Lost Creek Hollow the library of alexandria is burning

:@Arbiter or @Terance or @Sarah
:Eastern limits.
:Late evening, raining.

The hollow's eastern edge had a few scattered ponds, and that's where he'd been nesting for a while prior to approaching the borders. It seemed like a good place to hang out and bulk up a bit before presenting himself to the resident pack. Their scent markers were everywhere - and he did well to avoid them, at least until the overcast sky began to drizzle with a much needed rain. At this point, dry and content though he was, Mink opted to return to the pond and see if he could find something of value to offer up besides his services; it took a few hours for him to finally wrestle a decent catch from the depths, and by then he was soaked through, his limbs crusted with silt and pond scum. It was not a very attractive look, but the wildman had a fat fish to show for the effort; it was almost bigger than he was!

The light had begun to dim while he'd been busy fishing, and as night approached in earnest he had another choice to make: eat the fish and wait for the morning for another opportunity, or take his chances orienting himself in the dark (his night vision had never been an asset, you see). As he was eager to move on with his life, he opted to drag the fish with him towards the scent markers - although the fish was very strong smelling (just like the pond scum that coated his extremeties), and he absently crossed over the limit as he tried to navigate the forest in the dark.

Ah well, he'd been watching these people for a while, and they didn't seem to be a hostile bunch. Mink was  hopeful that his mistake would be taken well, as he had faith they would see the value he represented. A strong fisherman, able to feed himself and any others without issue! That had to be worth something, right?

wrong! 

terance was finishing up his evening patrol. it had been rather slow that day (and most days, truly) and he was getting ready to head back to the den to check up on the kids... kids... they were kind of old now, weren't they? what was it -- 5 months? jesus christ. he'd given himself a reality check on that earlier. it felt like he blinked and they were grown. it was strange, honestly. i mean, he hadn't gotten to see ibis and okeonos grow up... they just returned one day. and, somehow, entirely present in their lives, terance felt like he'd missed this litters aging too. they were just big.

and bitey, by god, he wondered how that much of treason had gotten into them. 

but as he was coming back, he smelled something... fishy. ha. in a few ways. his tail flicked upwards, arching over his back as the presence of danger was suddenly among them, and his ears pressed forwards. he turned tail where he was to hunt down the poor soul who'd wandered into their territory -- mistaking a mistake for something with more malice.

when he found the wolf, there was nothing to be said. in terance's eyes, this was trespass and worthy of death -- or something. so, without any warning besides the look on his face that screamed 'run', the hollow's alpha lunged with a snarl, jaws parted and ready to grab something. 

let's hope mink can talk himself out of this one -- i mean, terance is a nice guy... really.

3 ; trespass roll. Done!

Out of the dark came a streak of malice the likes of which Mink had never encountered; he cringed and ducked but wasn't swift enough to fully evade, managing to drop the fish in the process as he recoiled. All he wanted was a home! Maybe he had made a mistake and chosen the wrong place; it had been literal years since he had seen a pack, not to mention he had been staking out this particular place for a while... which sounds creepy but he swears he doesn't mean anything by it!

Still, this vantablack force of nature was sweeping towards him and all that Mink could do was shout as those teeth came barred and ready to (probably) evicerate him -- OH MY GOD I'M SORRY I JUST WANTED TO BRING YOU SOME FISH! He was falling over himself as he bent back and tried to compact his lithe body, backpedaling in to a heap while he was accosted. This was the last thing the sweet man expected; as far as his research went, this pack was small and calm, so what the ever loving heck????????

don't 100% know what the roll entails!! sorry if my post is off base! i can edit if need be (:

it happened too fast to properly narrate. one second, terance was lunging, the next he was atop the stranger... not carrying out his attack. though his teeth were bared and close to the mans throat, terance was hovering as the words of the stranger processed in his mind. water leaked from the canopy above, dropping in fat droplets upon his crown. there were politics to be sorted through here, and terance felt he certainly had the upper hand enough to think it through. 

reluctantly, the broad man did not finish off the trespasser... rather, he stepped off him, ears angled forwards and his tail arching above his back. who are you? he asked, voice firm. though the hostility in his voice was no longer present, his usual warmness had not shown through yet. you crossed pack borders -- is your nose broken? or are you just stupid?

oh! its a 1d15 roll and the higher the roll the more damage one takes.

His voice screeched out of him, strangling a bit at the end as his body truncated and twisted against itself; the wolf was ploughed clearly against the greenery of the hollow with the irate guardian straddling him, face so near to his throat he thought he was surely done for. The pressure of the moment was so unbearably fast! Mink's teeth were hard set and grinding, his lips curving in a horrified frown and eyes - at first shut - blowing wide while his pupils turned to fine points.

Then the pressure lifted and the man spoke. It was far more level than the panic-riddled Mink. Stating the obvious and waiting thereafter for a response, at which point the breath fled from Mink's hitched chest in a heave. He practically deflated, although his fear and sense of danger were still strong.

