Surra watched as the sun peaked out from beneath the horizon. The young adult sat calmly, eyes fixed on the sunrise, thinking.
He had come across this new land a couple weeks ago. Teekon Wilds, he had heard it was called. A beautiful place, he found as he had been wandering at it's edges. He had been told there were packs here, and that is what he had found - he could smell them all on the wind, some faint and farther away - and then this one, very close by. Horizon Ridge. He had been skirting well beyond it's edges for a couple days now, evaluating it, evaluating himself. He had spent the better part of the past six months travelling alone, after all - and despite the lack of safety in numbers, despite the struggles he faced over the harsh winter, the quiet had suited him.
But in his gut, he knew it was time. He needed a purpose - something, someone to fight for, to stand behind, to believe in. He had made his decision long before this morning, but he had still awoken early to catch the sunrise and mull it over in his mind one last time. This would be a challenge, he knew. Almost as much as surviving alone had been.
As the oranges and reds faded into a pale blue sky, Surra stood. The young adult had definitely lost weight since going it alone, that was for sure - but he still stood strong, his thick muscle having finally filled out his frame over the past year. His fur was just as thick, and his characteristic mane made him look just the slightest bit bigger than he was. He turned away from the horizon and faced where he knew the borders of the packlands were, and began to approach, with and air of caution and confidence.
At once he knew he had reached the edge of where he knew was proper for a newcomer like himself to stand. He looked around himself one last time, a brief pause before raising his voice to the morning sky. It was a long, deep howl of the same tone with which he had approached - cautious, yet confident in his purpose. "Good morning," it said, "Allow me to speak to one of your members, Horizon Ridge."
Few days had passed, since Pump had promoted Ragnar to the Beta rank and he seemed to be doing very well. He guarded the borders more fervently than he had before, he didn't abuse his new privileges and for now it looked like he was quite comfortable, where he was. And with this the pressure that had been put on the wolf-dog had disappeared. For how long - that was an entirely different story, but with the birth of the cubs approaching, Pump doubted that he would want to engage in something risky.
This didn't mean, however, that she was taking advantage of splitting the leadership duties with him. Not at all - she was working just as hard as before, now focusing on the movement of the herd of deer that had arrived at this part of the valley two weeks ago and, since the grass here was lush and plenty, they weren't going anywhere far. In that aspect grass-grazers were pretty predictable. Doing her share of border patrols was also part of her duties, therefore it didn't take long for her to arrive at the spot, where she had heard a summoning howl coming from.
She found it a bit odd that the stranger had addressed the lands as a person and not shown his desire to speak one of the leaders. But other than that, she was very curious of seeing, who it was and why. Their numbers had grown in the last weeks and it had taken a bit of challenge to get to know them all. Few strides later she caught sight of the wolf and slowed her step. "Greetings stranger, what is your business here?" she asked, coming to a halt some steps away from the wolf, and holding slightly dominant posture.
Surra did not have to wait long, it turned out. Almost as soon as his howl died down did he scent another wolf approaching him. She took only several moments to reach him, and in that time he recognized that her scent carried leadership with it. 'The Alpha', he thought. He reminded himself to lower his head and tail, a gesture of respect and submission - regardless of who the approaching pack member might have been, he knew he must give a good impression. It had not been that long since he had been part of a pack - he still remembered his manners. Or, so he hoped.
She had some very defining features, he noticed first. Her ears were unlike anything he had ever seen before - it intrigued him immediately.
"Greetings stranger, what is your business here?" He saw the dominant posture she held. If not the Alpha as he suspected, she was no doubt of higher rank. He looked up at her with even-tempered blue eyes, holding his ears slightly back as he spoke. "Greetings to you as well, my lady." His voice was level and respectful. "My name is Surra - if I may be frank, I was hoping to learn more about your pack here at Horizon Ridge, and potentially join you, if you would have me." He figured best not to beat around the bush - he wasn't really in a position to do so, anyway.
While the stranger spoke in a very polite and elaborate way, Pump had time to examine the wolf that was standing before her and get the first impression. He was an odd mix to look at - his coat and markings reminded her of some of the wolves from her birth-pack. It hadn't been that uncommon for them to have a streak of white here and there - however, it was less often that she saw that kind of coloring here. The eyes reminded her of Ragnar and his icy gaze, yet unlike his, these had a glint of warmth and kindness to them, which was good.
"Surra," she repeated his name, paused and continued. "I am Pump the leader of the Horizon ridge," by now she had learned that introduction was also a very important part of the conversation that took place at the time of joining. There had been few occasions, when she had simply forgotten to tell her name and the newcomer kept regarding her as "alpha" or whatever until found out her real name. "My pack consists of strong and hard-working individuals - there is no place for weaklings here," so far there hadn't been any. She was a little concerned about Mowanza, but the she-wolf kept herself pretty invisible from the rest.
"You seek home here, yet I can't promise you that you will find it here," she said. "What good are you to me and my people?"
"Surra. I am Pump the leader of the Horizon ridge," Just as he thought, she was indeed the Alpha. He made the slightest dip of his head towards her in respectful recognition of her power. It was an odd name as well, an interesting name. And just as she had repeated his name, she did hers in order to commit it to memory. "It is good to meet you, Pump."
