Arrow Lake Let's stop and talk for a while

[size=xx-small]OOC: Starting it a short time after This thread, so he at least knows of Sunspire, and someone from there. @Red [/size]

It had only been a short time since his previous encounter with Kodokuna, a female from the Sunspire wolves.
The encounter had left him curious about the pack, so he decided he'd linger nearby for a while in the hopes he'd bump into another member of the group.
Fang had wandered for a while over the rough mountain passes until the familiar scent of water caught his attention. Judging by the rest of the terrain he was convinced the nearby water would be nothing so much as a short stream travelling down the landscape.

It was mid-afternoon when he finally found a break in the mountainside, finding himself standing above a lake with no obvious path towards its shores. Fang wasn't one to avoid a difficult to reach place, so he began moving along the upper edge of outcropping, looking for any sort of pathway to reach the secluded lake.

One such path presented itself, little more than a rough goat-path, rough dirt, rock, and debris marking it as simply a less steep side of the mountain. Carefully he began making his way down, the scattering of rocks and dirt being the only sign of his approach.
Just as he was reaching the bottom of the path a loose rock slipped under paw, causing him to stumble. With a rather effeminate yelp saying nothing so much as Oh shit, he came crashing down the remaining few metres of path. Dusty, sore, and with a slightly wounded pride he huffed whilst he lay on his side, recovering from the fall. Good work, he gingerly got up ensuring nothing was broken, and shook off.
Arriving at the lake in classy style.

Ferdie Von Pelt had been coming down for the mountain for several weeks now to run and loop around the lake for a nice flat out run. He picked his way down the rocky terrain toward the lake, have gotten better and more surefooted in the months since he took up residence in the Sunspire.

AS he came down along his newly word curving trail he ended up on a rise 4 feet from the grass below, The brute leapt down easily upon the ground drawing contented sigh from him.

he looked left and right before he started his run and was genuinely surprised to find another wolf nearby. Not in his territory he lowered his tail some and his head to a more relaxed posture and drew closer to the other male, not so close as to invade personal space he stopped and sat down.

I am Ferdie Von Pelt he offered by way of breaking the ice, I have not seen you around here before, what bring your here? Though truthfully he was annoyed to have shown another his 'secret' path up toward the Sunspire and he was annoyed his run was being interrupted, However he was glad to meet another wolf and he wasn't about to let annoyance get into to way of meeting a new wolf in a neutral place. He didn't own the Upper Arrow Lake and unlike other packs he wasn't going to pretend that he did.

As Fang looked around, taking stock at the vista that unfolded before him he was taken by surprise at the arrival of another.
I am Ferdie Von Pelt Fang's golden eyes fell on the creature before him, he suddenly felt very self conscious about the condition he was in. The well groomed male would be a stark contrast to his own dust covered pelt. The well formed male offered no outward signs of aggression however Fang felt he carried himself with an air of authority, regardless of his outward posture.
This would be the first male of size the half-breed had come across in his travels, still stiff and inwardly embarrassed at his less than perfect entrance he lowered his head, his tail giving a slight twitch before settling to a matching position.

Fang also chose to sit, lifting his head as a slightly familiar scent passed over him. Another Sunspire wolf, it seemed.
What brings you here.
"I'm called Fang." foregoing his normal smart-ass wit he continued.
"I am exploring, the lake seems a nice place to investigate. I guess I didn't find the right path down here though." His gaze wandered toward the nearby water before returning to the nearby male.

Ferdie Von Pelt chuffed softly The mountain loves to hide it's slippery terrain, It takes time to get used to it, or just travel it so often you make your own path Ferdie looked at the ground below them and then out to the left of the lake there was a slight divide in the grass revealing a small barely worn path, but it was there.

The path was the one he longed to run, so he looked up to the petite male, he did not judge others by their coats, he was just proud of his own even though he had to groom a section on his neck much thinner now to hide the scars below vain as he was.

Care for a race? He offered in a friendly manner, there was no hint of boast nor mischievous nature to his inquiry This path is well run and will lead us practically back here Why was he offering to share his run with this male? His secret daily workout, ending at the back entrance to The Sunspires heart, but ahh well the more the merrier as long as it didn't somehow turn around and bite him in the tail later.

A race? A coy grin spread over Fangs features, he stood quickly, his tail giving a quick to-and-fro wag as he followed Ferdie's gaze.
Taking a few small steps towards the indicated path before looking back at the male.
"You sure? Wouldn't want to get that pretty coat of yours dirty would we?" His respectful demeanour faded at the offer of a playful challenge.

Fang wasn't a big creature, what he lacked in size he made up for in speed. His stamina was questionable however. His swiftness coming to the fore as he made an attempt at quickly dashing toward the path with a playful laugh.

There was no second thought given to the fact this male might not take lightly to his mocking joke, and if not, he was hopefully faster anyway.

Ferdie loved when others mocked his pelt, it meant they were jealous and he was keen to soak up anything with would inflate his ego. He grinned and took off after Fang purposely extending each of his strides as long as he could stretching his muscles after days of traversing the mountain they were a little cramped.

