Noctisardor Bypass the night is long

uhhhh i forgot to tag anyone like a big dumb. @Arbiter @Kaertok - does this even work after the fact??

Disgraced and in ruins, Connal made his way from Glacius, the only home he had ever known, and trekked ponderously southwest. Some part of him (a bigger part than he would have liked to admit) hoped that the cold of the mountains would take him before he reached their end. But it was summer, and even the eternal snow of the mountains seemed to let up a little during these months. A pity, really, for he was of use to no one; at least in death he might have given nutrients to the earth.

Sooner than he would have thought possible, for he had been lost in thought for days on end, he stumbled upon the borders of a pack. Had he been searching for a pack to join? Hadn’t he wanted to simply lay down and die some time ago? What, he wondered, had carried his paws here? Perhaps the gods did not want him yet. Feeling weary, wary, and footsore, he lifted his maw to the air and howled for whoever might have him. If they would have him at all.

She might have passed the call to Kaertok if she hadn't been close already. She was pretty sure she'd chosen her densite but had wanted to check another spot or two just in case. Besides, of all the borders, the ones on the northern half were less likely to have dangerous sorts lurking about. Ursus wolves would have to go extra distance. Would they even be smart enough to do that? She wasn't sure. Whatever. Kaertok might show up anyway.

Whatever. It was a distraction from going back to building her current den, which was welcome. Arbiter was not fond of digging beyond what was required to stash a kill for a later date. More than that? Not appreciative at all. But that didn't mean she came to the borders without caution. The white figure at a distance made her wonder if they could be some relative of Kaertok's. Nobody else in sight, no other scent in the wind. And even if Arbiter was less than a week from being due, she was still the top of the hierarchy here and would do her job. Needless to say, her approach was not particularly rushed.

Arbiter stopped at a safe-but-comfortable distance, looking him over with her usual unapologetically shrewd gaze. This is Legion. I am Arbiter. What brings you here? Small talk wasn't her thing, but doubly so when staying standing in one place would become uncomfortable sooner than later. The borders were all about business.

A black-and-white woman came forth soon enough and stopped some ways away from him. He noted immediately that she was heavily pregnant and his eyes traveled the horizon behind her, automatically looking for her mate. Someone so ready to give birth should not have been out of her den, alone, at the borders of a pack. What if he were a bad person, or deranged, and attacked her? He set his jaw in irritation but otherwise relaxed his stance, hunching into his body to show deference to her. He assumed she was a leader, for she had heeded his call, and he did not want to seem assertive in this moment.

“Arbiter,” he repeated her name back to her, attempting to commit to memory. That, as well as the pack name: Legion. Or was that the name of the location they were in? “I am Connal, from the far north,” he said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. Disuse caused it to rasp unpleasantly. He cleared his throat and began again. “I am looking for… a place to call home.” He said the last part quietly as he thought about what he was saying. Was that right? Was he looking for a home? Glacius had been his home for four years and now that home was no more. He had left it in disgrace. “Rather, I am looking for a place to rest my head at night, a place of safety. In exchange, I will guard your pack, its borders and its members, and hunt for food to sustain you. I understand that my request is… forward, but… Well.” He felt no need to continue that train of thought, sure that she understood the awkward position he was in.

She was bold, but not entirely stupid. More she was surprised that Kaertok hadn't appeared out of thin air -- a little disappointed maybe -- he should be the one out doing more of the patrols. But then again, it was also Arbiter. Good luck trying to stop Arbiter from doing anything she wanted to do. She'd probably bite anyone who tried.

This was the kind of conversation that was more comfortable with, so his last words drew a bit of a smirk, I don't mind. I don't think I've ever been accused of being the biggest fan of small talk. I like it when people know what they want. Unlike that one Easthollow youth who didn't know his head from his tail. We could certainly use another fighter. It might have been fun to see your skills, but I think I'll have to wait a while. Hopefully by the time she was actual able she'd have no question about his abilities. If she did.. Well, he probably wasn't gonna be very high up in the ranks.

But the smidgen of joking ended there, back to serious business, Here at Legion loyalty and betterment are valued. If you later seek rank, that's the way to get it. Kaertok is my second. Sparring with him would be the most fair for you, I imagine Not to mention the one most likely to deal with him if he did go all homicidal maniac or something. A pause, then she continued, Is there anything you might want to know?

