Northstar Vale transfixed

!!! <3

 
Rannoch had been quenching his thirst when her call reached him. Sloppily, and rather unappealingly, the Alpha had done what he could have to shovel as much water into his mouth as possible as he had just returned from his morning patrol around the perimeter of the Vale and was quite thirsty. With the voice of the stranger ringing in his ears, Rannoch lifted his head from the water's surface and towards the direction that she had called. Deciding that the call could not wait, as his parents had always taught him about courtesy in situations where strangers respected their borders, Rannoch abandoned his spot upon the river's shore and headed back in the direction he had just come from. With water droplets still falling from his maw, he tipped it back and called out to the stranger to assure her that he was on the way. 

Despite the distance that had been between the Alpha and the stranger, Rannoch made it to her in a reasonable amount of time. By the time that he had come to pause just before her lowered figure, the Alpha had adjusted his posture accordingly to his authority indicate in their situation. Despite his positioning, his face was just as sunny and inviting as ever, and even with his assumptions of what she was doing here, he would allow for her to do the explaining. 

"Hello," he greeted once his pacing halted. "Welcome to Northstar Vale. I'm Rannoch, the Alpha of these lands. What brings you to my borders?" Rannoch was a wolf who didn't like to beat around the bush and much preferred cutting straight to the point.