Kolvar walked just a step behind his Alphas - who also happened to be his parents - as custom and hierarchy demanded. It was this admittedly scant distance that gave the young man the confidence to roll his eyes and not worry about being scolded for it. As ever, his parents were bickering over nothing worthwhile, their voices an almost distant thing on the pleasantly cold wind. Though he did agree with father - leaving their Wolves behind was weird. As much as he liked exercise and physical exertion, keeping himself in shape as much as he did his canine partner, Kolvar found himself missing the furry bulk of Sabrione. He had grown up with the she-wolf, after all. It only made sense that he'd miss her - not to mention worry over what kind of mischief she would get into without him to keep tabs on her. Added to that the all too recent loss of his older brother, as well as a great deal of their clan to fighting with the other Garde clans, well. If he were more predisposed to needless fretting, Kolvar would have barely left the mainland. As it was, he was certain his parents wolves could keep the others safe and on their best behaviour. Well, mostly. He'd probably get back and find Sab pinned under the massive paws of Sorrento, looking for all the world like this was the best game ever. He'd have to apologise to mother, promise he'd give Sabrione a talking to, and have all his words go in one ear, and out the other. Sab wasn't a stupid beast he could simply train to be obedient, she was just as smart as a human, if not smarter. If she wanted to do something, his displeasure wasn't going to stop her. Allgarde, it would probably encourage her!
Sighing, Kolvar turned ice-blue eyes towards the lands around them, looking for the tell-tale gleam of gold. Maybe if they found enough, mother would be in a good mood. Maybe she wouldn't snap at father so much - not that he tried to avoid being snapped at. What was the phrase? Don't poke the bear? Father went past poking, and straight into full-body tackling, only it was worse than a bear, it was his mother. On the tail of that thought, Kolvar looked ahead to see his father, standing still as mother stalked ahead, clearly furious. They would have to find a lot of gold to cheer mother up after whatever that was, Kolvar thought, stomach sinking. Not that gold would replace the family they had lost, or heal the injured. It would simply make it easier for them to replace lost weapons, medicines, travelling gear, and the such. Kolvar had offered to go out and sell his services as an ice mage, as he had many times before, but rumours of this island had put a stop to any mercenary work. A place were wealth simply dropped into one's lap? It seemed almost too good to be true, and though personally Kolvar thought they should have brought the wolves to more easily move about, and carry any valuables they happened to find, he wasn't Alpha.
"What did you say?" Kolvar asked his father as he drew alongside him. Cocking his head as all he got was a wink in reply, the ice mage shrugged, and carried on his way. No doubt father didn't want to share the gory details, didn't want to show weakness to others in the Pack. Didn't want his son to see his parents fighting yet again. Everything had been fighting lately, and while he was no stranger to violence, Kolvar was sick of it. He'd been glad to go chasing this rumour instead of turn mercenary for a - hah - spell. At least this, hopefully, was a simple case of find the gold, pick up the gold, go back to the mainland. Maybe he could finally buy some leather to make more riding straps. Sabrione had nearly worn out her last set, and riding bare-back for any distance could be tricky if one wanted to carry one's home with them, as the nomadic Frostgarde did. Maybe he could dye them, or decorate them with metal studs. Useless, he knew, and an extravagance mother would frown upon, but it was a pleasant daydream nonetheless.
Until his mother bellowed, and something wet, cold, and heavy smacked into the back of his head.
For almost a second, Kolvar thought that, somehow, mother had read his thoughts and was scolding him, before his brain caught up and recognised his father's name. Looking around, Kolvar reached a hand to the back of his head, finding his hair wet with snow. Ah, suddenly, it clicked. That wink, why father wasn't following, mother's ire. Still, that had hurt more than a snowball should, even thrown by his father. Grumbling, Kolvar shook his hood out, scattering snow before it could melt and soak the heavy wool. Something gleamed as it tumbled out, however, and with a yelp of surprise, Kolvar snatched it up.
"Hey, look!" he called, holding out his prize to be examined, "I found gold!"
Well, technically his father had, but it had hit his head, and he was the one to actually find it, so, yeah. He'd found gold!