrender his meal - as meager as it was - to anyone without a brutal fight.

"You'll find no easy meal here," he warned boldly.

She had left the cedarwood almost one full moon ago and cursed herself more than once for losing sight of @Cottongrass in that time. Since then she had meandered this way and that with no real destination in mind, except to steer clear of the mountain with its treacherous pitfalls and to keep away from anywhere that started to smell too much like a pack. It was those sorts of signs that had sent her south of the secluded spring and into the bare gnarled trees that marked the ghastly woods. Unbeknownst to the girl, her aunt had first made herself a den in these woods and later laid claim to a pack. Sure the trees creaked and groaned, and some even reached down to snag at her fur, but it wasn't unpleasant to her. Not yet, anyway.

The air seemed more stagnant in this section of woods, and it wasn't until the earth began to crunch under her paws that she even looked down at the twig-littered... Oh. Those weren't twigs... It was a hint of morbid curiosity that drew the girl deeper into the Ossum, where the bones and skulls grew larger still - she could only wonder what lay at the heart? Maybe a grand old moose skull, or something more fearsome too. What if this was a dragon's lair and she was walking right into a trap? Her own imagination had run so far away with the girl that she unleashed a short, startled yelp as a voice cut through the relative silence. No matter the tone of his words, like Pavlov's Bell her sunken sides answered the simple utterance of meal with a very audible grumble of their own. Embarrassed, her ears turned back and tail tucked, "I-uh, I'm sorry, I didn't even know there was anyone else here..." What little wind there was was most certainly not in her favour.

@Victoria

Zerxes was pleasantly surprised to find it was a woman who had come calling rather than some scavenging male looking to pick a fight. Not that he minded fights. But the devil wasn't in a particularly fine mood for tossing out insults and goading. He was in the mood to eat. However, the scent of female had turned the mood of wanting to eat marrow and stringy sinew to something far more soft and feminine. Lifting his gaze, he licked languidly at his lips as if delighted to drink up her presence.

"Forgive my tone," he murmured, inclining his head in a manner akin to curiosity. "I'm afraid I've become used to coyotes trying to scavenge what little food I come across that I've become rather...abrasive." Z's tone, to any with a skill for detecting danger, could be considered abrasive enough. There was a darker cadence to it than suited a normal conversation.

The male dipped his head to peel off another thin layer of meat and allowed the stringy bits to slide through his teeth so that he may messily snap it up. "Were I in better condition, I could be inclined to share." As it was, he was not. In fact, his green eyes watched her as if she were a doe with a broken leg. But the manner in which he was inclined to devour her was far from how any wolf would treat prey. "I would not be disinclined to accept your company, however." Zerxes's smile was sharp to accompany his words. "Please. Have a seat."

@Zerxes

Were she an older wolf, or perhaps just a little more worldly, this stranger might have given her chills. As it was, her tail took up a welcoming wave, the simple fact that he was speaking to her and not charging with ears pinned and teeth bared lulling her into a false sense of security. "Oh I wouldn't dream of taking your food," the sincerity in her tone betraying just how naive the girl was. She wouldn't even think to steal a meal from a lowly fox, she had more sense than to try and challenge someone so much bigger than her, even in his emaciated state.

As he invited her to sit uncertainty gripped her. She inched a little closer, shoulders hunching instinctively as her head dipped low. She was far from an intimidating sight to start with, but she wanted to be implicitly clear that she was no threat at all to her new companion. Things might have been different if Avery was here, she probably would have turned right around and left with some excuse about taking a wrong turn having lost her breadcrumb trail, but her brother was gone and with him the only skerrick of stranger danger the dusty girl had ever possessed.

The only way to make herself smaller than he was, was to rest down on her elbows, chin almost touching the ground. She tried to focus on anything but the dark mask of the wolf before her. "I don't suppose you've seen a young white wolf by chance? His name is Cottongrass..." Her voice was small, just in case he hadn't called her over for conversation at all, though her tail swept the bones behind her in a welcoming manner none the less.

