hush now, dear children

for @Kove :)

The little loner sniffed at the borders of the ominous woods. Last time she'd been here a white wolf with shocking white eyes had scared her off. She hoped he wasn't nearby, and with a glance at her surroundings, she set into the forest. His scent was quite common as she walked, however, she didn't see him anywhere. She glanced up. Some crows watched her silently from a dark tree branch. Her hackles rose and she continued. After only a few yards more she curled up in the territory as if she was going to sleep, but she kept her head raised and eyes opened. The kid watched for any sign of the white wolf who'd chased her off last time.

The Winter air was starting to get to the pale man, but no complaints ever left his maw. It didn't bother him as it would some others, but instead gave him a sense of comfort, as well as a need to stay active. Those who simply laid around during the cold months were destined to freeze in some fashion; or, at least, that's how he'd seen it up North. It didn't happen as often in forests such as his birth place, as well as Blackfeather, but the tundra was a different story. It was anyone's game there, and he'd wondered if that was how it was for those living on the glacier he'd heard of. The very glacier his friend's pack resided on, as it happened to be.

Since meeting her, he'd lingered along the borders much more frequently, which also proved to be of help to the pack. That happened to be where he'd been coming from when the scent of another lupine reached his snout. The scent didn't match anyone of the pack he'd met, nor did it match any of the outsiders he'd come across. It was new and strange to him, causing him to follow it almost instinctively. Kove had expected to see another wolf, but the appearance of the other did nothing but confuse him. She was smaller and thin, obviously younger than him, and he was puzzled when he realized she was not accompanied by anyone—which he was glad of. Continuing to move forward, he made his presence known to her as he stepped into her line of sight.

The ghostly male's hackles raised ever so slightly, however it was not due to seeing the female as a threat. It was an automated response from him when approaching lone and unknown whelps, having had bad experiences with angry parents before coming to the Wilds. "Not sure if your nose is working yet or not, but the marks on the trees should have been a clear sign that this is pack territory," Kove started, his movements stopping only a small bit of distance from her laying form. "You must not be the brightest little wolf around if you couldn't take notice to such a marking."

She looked up in surprise- well, not really surprise, she did somewhat expect that someone would find her. Whatever. Runt Northwind was her name, and trespassing was her game. She could handle this. "Hey. Why's it gotta belong ta ya? What if I want it?" She asked with a playful little grin. "I wanna claim this place, from now on it's property of me. You better get off if ya wanna keep ya throat in ya neck." She said. Of course she couldn't fight this white wolf, but she was just making empty threats of course. It wasn't like this land belonged to her anyway.

The female's words were humorous to Kove, and though he tried to prevent a low chuckle from leaving his throat, he didn't try hard enough. "You can't claim something that already belongs to another, little wolf," the brute stated, the chuckle having already died out. Her empty threat had done nothing to faze him, but instead gave him something he'd been curious of. The girl had referred the making the place her own, rather than using the word 'our', which told him she was most definitely alone. Alone in the Wilds, and trespassing on Blackfeather's land.

"Could always find a little piece of this place for yourself if you want to join the ranks," the pale man noted. She didn't look to be in the greatest shape, and would probably be chewed up and spit back out upon joining the pack, but it was still a choice that was up to her. If she wished to join, he would alert Bane to her appearance, and if not, he had two options. Simply get her out of the territory in a calm manner, or force her out if she refused to go willingly. Either way, she would be gone and no longer his problem.

"Kay." She replied, not without a questioning raise of the eyebrow, at least the best eyebrow raise a wolf could try to do. When he mentioned joining, a thoughtful frown appeared upon her face. "You see, dude, I been thinkin' 'bout joinin' a pack, but there are so many around here that it makes it hard ta decide, ya know? Everybody is like, 'hey, come join us, we're awesome', but I dunno who's da awesomest! And I only want da awesomest and coolest, but I dunno who is or who won't kick me out for my jacked up personality. Most kids are all brave and ambitious but still helpful and kind. Well, not me! I trespass and fight and get on nerves for fun. The slavemasters screwed up my perfect childhood." She muttered, before realizing how much she had said. Great, now she sounded like she was a president making a speech. That was a very un-Runt thing to do. "Sorry, dude.." She muttered embarrassedly, her face heating up as she stared down at her paws.

Kove listened as the female spoke, taking in each word that left her maw. The part of a 'slavemaster' caught his attention, but he couldn't say he was all too shocked. He'd seen slaves get taken from enemies, though most ended up dead if they proved to be of no use, or provided no true leverage. The little female before him had survived as one, though, and while her personality wasn't all too appealing, that showed strength to him. In the man's mind, he believed her to be a decent fit for Blackfeather, but he wasn't entirely sure if she'd be up for joining. Trespassing constantly could lead to her getting into some serious trouble—both with the wolves of his pack and those belonging to another—and she didn't look to be a killer or any sort. Looks could always be deceiving, though, leaving the male never to be too keen on relying on one's look. The part of the 'awesomest pack', as she had put it, was something to be concerned of, though. He didn't know the female at all or what she thought to be 'awesome'. All he knew was she was a trespasser, who had entered without any real goal to join.

