Terra had drifted east after her visit to Ichika. Her purpose of wanting to check on Shandom still remained, though she had no idea where he might have gotten to. Any scent trail he might have left had long since faded, leaving her with nothing but the handful of words he'd told her as he abandoned the pack. They were enough though. Terra had already checked the peace pack, and no rumors of a white wolf had been found. Guessing that he had chosen to avoid packs while he tried to find himself Terra had headed for the more desolate northern parts.
Now she stood at a new border. It was fresh, the scents still not seeped in and only marked by a few. Unsure of herself she sniffed at the border, trying to make out what it was supposed to be. A new territory, certainly. Beyond that though, Terra had no clue. It might be a family, or a band of stragglers, or a new pack. Shandom certainly wouldn't be here. Still, they might have spotted him. Terra let out her tell tale howl, giving off her coyote heritage. Hopefully someone would come quickly.
New Dawn had finally seen its first day, and it had been glorious. Everyone arrived as expected, and it was amazing to look around at all the faces of those who wanted to live like she did. When she looked into their eyes she saw the same hope that she felt for this pack, for this world, and knew that together they would grow strong. This was just the beginning, and soon others would hear word of New Dawn and seek out their guidance. Of course, with that came many new challenges and responsibilities, but with Zalen and her pack at her side, Titania was prepared to face them.
Not wanting to let a perfect day blow things out of proportion and make her feel complacent, Titania found a way to make herself useful that day. They needed to stand strong and prominent if they were to keep their new realm, and it had been days since she and Zalen first walked this land and marked the territory for themselves. The Alpha wasn't about to let his scent fade from the borders, but this was still a two person job. So Titania trotted the perimeter of New Dawn, leaving a fresh marking anywhere that their scent seemed light.
It was thanks to her duty that she found the outsider. Nose to the snow, she was sniffing the layers of powder to gauge the strength of the scent when the sound of a howl came to her ears. Her head jerked up and she was like a marble statue for a moment, frozen and listening. There... the sound was coming from this way. Her paws jerked into motion as she swung around and pranced toward the sound, her head held high and tail curled upwards. She wove through a coupling of trees, hearing voices now, and when she rounded the massive trunk she saw the stranger standing just at the edge of her borders.
Titania bristled. This was not a face she knew, not a friend from the past or someone she had come about while she worked to bring New Dawn to light. Well, let's just see what she wants then.
“Well met, stranger,” she began cordially as she trotted forward, her tail high and her eyes looking straight into Terra's. “These lands are no longer open territory. If you're looking for someone, they're probably not here. This is New Dawn's realm now.” It was direct enough, spoken evenly with all the information she needed to convey... a very gently worded, 'bug off.'
Terra bristled slightly at the cold words. The female was younger than her, yet decided to challenge her. Coldly Terra met the wolf's eyes with a steady gaze of her own. Her own tail half raised, no longer a friendly banner but a reminder that she was not under the female's command. You really think I'm so foolish that I can't recognize a new territory? Well I suppose that's possible, with how weak your scent is. That really wasn't good. Terra had come here for information, not to start a fight. Shaking her head Terra crouched down slightly.
I apologize. I'm looking for someone. He said he was heading north. You might be new, but he might have passed through the area. He's a white wolf, a scar over one eye. His name is Shandom. Have you seen him? If there truly was no information to gain here Terra would move on, with a simple note to warn others away from the chilly northern pack.
.: OOC I made this short but sweet because I believe Maddi will be entering with Soran. :: WC 263:.
A streak of hot anger pulsed through her veins as the insolent girl dared to insult her at the edge of her very own territory. If it weren't for her fur she would have turned beat red with the sudden rush. Her golden eyes narrowed and she took a step forward, raising to her full height now that she felt that her authority had been challenged. It wasn't so much the coy-wolf's words as it was her actions. Well, what else could you expect from a half breed, anyway?
Weak scent? Her lip curled back to show off just the tips of her pearly whites. Being so young Titania's fangs were in prime shape, not a tooth missing or decayed. Titania had a mind to pin Terra and teach her a thing about scents, but just as quickly as she could contemplate peeing on the stranger, Terra's constitution faltered and she stepped back, lowering herself slightly. The action spoke to Titania's primitive senses, and though she would have liked to hold on to the determination the anger provided, she felt she had won a small battle when Terra folded, even in this small way. Still, she wasn't so thrilled with her.
“Shandom?” Even the inexperienced youth knew it wasn't smart to just divulge information about her pack, and now it was her prime duty to protect them. Still, she was inexperienced at lying, and some people could smell a lie. Best to take middle ground. “If you don't know where he is then maybe your Shandom doesn't want to be found?”