Oh, for Fenrir's sake, she practically screamed 'victim victim victim eat me' to Zerxes' dark mind. It took great restraint to keep his smile from turning predatory. No point in risking alarming her early on. He watched with great pleasure as she crept closer to sit in a cowed position. He watched with amusement as she settled down further onto her belly and elbows. For as naive as she was, even she sensed something off about him.

It was no skin off his back. She was no gravewalker.

At her softly stated question, Zerxes allowed his gaze to drift back down to his meal as he continued peeling what little sinew there was left from the rabbit's bones. "I've come across many young wolves lately, though I can't say any of them have been white." The masked male actually had a grand fascination with white wolves. He enjoyed how prettily their blood stained their coats when he was done with them. "That's an interesting name as well. Rather quaint." Z smiled as he said it, but it didn't sound like a compliment.

"Speaking of names...may I ask for yours, sweetheart?"

When he mentioned that he hadn't seen her friend the girl was temporarily crestfallen, however, Victoria was a wolf that took things at face value, so when he commented on her friend's name she perked right back up again. "He probably got lost again, or found the friend he had lost when I found him." She managed a small sigh even though she was smiling. Things had been so perfect when there were three of them, but now that she was on her own everything was so much harder. Were she not already laying down when he asked her name she might have fallen over from embarrassment. Her mothers would be so disappointed. "Oh, sorry! Vic, uh-Victoria but please, just Vic, from Renegades Reach."

Through the gnarled canopy of the trees she couldn't catch sight of the mountain she was sure loomed somewhere nearby, she was certain she had been heading straight for it... for all she wanted to skirt right around. Her companion seemed comfortable enough, perhaps he was familiar with the area, or more familiar than she was at least. "Do you know if theres a way around the mountain, rather than over it? Last time I fell through a hole and into an underground lake and I just... I'd rather live." If she had be truthful, and why would she be anything else? If there wasn't, well she might just have to re-evaluate her options on this side of the mountain.

The masked male offered all his charm now and dipped his head in a small bow. "Well, Vic from Renegades Reach, welcome. I'm Zerxes Zamora of Charred Ash Draw." It felt odd to have such a title again. A pack. Honestly, Z had nearly forgotten the name. Despite sleeping in their den, eating their food, and patrolling their borders, he had little to do with it as evidenced by how he was out and about on his own.

His brow lifted with interest at her inquiries. "Around the mountain?" Pale green eyes tracked behind him and up, up, up to observe the peak of Dire. Returning his gaze to the young female, he smiled. "Now...just what does a sweet thing like you hope to find on the other side? There's nothing over there but empty forests and ghosts." Not that he knew. Zerxes had never actually been in the eastern hemisphere of Relic Lore. But the lie fell readily on his lips and tasted good, so why the hell not?

"You know, if you're looking for a place to stay, I'm sure the Draw would have room for a wolf like yourself. We could certainly use a few more adventures wolves. What do you think?" His tail thumped the ground rhythmically now, friendlier than he'd ever been before. "It's a good pack." And would certainly be better with a dish such as Victoria to eat up when the time came.

Huh, She tucked both names away for safe keeping, the pack name not one her mother had mentioned, (if only she knew). The certainty with which he spoke left a worried look on her face, maybe she should just go home after all? But then he threw her an unexpected lifeline. Her expression didn't lift with the offer, if anything it fell further and a small, self-deprecating chuckle left her lips, "Last pack I tried to join the leaders didn't even come to the borders," and hadn't that hurt... She wasn't intending to tarnish her companions pack by any means but... Well she wasn't quite sure she was up for that level of rejection again.

His affirmation that it was a good pack put her a little more at ease and perhaps having met him before would increase her chances? But she still had to find Cotton, to make sure he was alright. "If you could give me directions, I can come once I've spent a few more days looking for my friend? I just want to make sure he's okay..." She didn't need to admit that she was horrible with directions, and that it would probably be spring before she reached the Draw. If she said she would come, she would get there eventually, she was sure of it!