Kaertok couldn't be everywhere at once, and he'd been on the complete other side of the bypass when the call had gone up. Frustrated that he had to abandon tracking food for the ever-hungry Arbiter, he growled and made a one-eighty, pushing himself as fast as he could toward the sound of the call. He arrived panting heavily, eyes trained on the stranger and bristling at his presence. Sure, he and Arbiter weren't ~*~official~*~, but that didn't mean he wasn't protective of her. She did, after all, carry their children.

He had arrived just when she mentioned that he was her second, and Kaertok came up beside her to punctuate the point. Why must he arrive when I am all the way on the other side of the earth? he muttered just to Arbiter. The Tartok leveled his gaze on the stranger, no notice given to the resemblance he might have against himself.

sorry for the wait

Connal listened to Arbiter without speaking, waiting for her to finish everything she was saying. He nodded at the mention of Kaertok. “I would happily spar with Kaertok to prove my worth, if not necessarily to move up in rank. I…” He hesitated, but if he were going to live with these people, he needed to be honest. “I have no interest in a position of power. I tried that once and it did not… well, it did not go as planned.” He cringed inwardly, remembering the wounds he had received in the fight against an ass who thought himself worthy of leadership. Yet Connal had been the one to lose that fight. What that said about himself he wasn’t sure; all he knew was that he had no wish to test anyone else’s mettle for quite a while.

Is there anything you might want to know? Arbiter asked, bringing him back to the present.

“Well…” He hesitated again, trying to phrase his question carefully in his mind first so as not to come across as judgmental. “What… what sort of values, other than loyalty and betterment, does this pack hold? I only ask so that I may know if I will truly be of use here.” He hoped that was good enough phrasing, for he did not wish to come across negatively to a prospective alpha.

As the question left his lips, a large male came to stand beside Arbiter—her mate? Mate or no, Connal politely and deferentially dipped his head in greeting, then glanced back toward Arbiter to hear the answer to his question.

Well that was a curious little factoid. So Connal wouldn't be one so easily rewarded for good behavior. Then she'd have to figure out some other way to keep him interested. What would that be? Mm. She'd just have to get to know him, which would be a harder thing to do for the next month or two. If he was still around by then, the others in the pack would have some background information for her.

Values? It wasn't like Arbiter went and waved around a giant list of what she believed in. Survival, or something like that. But somehow she thought that'd end up being far too vague, so what would he actually want to know? It's hard to boil things down more than that. But, valuing the well-being of my packmates, I am not one who goes out to seek trouble, and I hope the same for others here. Yet, at the same, if trouble comes seeking us, then we will defend ourselves. The rest is what you will make of it. Some here might not fit with what I grew up with as ideals, but as long as they find their own way to help the pack, they can live as they wish, and if there's a problem, they can bring it up. Not too many had. Whether they were scared of her or just happy with the way things were, who knew. All shape the pack, it is still young and flexible. Which was why Legion was not an outright army. She was not kicking out the three yearling boys who had been far more loyal than some of the adults she'd met.

Arbiter did the talking, and Kaertok was happy to stay where he was and listen. He had his feelings about how the pack should be run and structured, but as long as he was second to Arbiter, he knew he wouldn't get much say in that. He didn't know her reasoning behind all of it, or perhaps he would have been more on board with her way of doing things. That wasn't to say that he hated how Arbiter ran Legion, just that he would have done it differently. But alas!

He personally thought she was much too soft on the younger wolves, especially her own children. Kaertok had learned from Tartok that to be soft with younger wolves was to make for soft, weak adults out of them. He would have none of that with his own children.

Just gonna wrap it!

Whatever his decision was now, it apparently wasn't to be. Later on he would leave. Arbiter probably wouldn't get a chance to speak to him before he headed off -- she had infants to care for by then. She'd find it unfortunate that she wouldn't get the chance to see if he was a reasonable warrior. Perhaps a missed chance. But then again, she'd been disappointed by a lot of people recently. If they left.. Well, so it went. She wanted the loyal, and the loyal were those that stayed.