Noctisardor Bypass Now you can post your eyeballs at THAT neck

Snow, always snow. Again Arbiter wound towards the outskirts. This time her patrol was with more of a purpose. She was looking for a sign of what happened to Terance or Pike -- they'd gone out on a hunt but hadn't yet returned... She hadn't been too concerned at first -- delays happen, after all -- but now she was getting concerned.  Even off doing a more distant hunt shouldn't have kept them this long. She could only hope that the weather here had been worse wherever they wandered and they'd be showing up soon maybe a little sheepish but otherwise not too worse for wear.

Some rotten part of her wondered if this was somehow on purpose -- that maybe Terance had taken their son and just plain left. That would be the sort of luck she'd had. Things just hadn't worked out right recently, and though there was that whole thing about stuff being darkest before the dawn, that didn't mean she wanted to wait... Instead, she wandered the territory as she always did, scenting the air for the sign of them, looking for tracks that were now slowly being smoothed to nothingness by the falling snow.

If they weren't going to show up this day, at least she could make sure the territory was tended.

He came romping through the snow with purpose, as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Maybe the wolf had a message of great importance? Or he was fighting the elements in pursuit of a hoodlum who had escaped his grasp. Whatever the case, he was quite the sight: grizzled grey scruff wrought with snow, a muddied underside of indeterminate composition, haggard but in good spirits. Mossy gaze lands upon the roaming shape of a stranger — towards which the man veers, sliding to a halt with a wave of snow in his wake.

With a bellow fit for a king, he calls to the fellow knight, Hail! Well met! Whether that garners the other wolf's attention or not, the visitor does not pause long as he launches in to a diatribe.

Fellow knight! I cometh seeking a rare objecteth of most wondrous power.  Bid me, has't thee seen't? Factoring in that he hadn't described this so-called rare objecteth (wtf), he should have known better than to expect much of a response. From what his fellow knights told him prior to his departure, all would know of this magical thing regardless.

Movement was always quick to catch Arbiter's eye. Though reasons why a wolf would be bounding towards her did put her slightly on edge -- always better to expect an attack then not -- she would wait and see what it was about. And honestly, when the guy stopped and called out, she hadn't even time to mentally process the precise reason why his greeting seemed so odd before he went off and confirmed it.

Blink. Okay, she wanted more recruits but this guy had already placed himself on the Nope list. He talked like a complete weirdo, gave her no information. And all things considered, given the mood she was in, she had no interest in playing whatever bizarre little game this guy wanted. Her response was particularly terse, I have no idea what you're looking for. Honestly, if he turned around and kept going on his delusional way, she would be okay with that. But she was also okay just standing there and waiting to see if he was going to realize how foolish he sounded.