With so many new litters at the Temple, Haze found it quite easy to sneek out when her mother went for a drink of water. It wasn't until an hour had passed that Haze even stopped to wonder where she was, and by that time, she had no clue which way the Ruins were.

Plodding along on her oversized paws, the liger cub slowly climbed higher along the mountain ridge, her speckled and striped coat making rather efficient camoflauge with the shadows and streaks of sunlight.

Austin had a way of being in the right place at the right time. The Clouded Leopard padded up the mountain in search of new hunting grounds and perhaps more hunters. The pack was still in development. He surveyed the land, and his eyes rested on the Liger. He slowly moved closer and called to her. "Hello? Who are you?" He yelled.

A bald eagle soared above, keeping an eye out for danger.

Having met no real predators in her young life yet, Haze showed no fear when the other approached her. "Hiya! My name is Purple Haze, daughter of Leope and Chahaya, member of the Shadow Haunters Pack." She recited happily, having been trained on how to 'correctly' answer such a question. Cocking her head to the side, the cub shot a question back at him, "Who are you?"

Austin sat down and nodded. "Shadow Haunters?...Never heard of them." He chuckled, twitching his tail. "But that doesn't matter. I am Austin, member of the Sombra Cazadores." He looked up at Kaisho and grinned, then back to Haze. "And the cowardly bird is Kaisho."

Her golden-orange eyes lit up like saucers when he remarked about not hearing of the Shadow Haunters before. However, her attention was short, and she quickly drifted to the next topic. "Caza-what? Kaisho?" Still young, she had a hard time keeping up with the names he was giving to her, and didn't realize there was a bird until he mentioned it. Looking up, the liger grinned, "Oh, I see! Erm... what does cowardly mean? Is that a kind of big bird?"

Austin sighed. "We're a hunting pack, basically." He explained, walking closer to the cub. "We hunt sheep and deer and everything else and bring it back to our home. And, if we have some left over, we bring it to the neighboring packs free of charge." He looked up when Haze did and motioned for the eagle to come down. "Cowardly means afraid. My friend here is a bald eagle."

Kaisho landed on the ground next to the big cat and cocked his head. "I assume my feline friend already introduced me...as always...against my will...to strangers...in the wilder--" The bird was cut off by Austin. "It's okay, Kaisho. She's good." He assured.

Soaking in the information, or what she could of it, Haze was delighted to see the bird up close. "Hi, Kaisho!" Now she looked back to Austin, cocking her head to the side, "You give food to others? Why would you do that?" Haze questioned next, in innocent sincerity.

Kaisho nodded to Haze, then looked at the older cat. Austin yawned. "We're friendly towards our allies, unlike some of the monsters in this valley." He replied, but felt the need to change the subject. "Do you have a home?"

She was silent for a moment, before suddenly speaking out, "Hey, that's pretty nice of you! Me? Yeah, I live at the Shadow Haunters Temple. I use to have to stay in the Basement, but now the Mothers let me explore more." She smiled proudly at this information. "What about you?"

Austin smiled pleasantly. "That sounds interesting." He replied politely. "I prefer the wilderness. Mountains, open skies, streams, all that stuff. I live at the Breve Ridges with the hunting group. You're welcome to come there with me, if you'd like. One of our members recently had a litter of kittens." He thought of Kiki, and how the cat 'saved' her friends by distracting one of the toms.

"Oh, I would love that!" She exclaimed excitedly, prancing her front paws in anticipation. She missunderstood his request though, thinking he only meant for her to visit. In any case, she was more than happy to go visit some kittens. "This wilderness stuff is pretty cool." Haze added as an afterthought, coming back to Austin's previous statements. Seeing that they didn't live in a temple would be a surprise to her; and seeing just how small the kittens and their mother were would be something totally else.

Austin smiled and nodded, contently making a 'purring' noise. "I am sure that you will fit right in." He replied, then looked at the bird which sat beside him. "Kaisho, could you do me a favor and fetch Kiki and the kittens? It's about time they come to their new home." Turning his furry head back to the cub, he nodded. "It's this way, if you're ready." He added before bounding down the mountains towards his home.

Kaisho sighed, but obeyed his orders and flew off.