Bearclaw Valley re:stacks

Set two days after his thread with Indra.

The thief trekked as close as he comfortably could to the edges of the pack. He had met three from their horde and the red girl had struck him with a foolish charm. The long-legged coywolf was not pleased that she was pure-blooded, but her peculiarities were moderately enchanting, and he thought her to be pleasant in her own right. To learn more, he believed that he was intended to visit them in their home and collect each imperfection that he could from the lot. Tadec had sneaking suspicions that there would be many – that they were all imperfect in their own unique ways. He would be full of them before he was through.
 
Drawing his narrow muzzle toward the skies, the fiendish little hound parted his jaws and yipped against the evening air. A cool breeze ruffled through the reddish hairs of his pelt and Tadec shuddered at the touch. The embers of his gaze peered into their claim and willed a familiar face to approach him. He would have enjoyed seeing Indra again, though she had not been gone long. The thief then sat patiently and curled his tail neatly at his paws.

she emerged from her whelping den as a familiar howl rang through the air; she did not know it was from the broken coyote who wouldn't sing for her, but she recognized the species.

she hoped it would be the small friend she met during her heat, but instead it was the one who had slipped from behind her and disappeared into the night.

she approached quickly and let out a chuff, remembering his unwillingness to speak the common tongue.

woo reigi... tadec is awkward af don't u mind him

 

It was a familiar face that approached him, and he was met with a chuff that hinted she recalled their meeting, though neither one had shared a name. The thief’s tail twitched, and he lowered his skull appropriately to provide her with the submission that wolves so craved. The movement of his tail ceased, and he tucked it to his hocks. With a low skull and a glance in the opposite direction, Tadec searched for a sign of Indra near them, and when he could not find one, he glanced back toward the wolf dog and canted his head to the left just so that his ears rose some.
 
“Indra?” the moonlighter asked. His tone was pleasant and inquisitive. Tadec was not able to procure a name for the woman who stood before him, but she had not really been the reason he was seeking their borders. It was the red-furred female with the missing tail that had caught his gaze, and he was eager to see her again. “Indra here, yes?” he then repeated, hoping that he had arrived to the correct claim to seek her.

not at all!  she's just here for guardian specialty, so feel free to ignore her once others hop in as she will likely be doing nothing of importance.

she did not move as he cowed before her.  she still did not understand the hierarchy of a pack; true wolves did not practice it in the wild and it was not ingrained to her like others who grew up in harsher territories.  she understood dominant and submissive gestures, but this subject still confused her.  nobody else had deferred so much upon arrival at their borders.

she did not let her emotions betray her posture, which remained neutral.  she surveyed him as he spoke which surprised her, given his previous muteness.  the word he uttered meant nothing to her, having never learned the redleaf girl's name, so instead she sent up a howl for @Xan who might not realize that the coyote's yipping was meant for leadership.

sweet sweet!

The female was silent – as he had recalled her being on their first meeting – and she regarded him with an immovable set of features on her face. The halfling wondered if she was not of their leadership, or if she truly was more dog than wolf and had no understanding of the nature of wild things. A little taken aback by her stiffness and neutral state, he shuffled his feet and cast his gaze to the snow beyond where they were. Even his beast of a father would have found the submission to be adequate, but Tadec was not capable of inquiring to her what she thought wrong in him.
 
The woman lifted her head and called. He pulled his ears forward and glanced back toward her before peering away skittishly. A brush of the wind tugged at the coal coloring in his fur and sent shivers along his back and spine. Tadec assumed that she would be calling for Indra, or he would not have wished to delay his search by wasting so much time with the silent, stoic wolfdog. While holding his polite posture, the rawboned thing kept his head turned away from her and his body low.

Tagging for reference !

The possibility was a reality—the yipping of the lesser canine had not registered as a request for anyone when it pierced his ears. Rather, he’d perceived it as a threat, the thought of vermin in his home pushing the male to take action. Being nearer to the whelping den than @Laurel’s, he checked there first—and though he intended to check on the both of them and make sure neither were in the path of the wily cretins, the absence of a body in his mother’s old den forced him down a different path. Sniffing around, he sought out the most recent of Reigi’s scent trails to follow, only for his efforts to be cut short by a howl—her voice, lacking any panic or fear, allowed him to settle and recollect himself. Uncomfortable with the idea of just leaving her at the borders alone for any longer than necessary, he told himself he’d check on the other female after addressing whatever was happening just outside the valley’s walls.

When Alexander reached the end of the path, it was not a wolf that he saw, but a coyote. Was this the source of the earlier yips? The male’s muscles tensed and his tail arched over his back, irked by the smaller male’s presence, having learned to view them the same as foxes—small, shifty scavengers that could not be trusted. And despite his obvious submission, that did not allow the albino to settle, nor did it prevent his tone from turning harsh when he said: “I think you’re lost. This valley belongs to wolves, not your kind.”

Skipping over Reigi per her last ooc remark. :) Of course she's welcome to respond as she pleases for her trade.