"My pack consists of strong and hard-working individuals - there is no place for weaklings here," Surra flicked an ear as her description of her pack piqued his interest. As a youthful male approaching his prime years, the sound of a pack of strength and work ethic was undoubtedly appealing. It seemed like Horizon Ridge might indeed be what he had been looking for. He wasn't quite sure what he felt regarding the second half of her statement. To him, the wording was... not how he would have put it. 'She is the Alpha', he thought. 'What Alpha would willingly accept a weaker individual into their pack? It's bad for the pack as a whole.' He let it go, then.
"You seek home here, yet I can't promise you that you will find it here. What good are you to me and my people?" Surra's ears turned up at the question. He was not hasty in his reply - he thought for a moment, and slowly, almost cautiously, sat back on his haunches before speaking. "A very fair question." His tone was even, self-assured. "My lady, I cannot say that I am the best warrior or the best hunter you will ever come across. Not yet, anyway." A slight smile crossed his face. "But I can promise you that I have never, and will never, allow someone else to work harder than myself. If I am being honest, I enjoy learning and bettering myself. Maybe so that one day I may better others." He wasn't sure why he surprised himself with the underlying passion in his last statement. His longing to be with others again after spending months alone was greater than he had thought. "I am willing to undertake any task that you may give me. I could be a warrior, a warden; a gamekeeper or hunter; I could even be a counselor, or though I do not know much of healing, could aid those who do in finding and gathering supplies. If you decide you would have me as one of yours, I would do everything I could to be whatever good your people need."
Surra was very good with words, because he spoke a lot and with ease. Gavriil had said that Ragnar was a horrible diplomat, which was true, and Pump herself wasn't a person that liked either to talk much or make compromises. Yet here was a fellow with no set goals in his life and ready to fill any role she was going to offer him. Which was interesting and unusual. However, their numbers had grown, they had different kind of people here and surely he would find someone's occupation satisfying enough to work for it as hard as he promissed.
"We will see that," she finally said, "I like to test people and so does my second in command Ragnar. Therefore better work as hard as you claim to and you will find it easy to fit in." If he disappointed them or proved to be unworthy, they could always drive him out. "Where are you from?"
The Alpha took a moment to respond to him. Surra sat where he was with patience - or so he appeared on the surface. He normally did not talk so much as he had just done, and in the space between his words and hers, he wondered if he had perchance said too much. He could feel his heart rate slowly increasing, but still he remained calm. He watched Pump in an attempt to measure her response, still making sure to tilt his head so that he looked up at her rather than directly at her.
"We will see that. I like to test people and so does my second in command Ragnar. Therefore better work as hard as you claim to and you will find it easy to fit in." Surra felt an inward rush of relief. He dipped his head with a long blink, ears falling back in gratefulness. The response was nothing less than he expected - he knew that he would need to back up his words. But he was comfortable enough to know he would follow through on his promise, given the chance that she appeared to be giving him. "I understand," he said simply.
"Where are you from?" Less of a question that he expected. "North-west of this place," he chose to say. "I was born as part of a nomadic group of mostly my family. We didn't really have a set territory, we were too small in numbers." He paused. "I've been on my own for the better part of the past half-year. It's time I find a place to settle into and contribute to."
So Surra had moved from one place to the other and walked great distances. This required endurance and skill to survive and his good state indicated that he could provide for himself well. As for the rest - time would tell, but for now she was willing to give him a chance. Most of the time it payed off - those, who had stayed in the Horizon ridge, were valuable pack mates, those, who didn't - well, no one missed them much anyway.
"Then let's hope that this will turn out to be the right one," she told him and with that she considered him as accepted, as a part of her ranks. "Follow me, I will show you, where to find a good den to live in - the rest, however, will be up to you," she stepped aside and beckoned the newcomer to follow her.
[size=x-small]ooc: would you like this to continue or fade out? I am honestly content with either so it's up to you, especially if I may start another thread with Surra and one of his other new packmembers regardless. let me know - I could als add more to this post if you would like to continue longer, so you could have more to reply to.[/size]
"Then let's hope that this will turn out to be the right one," Surra couldn't help but let out a smile. He hoped so, too. His heart swelled - a kind of passionate contentment, a determined excitement. He was ready for this. He knew it would not be easy - but he wasn't asking for easy. He was asking for a purpose.
"Follow me, I will show you, where to find a good den to live in - the rest, however, will be up to you," She turned and beckoned to him, so Surra stood. Just the simple thought of having a den again - a place to return to each day or night, a space that was his within this place that was now, also, his to be a part of - kept his smile on his face. He fell in step diagonally behind her. "Thank you, my lady." His voice, usually so even it was almost monotonous, held an obvious hint of happiness and sincere gratitude in it.
ooc: we can fade this out and, hopefully, have another thread in the future. Thank you! :)
Out of all encounters with strangers, which included discussing the joining options, Surra was the second, who was genuinely glad and happy to be accepted in their ranks. The rest of them had regarded it as an obvious fact and that there simply couldn't be any way around it. It usually had something to do with their self-esteem and Pump really hoped that this fellow had enough of it. She didn't like to deal with overly fearful and submissive wolves.
On their way to the denning place Pump explained the important things he should know. Told about the respected members of their group - such as Ragnar, Gavriil and Thistle, named few others and what they did, and gave a general description of their lands. Eventually she left him to choose the best home for him and returned to her warden duties.