Lagon, in pursuit of the guardian specialty of the Mercenary trade had taken to running regular patrols of the borders, figuring that it would be easier for him to work towards achieving the mercenary trade first before going for the caregiver because what he wanted to specialize in (sitter) was sort of hard to prove his skills for considering the Hollow had no young children that were in need of watching or teaching. Snow, as inevitable as it was in the winter season, had begun to fall once more layering the ground with the cold powder, crunching under his weight as Takehiko made his usual rounds, pausing every so many feet to sniff at the markings to determine their age and occasionally lift his leg to refresh where he felt that the scents had begun to fade a little too much for his personal liking. 

The dragon had been close when the yips had went up into the frigid air, steps ceasing and smoky black hackles bristling as his mind immediately went to coyote. Any coyote he'd came across hadn't belonged to a pack, or if they had it was small consisting of either nuclear family or entirely unrelated individuals (not unlike most wolf packs); but he'd never known coyotes if they were apart of a pack to have one as large as wolves. Even so he was weary of them by nature. There had been a small group of them that had attacked Naga Veil Forest once when he and his siblings had been very small and while the coyotes had been eradicated the distrust towards them had been drilled into his mind by Sveinx. Part of Lagon rebelled against the idea, for surely not all of them were thieves and trouble.

A howl followed shortly after, in the same voice that had vocalized the yips as Lagon closed the distance between himself and the stranger, causing the dragon some deal of confusion. As he approached, body posture dominate (for the moment he was the highest ranked wolf here and he had no issue displaying that), his mahogany red gaze swept over the other male who appeared to be wolf for the most part, though his scent was different. Wolf but not a little bit coyote as well. While he'd assumed that there had been two: one wolf, one coyote Lagon realized his mistake quickly. The coywolf had lain down appearing dejected, and whether it was intentional or not had exposed his slightly emancipated ribs. 

He was probably hungry, Lagon realized, and while he was a jovial beast by nature but he knew that his cheery disposition had no place upon the borders, especially not while in the presence of strangers. The dragon's penchant for generosity might have inspired him to offer a meal, at least, he withheld any offer (for the moment). This dejected looking coywolf was here for a purpose as his howl had dictated and it was his job as a guardian (or would be guardian at any rate) to determine what. “You rang?” Lagon inquired simply, detached but formal nevertheless.

Lagon was not often the largest wolf, bearing a medium build and svelte form that probably looked dainty when compared to some of your hulking and burly wolves but he could tell as the light colored male rose to his paws that he was bigger than the stranger at their borders. Size was not anything that Lagon put much stock into, the large and the small both had their pros and cons of course and an intimidating figure didn't automatically make someone a beast in a fight and vice versa. His purpose was given, confirming what Lagon had believed on both accounts: that he was a coywolf and that he was looking to join the Hollow. “I can't and won't speak for my alphas or the beta,” Because at the end of the day it was their decision whether he could join their ranks or not. “I suspected you might have been a coywolf,” That particular fact didn't bother Lagon but maybe it would be different for one of the three wolves in charge of running the pack. 

“Sounds like the scout trade might be of interest to you,” Lagon spoke, showing that he'd given his rapt attention to the stranger at the borders as he offered skills without having to be prompted. He was efficient and cut right to the chase: something that Lagon could appreciate. “So you said that you lived with your coyote mother? Does that mean a pack is a new concept for you?” Lagon inquired because he really didn't want to know and didn't want to assume either way. He wanted to have some sort of background to offer whichever leader intercepted them eventually, to present a solid case, mostly because he wanted to be the best guardian he could be.

“Hey-!” Lagon barked, brow furrowing in puzzlement when he looked back (for he'd looked away for a few seconds to nip at an itch on his leg) to see that the stranger at their borders had taken shelter in a nearby bush from the snow, hiding in the shadows except for his blue eyes which peered out of his shelter at the dragon. Lagon gave a heavy shake of his coat to dispel the snow that had begun to layer upon the coarse fur of his back. “It's going to look bad if you're hiding in the shadows if one of my leaders happen to come by.” He would have been suspicious would the other have been hiding in shelter when he'd first approached the scene and Lagon trusted his considerations as a guardian as to how the stranger might be perceived by one of the Hollow's leaders.

“Oh,” The dragon said, ears falling slightly when the stranger admitted that he'd been seeking shelter only because he had burn scars on his back that stung when the snow hit them. It made him feel bad about chiding him on diving for the shelter, assuming that he simply hadn't wanted to endure the snow. Knowing there was a reason — and a sound one at that — made Lagon feel like an idiot for assuming but he still, regardless, didn't recommend the other seek the shadows of the shelter. It might not set a good first impression, and there might be days where it snowed nonstop, he couldn't hide for days on end and not contribute anything to the pack. “Wow, only three?” This confirmed what he'd been told: that they were typically loners or that their “packs” were extremely small. Lagon couldn't name off the top of his head how many wolves that Naga Veil Forest had been home to. Over ten, at the very least — and that was just adults.

