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 As far as the golden hybrid was concerned, he'd already seamlessly re-integrated into clan life. His old den in the caves was freshly marked as his own, he'd met up with two of the three canines he really was concerned with, he'd feasted until he couldn't swallow another bite, and now he was out on the road collecting "data."
The red eyed male had woke sometime around noon and headed due south. As he neared the claimed territory, he allowed his form to shrink and readjust--Anselm generally prefered his halfling form, though he understood business as his was best conducted while looking as unobtrusive and unthreatening as possible: in plain old quadruped form.
When he reached the Valley's borders, his tail instinctively moved between his legs and his head dropped. The latter was not a direct result of submission--it was more for the sake of investigation. He inhaled deeply and regularly, his brain dissecting the various signals and scents that came up through his nose. Over a dozen different scents were noted, approximately equal numbers of males and females... seemingly no young children, but perhaps they were locked up deep within the bowels of the pack's land.
Satisfied with his initial survey, he resolved it was time for a more in depth analysis. The easiest way to obtain such information? To simply ask. Anselm's ears perked up as he squinted into the forest--it was best to avoid leaders and he didn't want to draw attention to himself if any were nearby. Trotting along until he discovered a portion of the border where the leadership's scents were weaker (two males, he noted and filed away), he let out a high pitched, inquisitive yap. A howl would be too bold, but this way he'd win the attention of any passerbys without seeming suspicious. Next it was time to wait. If he didn't receive a response within a few minutes, he'd move on and try again elsewhere.
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[html] The Nuncio was making her daily rounds at the borders. And she was quite put out by the perpetual blanket of gray cloud cover overhead. It had been weeks upon weeks and the weather had changed very little. Although she was lucky not to be caught out in the rain, she could feel the moisture hanging heavily in the air. She was quite ready for a change. She mused that she could not properly recall the blue of the sky anymore.
Shaking her head slightly, the slight woman picked up her pace. She did not want to be out here any longer than necessary, but nevertheless, she would be thorough as usual. The light gray canine was at a strange disadvantage; Geneva did not have a sense of smell. She had to rely solely on her other senses in order to gather information. That made it tricky while marking and maintaining territory boundaries, but she got by.
Her ears pricked forward when the sound of a yap cut through the air. Lime colored eyes scanned the wooded surroundings before her eyes caught on the figure of a lone male. She took a moment, surveying him. He seemed passive and did not display body language that was threatening or overly forward. Satisfied, the woman approached him. "What is your business here, stranger?" Her whisper-soft voice sounded, her tone neutral as she gazed at him curiously. [/html]
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The male perked up as he caught the sound of someone approaching and his black nose wiggled intensely for several moments as he honed in on the woman's scent. Drat; it seemed this wolf was directly below the leadership in terms of hierarchy. It was dangerous to play with fire, but Anselm had been through enough not to fear the burn too greatly. Once the woman was within sight, he reacted instantly: his ears dropped back roughly 45 degrees, not pointed straight back in fear but certainly enough to appear complacent. He dipped his head while fixing his gaze on her chin, though he allowed himself a quick peek at her jade eyes for the sake of future reference.
"I'm just looking around," he stated evenly, with several more degrees of warmth than the casual customer trying to keep the overbearing clerks at bay. "It doesn't seem right to settle somewhere without reviewing all of your options first, right?" he continued, head tipped to one side as he gauged her reaction. "What is this place? I'm Anselm," he finished, tone as smooth as ever. Nothing he had said was an outright lie--his favourite form of deception. Though he was practised enough to let those effortlessly spill past his lips with no guilt or hesitation, these pseudo-truths were even easier to pass naturally and even a trained eye or ear would have difficulty discerning any hidden motive.
At any rate, he didn't figure there was anything awfully suspicious about what he had said. Drifters came through these lands constantly and he'd never seen Geneva before. It seemed like the relationship between their two packs had soured only recently, too--though he did wonder if that brash female he'd fought with before was still around. Too bad he didn't have her name to offer... then again, if she was still here and she showed up, his cover would be blown. For now, he could just play dumb and gobble down whatever bones the grey lady threw to him.
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[html] This is craaap. I am sorry!