The sable female was still smiling from her meeting Insomnia, the young female had seemed sweet, she had smelt a little of coyote when she had arrived but it had been a nice meeting and the girl had seemed sweet enough, it seemed that she was far less coyote than the dark female had suspected at first. Once the meeting had been over the dark female had gone back to what she had been doing before she had met the younger girl, she was walking around the borders of the territory, sniffing at the ground as she did so, making sure that the scent markers were properly in place, making mental notes of where the scent was weaker so that she might tell Zalen or Titania to go and reinforce the areas, she was unsure if she was permitted to scent them herself, although she was the next in command after the Alpha pair she was almost certain that they would prefer to mark the borders themselves, so instead she had began rolling small stones into place along the line of the border, almost as if she were trying to build an exceptionally tiny wall, a physical marker in case the scent were to wear off. The dark lady had been hard at work for a long time when her work was interrupted by the loud call of another wolf, Soran knew the voice well, knowing that she was a half breed, half coyote caused her to begin to trot towards the sound, she would not be welcome here, perhaps Soran as a friendly face could warn her of this gently. She trotted towards the sound but soon realised from the sound of voices that Titania, her almost daughter in law, had already found her, the dark female gave a sigh, hoping that Terra had not taken the news that she was not welcome here badly, the sable Beta could imagine that the coywolf could be a little short tempered if she was allowed. She approached just in time to see Terra move into a dominant stance, Soran gave a little sigh and rolled her eyes, typical, there would be a scuffle on the borders in the very first day of the wolf's reign here. She was still fairly far away from the pair so she forced herself into a quicker trot in order to break up the potential fight.
Luckily when Soran arrived Terra seemed to have fallen into a slightly more submissive stance and Titania seemed to have relaxed a little. The dark pelted female slowed to a walk and moved close to Titania, brushing herself along the pale female's side in a gesture of support, to show that she was not taking over but that she was here to help back her Alphess up. She stepped away and then turned to Terra. "Terra, this is the Alphess of this pack and you will show her respect when you are at our borders." The sable female stated, moving her position into a dominant one towards the young coywolf, less so than Titania's own stance, but enough to show the pale female that she was happy to show dominance to the coywolf, as was the pack's customs. "What brings you all the way up here? You weren't looking for me were you?" Soran asked, her tone softening a little, she was a maternal creature after all and in any other land Terra would be considered her friend, her equal, she had no problem with this coywolf, even though she never really trusted coyotes, and she had a small fondness for the young half blood female. She turned to look at Titania, giving her what she hoped was a look of comfort, trying to convey that she knew this young female and that she would be here to keep the peace, she could not help but hope that her pale leader would not be too harsh on the young coywolf, after all she was from a pack that welcomed everyone at the borders; she had chosen a poor day to come here though, the pack was brand new and everyone was a little on edge, perhaps she would have faired better had she come when the pack was a little more established, better settled in.
Terra looked at the wolf, a slight look of puzzlement on her face. Shandom had no reason to hide from her. They were friends, and had parted on good terms. He doesn't know I'm looking for him. It's only been a short while, after all. Not long enough to cause worry. If Shandom hadn't checked in after a couple months, then Terra might be worried. It had only been a month though, so she was sure Shandom was doing well. She'd just come for a visit, and found a less than welcoming pack standing between her and her destination. The impudent pup wouldn't be stronger than Terra, causing her to consider just knocking the female out and cutting through the pack on her search.
Someone familiar showed up though. Terra's tail wagged slightly as she recognized the dark female that had promised to travel with her sometime. Her head cocked in confusion as Soran explained that the young female was actually an alphess, a shocking statement to her mind. It was even more confusing as Soran had used 'our' in her statement. Had Soran left her pack? Isn't she rather young? Terra looked back at the cream wolf again. No offense meant, of course. Terra wouldn't trust such a pup to lead a pack. It wouldn't have the strength to fight against intruders. No, I wasn't looking for you, though I did stop at your pack to see if you were ready to start traveling. I guess with a new pack established that'll have to wait, eh?
Aparantly the stupid one just didn’t get the point. If she didn’t know for sure where Shandom was then there was probably a reason for that. The missing did not want to be found, or at least if Shandom did he could send word out to her and would have let his pack know to be on the look out for a visitor. Her eyes scanned the coyote half breed, and she knew that Shandom couldn’t have been responsible for her being here now.
An ear flicked towards Soran as the dark wolf approached the scene. She would have turned to her but did not want to take her eyes off of this shady stranger, but the sound of Soran’s uneven steps crunching the snow told her who was coming; the one with the limp. She wasn’t unhappy to have her there.
