Blacktail Deer Plateau Stranger

Okay, I've pared down my thread load a little bit and I decided it's time for Perry to meet @Amelie if she's available. If not, this is open to anyone. :)

There was a member of his ranks Peregrine had yet to meet. Although he'd given permission for Blue Willow to exercise her best judgment in regards to this particular member, he had some misgivings about the entire situation. There were now two youths in the ranks, taking up valuable space and resources without being able to contribute much yet. At least Kraken was legitimately his blood relative (as only recently discovered); this Amelie wasn't. And though he knew she was Blue Willow's responsibility and he could expel Amelie any time he liked, he knew the stakes there.

He passed by the Healer's den and chatted with his sister for a while, then set out to find the medic. He assumed her young charge would be with her. But Amelie was certainly old enough to venture off on her own, of course, so when the Alpha male identified her scent, he began to track it. For now, Peregrine didn't bother to call for the young girl; he hoped to catch her by surprise and see how she organically responded to her stranger Alpha male's presence.

i feel like she's gonna have a hard time winning Peregrine over ohgodpleaseno
I'm going to act as if this is after Blue showed Amelie around..

Now that she had been given a brief tour around the place she was now to call home, Amelie decided to extend her newly obtained knowledge and explore a bit more on her own, perhaps she'd find some one else to chat with.

The dark colouled girl set off, her dainty little tail swaying as she walked, ocassionally rising when she heard the distant murmurs that indicated the pack was very much alive. She strutted slowly closer to the voices,curious of what they had to say.

He passed through a small clearing and spotted her small, dark form trotting through the trees, ahead and away from him. Peregrine woofed to get her attention, then moved closer. As he approached, his head and tail lifted, though not to a particularly severe degree. His blue-green eyes were cool and shrewd as he scrutinized her. He tried to remain impartial, even critical, though it was difficult not to see images of his own children in this petite youth.

"Amelie?" he asked, even though he knew the answer. "I'm Peregrine, the Alpha male." For the moment, he said nothing more. Again, he was interested in her responses to him, especially since he'd taken her by surprise.

A gruff male voice caused her to stop dead in her tracks. At first she had thought she was going to be scolded, as a new member she would have to learn the laws and boundaries that have been established for the pack.

She turned, her eyes bright and attentive, in front of her a large dark male stood towering over her petite figure. She pricked her ears, but instinctively lowered her neck as she felt a bit threatened by his size.

"I'm Peregrine," he introduced himself, to which Amelie wagged her tail and offered a smile, "The Alpha male." Oh.. she lowered her head and tail an bit more as the word alpha echoed in her head.

"Pleased to meet you" she barked trying to make the best impression on the male, not only for her sake but for Blue's, after all she had been able to join under her responsability so she was not about to create a bad reputation for the lovely female.

She responded politely and with a healthy dose of submission, which Peregrine acknowledged by dipping his black snout. As he tried to think of what to say next—she seemed rather reactive—he gathered his muscular haunches and sat down, wrapping his tail around himself.

"Tell me about yourself, Amelie. What brought you here? What do you hope to achieve as a member of the plateau? Most importantly, what do you intend to contribute to this pack?"

The silence tha followed Peregrine's question was so intense that Amelie could perfectly hear the sound of her anxious heartbeat, which made her fear Peregrine could hear it too.

What could she say after such chain of questions had been thrown at her so unexpectedly? What could she say about herself other than she was a lone kid with a brave heart thrown into the real world after her mother left, that she still had days filled with sadness and melancholy when she thought of her mother, and that she had hated her own siblings for the short time they'd been together?

What had really brought her to this place? Aside from Blue Willow's kindness, what had temted her out of the life as a free spirit and lurred her into the pack? What could she contribute? Company? Another set of hunting paws and eyes to watch over the lands and pups? Anyone could offer that..

Her expectations? She didn't have any other than to become part of it, that was the biggest target on her mind at the moment...

Taking a deep breath and with the millions thoughts still swimming through her mind she answered, "I reached the age one must leave it's home and venture to the unkown. My mother left my brothers and I to start our journey, I lost track of their location and made it on my own all the way here.", she barked her eyes glued to his, then with an abrupt lash of her tail she decided it was enough to say about herself.

"Blue Willow, your lovely healer, saw potential in me. Potential I hope you see as well." she continued, "Right now I have no other goals than joining this family, and as for what I can offer...I offer my dedication and help.." she barked with a strange and defiant feeling of confidence flushing over her.

