Hope you don't mind if I pop in here a little late :)
Kieran heard the call, but so far away from it was he. The other side of the territory, to be exact, but he wasted no time in heading that way. Even if someone might have managed to get there before him, he had just finished hunting and had nothing else to do. So on he went, crossing the land of the Morningside wolves, until he approached at last - head raised along with his tail. He was not overly dominant, but he had to ensure that whoever was here knew to be respectful. Though they should know that already, being at the borders of a pack. The first one he saw was Pema - the boy sent a grin and a wag of his tail her way, but his attention soon focused on the stranger. Black in colour, with amber eyes, from what he could see. Kieran was silent for a while, picking up the last few words shared between the two.
Then, after the obsidian wolf mentioned scouting, singing and dancing (both of those intruiged him very much) the Hunter decided to join in the conversation. "Hello. I'm Kieran." He nodded his head in greeting to the stranger with a small smile and then glanced briefly at Pema, wondering how much she'd asked, and how much she knew of this wolf. "From what I gather, you don't currently have an actual trade. Do you plan on trying to get one? And if you do, what might that be?" He wasn't sure what she might aspire to be - it would be useful to know. They might be getting another hunter for the team, or a healer, or something of the like. Whatever it was, it would be good to know. "We have pups here and I must warn you that you have to be willing to help with other tasks that you might not be so comfortable in to help provide for said pups."
After waiting for an answer, Kieran hesitated and then flicked his tail. "I'm not the leader here, so I cannot accept you into our ranks myself, nor can Pema here, but... Grayday can. He's the alpha here. And as long as you can pull your weight, I see no reason to turn you away." With that said, the boy lifted his head and let out a call for @Grayday, hoping the male would have time enough to come and make a final decision. After all, the hunter wasn't sure if he was actually allowed to accept strangers into the pack. He'd never asked, to be honest.
Anyone in Morningside can accept loners, actually, but I'll send Grayday in, since he's been called <3
Grayday hadn't heard the first howl, but was far closer to the area by the time the second one rang out. Recognizing Kieran's voice, the silvery male hastened to the borders, where he was met with the sight of a cozy-looking get-together.
The leader nodded to the woman, and bumped shoulder with Pema as he turned to look at Kieran, ears pricked in attention as he waited for the run-down on the situation. It seemed likely that the dark woman was attempting to join them, and if that was the case, the answer was fairly simple. But there'd been a lot of search parties out and about lately, and Grayday was unusually conscious of all the other reasons a wolf might be visiting another pack's borders.
Ah, my bad! Thanks for joining, though <3
Truly, he had not meant anything bad by his words - it seemed he had phrased it wrong, and for that he was sorry. He noticed the hardened gaze of the dark coloured wolf, and he although he smiled at her joking words he could tell she had not liked what he said. "Haha, I'll admit I'm not a dancer. Sorry if what I said came across bad - I didn't mean any offense by it. Those are certainly skills, and ones I don't have." The boy chuckled lightly. "I don't have a trade myself yet. I'm still a training hunter." Kieran had not meant to suggest that singing and dancing was not a skill, for it was, and he was totally useless at it, he had simply meant to ask if she wanted to become a scout, hunter, perhaps caregiver. If not that was fine, he had mostly been curious. Seems he'd made a mistake, though - he'd have to remember that for next time he tried to help with recruiting. Noted. He still had to work on talking with strangers - it was something that worried him slightly, for he was often nervous around those he didn't know if something went slightly wrong during introductions.
Grayday arrived then, and Kieran sent him a grin and a wag of his tail. Pema gave him a run-down on Starbelly, the newcomer, and the young hunter sat silently, sending another apologetic smile to the black-furred wolfess before turning back to the leader to hear his thoughts.
Grayday's attention turned quickly from Kieran to Pema, as she charged into a thorough report of the situation. It was kind of cute - the male wanted to chuckle at it, but instead kept his expression carefully neutral as he listened to Pema's introduction. When she was finished, his eyes slid from her to Starbelly, and lingered there for a moment in silent assessment.
"While dancing and scouting are not without their uses, I expect everyone here to help with the hunting," said the male, feeling somewhat disconcerted by the sugary greeting he'd been afforded. While she seemed nice enough, there was something a little off-putting about the woman that he couldn't quite pin down. "You don't have to be great at it, and we can teach you, if your skills in that area are lacking - but you need to be willing. Are you willing, Starbelly?" he asked, not unkindly.
Grayday gave a hum of thought at the woman's answer. He didn't normally deliberate like this, but there was something that struck him as a bit...
off about the dark shewolf before them. Whatever it was, he couldn't put a name to it, and so, he hesitated to bar her entry because of it. With a glance toward Kieran and a long look at Pema, he decided that the woman couldn't be
too bad, if two trusted pack members had no qualms about her.
"Then you're welcome to stay," he said with a subdued wag of his tail.
"I'm going to partner you up with Kieran until you adjust to our pack. He can show you the best hunting and where we all tend to gather." He would've stuck her with Pema, but he thought the young woman had rather enough on her plate, for the time being.
"I know there's a lot of excitement about pups, but until they get to know you a little better, I only want you to visit them when there are other pack members around," he added, phrasing this order as nicely as possible. He knew that no one liked to be distrusted, but he also didn't trust strangers to be alone around his children. There was no getting around it.
Finally, he offered a smile and a friendly flicker of his ears.
"Come and find me if there's anything you need to talk about," he said, turning to go back the way he'd come. He'd left a good trail behind to see to this issue, and he was eager to get back to it.