The little 'Fang' was fast, so Ferdie surged harder catching up briefly to nudge the other males hip but as the path curved Ferdie grinned and followed the trail, leaving Fang behind by a few strides. Ferdie knew the path all to well for he had created it. He had the upper paw there. The path followed the edge of the lake and over a rocky inlet about 6 six wide to the lake, there the terrain would be more difficult again, before leveling out and finishing about 20 feet from where they began. A very decent and tiring run when done in one shot

The chase was on, much to Fang's surprise the larger male quickly caught up, shunting him out of the way. Rude. He'd have laughed if he wasn't so occupied with the run. He made no further attempt to overtake Ferdie, mostly due in part to having no idea where the path actually lead.
Maintaining a close proximity for the run, he felt no need to try and overtake for the win. After all this was just a playful race.

Ferdie slowed and eventually came to a halt at the end of the path there they face a rocky cliff about 4 and a half feet from the ground. Ferdie Von Pelt panted heavily surprised that Fang had kept up, he sat and grinned at the coy-wolf. It mattered not to him what breed or species of wolf one was as long as they were of good heart, and respectful. This would probably get him ridiculed by other alpha's by letting half-breeds in but it was those wolves and yes he called them wolves that usually have the biggest fight, and often made him the proudest when they were on his side. So he was delighted to call Fang, friend...

You my friend are fast and fleet of foot, within no time you'd get used to traversing a rocky mountain, I'm sure Ferdie's smiled reached his eyes teasing Fang about his fall earlier. Between pants Ferdie asked more questions wanting to learn more about this male Where do you live Fang?
He wanted to know if Fang had a den somewhere like the wild fauna did or if he was even interested in joining a pack.

Despite his efforts at keeping up with the larger male, Fang didn't have the best stamina. As they came back around and Ferdie slowed Fang almost let out an audible cry of relief. When they had stopped, his own panting matched he inwardly felt a bit of relief at the other male also showing signs of mild exhaustion.

You my friend are fast and fleet of foot. This Drew a small smile across the half-breeds features, he was aware how talented he was but reaffirmation from others. His tail gave a few to-and-fro swings at the compliment as he dipped his muzzle at the compliment.
"And you're surprisingly quick for someone as big as yourself, usually don't have much trouble outrunning the bigger ones." It was a fact, he learnt young that you needed to be quick when you were often smaller than most female wolves.

"Live? I come from a ways over" he said, as he fought down the oxygen his body demanded after the excursive whilst making a general over-the-mountains gesture with his muzzle.
" As for now, I've just been exploring, stopping here and there, being chased off by various members of packs and the like." He. Was going to continue, mentioning his run-in with a female from the swiftcurrent creek wolves, but let it go. There was still something in the way this male carried himself that gave Fang pause.
That was a rare thing, indeed.

Ferdie Von Pelt chuckled and stopped to pant but the grin was evident on his face I have be working on building up my stamina here at this lake. Ferdie shook his head sadly, Some packs are overly territorial, My Pack is just so... but we defend only our mountain not the lands around them we have no claim there and we don't need to overextend ourselves pretending we do... He thought of the pack on Silvertip mountain; he had no clue they had moved, for he had no outrider to inform him of such things.

I have a pack on there on the mountain He tipped his muzzle skyward about the rocky face they sat below. You would be welcome there if you wish. All I ask is that you hunt and share in defending the pack from other packs. Ferdie tipped his head to the left and tried to read Fang's expression wondering if the male even wanted a pack to call home, sometimes hybrids were finicky like that.

As his panting began to ease, Fang listened to Ferdie intently. My pack.. On the mountain. His surprise was barely held in check as it dawned in him that Ferdie was more than just an extremely week groomed member of the Sunspire, the way he spoke was indication that this was in fact the alpha, or if not alpha certainly a leader. Here he is offering Fang a place amongst his ranks. Again fang found himself dropping his head, enough to acknowledge submission but less than one would expect from a lower member of the pack he was being invites to. His thoughts shifted as Ferdie finished speaking, he wasn't seeking a pack, but certainly wasn't avoiding them either. An ambition was felt suddenly within, the opportunity to be involved in more than himself suddenly available. I can offer my best attempts at that, I find myself a traveller more than a hunter however. I could be your ears and eyes in the wilds, if such a position exists. His tail continues its simple to-and-fro as his gaze lifted, gauging the well-groomed males response to his offer. Thoughts speech

I do have need of a good outrider, one that will tell me about the other packs and where they are and such. Now that he was a pack leader he wanted wanted to know what was going on with the other packs but for now he knew nothing. However if you are going to join my pack, stay away from swiftcurrent creek, we do not need to cause problems down there, I need to know more about the other packs. Could you do that for me?

Ferdie grinned You seem swift of foot. Ferdie knew the hybrid were less likely to stick around forever they seemed less loyal then wolves but braver and more fierce as far as he was concerned, when they were on his side at least he was proud to call them family.

Ferdie turned and crouched down leaping from there up to the top of the four foot rack face, they ground at the top of it surprisingly firm yet soft enough to dig paws into for good grip. He turned and looked down at Fang, eager now to rejoin to pack.

I'm happy for this to be a final post if you'd like! shoot me a PM and I'll get it archived, or just post if you've got something else to add.

Fang found himself nodding as Ferdie spoke, he was certain seeking out information of other packs. At the mention of swiftcurrent he made a face similar to having eaten something sour. His only encounter with the mentioned pack, whilst not hostile, was far from pleasant. The fact that they were fighting with another pack added little in the way of surprise. I can be quick, and stay away from swift current wolves, easy enough to follow. As the large male turned to leave he took it as an invite to follow, with relative ease he leapt onto the overhang and prepared to trek to what would soon be his new home with his apparent Alpha. How quickly things change. Speech thoughts