Stone Circle Curiosity Killed The Cat

This is mainly for @Vespera because I thought it would be funny if I had a thread between myself, but any other character is welcome xD

The male had been wondering for what seemed like hours. His muscles ached a bit but it didn't bother him too much. What had seemed like yesterday when he departed from his loving family and previous pack, he knew he had left long ago. His sense of belonging was mixed, he didn't know where to start, where to end, his story seemed a blur and he had no clear vision of himself. His strides began to slow with each leg stretch getting shorter and shorter, and his once craned head seemed to lose some altitude. The aroma of wolves had hit his nostrils, this collective scent had made him both raise his head towards the smell and stop where he was. He was near pack territory. From what his parents and packmates have told him is to never step inside an unknown pack's land, and to always be polite if they asked him to leave. But he was curious, and desperate to explore the world around him. Connor urged his large paws to move forward as the muscular man stepped a bit further towards the border, but his instincts told him to stop. He obeyed himself and kept his distance from the border, then the wind picked up and the scent of wolves was getting stronger. He paused for a moment to think of what to do next, do I proceed to wait for someone, or save myself the trouble of getting a tongue lashing from one of the natives for being so close to their homeland? He knew to trust himself and wait, and so he did. With each passing moment, he wondered if the other creatures around him like the birds or insects thought he looked lost, and he did. Connor looked like a newborn that had just wandered out of the comfort of their den, he even felt like he did. The large male fluctuated his shoulders and proceeded to sit, his green orbs were filled with questions about the regions he was in. So he had made a decision to wait.

Ah-ha! It is I! Myself! Talking to myself!

The young female had been thinking deeply about what happened to Leta, the young pup who had been unjustly thrown to her death by an intruder. I promise to find whoever did this and send them to the depths of hell for what they have done, she growled to herself. She felt it was her fault for not being there sooner, for not patrolling more frequently and watchfully, Valette's pups were important to her, thus they were important to Vespera. The Easthollow wolf had made sure to keep her nose close to the ground so that no unknown scent escapes her, not this time. The dark female left no stone unturned, she checked bushes after bramble after a shrub, she was going to make sure that nothing slipped past her. Though after a few inspections of rose bushes and getting bombarded with thorns attacking her nose, she decided to lay off very specific areas. Vespera was making her way to the border with a high alert to anything since to her, the border is where most drama happens, in her experience anyway. Though she was really looking to pick a fight with anyone right now, all this anger and frustration was starting to eat at her mentally. Opportunity struck when she smelled something unfamiliar, her senses froze, her legs spread beneath her a bit as her ears were up like a German Shepard with sharp head turns in every direction. The young female was close enough to the border to see a large male across it. A growl emerged from her throat with her fangs slightly exposed, but he didn't seem to notice her. Vespera then fixed her posture and slithered towards him with carefully placed paw steps. The young female got closer to notice that he looked a bit lost and new, she never saw him before, which made it worse for her. The young female sheltered her teeth and kept her ears forward with knitted eyebrows, she stopped on top of the hill and looked down on him, "hey buddy! You are spoiling the grass!" She called down to him, she wanted to have a bit of fun first before she would chase him off.

Connor was almost lost in his thoughts when a voice pierced his ears. The large male shook his head and looked up towards the sound. He could see to what looked like a small dark female with violet eyes staring him down from the hill from where she stood. The cinnamon male was quick to notice her irritated expression and her almost dominant stance. Her statement on "spoiling" the grass caught him off guard. But her whacky comment on where he was positioned amused him a bit, she sounded young and he quickly took note of that. Connor gave an innocent look towards her, "I'm sorry that I am hurting your grass miss! Would you like me to move on a tree, or will that not satisfy you?" He retorted at her win a bit of cheekiness in his tone, though he really didn't see this as rude at first he figured that his snarky little comment would upset her. However, he backtracked on this and thought and assumed she would think he was being playful and she would play along. Yet again, with an expression like that, he could only assume that she wouldn't take too kindly to his retort. She had every right to chase him off at this point, but he would be ready to apologize if needed.