Amelie didn't answer right away, though Peregrine didn't hold this against her. Rather, he appreciated that she took the time to think over her answer before responding. When she did, he listened raptly, genuinely interested in what she had to say for herself. She spoke with an eloquence that surprised him, given her age. The Alpha male could easily see how she'd won over Blue Willow.

"Although I hardly think you've reached the age of independence," he answered when she was finished speaking, "you do seem beyond your years—or months, I suppose would be more accurate." He paused, considering. "It sounds like you don't have a particular vocation. What would you say if I gave you one? Say I wanted to train you to be a Gamekeeper or a Caretaker. Would you be open to that, Amelie?"

Amelie dared to raise her head slightly, meeting her eyes with his, she was relieved to see him show interest in her, although she hoped he did not touch the subject of her past since the void of her mother's absence was still too fresh.

When he told her she had nt yet reached the age of independence in his opinion, she shuffled her paws not knowing if he meant that as a critique to her mother's sense of judgement or as a hint that as far as it concerned him, Amelie shouldn't be on her own, meaning he would most likely allow her to stay.

Then her latest theory was confirmed when he offred to train her and give her something to aspire to. Amelie's eyes lit up and a sly smile tugged at her lips reavealing her white set of fangs, "I'd love that just tell me when to start" she barked as she stepped forward pressing her nose to his chin out of respect.

When Amelie glanced up at him, he did not perceive in her youthful gaze any type of meaningful threat, so he didn't issue his usual warning growl. He saw her eyes brighten at his idea. He'd thrown those two fields out rather arbitrarily, though he thought he could fashion Amelie into a worthwhile babysitter, now that he really thought about it.

"Okay then. I'd like you to seriously pursue the Caretaker trade. Your own caretaker, Blue Willow, may be able to help. I want you to start by getting to know all of the pups in the pack. When I feel you are ready, I will call upon you to supervise them on your own. That will be a while from now, though. Sound like a plan?"

After pressing her nose to the bottom of his face, she stepped back and got back into her submissive stance, waiting for Peregreine to give her any other instruction or suggestion.

When the dark coated alpha suggested she focused on the Caregiving tasks she could refrain from giving a smile, Amelie liked to help others, for her it was interesting to see their different quirks and personalities, each tempting Amelie to learn something new.

Then as he mentioned the pups, she nodded rather enthusiastically, Blue had mnentioned the possibility of being assigned to supervise the toddlers and Amelie was actually pretty cool with it. "That'd be great, I like pups" she added, biting her lip a second later realizing it was a stupid thing to add. Whatever she brushed it off with I smile, "I hear that you're the father.." she barked casually, remembering Blue might've mentioned it..or someting like that..

His lips twitched with amusement at Amelie's comment. "Yep, that'd be me," he said, "though only two of the four pups are biologically mine. Osprey and Ty are my daughters but Saēna and Pura were actually born to my niece, Pied, and her mate, Kisu. Pied died giving birth and so Hawkeye and I help him raise the kids. I'm sort of like both an uncle and father figure to them, though Kisu is their dad. When they're old enough, I'll probably have them call me dunk, as in a portmanteau of dad and uncle."

Peregrine peered at her a moment, then glanced sideways and said, "Well, feel free to drop by the den whenever you're comfortable and I'll introduce you to the kids. I'm going to head out to grab some food for my family. See you soon, Amelie," the Alpha male said, tipping his head and giving her an expectant look. It was clear he expected her to swing by the den within the next few days. "Take care," he added in almost a fatherly tone before turning and trotting away into the woods.

loved this thread thank you <3

The young girl listened intently at his explanation, in hermaking making a mental scheme of the ruling family on the Plateu. She imagined the tragedy that must've been losing a member in such an bittersweet event. Losing one while gaining another.

Amelie enjoyed Peregrine's humour about it and allowed a sharp giggle to escape from her mouth as she pictured a bunch of pups referring to the male as dunk. She felt a lot more comfortable around the male now that she had seemed to have earned his acceptance.

After a little while Peregrine excused himself not before inviting the girl to come by his den over the next days. Amelie dipped her nose as a farwell and blinked at him with admiration and watched him walk away, "Goodbye Peregrine" she barked and waved her tail as a final goodbye. "See you!"