Sleeping Dragon someone said there's a lost horizon

Dio had begun to slowly acquaint himself with the pack's territory and aims to do all he can do blend seamlessly. Since he was adjusting, and admittedly, still working on getting back to a soundness befitting himself, he was laying low for now. He finds it easiest to stay nearer to the base of the volcano where he could learn the scent of the claim relatively undisturbed, especially since he had yet to actively seek out anyone. He can easily look busy there, too, and start to get his scent intertwined with the others along their borderlands.

Thuringwethil certainly held a share of his curiosities, but he doesn't want to pester just yet since any modicum of a decent first impression was all that got him here. There is also the other dominant female scent he catches around frequently, and this interest at least comes with a justified cause almost worth acting on. Among them, were a handful of others too. He could at least take solace in the pack's numbers here so late in winter.

He was slowly warming to the idea of something more though, and finds his nose scoping low to the earth in a half-hearted pursuit of the nearest trail.

here ya go @Lorne

Lorne stalked through the woods,following the scent of the newest member. She was seeking him out so that she could meet him. It didn't take long before she reached the core of the pack,it was mostly unfamiliar to her as she spent little time there. She watched the male outside,one she had yet to see when she watched the pack. He was sniffing at the earth. She cocked her head to the side,"Whatcha doing?"

He moves along for a while uninterrupted, which leaves him with little to focus on. But when he realizes he's no longer alone, he slows up and finds the presence of a small, red-coated wolf. He looks at her pointedly at first (old habit from when he was still Beta -- and a very close second to his brother's Alpha) but remembers his glaringly obvious newness here in the next beat. Surely, she is far more established here than he is.

"Learning," Dio answers smoothly. "And besides tracking me," he says, for he assumes that is what brought her here to his company. "What are you doing?" He knows next to nothing about this wolf, so may as well start somewhere.

Lorne felt her ears flatten, she wasn't sure she liked this wolf very much. He seemed rather rude to her, it wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. She had approached him with friendly intentions but he had thrown that out the window. "Watching,"she told him coldly,"it's a habit of mine to observe things." In other words, 'I'm watching you'. It was clear he didn't want company. She was usually a warm wolf,making friends quickly. But now she stood tall, amber eyes locked on him with tail high.

She shifts, indicated first by her ears and the rest of her posture soon follows until everything, stare included, are locked onto him. He stays as is -- his tail lax, ears turned towards her, and head held at what to him was comfortably neutral. Maybe she is a far higher ranking than he first suspected, and he's not hitting the right keywords to appease, or maybe she just doesn't like that he isn't warmth, sunshine, and grovelling from the get-go. He was not feeling particularly wrong yet, since he had answered at all.

"Not a bad habit to have," he replies easily, suspecting her implications in full behind the words. But, he's fine with it. Maybe she isn't wrong to feel as she does. "A useful one, too." He could imply too, as he fought off a smarmy smirk from spreading across his muzzle. But really, he wasn't looking for trouble. "So, observe anything good lately? I'm afraid I'm terribly new here still," he adds, and lets his tail switch idly against his hocks as he settled his mix-matched gaze onto her in return -- although mindful to not make eye contact.

Lorne shifted,keeping a wary eye on him, she still wasn't sure she trusted this wolf. She had become fast friends with the others she met but this one was odd. He spoke so cryptically. There was an implication behind his words as well,but what did he mean? That she should be watching him? No matter she liked a good challenge.

Had he been kinder she might have made a move to sit with him, so that they could speak more comfortably but she did not do so. "Cougar,"she finally responded. Just because she didn't like him didn't mean she would let him frolic about without knowing about the danger.

She elaborated no further instead waiting for his response,scanning him with her amber orbs for body language. She had always been a watcher and a good one. She would see what this male was made of before she left.

He knows she doesn't trust him, but takes it in stride and doesn't really go out of his way to disprove her at the present. She could draw her own conclusions, as was smart of her, and whether or not she liked him all that much didn't matter -- unless he knew that by her liking him, he could gain something tangible from it. So long as they could share space without outright hostility, he was fine though.

"A cougar?" he parroted back with a curious tilt to his head, since that was not really the expected turn of the conversation. But still, it was certainly very useful to know. "Where at? Did you get a good look?" he smirked subtly and let his curiosity show plainly. He had to wonder.. how close had she dared to tread to such a creature? She was small, and perhaps a stealthy type well suited to the task of stalking formidable beasts undetected. Perhaps her boldness in such ventures was more than she lead one to believe -- at first glance, anyway.

"I did not stick around to see it,"she smirked. "I smelled it towards the north,"she added. Maybe if he was smart he would stay away from there. It wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities though, keeping this odd one safe. She was not interested in seeing the cougar who had injured the Heda. Not unless of course she was hunting it.

"Ah, noted then," he said with a nod and a smirk that was edging closer and closer to sneer with the moment. "Do you think it spends much time around here?" he said, still trying to gauge what all she did know about it and whether or not she put a whole lot of effort into the topic. Maybe she was just a defender of the pack, doing what needed done. Dio still didn't know what everyone here liked to do and neither did he know very much about the pack as a whole anyway. But he was curious enough to want to learn more if he could. "Or has it been a problem for the pack already?" he asked on.

She fought the urge to growl at his expression. That smirk was turning into a condescending sneer. "If you're so curious why don't you find out?",she tempted. She wasn't sure how long it had been around the pack lands but it had been here recently. "He injured Heda,"she told him. She was slowly picking up on the language and customs of those around her. Heda being the first she learned.

She's plenty dissatisfied with him and he just knows it. It's almost kind of endearing, but it also kind of makes him want to.. just rile her up further, just to be rotten and just because he could do it. There would be a small measure of satisfaction in it and slowly, it was harder to resist the urge to keep nice(ish). He did know he should be good, though, because he did mean to stay here. "I do value my hide a little more than knowing about some cat, so I couldn't do it alone.." he said with a smug look on. Knowing it had injured Heda was noted, though, since this cougar may just have a taste for wolf now. He'd watch his back in the meantime.

She snorted, an unlady like noise,"I don't think anyone will volunteer anytime soon." It wasn't meant as an insult but she definetly wouldn't be taking him to see a cougar. She doubted anyone else would either. She valued her hide as much as him.

"Probably not," he did manage to agree, still sneering somewhat just because he couldn't quell it entirely at this point. Maybe a pack could rise against a cat if they were prepared enough but he was not experienced in such matters and neither was he in any hurry to make it happen himself. If Heda, the one it had harmed in the first place, wasn't putting it on the priority list to bring it down, he wasn't going to be too riled up about it. "Anything else besides a cougar worth knowing about?" he asked, potentially thinking about what he would aim to do here exactly.

last from me

 

She shook her head as she stood, never being one for many words. She shook out her red pelt and gave him one last cursory glance with her amber orbs. "See you around,"she told him monotonously as she left. Later she would realize she hadn't gotten his name but no matter. She would know it eventually, for now in her mind he was just the strange one.

He's silent and nods understandingly while this eases to a close. He was content with what he was able to take away from it but was happy it had stayed relatively simple. What he did know was that she had never seemed all too impressed with him so at least he would have that in mind next time their paths crossed.

Dio only chuffs his version of a farewell before turning to amble off on his own way.