Vespera didn't expect him to give a snarky remark back to her, she would usually get the remark of them telling her to check her attitude towards strangers. The female wrinkled her nose but didn't show any teeth, she snorted, "don't be funny!" She snapped at him, her annoyance boiled within her, she was one to get set off very easily, and with this, she marched down the hill. What made it worse for her was that he had an innocent look on his face, the more she looked at it the more she wanted to leap at his face and rip his eyes out. She eventually made her way down to him, she quickly scanned his body structure, he was large but not larger than Greyback, and he was well built with muscles. I bet he lacks speed, and probably intelligence because he has no idea what I am going to hit him, she smirked, showing that she was unintimidated by him. Though he wasn't nearly in the border so he couldn't do no harm, he is still near it, "I assume that you lack the brain cells to know that this is the Easthollow border so I will fill you in, beat it, pal." Vespera said with a monotone voice, she even mustered herself up to get in his face, even though it took a bit of effort to do so. The female was ready to handle this situation on her own, though she was trying to be better towards strangers, her progress was spiraling down after the incident with Leta. She would figure that someone else would come along, though much to her dismay since she just so badly wanted to tear into someone, and he was going to be her unfortunate victim.

Connor blinked when she snapped at him, he should have figured. He didn't bother to say anything as she trudged down the hill towards him with the intent to get in his face. The male looked down at her, huh, she was even smaller than I predicted, though he kept his comment to himself as he didn't want to set a bomb off within her. The male noticed that a smirk had grown on her face, he could only predict what would happen next since he has been in a pack before and has had his share of snarky characters. He recoiled his head back in surprise when she mocked his intelligence while also being informed that this territory belonged to the resonating pack of Easthollow. The male recoiled his head out of instinct when she got up in his face and told him to beat it, he gave her a few rapid blinks but he was unfazed but her physical actions. What he was taken off by were her comments and her attitude, is this the welcome wagon of the pack? If so, I fail to imagine this territory being populated by many wolves. Connor did another quick scan of the female, he wanted to make note of her every action in case she was going to start using her teeth instead of her tongue. However, he tilted his head, he was curious about what was causing her to act like this, was she poorly raised, was she a brat? That last one seemed obvious to the male but he concluded that she was being childish, it was really showing. "You assumed correctly that I am only running on two brain cells at the moment, you are quite clever," he gave a bit of a joking smile, but he added a bit of suaveness to his statement, "but before I go on my way, If there is a shred of kindness in you, would you be willing to tell me just a bit about your Easthollow?" he teased in good fun,  "And in case I am worrying you, don't fret, I don't intend to join." He said with a bit of a chuckle, he could only guess that she would jump on him for asking about joining her pack since she did seem to have a disliking towards him.

A growl aroused from her throat, her once squished faced had started to show more aggression as her muzzle started to twitch and reveal more fangs. Vespera was starting to lose it, "if I hadn't been so, reformed, I would have given you an extra facial feature that will make you remember me," her voice was rough like sandpaper and deep with malicious intent. One more snarky remark from him and she would let him have it, her fun meter was going down at a rapid pace at this point. Her previous teachings with Greyback were conflicting with her next actions, should I give him the time of day? Should I send him on his way? The young female stepped a few paces back, her face was a bit calmer but still showed signs of aggravation and annoyance as she scanned his face and body language. The male was still sitting his attitude towards her was quite strange, he seemed to take this encounter like some sort of joke, which really made her even more irritated. Vespera was desperately fighting herself to not lunge at him, but she would be giving in to her old ambitions to attack anyone on site. Though the female's face slowly turned to an expression of realization, is he... Trying to get a reaction from me? Does he want me to rip out his throat? As much as I would love to. What mind games is he playing? The Easthollow wolf blinked her eyes for a moment and shook her head, she realized she had just spaced out in front of him and she shot her violet orbs back up to meet his. "Well, since you are leaving and I can then return to my pack in peace, Easthollow in a short summary is about family, the pack's roots are built upon it. We don't run on a regular pack system that you might think, the leaders are Matriarch and Patriarch." She began, though the mention of the Patriarch rank left a sour taste in her mouth since she was referring to Greyback, she continued, "We really don't fight for ranks and how we essentially, "move up the ranks" is having a steady relationship with the pack leaders." She went on as she thought of Valette, how can anyone not have a good relationship with Valette? She then paused, oh wait, except for Aerasha, she chuckled to herself, "oh and uh we do now have the "omega" rank but it is called Miscreant." Vespera tried not to outright laugh out loud that Aerasha was in this predicament but it was hard not to.

