Heavy metal broke my heart

@Fang Others welcome too!

Although the sun shone brightly overhead, the Wilds were chilly. A brisk wind cut through Ptarmigan's coat as she loped along the edge of the lake she had first met Andrus at and nipped at the exposed scabs on her chest. Her initial plan for the day had been to try her hand at fishing in the lake, but the weather didn't permit it. Instead, the swarthy female began making her way toward Blackfeather Woods, that ridiculous place where she and Viggo had encountered a group of pompous ravens.

Although she was loathe to be anywhere near the insane flock, Ptarmigan made for the trees as quickly as her feet could carry her... At least until the scent of wolves and piss caught her like a slap in the face. Her ears pricked and her tail began a slow and rigid wave behind her as she frowned and stretched to her full height. Unease prickled along her back and her hackles bristled, but she did not move away from the newly claimed area, at least not yet.

There were a number of reasons for her reaction, the primary one being that they were rather near the Spine, though she was also perturbed that the only source of shelter was probably covered in others' bodily fluids and clearly warned her away.

Fall Out Boy — Centuries

Fang was doing whatever it was he did when he wasn't doing anything specific or near the new pack. Of course the day was escaping, and he felt a reluctance to be away from the woods. He had yet to see the others(besides Meldresi) since the claiming howl and was almost solely the only one of them maintaining the borders. It was a daunting task to the hybrid. The spire was easy, people climbed the mountain to join, why else would you bother. Here though, everyone wanted to know what was going on, at least they were respectful of the newly founded borders. When he approached the invisible line marked by the familiar stink of his own attempts at marking the borders there seemed to be yet another creature lurking nearby. Far enough away not to alert them to his presence, close enough to see the black beast come to a sudden stop. At least this one had manners too. So far. Shrugging to himself he resumed his trot. Fang was a small creature at best, though he could carve an imposing figure, Rabbits, and even otters were simply terrified of him. Though he had no illusions about intimidating other wolves unless he had the pack to back him. He moved toward the black wolf with only the slightest air of dominance, head held high, tail lifted, chest puffed. After all this was his home. Finally arriving within earshot he turned his walk to aim past the female. A rather bored and docile tone escaping as he spoke. Yes it's a pack territory, yes it's protected, yes we'll play nice. Black dear plateau speech done. Too bad this one wasn't from the plateau. Speech thoughts

She hovered at the edge of their detectable range, pacing uneasily a few steps to the left and then pausing when movement in the dark trees caught her attention. The animal that drew forth from the gloom was an unusual one, too small in proportion and seeming thin, but Ptarmigan failed to notice much difference from a wolf. She noted his dominance, and took him to be a wolf just like any other wolf, though an ugly one.

He claimed they would play nice, earning a perplexed frown from the dark-furred Endore. “Why would you?” she brusquely asked, tilting her snout toward the earth and peering critically at him through her eyelashes. “I wouldn't.” I won't, she said silently to herself. Though she didn't say it yet or even insinuate it, Ptarmigan was uncomfortable with this pack being here. They were technically nowhere near Ouroboros, yet she held it against them all the same, for no reason.

He would have kept on strolling straight on by if she hadn't spoken. He was almost bored of coming across those curious about the lands, or the pack who would simply sit quietly and ask questions before moving on. But here he had this particular creature outright admitting the opposite of what he'd mostly heard "Oh we'll be nice and friendly!" Apparently not. Stopping in his steps he turned to fix the female with a questioning glance. A sly smirk found its way across his muzzle, golden eyes giving her a quick look over. You don't say? His words would escape in a low, almost cooing tone. Fang was by no means a large creature, and he had no illusions about his ability to defend himself. He was of course bolstered by the fact that his pack was nearby, though if an altercation broke out there was every chance it would be resolved long before they arrived. Then if you wouldn't play nice, we could always play rough. Again the slight coo that lingered in his low words would hardly be a challenge, if anything it was almost a bad pick-up line. Speech thoughts

The smirk that split the hybrid's features sat poorly with the Endore, who openly bristled at his coy display. Fang was alone, unaided by those who lived with him and, judging by the scents, at a disadvantage. There were too few wolves in this pack to respond to a summons even if he issued one. A pity.

“That won't be necessary,” she said dismissively, pacing just out of reach beyond the pack's borders. “You and yours will leave—” she paused, allowing this option to sink in in its entirety, “—or we'll kill you in your sleep.” Ptarmigan didn't have the weight of Ouroboros behind her, but surely she could count on Viggo and Andrus to see this threat through.

“You're too close,” she finished for clarity, hoping the hybrid could see reason. Apparently he did not, for he responded with more subtle threats until finally, she peeled back her lips, snarled a final warning, and then departed with the silent promise that she would dismantle them.