Long, supple limbs picked their way daintily through the forest, silvery gray eyes peering out from refined features as Nike's gaze skimmed over the bushes that he passed. He was foraging again, something he had become rather good at in recent months. Maybe he couldn't bring his mother back a fawn to eat, but he could bring her those berries she liked so much. If he could only find them again.
His searching was interrupted by a loud voice that he - unfortunately - recognzied. Nike's head shot up and he froze midstep, ears falling back in a mixture of annoyance and uneasiness. Turning his head, Nike spotted the dark girl, the one who had orchestrated that party in the foothills of the mountains a year and a half prior. "How could I forget," he mumbled under his breath as she prattled on about herself. Oh, and she was a Queen now - apparently her plans to become an Empress had failed. He didn't even try to restrain the roll of his eyes. And of Asteraia no less, that barren wasteland northeast of where they now stood. No wonder she had gone there, no one would want that, it wasn't like she would ever have to fight for her title.
"Yes," he replied when she asked if Nike was his name, but before he could make to continue on his way she INSULTED HIM. HIM - Nike, perfect Nike. His eyes went wide and he recoiled slightly before interrupting her with a sharp retort of, "I'm not too thin! Maybe...maybe you're just fat!" He huffed his exasperation, glancing around him and wishing that Everlast was there to teach this bratty little princess that she was the farthest thing from perfection - which was obvious because she was the opposite of everything he was.
But a single ear flicked towards her as she kept talking about food and how he could have whatever he wanted and keep some extras. Maybe he could steal a whole fawn carcass from Aster and her pack as payback for insulting him, and then he could bring it to his mother and she would feast like the Queen she was. Before he could reconsider, he was being herded along by Aster, at first a bit hesitant but then she actually mentioned a cached fawn and he became more willing to go along with her.
When they came upon the borders of Asteraia, he hesitated once more. He knew his mother would never sanction a visit across the borders of any pack without her - but perhaps just this once he could go against her wishes, if it meant he would be able to bring her back a whole fawn. Following Aster into the pack lands, he almost immediately regretted his choice when Aster dashed around behind him and boldly proclaimed that he was a 'guest' of her pack and that he couldn't leave. FOR THREE WHOLE WEEKS. Everlast wouldn't know he was here, and Nike immediately saw the pacing and searching and anxiety that she would go through in his mind's eyes - the same way she'd been when Zeus disappeared. He couldn't do that to her! Why hadn't he just stayed in the forest and kept looking for berries? "No way! You can't make me stay here! I have to go." He moved to push past her, but Aster was there to block his path each time he tried to get around her. And for perhaps the first time in his life, Nike felt less than perfect as a panic attack began to grip him by the heart. All he could think about was how his disappearance would worry his mother.