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Boring, everything was so boring. The foal could barely stand it, gritting his teeth with absolute irritation while his snaking tail snapped back and forth. Life, he'd decided already, was far too short for him to simply sulk about in his mother and father's shadow. His father had told him that he would be proud of him and his brothers no matter what, while his mother encouraged them to do great things. How could he do that if he was stuck here?

Flapping his stubby wings as though hoping they'd give him the lift he'd needed to fly away, Kerberos settled for stomping through the forest. One day, his hooves would be as big as his father's--then he could leave all sorts of nasty footprints to scare people off! He'd be something to look at when he was older, something that people would respect and listen to. A sharp snort issued from his nose, and the Kalona paused for a moment to glower at his surroundings.

Nothing still.

Sharp teeth grating together, the colt snarled to himself with displeasure. How was he supposed to head out and make a real name for himself if there was no one here? He couldn't stand the thought that he'd snuck away from his parents for nothing!

His ears pricked slowly at the sound of a voice, almost in disbelief until the dark filly trotted into view. She wasn't dark like his siblings, more of a softer color... and the silver markings flickered all over her hide made him pause to consider. Well she was certainly bold, charging on in without even thinking! That was pretty stupid of her, the colt thought almost dismissively, but lifted his head to fix an arrogant stare on her with one, gleaming eye.

"Of course there's someone here. Do I look like I blend in?" The reply might have been a snap if he hadn't said it so calmly, evaluating her for a long moment before he snorted again. All right, she passed his test... but only because there wasn't anyone else here!

"I'm Kerberos." He offered coolly, again drawn to the strange... face on her hide. "What's that supposed to be?" Did her parents' have a marking like that? Well duh, of course they had to! Still, he couldn't quite make out what it was from this angle.

Hmph! That little grin she gave made him arch his neck a little imperiously, an eye gleaming as far down at the filly as he could manage. Still, a small smirk tugged at his muzzle despite himself, and his wings rustled once more as he debated over how to best answer her. She wasn't too rattled, that was a good sign! He didn't have time to waste over someone who wasn't confident about themselves. "So why's that make you sad?"

He hadn't missed that sudden change in expression, of course!

Were her parents dead, he wondered? His father had instructed him quite severely on things like skinwalkers and the like, and he wasn't stupid enough to think he could take one on... not right now, anyway. "God my horns from my mom, markings too. Some are from Dad, though." He said breezily enough, not pausing to linger on her strange reaction to her words. "What're you doing all the way out here for, then? You might as well be asking to get eaten..."

He watched her carefully as she opted to stare at the ground instead of meet his gaze, an idle ear flicking. Huh. So she'd run away from her family? Thought she could handle it on her own and only found herself growing lonely, was that it? While he approved of the adventurous spirit, her weakness was enough to make him shake his head. "You can see them again whenever,can't you? Be grateful they let you slip out of sight..." He wasn't bitter about that at all, not him!

Her stare, however, was enough to pull his lips back in a toothy grin, eyes narrowed to mere slits as he regarded her. "You mean you don't know? And you're out here all by yourself? Kalona and Skinwalkers, of course! I'm a Kalona... but if I had to eat another Soquili, I would definitely pick something more meaty." An absent, arrogant toss of his head. "...But not everyone's as picky as I am. If it'd been anyone else, they might have just decided you'd be good for a snack!"

He'd honestly never considered eating another Soquili before. It just seemed... gross. But he shook that off to eye her a bit more curiously, a frown tugging at his muzzle. "For being all alone out here, you sure don't know anything."

So she really was far away! But if she hadn't run, if her parents' had given her permission... Another frown. "They let you come all the way here all by yourself?" Some parents! Well, maybe they thought their daughter was strong enough to handle things. His mother and father never doubted their abilities, after all--but if she didn't even know about some of the things that prowled around here, then that wasn't a good sign.