The Nuncio was satisfied with the male's display so far. He did not seem threatening, so far, which was a good thing. Geneva was not much a fighter, but she would do what she could to keep the borders secure. The gray female was more a diplomat. She was better able to try to reason and use logic. She had only ever had one negative experience at Phoenix Valley borders. That situation had left her hurting and later, scarred. Spidery pink scar tissue still showed in a starburst on her side and shoulder where a coin-eyed monster had attacked her.
The gray furred woman had gained much more confidence since the incident. She had also grown in strength, subtly throughout the following months. She was now responsible for a lot more within the pack, and she thrived on the responsibility. Geneva felt much more capable and much more confident. Months ago, she might have shied away from this male, but now she could hold her own, she no longer doubted herself the way she used to.
"Hello Anselm," the gray lady greeted him. "My name is Geneva Stockholm, and this is Phoenix Valley. There are a few other clans and packs which have settled around here, too. Crimson Dream, Coures des Miracles, Dahlia de Mai and Inferi." She did not know how familiar this stranger was with the lands all around. He did not seem to unfamiliar or uncomfortable with these surroundings. Maybe if she asked him a few questions, he could provide more insight. "Where did you come from?" she asked curiously. [/html]
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------Anselm's confidence in most any situation was one of his more striking features and one of his greatest strengths, as it enabled him to think on the fly without locking up. The caramel wolf feared nobody one-on-one--he would either be strong enough to take them down, or if they were that much bigger than him he'd be able to outpace them and get away. For it all, Anselm saw no shame in retreating if it meant living to fight another day; similarly, he didn't view it as a sign of weakness to call for backup while on Inferni's own soil. If anything, it was just common sense.
------Given that he'd fought practically since birth, trained regularly throughout his life, and sparred frequently with Gabriel in the past, he wasn't awfully concerned about Geneva in particular... but obviously, she could have the entire pack descend upon him with a single call. He had taken out individuals before, though such strikes needed to be made in haste and in stealth so the target could not call for assistance or inadvertently let on to something being amiss. Either way, that wasn't the point of this visit and she genuinely had nothing to worry about. She'd be much more useful to him alive, after all, for the dead told no secrets.
------"Hmm, I came from further west of here.. on the mainland," he explained. This was truth--at least originally. It'd been back off of the peninsula he'd managed to track down a handful of his kids... prior to the fire that drove them all further south, he'd really had no history here. "Most of the packs there were pretty similar, all with the same basic hierarchies and priorities," he continued, knowing it was just as important to give information when asking for it, lest you seem suspicious. "Is it like that here, or do you all do your own thing?" he asked, head tipped slightly to one side. So far she hadn't given him much he didn't already know, but good things came to those who were willing to wait.
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[html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/ ... Tablep.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat; width:400px; border:1px #D8FF00 solid; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;"> "Our foremost interest is to ensure the welfare of those within our pack and good relations with our neighboring counterparts," Geneva responded. Anselm seemed to be full of questions. She could not tell whether his curiosity was calculating or not, but she did not mind answering these basic questions. The gray woman could appreciate that the man had an inquiring mind. There was no way to gain information if one was unwilling to ask questions. If she could improve his knowledge about the general surroundings here, she was willing to divulge, so long as he did not appear to be a threat.
Geneva elaborated a bit more on her previous statements. "There have been tensions recently between Phoenix Valley and Inferni, a clan of coyotes close to here." She frowned a bit. She did not like being on negative terms with anyone, and would rather be at peace with those around. It made for less problems. Geneva was not a pacifist, but she would rather engage in discourse than violence.
"To the best of my knowledge, neither party has come to blows. And the tension was spawned from a relationship between two subleaders. A romance of sorts - although I do not see why it would cause such friction." Geneva did not know very much beyond that, but she was concerned about it. Geneva wanted things to be right, and she was certain that others at Inferni who must feel the same. No one thrived on tensions.
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------Her brief mission statement seemed valid--any self-respecting pack ought to uphold those standards, if nothing else. He nodded and considered her words, and his ears drooped back apologetically as she spoke of the tensions with his clan. "I'm sorry that things are not going well for you," he spoke, tone genuine as it mirrored his true sentiments: What doesn't go well for you doesn't go well for us. Despite growing up with war and being acclimated to it, the golden wolf still despised it. It was always a drain on all parties, both mentally and physically. Life was difficult enough without foreign assaults.
