Arvid's life up to this point had been... harrowing. Where he had initially been born was a mystery to pretty much everyone, including himself. He didn't remember his parents or any other past family, nor did he remember what his first home had been like. Instead, all he could remember was being taken away from it, and passed from place to place without any real sense of independence. At one point, he had even been taken in by a family, who thought him to simply be a domestic canine. But when he had started growing at a rather rapid rate... they had become frightened of him. Worried about what he would grow into once he was an adult. He was tossed to the metaphorical wolves at that point, poked and prodded and tested by scientists until eventually they decided to just... send him away again. He could remember the sharp sting of anesthesia being injected into him, and then... he was here. On the island. Or, well, the main island. It seemed as though there were several smaller ones, at least from what he had learned.

Thus far, his experiences on the island hadn't been overwhelmingly positive. He had been sent over when he was only 5 months old, and it had been 2 months since then. In that time, he had... tried his best to find out about his new home. Really, he only ended up gathering bits and pieces. The island was full of animals – something he had figured out quite quickly upon stumbling into the territory of a loner group – and some of them had created groups. Rather large groups, if the stories were to be believed. That sounded pretty good to him, in all honesty. With numbers came safety, and he could use a feeling of safety once again. He no longer had a foster family to watch over him, and while he was glad to not have to deal with tests or prodding, he still didn't feel as though the island was truly home. Having a proper group to call his own, though, would give him that sense of home and community, hopefully.

So, the young dire wolf had started asking around. He bothered pretty much anyone who would listen – and who wouldn't attack him – and asked them to point him in the direction of one of the larger groups. It had taken a while before someone actually knew exactly where one was, but once he had found them, they pointed him in the direction of the mountains. The snowy and distant lands didn't exactly seem all that appealing to him, but... beggars couldn't be choosers. He had started the long trek without much protest, eventually noticing as he grew closer and closer, that the mountains weren't the only major landmark. In fact, the place seemed to be split up into even smaller islands. It was almost overwhelming, at least when one took it in from a distance. Still... he was unwilling to turn back at this point, and his curiosity was piqued. It wasn't long before dark – well, all except one yellow one – paws were carrying him in the direction of the Coalition's territory, multicolored eyes gleaming.

It was a couple more days before the canine properly arrived, but he knew it when he did. Although the scent of the Coalition wasn't familiar to him yet, it certainly was strong. Strong enough to let him know that he had stumbled upon a border marker, anyways. That was enough to make him pause, Arvid not wanting to trespass and get off on the wrong foot quite so early. With his paws pressing against the wet – and slightly muddy? – snowy ground, he began to glance around for any signs of life nearby. He called out a bit hesitantly, his tail wagging back and forth behind him, "Hello? Is anybody out there? I heard that some kind of group lived on this territory, and... this seems to be the border." If it wasn't, he really had to wonder why somebody was marking it so strongly. Either way, he would then sit and wait to see if he got some sort of response, momentarily wincing. He hadn't expected his voice to be so weak and hoarse, but he supposed it made sense. It had been a while since he had exchanged more than two sentences with anyone.

"they flip the siren, hit the lights" ✭ ── Strangers wandering to the border of the Coalition was no longer something that felt foreign and strange to Angel, there had been quite a few if his memory served, all of which were interesting and unique in their own ways. Arvid was no different, although there was the added difference of him being a bit more...afraid? The others had either been confident enough or didn't have a care in the world. Perhaps that fact alone was what truly intrigued the jaguar cub, both the fact that this was another kid and that he didn't look much like a brave soul. Other than that dragging him over, it was a coincidence that he was out this far to meet the direwolf. He found that he liked to escape into the thawing wilderness to observe the changes in weather and wildlife as the season changed. Unlike Arvid, the boy both had clear memory of his parents and had never once moved from the land of his birth, but was dissatisfied with both, but he did know what it was like, being seperated from family. Though he knew his brothers and father by name, despite the fact they had all up and left the Coalition after Jormungand's exile, that didn't make the sting any less prominent. But at least he was never prodded at by anyone, trying to figure out what he was. No, no, he was just mentally kicked around.

"Well, I'm out here. The Coalition of the Condemned lives here, what are you doing here?" Perhaps some sense of caution would have been preferred, but Angel only seemed as curious as ever, eyes moving from a passing bird to the canine. Poor thing looked afraid enough as it was, he didn't want to cause any more trouble. Angel shivered right after, a friendly smile on his face to ensure the newcomer he meant no harm. "Aren't you cold? You shouldn't be wandering out there all by yourself, it's not safe." A few more steps brought him closer to Arvid, spotted tail twitching over the muddy ground. It wasn't polite to stare, so he attempted to be subtle, but the yellow contrasting against the dark fur caught his attention. It was no half face full of scales, but it was...interesting.

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The fact is that Arvid didn't want to come off as frightened. He knew that could be a matter of life or death, depending on where he was. He had heard a few rumors about the Coalition of the Condemned, but... nothing conclusive, considering he had only really been looking for a place to live. He hadn't asked for many more details, which in retrospect probably wasn't a great idea. He had to just make the best of it now, though. At the very least, Angelembrace seemed friendly – or well, aside from the comments about how unsafe the canine was. The dire wolf's ears flicked down briefly before he spoke, his dark tail swishing behind him, "I came here because I'm looking for a place to live. I guess it might've been dangerous to come here all on my own, but... I didn't have much of a choice." His multicolored gaze darkened momentarily, the briefest flashes of past events gripping him. He shook them off, however, saying with a gruff snort, "Anyways... my name is Arvid Brynjar Rosenberg. Obviously you can just call me Arvid, though. Is it alright for me to join?" Angelembrace didn't seem keen on running him off, so maybe they were open to joiners? The boy certainly hoped so.

Arvid's attention was pulled away from Angel by the approach of Byriath, looking over at the guru with interest. A skin? He wasn't entirely opposed to the concept of wearing furs for warmth, but... the face staring down at him set the canine on edge. The pup quickly shook his head back and forth, muttering softly, "I... I'm alright. My coat is thick enough that I'm not too chilly. Who are you?" He knew it was a bit rude to ask the name of someone when he was in their territory, but he found himself curious. If he truly was going to be a member of the group, then he wanted to know who he would be spending his time with. Speaking of... his gaze slowly drifted over to Aphra as well, pausing before he questioned the pure white feline as well, "And who are you?" He was unaware that Aphra would probably take offense to the simple question, but even if she did... he probably wouldn't care too much. The opinion of one person didn't really matter to him, as long as he was let in.