Ye-yes, sharp intake of breath, th-the bor, bor, borders, exhale, inhale, nose, the -- the fuh, fish, gradually he eeked out some sounds that were almost words, focusing on breathing (and uncrumpling), until his adrenaline had at least started to recede and he could pant with a little more ease. I know of the bor-borders, um, I wanted to bring a gift, but I guess the f-f-fresh fish smell... I guess I missed them a little.

Ah yes, the fish! The gift! Remembering all the work he had input to hoist the mighty sturgeon from the river, Mink looked furtively around in the dark; looking evermore like the creature he was named for, compact ears flopping at the tips. He spotted the fish and grew instantaneously elated. There! That! Its for you. But that didn't make up for his trespass, and in remembering this, the man's head bowed again and he looked utterly droopy with his submission.

though agitation was terance's main emotion in this whole endeavor, and he had a feeling that arbiter might've bitten the strangers nose clean off at this point, there was an odd amount of amusement that riddled the stoic mans face. despite his anger a mere second before, terance seemed to have composed himself already. a small smile broke through his expression, and the corners of his eyes softened as the stranger tripped and stuttered over his words. truthfully, terance empathized with missing borders over the smell of fish. how humorous. what's your name? the stone asked, his tail still arched above his back, but the fur along his hackles slowly beginning to fall. 

we don't take lightly to trespassers here, he admitted with a quirk of a brow, falling into a brief explanation, we have children -- and we took a hard hit in numbers lately. granted, his kids were getting older by now... but that didn't mean too much. they were still young -- and stupid sometimes, by god. 

with a flick of a black ear, terance rolled his shoulders. the stranger had presented his gift -- an impressively sized fish -- and terance allowed his thoughts to be worn on his expression. he gave a solid nod, lips curved up again. the submission, terance decided, was well helping this man regain some of his ground with him. thank you, he said with a gentle, appreciative dip of his head, my name is terance. you're currently inside of lost creek hollow. i lead this pack with my mate, arbiter.

Even if he had spent the majority of his years alone, Mink knew good manners. This particular event was not a strong representation of that fact but he would do his best to remedy everything; he couldn't very well ask this man to let him stay after screwing up so badly, could he? It would take time to work his way up to that.

Mink. He identifies himself emphatically, then pauses as Terance goes on to talk of his home, his children. These things Mink was well aware of from the get-go; he was always the kind to plan ahead, and those years of living on his own required a certain amount of moment-to-moment scrutiny. He knew all about Terance and his wife Arbiter; the chance they'd had kids during the previous season was not lost on Mink, who had anticipated it.

Still, he acted as if he knew none of this - letting Terance have his moment to explain. It would only compound the negatives if the alpha knew Mink had staked out this pack weeks ago for this venture. He was a kindly sort of fellow and held no ill desire for the little family, but who knows how they would react to knowing that the hermit had been watching them?

I am truly, deeply, very sorry for missing the boundary, Mink expresses, hoping that his sincerity has some effect on the man. My intent was to talk with you in the daylight, present the gift, and... Well, try to win your favor. I would like to live here, too. I was so caught up in the battle with the blasted fish -- How silly of him! He could have stored it for the morning and tried then. Mink had been so overwhelmed with self-pride for managing to catch the creature that he hadn't paid much attention to the darkness in the glade. The man sighs and shrugs his narrow shoulders, scruff shifting in a comical wave.

My apologies. And -- ah -- the blunder aside, could you... Do you think you could use one more body? Your numbers being low, and all. I don't eat much but I love to fish, and hunt, and, hm, I've been living alone for quite a while so I am fully capable of independence. The man's long snout split in to a lopsided smile, almost like someone had taken a sharpie and squiggled an awkward line where his lips ought to be.

a gentle huff was terance's only response about the border crossing. there was nothing to be said -- clearly it was forgiven, as the stone's demeanor had greatly relaxed since their initial scuffle. it seemed terance was on a wildly good day, despite the bouts of moping he'd done the previous week. maybe things were on the up -- who knew. either way, by some miracle, it seemed to go past him now.

with a flick of his ear, the leader gazed over mink with a bit of scrutiny -- all in good humor -- before giving a gentle nod. i wouldn't bring this up to arbiter, if i were you, he said with a quirk of a brow, the story can go at the border, if it suits you better, mink. a smile pressed to the man's features as he let the other absorb what he said. and... in case it didn't fully process, terance added, welcome to lost creek hollow.

I'll wrap up here!

The man was fretting so much, hoping that what he said was enough, that he almost missed what Terance was saying. It helped when he stated his welcome, earning a fan of Mink's lofty tail and a big face-splitting grin. Oh, wonderful! That's -- thank you! He would get to work immediately. With that in mind, the man unfurled and stood at his full height (being somewhat cobbed) and leapt to action -- bypassing Terance, only to stop and wheel back towards the man, ducking his head to scoop at the fish in haste. C-nn-t fr-g-t d'z! He called out with a mouth-full of fish tail, and with a hoiste he carried it deep in to the hollow.