It took very little time for a large pale brute to find them just outside of the entrance to their pack. Tadec glanced toward him and quivered softly at the sight of the lumbering, meaty creature. The thief could smell the reek of wolf as he neared, and his cold voice did little to quell the nerves that had burned against his pink flesh. The halfling held his posture but lowered his head further and tucked his tail tightly against his rump. The tip of his tassel twitched apologetically. The tone of the other male’s voice reminded the coywolf of Tiel’c; the lash of his tongue had been savaging.
 
The words that struck him did not seem welcoming or sweet, and the spindly halfling thought it odd that Indra would insert herself with the type to stand so unwillingly at the edge of their land. Understanding that his claim must have been sacred, the thief fixed the Alpha with a shriveled smile and bob of his narrow muzzle. “Tadec wolf… half-blood,” he explained quietly. Tadec’s voice had fallen like the distant sound of rumbling thunder. The embers of his gaze roamed over the tall white figure and caused him to shrink further.
 
“Tadec come to join. Know Indra.”

The way the creature spoke reminded him of a certain patchwork male, whose wicked face remained forever engraved in the male’s memory. Briefly, his lips turned upwards to make way for a silent snarl and his hackles began to rise, but a glance towards his companion had him relaxing back into a far less hostile demeanour. And then as the words settled in his head, he couldn’t mask the confusion that rose to the surface of his face. “What type of wolf would have sex with a coyote?” he blurted out, unable—and unwilling—to contain his disbelief. Was that a thing? Were there seriously wolves out there that bred with coyotes? He didn’t see the purpose of it, having met not a single coyote thus far that he didn’t find repulsive or bothersome.

At the revelation of a shared wolf in their lives, his eyes narrowed further. Was Indra one of such wolves? “How do you know Indra?” he asked, skeptical. “And why should I let you join? What can you give us?” He hadn’t yet decided whether or not to take the request to join seriously, but thought it best to hear what his pack could be missing out on if he did turn the small… thing away—if there was something for them to miss out on.

The first remark the fell from the pale wolf’s mouth caused the thief to frown and turned to look at him with a surprised expression. If Tadec had not been attempting to join the male’s pack, he would have made a cold remark about exactly what kind of a wolf would mate with a coyote. Instead, he held his tongue and gritted his fangs together to turn his dark lips into a thin line. The halfling hoped that the red-eyed wolf would change the subject and request a different kind of information from him. As it happened, he focused his attention on the new inquiries and nodded his head.
 
“Indra… friend,” he said softly, lowering his head some and looking to the left. “Tadec fast, sneaky, good thief,” he then bolstered his own abilities with a sure nod. Of course, he was not certain that doltish wolves would find this to be an ideal set of traits. Some part of him hoped that the red woman would appear and would save him from the conversation he was presently having, but she did not seem to be anywhere in sight.

With the word friend sliding from the creature’s tongue, he felt himself relax, if only slightly; Indra wasn’t the same as whatever wolf had partaken in his creation, she just had a bad judge of which males were worth befriending and which were not. It was that train of thought that, when coupled with the provided set of skills, had him ready to chase the male from his valley—but it was by a sudden epiphany, of sorts, that he stopped before doing so. Should he grant the male access into his territory, then perhaps, by having a friend, Indra would be less angry—he couldn’t think of how else to describe her, forcing the albino to keep things simple. It was a nice thought, having things returned to how they were before his coupling with Laurel.

“You won’t be a thief here,” he stated, mind impulsively made. “If I catch you stealing from here or our neighbours, I’ll kill you. Got it?” To show he meant business, Alexander lurched forward with a harsh snap of his jaws, yet was careful to avoid making any true contact. “Go find Indra—but leave her sister alone.” Moving aside felt like he was betraying himself but he did so anyways, then glanced towards Reigi, curious of her reaction; he valued her opinion, even though it was requested after the final decision was made.

Tadec out <3 thanks you guys.

As was suspected, the large white figure had not appeared very fond of Tadec’s skillset. The coywolf recoiled with a wince, anticipating that the warning would reach his slender muzzle and leave a gash in his face. The snap of Xan’s fangs sounded that it had not met a mark, and the fire-eyed crow looked to the Alpha with a wary expression. After the show of dominance, he made sure to tuck his tail close to his hocks and shrink himself. The moonlighter was already a slender and small creature, but he did well to appear as non-threatening as he could. The way of the wolf was so peculiar to him, but he had learned well how to cow to the meaty brutes of the world.
 
Instruction was given for the smoky little thief to find Indra and he gaped at the white brute with some awe at having been accepted. With a low skull and skittish steps, Tadec crossed their border and entered the valley that they had claimed. The dark thing’s eyes were careful to watch Xan for any further surprise lunges, but it seemed that the large brute was more interested in the wolfdog. Drawing his tongue along his muzzle nervously, the thief slunk into their pack and sought the red-furred woman.

her eyes turned to slits as her husband snapped at the broken-coywolf, but she could not sense any anger coming from him.  she bristled, ready to follow his movement despite not wanting her friend to flee the valley, but then xan moved aside.

the little coyote fled into the valley, constantly looking back at her husband but not once sparing a glance at her, and a strange mixture of feelings welled up in her breast.

it was good that she did not know that his only reason for returning was for the redleaf.  for now, at least, this confusion was the only feeling she harbored against him.

she sought the comfort of alexander, moving along his side with a whine before kissing gently at his chin.