[size=small]Here, she wondered out loud, but not entirely to herself. Waving her nose through the chilled wind, Soliloquy searched for some tangible confirmation to match her spiritual one. All along her guided journey she had imagined that the devine force was leading her to an ostensibly sacred place. But this -this appeared to be just another territory claimed by just another pack. Either unable or unwilling to hide her discontent Soliloquy pulled herself out of the breeze and turned her head away from the border. Looking far back down the trail she had made, she tried to imagine Kephriti's logic to no avail. Perhaps she was doomed to an Ophradai as mismatched as the one given to her brother. Or maybe she had just misinterpreted all of the goddess's singnals thus far. Black lips quivered in frustration before Loli abruptly shook her head and turned back towards her apparent promise land. If this was Kephriti's will, then it would be her way.
Would be white fur shifted smoothly as the muscles beneath it glided the yearling cautiously closer to the pack's bold boundary. For what she lacked in experience Soliloquy more than made up for in carnal instinct. Taking a moment to assess the group further she hung her nose low. Gathering the statistics of their strength and collected health, she was moved to swing her ears back in reverence. However, all other judgements would be held until her initial encounter.
Going back to her regular height, the pale yearling wasted no time in swinging back her head to issue a call. If these wolves were to play a part in her Ophradai then she was impatient to meet them.[/size]
i assumed she was pretty close to their borders but if that's incorrect feel free to drop me a pm and I'll edit as necessary. Also hope you don't mind me keeping you company for a bit. :-)
Crete had been going about his habitual patrol of the borders, knowing that it was likely unnecessary. He was no warden, he could not even speak. Yet, he did it anyway, still bristling that Hawkeye took his concerns to be blatant disloyalty. Disloyalty was trading secrets to an enemy pack, poisoning someone subtly, disloyalty was not caring if the pack thrived or burned. As it was, Crete did care, had no intentions of selling secrets, and had never posioned anyone though he had the skills to do so. Disgruntled, the mute Redleaf-DiSarinno shook his head as if to clear it. A howl rose to the borders, loud and not too far off. Likely, Crete was destined to come upon her regardless. Without really thinking about it, he continued in her direction, body tense and dominant as he approached, ebony hackles bristling as sea-green eyes took in the proximity between her body and their borders. There was not space adequate enough for Crete.
Mute though he was, basic body language should have been effortless for another to read. Back up, His language was neither aggressive, nor hostile but it was a warning. She was too close and that made him edgy; at this point - despite that Crete was capiable of handling her if she should attack or blatantly ignore him - he did not care if it was Hawkeye or Peregrine to secondly answer the call; he just wanted someone.
Although he was the Gamekeeper, not the Warden, Peregrine was near the borders when the howl rose into the air, so he decided to go ahead and deal with it. He arrived promptly to find a pale she-wolf accompanied by his own brother. The Alpha regarded his mute litter mate's posture approvingly, then slid alongside him, his head and tail a few notches higher. He gave Crete a friendly bump, then faced the stranger.
"I'm Peregrine, the Alpha male, and this is Crete. What is your business here?" he asked simply.
Yay company thanks for joining!
[size=small]As her foreign call blanketed the wolves' territory Soliloquy resumed wondering about them. No longer was she outright doubtful but rather intensely curious. What made them worthy of Kephriti's use, and furthermore what use would Loli ultimately have of them? It was difficult for the tactical thinker to sedate her concerns, but she knew better than to mingle too much distrust with her prayers. For the goddess Kephriti was not known as an entirely benevolent spirit. Thus, Soliloquy would have to retain her general enthusiasm if she hoped to win at her endeavor.
Consumed with her theological ideas, Loli was a second delayed in perceiving the male's approach. However, once she caught a glimpse of his forward advance she did not look away. Drawing in a sudden gust of air she huffed it out sharply to read him. Instantly deciding that he was a he, very serious and some sort of a delegate, she re-posed herself accordingly.
Taking a few swift steps backwards, the yearling shrunk as she did so. Pressing her ears against the curve of her skull as her tail hid away beneath her, she hugged the yet frozen ground and waited. Yet, as the gap between them went away Loli was afflicted with an uncomfortable heat on the back of her neck. Stygian lips summarily shriveled and a guttural noise bubbled up from the base of her throat. The male's strange aroma of testosterone was alarming to the born vagabond, and without words she explained her intrinsic fear.
The frantic scurrying of her own heart was alarming and totally unexpected but then again Soliloquy was entirely novice at actually welcoming company. Back when she had resided with her family they had decidedly kept to themselves, and as a loner she had always used the threat of violence to maintain her singularity. However, the present was no time for her to fumble such a vital opportunity. She needed them -for something- and she wasn't about to let it all slip away.