"Don't apologize," Kove finally said, having gone over his own thoughts several times. "I haven't seen any other packs in action around these parts before, but this one certainly seems to be the greatest in my eyes." It was his turn to give some small spiel over the pack, but it wasn't something he'd ever said before. The ghostly man was unfamiliar with the task of recruitment, but it couldn't be helped. A part of him wanted to share the ways of the pack with the littler loner, but another part knew the fit would be tight. "Decided now if I'm going to have to chase you out, or call another member forward." What would need to be done, he was not yet sure, but saw no real rush. He had time, and was positive the loner had nowhere to be at the moment either. Not a good act of behavior for the Warden-to-be, but he couldn't help himself. Females always brought out a soft side in him, and the fact that the intruder was still so young only made him less eager to attack.

When he said greatest her ears perked up. "How 'bout this. Can I have some time ta think 'bout it? Then later I'll come back ta your borders and tell you if I plan on joinin' ya. I promise I wouldn't be a burden," she said with a little smile. If she were human she probably would've been crossing her fingers behind her back. Actually, no she wouldn't. This kid thought too highly of herself to ever think she could be a burden. "No harm done, brah? I just leave ya alone?" She said, backing up a little. She was suddenly afraid he would start chasing her any moment. "Do ya have any other kids my age in your pack? Any kids at all?" She asked. She stared at him importantly. "Does your pack ever have... [size=small]slaves[/size]?" She said the last word at almost a whisper, as if the word was forbidden.

The female's willingness to cooperate was enough to make him relax once more—well, as relaxed as a wolf could be when standing only a few paces from and intruder. "You can have time to decide," Kove answered, nodding his head a bit with his words. "Joining a pack can be... odd, I guess you could say. I will not rush you." The ghost knew that joining a pack was a rather large decision. Up until coming across Blackfeather, he'd told himself he was never going to join another pack again, for the downfall of his family's had been a life altering event for everyone in it, especially him. That was what happened, though, when a wolf was with a pack. The effects on the pack effected each individual within it to some degree, and vice versa. "No harm done," he repeated back to her.

Runt's question of other young wolves, and then that of slaves, made the brute pause. "I believe a younger member joined our ranks recently," Kove started, uncertain of his own words. He wasn't there for the joining of a new member, but her scent had been in the woods, and was not accompanied by the smell of blood. So, he was assuming. The thought of the priestess' pups came to mind, but he chose to leave them out of it. He wasn't sure if the older woman had wanted all to know of their birth, so he held his tongue and moved on to answer her other inquiry. "We have no slaves that I know of." It was not a lie, though to some it could seem that way. The pack didn't have any slaves, but he had heard word of them holding onto a captive. To Kove, they were not the same thing, but did not mention it due to being unsure of how close the young loner believed the two to be.

"Thanks, brah." She said with relief as he told her she had time to decide. Then he told her of one other he'd heard of joining that was her age, and no slaves. Had he of mentioned the captive she would of been fine with it. Slaves and captives weren't the same thing, not at all. Then again, if she knew the captive was tortured, perhaps her thoughts would be different. "So... I'll see ya 'round?" She said, a small grin on her face. On the verge of leaving, she wasn't sure if she was to yet, even though she was trespassing.

Last post from me.

He gave a nod to show he'd heard her 'thanks', but didn't say anything in response to it. He didn't see a reason to, just as he hadn't seen a reason to rush her decision. Her next words told him the loner was ready to go, to leave and possibly think of his offer—which is what he wanted to believe. He had a feeling she'd simply be off to cause trouble and trespass some more, though, despite not saying anything of it. All Kove did was offer her a small smile, showing she was welcomed back if she chose to join, then parted his jaws to speak. "If we meet again, I do hope it'll be because you've decided to join, and not because you decided to intrude again," the man commented, allowing a small bit of humor to leak into his voice. She was an interesting little lupine, that was clear as a Summer's day, and he did hope she did truly plan to consider the option of joining. "Until next time, then."

last post from me! I'll have this archived. Thanks for the thread!

She chuckled wholeheartedly. Yeah, hopefully. "Till next time, brah!" She said with a grin before speeding off through the woods towards the exit. She burst out of the dark trees into the sunlight. Blackfeather Woods had definitely moved up on her list of which packs to join. It was something like- Ourboros Spine, then Blacktail Deer Plateau, then Blackfeather Woods. She would seriously put some thought into this decision.