Ah yes, to hunt - to hunt not only for a temporary cure for his boredom and disgruntledness but to hunt for something, or someone, to convince the pompous Baphomet to hand him some small token of trust. After all, he knew too well what he wanted and to obtain such a thing, he would need to remain on at least stable ground with the newly crowned Iromar King - a position rightfully Tesseract's come spring but nonetheless! Besides, it would have been nice to just get away from the creatures he'd brought with him if only for a few hours - perhaps Tobias would have made better company for at least he did not purvey such an arrogance about him. Baphomet, for the most part, was tolerable however for he held benefits and opportunity for Tesseract but he also reminded Tesseract that his frivolous plans had been unable to defeat nature. The alleged Queen, too, was ruthless and hardly beyond reasoning, a not so respectable trait and the other males of the group? Well, he did not trust them for even a second alone with his Caligula or the remainder of his female kinfolk. The male, he who took on the form of one of Azrael's lot, was more or less tolerable and as were a small group of the females he had brought but... they were not desirable company. They reminded him too strongly of his mother's failure and thus his own. At least he had been honest about it.

He had taken the route to the Eastern Crater, a route seldom traveled by he but one of sheer beauty nonetheless. The sky had fast shifted from a rich blue to the mauve and star sprinkled dusk; winter was fast disappearing and one could almost hear the spring crickets preparing themselves for song if they listened hard enough. Come spring, he would be at the age of manhood and come spring, his mother would curse the world with another child doomed to fail as Vidar and all the others had. Obnoxious thoughts; thoughts difficult to shake as he trudged through the thick snow, his lean form moving with relative ease through the loosening snow. Though he knew Caligula remained curled up within the warmth of their combined den, he had not wished to return that night - a night away would be good for him, perhaps it would calm his restless mind.

He sighed loudly as he moved up the hillside, his lavender eyes sweeping the blankets of white in search of a makeshift home and then there - right beneath the flat stone that jutted from the hillside. A dark crevice, one obviously made by another but seemingly unused - he grinned to himself over the find, his legs lashing out faster beneath him but just as he moved to slide within the den, coming within mere feet, he found the unfamiliar form of another staring out at him. He stopped instantly, the sudden slowing of his momentum causing a small amount of snow to kick up from beneath him and towards her - for a minute or so, he simply stared before his features broke into a sheepish grin. As if a switch had been flipped, he moved from stationary to alive with movement; his ears flicked forward and head tilted slowly, a slow chuckle thrumming in his throat as he bowed his head low.

"My apologies, lady. You are quite well hidden from the world there in the shade; I apologise if I have startled you," he bowed once more before backing up some steps, giving the female more than enough space between them (according to Tesseract, at least). So, he had found company despite the nature of it - backed up into a dark cave, but company nonetheless. Perhaps even a few short moments of small talk, as mundane as it often were, would satisfy the social beast within him.

"May I ask what brings you out here? Are you alone? If you wish, I can suggest much more hidden den sites so that you can avoid this instance again."

T E S S E R A C T
[ three - soul of caligula ]