“Siku? I'm Ancalagon, but you can call me Lagon, everyone does.” 'Lagon' was just so much easier to say and the young dragon had gotten used to hearing the nickname so much that if someone decided to formally address him as “Anacalagon” he might not be sure how to respond to it. Their gaze met for a brief second, a graze of glacier blue against fervid red. “Well you have to earn the scout trade it's not really a position. Our “positions” are ranks like I'm an Epsilon but I'm trying to earn the guardian trade. It's not really required but having special skills that help contribute to the pack, like being a good scout, does help your case.” Lagon explained patiently. It was kind of like explaining it to a child even though Siku was clearly not a child. If anything he was probably older than the young dragon who had only recently hit his year mark. 

“I'll go ahead and call for them,” Lagon assured moments before his muzzle tilted skywards and he let out a howl meant for one of the Hollow's three leaders, informing them vaguely that they had someone interested at joining at their borders. “It shouldn't take one of them too long to make their way here. I'm not sure who will respond, Harlyn, Mordecai — who are our alpha pair, or Luke, the pack's Beta. I don't think it'll take them all night to decide. I'll relay what you've told me, but y'know just be honest and respectful and they might have a few questions that I forgot to ask though you pretty much answered all of my questions before I could ask them,” Lagon offered him a cheeky smile, to prove that he wasn't mad and that, in fact, he'd appreciated cutting right to the chase. It had saved them a lot of time. “I'll stick around in the background.” He wasn't the type to just leave a scene he'd intercepted, plus if he did forget anything it would probably benefit him to watch how the process went down (his own interview had been kind of a blur), plus if Siku did win the leader(s) approval then Lagon could give him the tour and maybe catch him something to eat because the poor coywolf looked like he could seriously benefit from a good meal.

Siku had flashed Lagon a smile that was, while undeniably full of gratitude, there was something also a little bit mischievous to it, though Lagon brushed this off simply as it was how wolves tended to, for the majority, see coyotes. As mischief makers. Siku had taken to pacing, but Lagon had settled upon his haunches, a picture of ease against the nerves that had seemed to grip his companion. Lagon understood: he, himself, had been full of jittery nerves during his own “interview” process. There was gratitude in Siku's voice as he ceased his pacing long enough to break the silence that had settled between them as they awaited, offering further gratitude for giving him a chance. “I could have,” Lagon agreed, “but you're not intruding on our lands, nor do you strike me as a threat and so I didn't see the need to be hostile.” A guardian was vigilant and protective of the borders, of course, but Lagon didn't think that a good guardian went berserk and possessive and hostile without cause to be such. He was just trying to do his duty as a wanna-be guardian and while it was nice, found the flattery to be a little strange. He'd never had anyone thank him for intercepting them at the borders before and he wasn't quite sure what to do with the foreign gratitude. 

Lagon's posture lowered into one of submission when Mordecai came on the scene, mahogany red irises lifting from Siku to touch the alpha male as he approached, holding the submissive posture for a few moments longer before he rose beneath Mordecai's curious gaze. Right. This was his time to determine that he'd done an efficient job at intercepting — even if Siku had been prepared without needing much prying from Lagon. “Mordecai, sir, this is Siku. He's a coywolf and hasn't been apart of a wolf pack before, having lived with his coyote mother until recently,” These were the things that Siku had told him, offering him the knowledge freely without attempting to hide it. “But he shows enthusiasm to learn how to ...er ...wolf I guess,” Because Lagon wasn't entirely sure how to phrase that. “He spoke of an interest in scouting, also.” Lagon informed Mordecai, a small flutter of nerves of his own making it's presence known in his stomach.

The last thing he wanted to do was mess up in front of Mordecai.

Mordecai had listened to Lagon's report as the dragon had offered it up, and after Lagon was finished the alpha male turned his attention from Lagon to Siku breaking the silence he'd adopted during Lagon's report to make an inquiry. During this, Lagon was silent, more or less assuming that his part in this process was finished. He'd made the interception and now it was between Siku and Mordecai. Lagon didn't leave though, instead lingering a bit in the “back” observing. He was interested (though he attested this because he'd been the one to answer Siku's call first) in finding out whether Mordecai would accept Siku or not. After all, Siku had initially seemed pretty worried about him being a coywolf and how it might affect his chances of getting into the Hollow. 

Lagon gave his attention to Siku as the coywolf began to respond to the question posed to him, Lagon's ears of smoky black cupping forth though he could hear him just fine even without that attentive action. Lagon's eyes went to Mordecai before they slid back to Siku when the coywolf had finished responding to Mordecai's inquiry, contented to simply observe until he was called back into the conversation (if he would be).

Lagon kept to his silent observation of the scene before him, hesitant on if Mordecai would accept Siku or not. For a few moments Lagon was not sure that Mordecai was actually going to accept Siku, and for that small measure of time it didn't, percisely, look good to Lagon. Still, he was the silent sentry, silently urging Siku to be able to turn it around. Somehow, he did, in the end, whatever he added as extra skills — which sounded a lot to Lagon like something that might fall in line with naturalist — managed to pass Mordecai's inspections and the alpha male informed Siku that he would have to earn his place. This wasn't different than what any other wolf had to do and Lagon took the words as confirmation moments before the alpha male turned to him and inquired as to if he would show the coywolf around.

“Yes sir, I will.” Lagon responded formally with a respectful bow of his head when he was addressed before he rose from his reclined position and attempted to catch Siku's eye. With a wag of his tail and a gesture of his muzzle Lagon headed towards the thick of the trees, giving a momentary pause to ensure Siku was following before he led the way on their tour of the Hollow.