Hushing herself as a second wolf approached, Loli tried her best to make her eyes avert from both while whimpering a decent apology for her previous misconduct. Strumming her tail against the ground she offered a spoken word to the dark males. ...I seek to join you. [/size]
The loner realized her mistake quickly. Crete watched, internally contented when she seemed to have read his simple and basic body language and proceeded to put distance between the borders and herself. Sometimes, simplistic body language was the best and harder to confuse, Crete found, over the complexity of his usually intricate communication methods. She had fixed her mistake and was showing the proper amount of submission (perhaps mixed with fear) and accordingly the mute's tense posture relaxed though the dominate posture did not ease. He was not high in the hierarchy - probably one of the lowest but as of the moment he was the highest ranking wolf over a loner. A familiar figure slid along Crete's side and the posture was altered to one of submission. A small part of Crete was jut relieved that it was Peregrine that had showed instead of Hawkeye. That meant Crete wouldn't have to leave. As Peregrine introduced them and the woman spoke of wanting to join them Crete stood as the silent sentry he was, there for mere observing and backup (in the off chance it would be needed).
When the she-wolf whimpered, Peregrine threw Crete a questioning look, only now realizing there must've been some sort of confrontation between the two. Carefully, the Alpha surveyed his brother's body language, even exchanging a glance with him. Whatever it had been, it seemed to have passed. The Alpha knew his brother would "speak up," so to speak, if anything serious had happened.
Training his attention upon the stranger, he studied her a moment before asking, "Well, let's start with a name. Then you can tell me why I should give you entry into my pack's ranks."
[size=small]When an act of violence failed to occur as punishment for her violation Soliloquy's silence deepened. Perhaps further thanks would have been appropriate but she was entirely too confused by the male's seemingly frivolous act of benevolence. Back home such actions would have sent her hurtling into the dirt and desperate to protect herself against injury. Not because her family members were cruel but because they abided by wolf law without fail. So the male's pass while gratefully recieved, was also cause for a perverse nostalgia.
Tea colored eyes remained looking elsewhere as the males quietly sorted out their identities amongst themselves. Especially perceptive to this, Lilo decided that the newest male was of extremely great importance and to be treated accordingly.
Dipping her head before speaking with him again, she started off plainly with a smooth voice. My name is Soliloquy, and I have come many miles in search of this place. Giving words to her previous struggle touched the girl with some emotion and she paused long enough for a quick internal ahen. I am as accomplished as any able bodied youth should be but I believe that my specialties are... unique. It would have been most informative for Soliloquy to go into a ramble about her religion and its mission, but such was not her way. Instead she opted to cut straight to the bone of her intentions. I praise a goddess who endows the faithful with the tools necessary to achieve their life's greatest purpose and although I am yet to ascertain the complete details of my own I was given; a tactical mind and astrology as a means of spiritual transportation. These are the things that led me here to you.[/size]
Crete was a lot of things: opinionated, stubborn, fiery even at times, but he was a benevolent being at his core. If he had been able to speak as his siblings he would have persured a peacekeeper position with medic as a secondary skill rather than a primary. As it was the fates enjoyed making Crete their favorite puppet for their twisted schemes and he was not gifted with speech like his other siblings. So he had actively persued the medic route. Peregrine inquired after the females name, a fair request given she was at their borders and he had introduced them to her first. She spoke that her name was Soliloquy and that she had travelled many miles to reach them. A quizzical expression played across Crete's face. She spoke as if she already knew of them. Had she came across a loner that had been in these lands, or once apart of Blacktail Deer Plateau then? That was sort of what was insinuated but Crete kept his thoughts as just that: coveted thoughts. If wasn't Crete's place to inquire about anything and the Nu understood and accepted this, silencing his inner curiously. Soliloquy went on to explain about a Goddess and some other things but Crete wasn't really seeing how any o that could be incorporated into useful skills for the pack, nor did it really answer Peregrine's question in his mind. However, the mute remained still, a slight shift in his shoulders that could have been taken for a shift of his weight though it wasn't. The whole idea of religion made him uncomfortable despite that Aether had been a devout being himself.
Peregrine listened carefully, though he didn't necessarily know what to make of what he heard. "Wait, you sought out Blacktail Deer Plateau specifically?" he questioned, giving voice to the same thought that had crossed Crete's mind. He then let her finish, wondering if her explanation of her spiritual beliefs was supposed to answer his question.
After a pause, in which he exchanged a glance with Crete, Peregrine said, "Look, I don't have beef with those who're spiritual—my father was religious himself—but none of that will be of any use here." He didn't feel the need to apologize for his bluntness. He knew Hawkeye held some beliefs but they were personal and, as far as he knew, had little to do with how she ruled the pack. "Can you put your tactical mind to any practical use that would benefit the pack? If not, we're just wasting one another's time."
