Novia sat down, unaware of where she was she had to find somewhere for the night or for a while. A smell came to her nose as she realized, her bad tracking had brought her to the edge of a territory. The young wolf cursed under her breath, angry she let herself do this. She looked around, the faint smell seemed to get closer. She soon stood outside the border, watching a tumble weed go by. Novia sighed wanting to take a step, yet thought it was best to leave it alone or until the alpha found her. She thought of her family for a minute, but shook it away thinking to herself, I should stop thinking about home. After all she was trying to start a new life.
Strangers were not a welcome sight around the caldera's borders, now more than ever. When a patrolling Peregrine saw a four-legged figure skulking around the territory's outskirts, he barked loudly and began running toward the unfamiliar wolf. Since she was not close enough to justify an outright attack, he did not make an aggressive move as he closed in on her, though his body language commanded respect, if not fear. He held his head high, his tail severely arched over his hips. His eyes bored into her and his lips pulled back in a leer.
"State your name and business," he barked, all gruff impatience.
Novia jumped back saying shakily, "I'm Novia Xena Winter, I'm only a simple traveller. I barely meant to cross to your border." She raised her head realizing that maybe a pack would give her a newly created life of her own. Novia raised her head, still in a submissive form, "May I be able to join your pack? I'm right now lonely traveller, who has waited to have a chance like this." It wasn't her best case, but she could do something to contribute to this pack. She soon backed her head down not daring to stare him in the face or even glance.
She seemed appropriately intimidated, which gave Peregrine a sense of satisfaction. He was quick to say, "You haven't crossed my border. If you had, we wouldn't be standing here talking." His tail gave a few predatory lashes as he gave her a meaningful look. She maintained a submissive demeanor, which went a long way with the black wolf. "I'm Peregrine, Alpha."
It never failed to blow his mind when a stranger popped up on his front porch asking to rent a room. This Novia knew nothing of the caldera, so how could she know if she wanted to commit herself to it? It was her gamble, though, and all Peregrine could do was vet her, thoroughly.
"How could you be an asset to Redhawk Caldera?" he asked pointedly, slipping in the pack's full name for her benefit. "We have almost fifteen warm bodies here. Why should I add one more? What could you bring to the table, Novia?"
Novia seemed to understand, a lot about hunting from her father greatly, "I can bring food to this pack, I was taught by my father... When food was scarce or not," She smiled at that "We always hunted." Her body language was still submissive, but she continued "I know some things about fighting. I will also show respect of course, as I am now." With it now said, she wiped the smile off her face.
Hunting, fighting, respecting... all things Peregrine liked to hear. He studied her as she talked. She was pretty and lithe, yet that didn't mean she wasn't scrappy. Just look at his mate; she was small but mighty. He would never judge a book by its cover, though he would require Novia to prove it sooner rather than later.
"We could use another hunter, known as a Gamekeeper around these parts. And we require all of our pack members to become a Warrior or Warden." He paused, jade gaze weighing heavily on her down-turned face. "We have pups here. Do you have experience looking after pups? Keep in mind you won't be allowed near them right way if I choose to accept you."
Novia understood nodding her head in signal, "I understand." Novia soon going on said with happiness "Yes I do enjoy pups, I had a younger brother myself, we played, I made sure he ate and such." Novia could list multiple things, but didn't need to bore him. She understood she wouldn't be allowed, around them and bared that in mind.
So far, Novia hadn't said or done anything to trip Peregrine's internal trigger. So far, so good. She was shaping up to be a promising candidate. But they had pups—including a newborn!—and he couldn't take that lightly. He would need to dig deeper than just five minutes' worth of idle chit-chat.
"I need you to prove your skills. I'm going to wait here and you're going to go out and hunt something for me and bring it back. I won't leave this spot. Go on." He sat as he spoke, lifting a leg and flicking a paw to dismiss her.
Novia nodded soon remembering a group of deer, nearby. She got there searching for one whom was ill or ventured away from the rest. A young doe began to venture. Novia soon waited for the right time, after a few moments she began her attack and chase for the doe. Novia jumped when she got close enough, teeth bared. She fought the doe's fight digging her claws in. She soon began shaking it's neck, then the deer fell dead. Novia took it back, once she reached the area she put the deer down waiting for Pegerine's evaluation.
A single, small wolf catching a deer is pretty unlikely, so Perry's dubious! Don't mind him.
She jogged off into the distance and Peregrine decided to throw himself down onto the ground and relax while he waited. He quickly grew bored of scanning the horizon, so he set about giving himself a bath. By the time he finished with his impromptu spit shine, there was movement in the distance. He put his leg back down on the ground and squinted, then muttered under his breath.
"How the f..." he began to say, staring down at the doe. His eyes then snapped up to Novia's face as he accused,
"There's no way you brought this down on your own. Tell me the truth: did you find this carcass and drag it back here, thinking I'd believe you caught this by yourself? I'm twice as big as you and I can't bring down a healthy young doe on my own."
With that said, that meant that Novia was either very lucky or incredibly crafty. If she hadn't felled the doe herself, she had stolen it from the (likely larger) predator that had. Peregrine glared at her mistrustfully for a long moment, pondering this, before relaxing. He didn't trust that she'd killed the deer herself, which meant she was still unproven. But one hunt didn't mean much one way or another.
"I'll accept you on the condition that you continue to prove your worth as a hunter and fighter. You'll need to impress not only me but my mate and the Alpha female, Fox, as well as my Betas: Finley and Elwood. It's on you to find them and introduce yourself, then begin contributing right away. If you're not a good match for this pack or you don't pull your own weight, we won't hesitate to chase your ass out of town, Novia. Any questions?"
Novia shook her head, then nodding saying "Thank you." Her green eyes scanned the area, a new home. She kept a smile, hidden in her mind for the right time. She nodded again, soon waiting for him to lead her into the camp.
She didn't have anything to say in response to his accusations, which was a strike against her. At least it was just the one. He felt mixed about this one, so he would keep a careful eye on her and tell his fellow leaders, particularly Fox, to do the same. It might be handy to have a thrifty critter in their ranks, though if her skills fell short, he would make good on his promise to remove her by force.
"Make yourself at home... and don't come near the rendezvous site until I give you express permission. You'll smell it to avoid it." That was all he had to say. Turning from her, Peregrine loped away along the borders to complete his circuit, leaving Novia to her own devices.