Orinoco

The 10 foot Yacare Caiman swam through the slushy water with serpentine motions. She snapped at a fish purely for fun. She knew other crocodilians lived here, but she had no knowledge of any other caimans here. The cold weather slowed her down greatly, and she didn't get where she wanted to go nearly as fast as she would during summer. She called to the other crocodiles, staking out her territory.

Dima

He would have been near eight or nine feet in length, but half of his tail was missing, along with one hind leg and a few toes on his front. The young alligator had gotten into more than his fair share of fights, and learned the hard way how his elders didn't like other males in their territory. He was lucky that Galar was so... different from the other gators.

His interest in the females was growing somewhat, though he still had much growing to do, being as he was hardly five years old. And, it helped if he actually had a territory of his own. As it was, he still lived in Galar's domain, with his sister Akili and a few other she-gators whom Galar was more than happy to invite in.

The waters were beginning to warm somewhat, and spring was dawning in a month or so from now. In a few weeks, it would be warm enough for him to start eating again. Until then, Dima had little to do but cruise around the frigid waters and try to stay out of the older males' ways. It was while he was crusing that he came across a most unfamiliar reptilian.

Normally reclusive in his personality, Orinoco's unusual shape and colors caught his eye. She... looked like an alligator... sort of. Having never seen a caimen before, Dima took the initiative to approach Orinoco, gliding slowly through the water before stopping near a stand of half-dead reeds. Never being good at talking with others, he just rested there, looking curiously at the caimen.

Orinoco

Orinoco, too, watched Dima from a distance. She was older and probably more experienced, at 32 years. She was nearing her oldest age, but that didn't stop her from doing the things she wanted to. She swam closer to the gator. "What do we have here?" She asked. "I'm Orinoco. Who are you?" She had only seen a few gators, and only recently. It was not odd to see gators here, but it was odd to see a Yacare Caiman here, their natural habitat being rivers, marshes and lakes of South America.

Villain

The new Shadow Haunter had been looking for new members for his pack, the division lead by Razor, when he came across Galars Marsh. His eyes stole the sight of two interesting looking beasts. He was into the exotic, the strange and obscene. An alligator fighting with wolves would be an interesting one.

Slowly he crept to the beach, careful not to get into striking range of either of them. "What wonderful creatures." He said aloud. Eyes shifting from on to the other. "Tell me, what are you. And what do such fine creatures do for your lives?" His tail went up into a wag. Their teeth, their scales. All was so exciting. He knew they packed power behind them.

Dima

The gator was startled when the caimen approached him, and had half a mind to slip under the water and evade her attempts at communicating with him. Curiousity made him linger though, long enough to catch her name and learn that she apparently didn't mean any harm. Still, after loosing so much of himself in past fights, he was good to be leery of others.

"Name's Dima." He replied quickly, golden, amber-speckled eyes narrowing just slightly with suspicion, since no one had ever just stopped to 'talk' with him before. It was either someone coming to attack him, or someone trying to make a meal of him. "Just... what are you?" He ventured to ask, just as a wolf appeared.

Dima became slightly defensive now, arching and puffing out his back and throat, making himself look larger than he really was. "I'm an alligator." He responded guardedly, eyeing Villian with even more suspicion than he had Orinoco. "Try to stay alive, that is what I do." Dima added after a moment, calming himself down just a slight bit. At five years of age, he knew a wolf wasn't much of a threat to him at all, though it didn't hurt to be caution. After all, he couldn't afford to lose any more limbs and digits than he had already.

Villain

The grizzle beast smirked and shook his head. "Such a boring life, but since you are such a precious looking beast I guess it'll pass." He took a few steps around them then sat just in the grass. "I am here to cause you no harm, I am interested in muscled looking creatures. And that is what you are to me. Tell me, what do you think of fighting?" The devils smile played at his lips as he watched the two as they grew cautious about him.

Dima

Villian's movements were trailed and closely monitored, but Dima was beginning to relax more as the initial fear was ebbing away, "Fighting is a part of life." The alligator replied in another simplistic statment, being sure to keep his tail submerged in the dark waters so that Villan couldn't see that half of it was missing. Compared to his sister Akili and his 'adoptive father' Galar, Dima fought a lot. And on the same note of difference, he didn't hold wolves in special reguard, and didn't have a problem with attacking those that posed a threat to him.

Villain

He watched them with dancing eyes as the water from the marsh began to reflect the hidden sun. Letting the warm light bathe the three. As Dima responded Villain inclined his head with a venomous smirk. "Yes, fighting is a part of life. But some choose to ignore it, to avoid it. The pack I am in embraces the thrill of fighting, tell me. Do you enjoy fighting?" His voice was growing warm and smooth. Like the blade of knife as it cut through a cooked chicken. Enjoying every moment of its work.

Dima

After giving the question a long thought, Dima gave his response, "I guess there is certain edge of joy in it, yes." He gave a slight nod to back up his statement, "And I suppose it would be more enjoyable once I am older, and not pitted against those who are many times my own size." Dima added on, relfecting on the past fights with other alligators. "Or at least those I have no chance of beating."

Villain

He chuckled lightly, "If you would like, you could be apart of our group. You don't have to live amongst us, and if we have a base invasion, since you are so close we could run here and you could join our fight. I would invite you to come see them, but I see that you are a tad bit water bound?" the last part of the sentence turned into a question, beginning to wonder if these creatures really could travel long distances from their water or not.

Dima

The suggestion of being part of a pack really took Dima for a loop. Although, as a youngster, he had been part of a 'pack' with his siblings. Until, of course, all but he and Akili got eatten by predators. At first, he was inclined to refuse, but the more he thought about it, the more intruiged he was. No that he was older and larger, land animals weren't such a threat to him as alligators were. You could bite a fellow gator's paw of, and he could live. But do that to a wolf or some other land animal, and they were likely to die of bloodloss or infection. Landies were so much easier to kill.

"That... that's an interesting proposal." He said at length as suspicion vanished completely from his eyes, "Sure, why not? If your base as water, and it's not too far off, I could travel there." Dima offered. He had never actually left the Marsh before, but he was perfectly capable of walking around on land. With the weather just beginning to warm up, he would be able to travel longer distances as well.

Villain

He smiled as the gator approved of the offer and nodded his head. "I'm not too sure, but I think there may be a stream that runs behind the Temple and around the ruins. Or maybe just around the ruins." He began to think then got up. "I'll go check if there is enough water for you and any water for you to live in." With that he got up and left to search for a place Dima could stay.

Orinoco

Orinoco watched as Dima answered all the questions. She, too, was interested in being a part of a pack that based their lives on fighting. And living in a stream would be better for her, as she was a Yacare Caiman. She was born near some ruins in South America before she was taken from her home.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to join too." She said, suspicious of this creature, but curious. "And I try to stay out of fights unless my life depends on it, but I could change my ways just for the joy of fighting."