Noctisardor Bypass not the bay-ang. the bay-ang?

keeping things vague because this thread is unfinished.
attn: @Arbiter @Kaertok; aw!

hello? their border reminded him of home: strong and well-kept, their scent a foreboding warning for all who lurked beyond. guardián looked in either direction, but could not see anyone, despite the aching feeling of being watched.

nervousness, it must have been. he hadn’t eaten his fill in days, so it would make sense that he be beside himself. yeah.

guardián cleared his throat and continued, just in case there was someone nearby. my.. my name is guard. i’m very hungry. he huffed, then sat down to await a response.

With the pups fed, Arbiter took a chance to take a walk and stretch her legs. She'd only felt comfortable doing this lately, though normally it would be just pacing around a loop within visual range of the den, this time she managed to nab Spook and set him to guard the den entry in case any of the slightly-mobile pups tried to make for an escape. After all, he'd been coming over to see if he could do anything.

So, Arbiter had gone and gotten her own food from the cache, and deciding there was another half hour or so before the pups started to get a little restless again, she went a little farther, heading to the border to see if anyone had been by. She heard a voice. Small, quiet due to distance. Prowling forward, it was a minute or so before she came into view, peering at the one who stood at the border. A pup? Older than her own by a good margin. Curious and unaware of what he'd said before, she approached, What brings you here? Open ended -- why was he alone? She hadn't scented if he was part of say, Whitebark, but that would happen as she came to a stop and was able to take a moment to examine him and his response over the next few moments.

oh. guardián took a careful step backward and averted his gaze to the ground where it would linger for the duration of their introduction. my name is guard, he told her, i’m very hungry.

what exactly was the protocol for border stops? was there something else he was meant to say? guardián twiddled his paws to fill the silence while he awaited her verdict.

Arbiter wasn't exactly the soft sort, and certainly not at first brush. Especially not if it turned out he had people who were supposed to be looking for him. He seemed perhaps a little more scruffy than he should have been. She took another couple of steps forward, sort of sniffing at him. This is Legion, I am Arbiter. A pause, Why are you on your own? A single question that would answer several that she had -- if he was lost, if he had friends around, possibly also if he wanted to stay... He was far older than her own children, so it wasn't like she could just quickly decide to add him to her brood. Slightly more complicated than that.

guardián complied with the examination, turning himself slightly toward arbiter for better access. legion is a cool name, he complimented, my pack was called nightwalkers. he didn’t know what relationship, if any, might exist between the two packs, and so opted for full honesty.

he waited a moment before continuing, primarily to gather his own thoughts. i left a while ago, but no one came looking for me. guardián’s jaw clenched tight at the thought, both anger and disappointment stirring within. my parents and my siblings are all gone. i just didn’t belong there anymore.

valour could have promised him day and night that things would get better, as could vanity and santi and whoever else, but would it ever be true? they had their own priorities, and guard obviously wasn’t one of them.

She hadn't heard anything about Nightwalkers -- or if she had it had been in such quick passing that the name meant nothing. The only pack that she distrusted was Ursus. 

Ah. So he was alone. Arbiter being Arbiter meant that if someone did come searching later, she wouldn't be all sympathetic and eager for some Disneyesque reunion. Their loss, her gain. Still, it made no sense to ask what his strengths were -- Guard was a child, so, the next best thing. Did your pack start to train you to hunt, fight, and all those things? 

She stepped back and signaled him across, You can stay here, but my own children are far younger than you -- they will be taking much of my time for a while longer. It would be the other members of the pack teaching you here. She wasn't sure if he would ever really match up in development to her own brood until they didn't resemble children any more. She was the only mother in the pack actively raising pups, and perhaps that was why she was spending the thought to figure out how to mix him into the rest. We can find you some food, but is there anything else you would need?

he nodded his head. mostly fighting. i’m good at it, but.. guardián stopped himself from continuing, unsure of how to explain the complicated relationship he had with the trade. although acting as a mercenary came naturally to the boy, it also attached him to the nightwalkers, and to the damage they’d done. how could he separate one from the other?

instead of trying to explain, he changed the topic. i know some stuff about hunting, too, he told arbiter with a wide grin. aside from the lessons with santiago, he was largely self-taught, though he’d been stealing more than hunting recently. is that what you guys do here? hunting and fighting, that stuff?

and then— wait, what? guardián had only asked for food, and even that seemed unlikely, so arbiter’s invitation came as a complete surprise. he couldn’t help the excited wag of his tail behind him, shaking his hind-end with little subtlety. no, i don’t need anything! he assured her, that’s like- thank you!

A slight tilt of her head at the pause. Really, what came after that wasn't amazingly important but she was somewhat curious. But at least he wasn't some spoiled little child then that knew nothing of what was needed. She'd take that, and hopefully mold him into the sort of wolf she wanted in the pack. Every wolf should know how to hunt and fight to some degree, even if that's not what they like doing. Here the adult ranks are split -- those who are more physical and those who rely more on thought and scholarly things. I was trained to fight, to hunt. I enjoy it. But you will find not everyone here is that way. Like Spook. You should think about a way you would like to earn your keep as you get older -- the pack works well because we all contribute. And she wasn't really big on slackers -- even her own daughter was kind of pushing her limits.

She took another few steps, expecting him to come along as she started back towards the inside of the territory, If there is anything, let me know. But if you come to find me at my den, you are not allowed inside. Outside is fine. It was perhaps the other hard line she drew.

arbiter continued explaining their pack dynamic, most of which made sense. he liked the idea of their ranks having two branches; that way, everyone could have the perfect fit, instead of being forced to play someone else’s role. i can do that, guardián assured her, i’m a hard-worker, promise.

he nodded his head to her one simple instruction, then stepped over the border behind her. is there somewhere for everyone to sleep? should i find my own place? how did these things normally work?

A slight smirk, Good. That's the sort of wolf I like. Had she smiled at all 'til that point? If not, that was about as close as she usually got unless something really striking happened. Hopefully soon 

She pondered his question for a moment. Honestly, she'd been trapped below ground. She didn't know what was going on farther from the den. I think most end up somewhere around the lake. My family lingers near my den. There are plenty of little copses and the like around the lake so people can have their own space if that's what they want. There are several yearling men here, including one of my sons, you may find them approachable if you don't wish to be alone. Note how she didn't volunteer Brou. That girl did still have some issues in her mother's eyes. Maybe she'd grow out of it. Or she'd just get passed by by all the younger wolves.

it didn’t take long for guard to decide that he liked lakes, and that settling beside one seemed like a decent idea. also, he noted arbiter’s mention of the other yearlings, storing that information for future use.

if she didn’t mind, guardián was ready for another meal, and so had only one more question: where are the caches? hopefully, with some good food and a nice sleeping spot, he could enjoy the remaining daylight.

Shall we wrap?

We will go by one, she said simply. It's a reasonable walk from the edges of the territory. For obvious reasons. It should have plenty for now, I think the others should be easy enough to find while you're learning your way around. She assumed that would be acceptable -- if it wasn't, here was his last chance to bring it up... Otherwise, she'd lead the way to the cache she'd been at earlier, maybe pick out a chunk of something for a later snack, and head back to her den. She wasn't going to leave the pups alone for much longer, even if someone else was probably keeping an eye on the den.

okie dokie!

okay, he said with a nod. guardián would allow arbiter to take the lead while he walked a few steps behind, imagining what his new life would be like in legion.