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Vidar tossed his head and the mane full of trinkets with pride, an easy grin on his face as he walked away from where his Viking crew had set up camp for the night. He prided himself on his many treasures and the noise they made, claiming that he wanted to give those he pillaged and plundered a fighting change to hear him coming and run.

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure none of the Reavers were following him, Vidar quickened his pace to put a bit of distance between himself and the group of lions. He could hear them singing songs of victory and honor and glory, and he wanted to check and make sure the small group of wild dogs he had spotted last time he was out were still making their dens not far from here. Tomorrow they'd raid and be victorious for sure!

The whole lot of them were making a great clamor, though the great goddess had found most of it endearing. Na'Ira was a travelling soul and often found herself in strange places, tracing paths of Rebirth that often did not make sense even to her. Here, near the lions singing their songs of ear and victory, the ebbs and flows of the cycle seemed in constant flux.

It was both thrilling and exhausting at once.

She was considering the group gathered not too far away when she saw one peel away into the dark of the night, only his eyes reflecting coolly in the shadows. He wasn't very sneaky, honestly. The baubles strung about his body we're clicking and clattering so proudly that she had to assume he had done it on purpose. The thought made her smile to herself - what possible purpose was there in that?

In a few swift motions, she was alight upon the air and soaring for him on comparatively quiet wings. It let her get the high ground with ease, swooping low to land before him with a goddess' easy grace.

"What do you call yourselves?" Sort of like saying hello.

Vidar was just about to break into a light trot to escape the sounds and scents of his camp when a rather strange breeze ruffled his mane. He looked up a little too late, missing the giant form that flew over him, but when a voice spoke to him he instantly turned to look, stopping in his tracks. His eyes widened first in surprise, then in delight as the goddess' form finally sank in. The last time he been so close to one of these powerful creatures she had been trying to kill him, so it was a rather nice break to have one speaking sensibly to him.

"Oh, us?" he asked, nodding back to the rowdy group. "We're on a Viking, and most of them are Reavers. We hail from the Stormborn. Captain Vidar," he added with a little grin, the trinkets in his mane tinkling pleasantly as he bobbed his head in a little bow. He had the scars to show his battle with the previous god and goddess so he wasn't about to piss this one off and have her change her peaceful ways.

"Although I'd call them pretty noisy and rather awful at setting up a camp that will hopefully be on a raid tomorrow," he added with a wry chuckle. "But most of them are young or on their first Viking, so I can't really blame them."

The goddess nodded her head slowly as a slew of names she didn't truly understand flowed from his jowls. Mortals did love their nicknames, she found.

"Vidar of the Stormborn."

Her great head tilted a fraction as she considered him, dragging smoldering eyes up along his limbs and torso, noting each little scar that marred his thick fur and each trinket that dangled over it. Had he killed so many, she wondered? Somewhat about him told her that it wasn't just idle boasting, she felt it in the air like she felt many things, static that said this was the weave of the world.

"Captain Vidar," she corrected herself after the moment of inspection.

And then he made a joke that caught her so off guard that she couldn't help the pleasant, bell-like laugh. Altogether she was elegant, if oddly curious in that weird way Gods were sometimes known to be. Nothing about her in particular seemed to scream aggression.

"I would say that pretty noisy is a bit of an understatement but they'll learn, no? They always do if they're going to last." He had solidified a smile on her jowls and at last, she inclined her head to introduce herself even though he had not yet asked.

"I am Na'ira, the Goddess of Rebirth. Your noisy ones made me curious."

The laughter from the goddess was both pleasing and a relief. She didn't seem the type to randomly attack, so as long as Vidar didn't tick her off he was pretty sure he'd leave this encounter unscathed. He chuckled again with a little nod as she gave her opinion, knowing well that all cubs learned from failure. If the wild dogs they were targeting were gone in the morning, he'd have a lesson to teach them all for certain.

"Na'ira," he repeated with a wider grin. Goddess of Rebirth...that was much better than Villainy and Nightmares as he had met previously. He wondered if Asla knew about her. Probably, he thought to himself as he allowed his eyes to take in just how glorious she was. Her coloration was bright with subtle markings that looked quite a bit like fire, her wings large and feathered, but most of all he was caught by the smile and kindness on her face and in her eyes.

"I think you'd give quite a number of them a fright if you went to them rather than me," he said, swishing his tail in amusement. "I've met other gods before. A bit unsavory, but I'm glad to have come across one that isn't out to rip me apart." Granted, he hadn't been the main focus of the attacks. The male that had been with him had been and he had been caught in the crossfire. Still, it made for a good story!

"Do you usually roam these lands?" he asked, waving a paw out in the direction of the rogue lands rather than towards his home. If she had never heard of the Stormborn before he doubted she traveled to the sea often.

