right back over the edge.

[Anselm de le Poer]

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-- Anselm nodded when the scarred female mentioned their neighbours to the south. "Yea; it's pretty much them and Dahlia that concern me most. The Valley seems to take priority, though--they'd probably still recognise me at Dahlia, anyway." It was just as risky to go to Haku's pack later as it was now, and he'd rather hit up the Valley while it was still convenient.. if he waited to long, he'd be just as obvious there, too. "I got into a spat with one of the members of the Valley awhile ago before I left--but I doubt it has anything to do with this situation. She instigated; I gave her the chance to run." In Anselm's mind, this made him the very definition of innocent. Despite himself, the red-eyed male was a creature of standards--he wouldn't kill without the facts and damn good reason. He viewed this behaviour as essential to Inferni's success on the whole: it was one thing to be extremely defensive of their territory, it was another to run amok killing random folks on neutral grounds. Frankly, he viewed these unprovoked attacks as unacceptable. When he'd been in the leader ranks, he would've probably whooped anyone he discovered so recklessly endangering their welfare. If they caused too much commotion, they risked attracting the attention of all of the wolf packs in the area, and prime defensive territory or not, they could only do so much against those numbers. Regardless, if Iskata had mouthed off to him only, he might not have resorted to physical violence so quickly, either--but she'd made the grave mistake of proclaiming Gabriel's hit out on her. He'd even been polite and she'd started ranting and raving about his home and his family. Not good. Either way, he'd been gone too long for it to matter. Now Kaena explained her own confrontation with one of the members, and he nodded as he took the information in. "What did he look like?" he wondered, just so he knew who to avoid (oh, wouldn't things just be joyous when he discovered Kaena's foe was his daughter's courter?). A gold ear flicked at the mention of "Cour des Miracles;" that had to be the new pack Gabriel had mentioned. He nodded. "Hah; yea... Gabriel told me they're lead by an inexperienced teenager." His daughter was about that age, too, he guessed, but Ryan was very competent and down to earth. The other girl had seemed downright oblivious, apparently seeing fit to trespass over clearly marked borders. Dumb. "Right; nobody is exempt. There's no sense in building a fortress if it has holes in it." Who knew; perhaps those they discredited the most would prove to be the greatest threat. They couldn't afford any mistakes. "Can you tell me anything of where they settled? I still know where Dahlia, Phoenix Valley and Crimson Dreams are, assuming they haven't relocated, but I'm not sure about any others." If she had any information for him at all, he'd find it extremely useful. While he could easily go scout around by himself, having a lead was simply much more efficient. At her suggestion he gave a heartfelt nod, his wet tail flopping over in a half wag behind him--it seemed like deep down, she recognised the same thing he did: "Fair enough; always good to keep enemies to a minimum, if nothing else."

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