[size=small]Kephriti's sense of humor was lost on her small worshipper as she continued to struggle beneath the scrutiny of the two strange males. Why make things so difficult? Why not send her to wolves with some kind of faith let alone a similar one? As of late the goddess' mean streak seemed to be a ruling force in her discipline, but Soliloquy would not squirm. She was certain that her Ophradai was somewhere in the lands beyond them and she wasn't about to relinquish it.
Pushing aside her previous failings, the youth attempted to correct the dark wolves' attitudes towards her. Kephriti speaks in... mysterious ways, but all of her signals have led me here. I can feel it. Whether the strangers were atheists or otherwise Lilo was not concerned. She was not the type to concern herself with evangelizing the lost, and furthermore she believed that few wolves were actually worthy of such a direct connection to the deity.
Shuffling in the dirt when her pads began to ache, she started again once she was still. One of her preferred methods of communication is astrology, and as such I have become extremely talented in it. I can estimate the weather well in advance and that knowledge combined with my tactical mind and tracking skills makes for one hell of a scout or hunter. Naturally she was unsure of just what the wolves wanted to hear, but in her heart of hearts Soliloquy begged that Kephriti had just given her those exact words.[/size]
Despite Crete's personal skeptism towards religion in general his father's own devout beliefs in the Greek Gods had taught Crete a invaluable tolerance towards the beliefs of others even if the whole idea made him uncomfortable. Peregrine voiced the question that had been puzzling around in Crete's head mere moments after he had thought it. The woman's response was vague revolving around this Kephriti that Crete assumed was her Goddess. Crete spared a glimpse as Peregrine, a flicker of sea-green assessing his brother's face before the mute let his gaze fall back upon the loner at the borders, not contented to keep his eyes off of her for too long. She had atoned for her previous mistake but that did not mean that Crete was not weary, nevertheless. She named astrology as a skill, one that would admittedly be pretty useful, if she was as good as she claimed. Their own father had been a Skywatcher, extremely talented at it because he learned it when he had been a kid. Crete had always held a facination with the heavens himself but had never sought the abilities to read the weather signals beyond the obvious. There was a beauty in the stars that Crete feared he would disrupt if he learned to read them. All three skills she named seemed plenty useful to Blacktail Deer Plateau, but it was not Crete's place to judge such a thing, not was it his call. That power remained upon Peregrine's shoulders.
Peregrine did see the value in a wolf who could read weather patterns, yet his nostrils flared almost indignantly when she implied these skills made for one hell of a scout or hunter. "Well, that remains to be seen," he answered her curtly, dubiousness written all over his dark face. He paused, then added, "But I guess I'm not opposed to giving you that chance. If you prove to be anything less than one hell of a scout or hunter, I'll be asking you to leave, though. Keep that in mind." The plateau, after all, didn't have room for those who didn't carry their fair weight.
As for her religion and her goddess, Peregrine had nothing to say. He didn't begrudge her her religion, he simply didn't share in spiritual beliefs of any sort. He was a very natural, pragmatic beast. Soliloquy would just have to find spiritual companionship in another here, if she wanted that at all.
Exchanging a last glance with her and a crisp, "Make yourself at home," Peregrine nudged Crete and turned to resume whatever it was he'd been doing before her howl had summoned him to the borderlands.
[size=small]Her father had been a difficult character to please, grimacing his way through hard earned praise on rare occasions, and freely chastising on all others. So while Soliloquy yearned for the males' acceptance she was more than ready to handle their resistance in doing so. After all, her father's harshness had turned her into a neurotic perfectionist and like it or not the wolves were unwittingly stuck with her.
Fortunately for a road weary Lilo though, the battle was soon won by a narrow margin. They would have her, and she in turn would claim whatever it was that they supposedly had to offer her. Thumping her tail against the ground while her face remained forcibly stoic she responded to the male's challenge with a sober nod of the head.
In the aftermath of their discussion the young DeForge wanted nothing more than to locate the proper charms for a dedication to her goddess, but she was sensible enough to wait for Peregrine's departure.
Once he was gone though Soliloquy saw fit to ascend from her Omega posture. Rising slowly and ever mindful of the lingering male she eyed him cautiously for any sign of disapproval. With her legs straight but head and tail still bent the young wolf thought to make a wide arc around him and into her new home. Yet only a few steps past him she stopped and turned back. Wiggling her tail gently against her bony heels she showed him her coppery eyes and then chuffed a single word of basic appreciation. [/size]