He took some sort of nasty pleasure in watching her eyes widen; so she had enough sense to recognize he could be really dangerous! Oblivious to her thoughts, he arched his neck and preened a little, clearly thinking he was quite the menacing little beast. "You always need to stay alert. I could have been faking when I called out to you, and you would have ran straight into a trap." He noted loftily, though nodded at her thanks.

"Well. I've never actually seen one..." He'd admit, "...But my parents say they exist, and I'm not gonna be the one to prove them right." Maybe his other brothers' would get eaten, but not him! 'Course, then he'd need to hunt that thing down and take revenge... but they were probably back with his parents.

"Course not!" He snorted at her words, puffing up as though she'd questioned his bravery. "But there's a difference between being smart and scared. You can sneak up on a lot of things, if you're clever. Think you could do that?" The challenge came, but his eyes were bright with potential mischief. This could be fun...

Oh. Kerberos almost felt a little pang of disappointment at that; it would have been so much more interesting if it'd been the other way around! "Your mentor, huh? What's this so-called dream you've got?" He was curious. He didn't have a dream, as far as he knew. Impress his parents, sure, but that wouldn't be hard.

The grin he got from her was enough to make his tail flick, mind already racing over potential ideas. And then.. bingo. "Follow me." He'd only reply mysteriously, trotting past her to slip into some foliage nearby. The pair, should Brioso follow, would wind their way through the nearby forests, and only when he could pick out the sound of rushing water did the colt slow. A wordless jerk of his head was offered before he crept closer, hiding himself behind some of the thicker trees and peering out at the river.

A mother bear and her two cubs were fishing, oblivious to the presence of the two foals. A good thing, considering... but Kerberos was looking more excited than afraid. "If we practice sneaking up on dangerous things now," He breathed, "Then just think of how good we'll be at it when we're adults..."

His head would snap back at her disapproval, the tone she'd unexpectedly taken, and it seemed that the Kalona foal was puffing himself up as though insulted. "You said you wanted a challenge, didn't you?" His tail twitched, careful to keep his voice down so he wouldn't startle the otherwise-content mother. Still, it was hard to keep his face from twitching a little, and, though he fought it for a moment, he eventually grinned.

"And I was testing to you, s'all. Had to make sure you were up to snuff--someone else might have ran and gotten us all in trouble." He was surveying her with a bit more approval, pleased she'd tried to use his own logic back against him. He wasn't a hypocrite, after all!

"Anyway. If you wanna keep people safe... Well, being eaten probably isn't on your to-do list." And again he slunk through the brush. Had he really been testing her? Or was he trying to save face? Who knew. Whatever the reason, he was obviously determined to take things in stride and try again.

He froze again after a moment, impatiently flapping a wing for the filly to come up and have a look. Another mother--but this one was decidedly smaller from the first. And orange. And had a tail. Foxes... but would they do? Clearly he wasn't the one in charge here, and rolled his eyes at the thought before curiously watching the tiny, fluffy kits scrabble out of the den to join their mother. Huh.

Luckily, he was too focused on the tiny puffballs of fluff to notice the way Brioso looking at him, his tail twitching slightly at the thought of trying to prowl closer without making a sound. His ears flicked back as though to better catch her compliment, but he only snorted softly and began to slink closer. Had to stay downwind, couldn't step on anything and startle them...

The mother fox seemed oblivious for now, more concerned with fussing over her kits and keeping a close eye on them as they wobbled about on clumsy legs. Her large, pointed ears swiveled carefully, and she was cautious. She knew what sort of things lay just beyond the reach of her den.

Kerberos froze whenever those ears flicked his way, clearly somewhat new to this way of 'hunting'. He briefly considered attempting to catch the fox if he could get close enough... but he didn't exactly know what he'd do with her. Though he ate meat and enjoyed it, there was something weird about killing a mother and leaving her babies to fend for themselves, where they likely wouldn't make it. It made him feel strange and somewhat bristly.

Of course, he told himself quickly, he wouldn't do it just so the girl with him wouldn't cry. Which he was sure she would. Right?