------What she said next greatly interested him on a personal level, for the subleader of Inferni was his own daughter. Though his pulse quickened a bit, he remained largely neutral on the surface--an ability that came with practise and self-restraint. "No, that doesn't really make sense," he said shortly, not allowing too long of a pause to ensue before he collected his thoughts. "Why would love inspire hatred?" he asked, although this question was clearly rhetorical. Well, fuck, he mentally growled at himself, if their subleader gets along with Ryan, I can only assume the problem comes from higher up in the hierarchy.
------Anselm was uncomfortable with the implications of this realisation, and though he wanted to know more, he knew it would appear suspicious to keep dwelling on "personal matters that did not concern him." He also wasn't sure it was good for his façade; though he was very good at the games he played, there was no reason to tempt fate. "Hopefully the matter is resolved quickly," he offered calmly, though his mind was spinning. He would need to talk to either Gabriel or Ryan about this now. "I trust that you are well prepared, in any event?" he suggested, trying to get more of a feel for their situation quickly... though he fully intended to wrap this up (and soon). "I'm not sure I am, though," he added after giving her time to respond, introducing a line that would allow him to step out of this "potential joining" situation with more ease. "Is there anything I can do to help without fully committing to becoming a member?" he asked, quite seriously open to suggestions. Something about this didn't add up and it didn't sit right in his stomach. He wanted Inferni out of this sticky situation as much as she wanted the Valley out of it, he reckoned. [/html]
[html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/ ... Tablep.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat; width:400px; border:1px #D8FF00 solid; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;"> He seemed to distance himself from the role of a joiner. But he also opened the door to suggestions and discourse. The woman had a feeling that the man was more interested in gathering information, and that his interests were vested in something else elsewhere. But she was not angry at this revelation. Although he might have initially been misleading, Geneva did not believe that Anselm had lied to her.
She shrugged her shoulder when he asked how love could have led to such madness. Geneva couldn't explain it. As someone who had only re-accepted love into her life again, she was playing it safe. She wasn't necessarily distancing herself from Jefferson, but they were definitely taking things slow. She could see how love could become explosive and crazy, but that fact that it could lead to something so destructive did not make sense to the lime-eyed woman.
"I am prepared," Geneva said vaguely. The wolfess had her wits about her, and would be prepared for anything that came at her at these borders. When she patrolled Phoenix Valley, she did not do so mindlessly. Her purpose was to safeguard her pack, and she did that to the best of her abilities. Her mind would wander sometimes, but it was easy to pull her attention back and react. "As for a solution, I believe one could be reached only through honest, diplomatic discourse," she said. "Preferably in neutral territory."
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[html] This seemed like a fitting place to end. :3 Thanks for the thread!
@#$%&His experience in battle made him yearn for it no more than the pacifist. Unfortunate circumstances in his life often planted him in the midst of war or feuds, and he had learned to train rigorously so he was ever prepared to defend his own life and his family. Though he could come across as rather rough around the edges, Anselm simply wanted the peace and security they all desired. Getting into a spat with some random asshole was one thing, invoking the fury of an entire pack was another.
@#$%&Something subtle about the woman changed--as surely as she recognised his mild deceit, he understood her realisation. It was time to step out of this situation before the questions turned back on him--lying would be useless now and he was growing hard pressed to come up with some reasonable excuse. Fair enough; this meeting had served its purpose and he honestly believed it would help both of their packs. Rising lightly to his feet, he cast a quick glance behind him in the direction from which he had come.
@#$%&"I think you're right. Thank you for your time, and best of luck." Offering a bow of his head in farewell, he turned and began to retrace his steps into neutral territory. When he'd made it several paces away, he paused and turned and met her jade gaze with his rubies. "If you need a mediator, look me up," he offered simply, before loping off into the surrounding forest. He hadn't told her where to find him, but he had a knack for showing up where he needed to be. Whatever bridges they faced in the future he and Inferni would cross as they came to them. This was only the first task on his ambitious agenda, and the pecularity of the information he received meritted several days to collect his thoughts before moving on to his next target. Though nothing bad had happened here, he knew he would have to be less specific about chasing facts regarding interpack relationships in the future: it had been too obvious, or at least obvious enough.
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