The brows abve her cool blue eyes rose as he suggested that he had run into some rather nasty gods. It wasn't unheard of among her ilk (after all, everything in imagination had its patron) but she didn't make a habit of associating with the overly aggressive sort of immortals. Lifelong enemies were a hardship she was not inclined to seek out when her life could be terribly, miserably, impossibly long.

"I may have been before but who could really remember? I certainly haven't been since you were born, at least." The smile on her lips gave way to an amused chuckle, light and airy as the wisps of flames her coat pattern suggested. "Do other gods often come this way?"

As if she expected to see one, she let her gaze slide out across the dark horizon, picking out crags and trees against the horizon. There was nothing to suggest she might run into one of those unsavory sorts he mentioned. Content, she flexed her great wings wide and then tucked them more neatly against her side, clearly without any intention of leaving their conversation anytime soon.

"I am drawn to different places for different reasons," she explained, "Sometimes the lands cry out for my passing, other times it is simply a flower or a broken heart. I am rarely in the same place twice."

"Oh, you'd be surprised how many find our pride," Vidar said with a chuckle. "I'd wager half the pride has a god parent or grandparent at least. There's a few that some of the older members worship too, so it's not as if we denounce the gods or anything like that. And where there's a rowdy bunch of lions you can be sure gods will turn up." He gave her a grin and a nod as if to say 'and here you are'.

He watched with interest as Na'ira extended her wings, admiring the span they covered before they settled back down against her sides. It was interesting to see the differences between the gods, how some had wings with feathers and others more like bats, and some none at all! Yet they could still fly...so intriguing.

"Rebirth...yes, I could see why," Vidar said with a nod, lifting a paw to scratch at his chin. "I'm sure you've seen quite a bit of the world, then. I wish I could travel as far as god," he said with a wistful sigh. "That would be an adventure worth having for sure."

An entire pride full of the offspring of gods. The fiery lioness nodded slowly at his words but behind her ocean blue eyes, her thoughts were swimming, tossing surely as a maelstrom. She said nothing for the moment as she considered what his home must have been like and, too, the other prides she had met that ran thick with the blood of gods - there was an entire pride in the desert, proud and ancient, that had been born from her own mother. They were the descendants of her sisters and brothers and few things in this world made her so proud as all that they had accomplished.

Some decision seemed made as she finally surfaced from the mystery of her own mind, offering him a smile that was at once amused and pleased. So many of the earthbound wished to fly as free and far as immortals.

"Perhaps you will, one day. Greatness begets greatness."

There was a certain impish gleam in her eyes as she suggested it and with a surety, she would not have paused to explain the meaning even if he asked. Some secrets were best kept but she would not have missed an opportunity to set a mortal mind spinning with wonder. Instead of elaborating, she stepped closer, letting the long, bright tail feathers drag along the dark earth as her eyes peered more intently upon his own.

"How long before your rowdy followers grow suspect of your absence, Captain?"

The goddess' comment made Vidar burst out laughing at the thought of flying. He could see it now - he'd kill a great bird one day and take its wings as a trophy and they'd somehow adhere to his body and he could fly anywhere he wanted! He assumed a god could probably bless him with flight, but gifts from gods were rarely given freely or with good intent. He'd probably never set a toe on the ground again! But perhaps it would make him more god-like and Asla might then finally have an eye for him...

Pulled from his own thoughts, he glanced up at Na'ira as she drew closer, a rather sly look on her face. The question made his laughter return, this time in a low chuckle.

"Them? I could be gone all night and they wouldn't notice," he answered truthfully, a winning grin on his face. "I wouldn't mind some time away from them as well. They're a great bunch, for certain, but just a little juvenile for my tastes." Of course he had been a scrappy youth once as well so he knew what it felt like to be out on a Viking, but he'd be perfectly fine spending time with the goddess before him if she'd have him.

That answer made her laugh, lighting up her face in a way that suggested she did actually find humor in his company. Even if his pride seemed to be fond of their physical prowess and (judging by the bones slung about his neck) battle skill, she was glad to see that good hearts lurked inside of that ages old drive for glory. It was hard to find fault in the mix of it when she knew mortals fought their entire lives to survive and prove their worth. Every day was just anoter way to prove to fate that they belonged on this land, that their strings weren't to be cut just yet..

There was a distant look in her eyes as she considered the idea of fate and mortality, following the questions that always seemed to pluck at her domain and even her very existence, and for the moment she didn't seem as if she were altogether there with him. Then she roused, slowly, from her distraction and settled her eyes back upon him. Whatever thought she had lost herself in seemed to have brought her to a moment of decision.

"Oh, well, that's a lucky thing."

Her words were playful and airy and her eyes, distant and lost not moments before, had regained that fiery gleam. She was turning away from him and the direction he had come from but let her gaze fall back upon as she began to walk away.

"Let's see if we can't find somewhere a little more quiet, you and I."

Then that same, chiming laugh parted her jowls and lingered behind as they passed, only fading as they slipped into the distance.