THE GOLD IS SLEEPING IN THE RIVER

Jaime was dead.

He couldn't believe it and wished not to yet he knew that he couldn't be arrogant forever. He had flown away from the crowd and his brother, he landed into the cool desert sand with the sun gone and the moon in its place. Everything was dark in his eyes, everything had gone shit. His own moon gone. Jaime was gone. Elduin was gone. They all left or died, Trygve wishing that he had been able to stop it all but he was useless and that was a fact. "FUCKING DAMMIT!" He roared with anger and agony mixing into his voice, dripping like droplets of rain, he gritted his teeth and shut his eyes feeling the tears slipping down from his cheeks. He could've done something... Maybe if he had known about herbs and how to treat others but himself... Maybe Jaime would've still been here.

The fires rose from his chest and began to dance across his jaws as they parted, he could feel the blood beginning to drip from his maw. The fire had eaten Jaime inside out... "It should've been me..." He croaked to himself as he let his body lower itself to the sand only to pull his paws over his head with claws digging into his tufted ears, if only he hadn't been useless. If only he was a good enough Roux... He could've been there in the time of need... His family losing Jaime yet he hid here within the Pitt. Coward... You're a coward, Trygve would think to himself as his once tense paws grew lose and fell to his sides. Maybe he'd go do his Nights of Solitude... Perhaps stay away from everyone... What if he hurt or ended up losing more people dear to him?

It gnawed at him as he began to make his way over to the Blood river, he saw the reflection of the moon within the murky waters. The smell made his snout wrinkle, he knew that there was some crocodiles around probably but he didn't mind at the time. Everything was numb and everything was silent. Part of him wished he was back in the treehouse with Aine talking about random topics and hearing the constant sighs of Gael... Or playing a game of chess. He wanted to get it off his mind despite how selfish it was. That's what he was. Selfish. He had always been selfish. He gritted his teeth once more letting a breath brush pass his closed jaws, he turned away from the Blood river.

He took some heavy steps in the direction of home, the Pitt, he could never show his face back in the Typhoon. His ears pressed flat against his skull but he seemed to hesitate "What do I do?" He wished there was some way to made his decision and stay loyal to a single group, he sat down slowly with mottled tail curled around his forepaws. He glanced up at the moon as if expecting it to answer him but, Ry knew that it wouldn't. He had already lost his luna, why would the Moon bother uttering a word to him? Disloyal. Selfish. Arrogant. And useless. He held his breath for a moment only to mutter quietly "It's just a name..." His paws reaching to his ear to remove his earring but he stopped hearing someone walking about. He turned around with a growl "Whose there?"

How interesting. Fate worked in mystical ways. In an attempt to travel to his former home in an effort of reconciliation (somewhat, at least), the sound of The Pitt's familiar screams met his ears. Nevertheless, this was no ordinary torture. Those were not the shrieks of a slave being gutted, nor a bastard being exiled. Instead, it was... different. Their echoed screams bounced around in his head, causing Stryker to redirect his path away from the ancient city and towards the crimson river. The cries of a lost soul, one so damaged, continued to reminisce throughout the territory. It was not long before the source was found.

Slitted eyes narrowed at the draconic jaguar in the distance, watching them stare down at the bloodied stream. Contemplation? Reconsideration? Stryker couldn't read the boy's mind. Nevertheless, the Kingpin could tell when someone was struggling, as if it wasn't evident through their pleading yells. Even so, the Pittian didn't last long at the river. As they turned away, the lion ducked behind the sand dune. The reverberations of paw steps sounded out, coming in his direction. Stryker grew tense.

Silence. No more movement. The feline nonchalantly raised an eyebrow, expecting more to come, but was left with the quiet. Stryker, thinking he was clear, began to slink out from the sand dune. Moonlight highlighted his figure as traveled away, only to hear the pitiful growl of another. Slitted eyes redirected to the horizon. The current Pittian caught his attention quickly with the Kingpin quickly assessing the boy's smaller, yet hostile, stature. A growl rose from the back of his throat. "I don't think I'll be answering that question anytime soon, kid," Stryker shot back.

His jagged teeth revealed themselves as his maw pulled back. Stryker's split tongue mockingly flicked towards Trygrve, testing his patience. "I might ask you the same question though. You seem... new." After all, it had been some time since his last visit within The Pitt. Their former leader remembered most faces, but judging by this little cat, he couldn't help but assume they were fresh meat.

THE GOLD IS SLEEPING IN THE RIVER

The draconic jaguar felt the fur on his spine beginning to rise as he glared at the lion that he had spotted, his lips peeled back as a snarl left his maw. He never enjoyed being called a kid despite being a lot younger than all of those around him, Trygve lashed his mottled tail to the sides wondering what he should do. Maybe he should tell Gael about the stranger yet, he didn't want the vulpine having to deal with more problems especially since he was busy enough. So, without much of a thought, the New Blood decided that he would handle things in his own way which wasn't the brightest of ideas. "You're trespassing on Pitt territory so I have the right to know, you stupid sack of shit." The fires churned within him but he chose to keep them down long enough so he could use it to his advantage in the moment when he needed it most.

The other was much larger than him though that was a given due to their different species, he was a jaguar and the other was a lion. Hearing what the other said made the young boy snort with narrowed gaze watching the lion's every movement before speaking with a low growl "How'd you know? Creepy ass motherfucker," He took a few confident steps forward feeling the fire rising up his throat as he continued "Slithering around like a god damn snake. You don't belong here and I'm sure as fuck that you aren't welcomed here either." Or that's what Trygve believed. He had never met Stryker and only had heard rumors about him through a few NPCs, both within the Pitt and Typhoon.

Paws sunk into the sand as he added "So, I think it'd be best if you went your way and fucked off." He wouldn't engage in a fight, he knew the last thing that Aine wanted was for him to be hurt or give her more work than she needed. Hence why he decided to keep things verbal. For now. His claws digging into the sand underneath him, it had been a while since he fought someone that was much larger than him and he had experience now... But he never met or let alone fought with Stryker so whatever the lion decided next would come out as unpredictable to the New Blood.