What he thought was a playful remark didn't seem to resonate with the girl, she then instead turned it into a threat and became more agitated then she was and revealed her fangs to him. Connor squinted his eyes for a brief moment but his once playful gaze narrowed a bit as he craned his head upwards, he initially just wanted to show her that he wasn't a threat but when push comes to shove, he had to be prepared to defend himself if she were to do anything to him. The large male went so far as to stand up, his large muscular body moved at an even pace, not too fast, not too slow. He then planted his paws were he stood as his claws pierced the earth, but his fur didn't rise up, his muscles didn't tense. Connor still had the mindset of not putting himself above others just because of his build, since she was small and she was obviously upset with him, he would assume that she saw his size as a threat. However, the female did surprise him when she began to explain what Easthollow was, his small intense gaze had softened with an intriguing look. His once firmly placed paws loosened and he made sure that he seemed relaxed to the girl. What he did notice was she seemed to pause and laugh at herself a couple of times when this happened, he tilted his head a bit and squinted one eye slightly. However, when she continued with her explanation, he fixed his head position and continued to look at her with interest. Interesting, I can safely say that the area I am in is not what it is like back home, now I have a much better idea at what I am going to deal with. "So I assume every pack runs differently to how the leader wants their system to be run," he commented, "I do appreciate your insight." The male added with the intent of kindness, the last thing he wanted was for her to return to her leaders and report that he could be a potential threat to Easthollow. As much as he had a fondness to the family roots of this pack, he strived for a bit more, "well as much as I like how wolves here are treated like family here, this place is not for me." He began, "and I wouldn't want to intrude on your space," he added with a cheeky smile and a wink as he turned away from her. "Oh, and one more thing," he said abruptly as he turned his large head back towards her, "My name is Connor," he said with sincerity, though she may not care for it, "what is yours?"

Vespera's fur had prickled when his large body had to unfold itself from a sitting position to a much larger figure. The young female was ready at that point but she was taken a bit back when he seemed interested in her explanation of Easthollow. The dark female had squinted her eyes at him for a moment but she remained silent for a few moments. He began by making observations about the pack system and assumed that every pack system ran differently, she rolled her eyes because she wasn't interested in what other pack ranks were, she was just happy where she ended up. He mentioned that Easthollow may not be for him, "why?" She blurted out, "who wouldn't want to be treated like family?" She pressed as she tilted her head and frowned. Out of all the pack systems, Easthollow was the best in her opinion. Valette had offered her sanctuary to heal a broken heart and that was all she could ever want. Vespera understood providing for the pack since she was practically a slave in her old ranks, but there really was no omega rank, well except for Aerasha. The young female gave an annoyed grunt when he said that he didn't want to invade her space, she was bothered by all the people who kept coming into Easthollow but she was starting to get used to it. He began to turn away and leave which pleased Vespera, but then he stopped and turned to her and gave her his name which was 'Connor'. He then asked for her name to which she responded with a heavy sigh of annoyance, "it's Vespera," she with a tired voice, she really wanted to be done with this wolf and return back to the Easthollow camp.

Connor drew his head back a little when the smaller wolf had protested against his previous comment with the retort of 'who wouldn't want to be treated like family?' To which the male responded with, "oh no, I perfectly understand the feeling and want of being treated like family," he began "that is not my point." He then turned his large muscular body towards Vespera, "what I mean is, I admire wolves treating each other with respect, it builds connecting between others. But what I was saying was that I haven't explored enough pack territories yet to find my place." He had hoped that she would understand but he figured that he hadn't done so yet.

"Maybe I don't know your pack structure all that well but I want to ask if there are any specific tasks and ranks for each wolf or no?" Connor prefers a pack with a sort of 'tight structure' since it was how he was raised, but he could very well understand someone preferring different structures of the system. "Vespera? Hm, I thought that name wasn't so common," he chuckled since he did no another named Vespera which he was told by his mother was the meaning of Evening Star. Connor got a bit of a flashback to his previous Alpha female who was also named Vespera, but he remembered her not having as much of a snarky attitude as this Vespera.

The young female felt like she was going to repeat herself when he asked her that question to which she frowned and tried to do her best. "Well like I said before, we move up our ranks depending on our relationship with the Matriarch, but we all have to pitch in the same amount of effort to provide for the pack and everyone must drag their weight." She said with tiredness, her skipping sleep routine was starting to get to her but she didn't want to show any weakness to the male so she forced herself upright with a strong stance.

When he said that he thought Vespera wasn't a common name she blinked, her mother gave her that nickname when her old name was Venus, but she rather not think about it. She really wanted him to leave so she could get back to patrolling and sulking and she returned to him with a grunt because she didn't have time to breathe the words.

The man blinked for a moment, he felt a little guilty that he had to make someone repeat themselves, but he said no more about the situation, he got what he needed. Out of respect, Connor stood on all fours and dipped his head to the female and craned his head up to rest his emerald orbs on her, "I thank you for your time, you have helped me a great deal." The cinnamon said with sincerity, he wanted to leave her off with a good note so that if he does return, she doesn't see him as an enemy. Although he thought that she would see him as an annoyance.

Connor turned away and headed away from the borders, he felt he overstayed his welcome and he should leave this pack and the girl in peace. The titan picked up the pace to a quick trot as he disappeared in the trees.