When I had laid eyes upon Tesseract's mangled, defeated form in the outer dunes of Glorall, I had come to realize my father's mortality. All my life I had been of a more realistic mind, but even I was susceptible to the glorification of one's parents' strength. In my mind I had always known he was not invincible, but in my heart I had imagined that he would reign until he decided he no longer wanted to, when he would pass the honor to one of his children. Even I could be slapped in the face with the harsh reality of life. But I had gathered myself and we had come here. And here we would start a new life. I nodded at Aithne's words about how to define the nature of ruthlessness. "I have little doubt in my mind that if Tesseract had not forfeited his home that he would have lost his life as well as his throne." I did not know the particulars of the battle between my father and the usurper, nor any words exchanged during, but I could not imagine that if Tesseract had continued to fight that his challenger would have allowed him to live. Pale violet eyes glance to Aithne as she states her well wishes for his recovery, and I nodded once more; but some part of me knew that my father would never go back to reclaim Glorall. Though I was no healer myself, the points and angles of the injuries my father had sustained suggested they would affect him for the rest of his life.

My eyes drifted from Aithne then as a most peculiar aroma caught my attention from amongst the rest. Studiously did I shift my attention over the landscape before me until I locked upon the bizarre forms of giant reptilians beached near a marshy bog. My heart thrummed with excitement as my head tilted slightly for a moment. My bodice had become completely still with apprehension, but as Aithne's voice confirmed my suspicions my tail began to drift back and forth once more. Her comparison between the alligators before us and the seals of my former home mirrors my own thoughts, and I grin at the notion. Finally I pull my eyes away from their lazy forms, sure that they pose us no threat at the moment, though a single ear tilts back towards them as I look to my friend and listen to what she has to say. "It would be interesting, then, to perhaps somehow capture a young one and mark it in some way...so that in years to come we might know if it shall outlive us." My curious nature was pulled from the shell of displacement I had felt when I had woken, and the light in my eyes was illuminated once more.

Despite Aithne's former offer of teaching me how to hunt these beasts, I did not feel quite up to it today. I was still somewhat tired from the journey here as well as the emotional toll the past day had taken on me. So after a time spent studying these ancient looking beasts I was happy to encourage our path to move forward in whatever direction Aithne wished to take me. But there was more to learning about my new home than the lay of the land and the beasts that haunted the swamps. As we continued onwards I was ever intrigued by the landscape, but my words took me down a different path of discovery. "What are the ranks of your pack like, Aithne? I once worked towards the position of Scholar within my father's hierarchy. An idle life is not for me; it may take me some time to settle here, but when I do I wish to have a purpose." No two packs held identical ranks, but I wondered if there was something with the tiers of her ranks that might suit my intellectual and curious tendencies.