“She’s looking for someone that she won’t find here,” she said casually. Soran was smart enough to understand that she did not want to outright tell the woman that Shandom lived among them. Titania had no idea who this person was or what her motives for finding Shandom were. What she did know was that Shandom had abandoned his pack for a better life. Who knows who or what would try to follow him. If he was here for a better life, and now was one of her kith, she would protect his anonymity. “I think it would be wise for her to return to where she came from and await word of this man, if he should want to send it. Perhaps you are missing a message right now, while you stand here and waste my time?”
Her eyes focused on Soran for a moment. She was a good woman, trying to diffuse a tense situation. Unfortunately the half breed couldn’t just learn to keep her snide remarks to herself. Her eyes jerked back to Terra, snorting half laughter. “Young? And what of you? A yearling at best.” Her speaking it to Soran was even more offensive than the comment itself. “And if you’re going to question me, you can at least have the guts to do it to my face.” Her voice was cool but her eyes held a challenge, searching Terra’s countenance and daring her to make eye contact.
But the moment broke as she looked at Soran again, one brow arched inquisitively. “Traveling, Soran?” She had made plans to travel with this one? Well, it went without saying that whatever plans they had were now canceled indefinitely. She didn’t think she should insult Soran by pointing that out aloud, since Soran had probably already made this decision on her own.
The sable female had been softening as she watched the young half coyote female, she was of course a friend; they had been planning to travel together after all, they had been planning to go on adventures. that had all changed now though of course; with the pack in its infancy there was no way that the coal pelted Beta wolf would be able to be free to go on a jaunt across the lands for quite a long time yet, perhaps never, not now she held such a rank. A small flicker of sadness crossed the older female's mind as she thought of this, just for a moment, but then it passed, after all there was a greater adventure here, a chance of starting a new life with her beloved mate and her dear friends, no, this was her destiny now, finally she had a chance to feel useful and she was not about to relinquish it. The softening stopped though as Terra spoke to her, saying that Titania seemed to be very young, this was of course true and it had been something that Soran herself had worried about, that was part of the reason that she had come, not because she did not trust the young girl to manage with the trials of running a pack; but because she realised that Zalen and she would need help and advice, advice that Soran would be more than happy to give to them. But the young female had a hot temper and so did Terra, the young half coyote's words had been ill chosen. Titania instantly snapped at the young hybrid and Soran gave a small silent sigh, the pack was only a day old and already she was having to keep the peace, in her injured state it was not going to be easy. "Yes Titania is young, but her mate is not as young as she, and she is wise beyond her years, I trust them both, I would trust them with my life Terra. And at the moment I fear that you are gambling your own." Soran spoke, the last part was not said as a threat, it was a calm warning, almost a plea from the older female to think before she spoke; Soran did not know Titania very well yet, for all she knew if Terra continued being insolent in the pale Alphess' eyes then she might find herself with the entire pack called down to slaughter her, she hoped more than anything that this would not happen.
Soran nodded at her Alphess' explanation, wondering for a moment why she would not tell Terra whether or not her friend was here, but she chose to trust the female's judgement for the moment. Soran's ears perked up as Terra spoke of travelling and a small smile crossed her lips, she nodded as the hybrid suggested that it would not be happening now that Soran was a member of a new pack. "No, I think now that I am a member of this pack that I shall not be travelling, at least not for a very, very long time." Soran replied, emphasizing the word very as much as she could to show that the chances were that unfortunately the travels might be postponed for a great deal of time. She looked to Titania then, trying to convey with her eyes that she would not be leaving any time soon, she would not abandon her new home. "Why did you think that your friend might be here Terra? Did he give you any indication?" The female asked, brushing against Titania's side again in an attempt to show that she was not intending to take over this conversation.
Terra met the pup's eyes coolly. I know I'm not ready to lead a pack. What stung the most was her words about Shandom. Shandom wasn't like that. He had promised to visit. True, it had been her own initiative that brought her here before even a month had passed, but she missed being around him. He was one of the canines that Terra felt truly understood her. She looked to Soran as the old wolf spoke. Hearing that the alphess' mate was older made the fact much more acceptable in Terra's mind. Trusting someone who hadn't even seen the full turn of a year was dangerous beyond belief. Soran's warning was ridiculous though, in Terra's mind. She gambled with her life all the time, and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. It would probably kill her one day, but she didn't care, too addicted to the spirit that flooded her veins.
Titania's sharp words at Soran had Terra bristling, wanting to come to the old one's defense. It wasn't her place though. Not anymore. Soran had allowed a pup to dominate her, a fact that showed weakness where Terra had imagined none. If they were going to be so foolish Terra would let them. The topic turned back to her friend, and Terra's ears twitched unhappily. I don't know where he is. He said he was going north to find himself again, to live life as a true wolf. This is north. The pack is new, so I supposed he might have been seen crossing the lands before you were fully established. Clear enough, and very likely. The pack members would most certainly take note of loners in the area and clear them out as they claimed the land.
:: WC 263:.
