he hadn't been in the public eye in some time, not since the fall of the frostblown, a group he had taken over himself. his arrival here had revealed someone he had lost when that group had fallen, a demon by the name of sebastian. yet, he was a coward, and had hidden himself away from them.

taking a breath, the akhlut wandered between the trees of vaglir forest, his gaze on the river. he'd heard reports of how much the spring thaw had swelled the river, and he could agree. the usual paths were underwater and the water was freezing cold. he was out to survey the damage out of his own curiosity, and he was aching for a swim. he missed having access to the ocean, preferring the open bodies of water to the depths of the lakes, but the eyes of thol were frozen over despite their depth, and it made it hard to swim in them. he could do it, but he would have to be closest to the river mouths and ends.

stopping now as water sloshed around his paws, ice chunks drifting the length of the river, the last few remaining from it's thaw. groaning, he would bat a few out onto the ground around him, sniffing at the water to see if there was any fish to be found in it. searching for any kind of fish, the akhlut would rumble at the river, looking downriver to where the vihar bridge spanned the width of the water, sliding into the water with a rough purr, swimming slowly along, looking for other members of the frostguard that may have gotten too close to the waters or were too curious and got sucked in.

the river was a place of comfort for him, the water a soothing balm for the creature when they needed to retreat from society. they desperately wanted a place to call home, in fact, they'd taken to living in the woods in a fallen pile of timber, if only just to be closer to the river. the flood from years ago ... the cries of the swept away still haunted him. if only he'd been stronger, the great beast wishing he could have saved them all. he felt weak everytime he remembered, and that's part of what drove him to patrol the river daily. perhaps he could spare an innocent life.

hunger rumbled in his stomach at this time, waterproof fur slicked down by the currents, his head barely above the water but ears standing up as he caught the muted shout of someone calling his name. ducking underwater, he growled quietly. he didn't want to be social. he really hated how some of these northeners would stare at him and his scars, sometimes, no, often times wishing for the comfort of the winged demon from back home.

the north would always be his home, he couldn't stray for long, even if it gave him the chance to swim in other areas of the ocean. if anything, he often visited the old territory of the frostblown in order to swim in the seas there. he could trick himself sometimes, with the grand depths of the frozen lakes within this land, but it was only every now and then. breaching the water surface after closing his jaws around the tail of a low drifting arctic cod, bringing the fish with him as he looked around and paddled in place, looking for the one who'd called his name, thinking it over.

who here knew him? only sebastian. oh shit. turning around, he barked out around his fish, "sebastian?", he hadn't spoken for the longest time, and his voice was as rough as ever. gods, fuck, where were they? he needed to find them, even if he wanted to avoid them, because honestly, he missed the shit out of them.