Sawtooth Spire i'm heading straight for the castle

Storm clouds had been gathering overhead, growing darker and more foreboding with each passing hour. Greyson knew better than to ignore the signals. Rain was most certainly on its way, and the lone wolf would be wise to seek shelter to avoid that worst of it.

The tundra had seemingly stretched on forever, but Greyson had perservered with his travels in a northern direction knowing that at some point other features would appear along the horizon. He hadn't known how long his journey was destined to be, but upon spotting the jagged peaks of a foreign mountain range, the male was nonetheless relieved. 

The grey wolf's pace quickened, the thrill and excitement of his discovery suddenly making him numb to the burning ache in his muscles and limbs. Greyson advanced onwards, managing to scale the jagged stones and rocks which guarded the base of the mountain slope, just in time.

A loud thunderous grumble echoed down from the dark grey clouds above, and a moment later rain. Thick and heavy, the raindrops battered his body, quickly turning his thick warm coat sodden and slick against his masculine frame. Cold grey eyes searched desperately now beneath the long shadow of the mountain for a place to shelter, moving further up the mountain until he stumbled upon the scent laid down by a pack.

Greyson knew to proceed any further would be criminal. Trespass was not something to be taken lightly. He remained still for a moment contemplating his next move, the harsh rain still beating down on him, before he tilted his head back to the sky and howled.

the howl rises through the air; cutting across the pitter patter of rain as it beats upon stone and earth. upon the emerald leaves that fan out in a half-assed umbrella of the tree he rests under. wintersbane pushes himself to his paws, stretches once and trudges out into the full of the rain, feeling it soak into the fur of his nape and spine as he makes his way to the borders. it has been a long time since someone has called; or so it feels like a long time. his tail rises as he approaches the scene, stance proclaiming him as one of the spire's leaders. this is sagtannet. what brings you to our borders?

While Nyx laboured and Mahler attended her, Wylla took to scouring the territory in a right frenzy. She didn't care one lick about the she-wolf giving birth, but the demand on Mahler's time was certain to drive her own children's tempers up. The thought of it turned Wylla into a dark, roaming storm cloud to match the roiling sky while someone else watched over her children. The presence of Astraeus in their den was objectionable enough, but the boy was not Mahler's blood. His true-born children surely came first over Astraeus, so she saw the younger pup as no threat.

But these new cubs...

Wylla almost welcomed the sluice of cold water through her fur when the rain began. It cooled her temper and she turned her muzzle up to the weeping sky and closed her eyes. She'd barely taken a single deep breath when her ears perked, drawn by an unfamiliar voice on the wind.

Yellow gaze popped open and she turned her head, flickering her ears to and fro until she thought she'd ascertained the direction of the call. She wasn't really in the mood to entertain visitors, but it'd been a long time since she attended the borders and she could use a distraction. It certainly helped that the caller's voice was decidedly masculine; she'd always appreciated men far more than women, for good reason.

Her gait was swift as she cut through the forest and descended down to where Greyson waited. By the time she got there, her fur was plastered wetly to her sides, accentuating her tiny form and the lingering pregnancy fat that she hadn't managed to shake yet. All that aside, if she was at all self-conscious, Wylla didn't show it. Wintersbane was already there and received only a brief flash of her yellow eyes—she'd hoped to attend this stranger alone, indulge in a conversation with someone new, but there was always someone else beating her to the punch. It made unreasonable anger simmer in her veins that she was denied even this, although she knew it was unfair to blame Wintersbane for being dutiful.

Nevermind him. She peered at Greyson, a fit man cast in pure cool tones. Undeniably physically capable, and they needed new blood in their ranks. She thought they could dispense with the formalities, but since Wintersbane had already started, she didn't interject. Attractive, yes. She wondered if he would make Mahler jealous.

Shadow posted. :|

In the moments that Greyson lingered there at the boundaries of the foreign packland, he took the opportunity to give a quick survey of the area. The mountain was tall and imposing, its peaks blanketed with crisp white snow, and its rocks sharp and jagged. From this alone the male assumed that it would not be home to those faint of heart. The wolves thriving here must have been tough to tolerate such a harsh terrain. 

When the scent of a male drifted to him, Greyback quickly composed himself, his attention breaking away from the scenery as he searched through the heavy curtain of rain for the wolf who approached. Sharp grey eyes soon spotted the impressive, muscular figure of Wintersbane, with his coat of raven black and ashy grey and his eyes of glacier blue. Noticing the dominant height of his tail, Greyson made a point to lower his own and dipped his head in respect towards the assumed leader. 

In response to Winterbane's question, Greyson answered honestly. "I seek shelter," He paused, silently considering if more explanation is needed. "and this is the first pack I have come across on my travels." Perhaps he was being too brutally honest. 

Another wolf appeared then, slipping out confidently from the shadows, her lithe form came to hover beside Wintersbane. Greyson's attention strayed momentarily to cast his curious silver gaze over her dark mask and silver features, catching her bright yellow eyes long enough to offer her a gentlemanly smile and curt dip of his chin. He looked back to Wintersbane, his expression determined.

"I would, of course, offer my own services in return," His gaze flickered back to Wylla. "permanently, if you should wish it." Greyson's dark lips curled into a small smile. He had planned to join another pack eventually, so why not this one.

feel free to skip wintersbane!

attention is turned upon the stranger at their borders, but deviates in a moment to wylla who joins him soon after. the stranger is quick to answer his inquiry, honest. perhaps too honest. wintersbane feels his lips tug into a terse line. he doesn't exactly like to hear that they are approached simply because they are the first he's come across. so why them? was acedia too strong a sin? or was he running from something? from someone? at least, wintersbane could appreciate the honesty even if it left him with more questions than answers.

assuming, be he right or wrong, that wylla joins him out here for need to get out of the den, the master warrior takes a proverbial step back. would his co-leader not have arrived he'd have been content to take control of the process. but she was here and he is willing to defer to her judgement and let her take the stage; allowing himself to stand on the sidelines as a stoic sentry.

While Wintersbane mulled over whether Greyson was being too forward, Wylla flashed a wry smile in response to his candor. It took a lot of balls to tell a pack of wolves they were the convenient choice rather than the first choice, given how easily said pack could be offended by it. What made their pack different from any other pack in the world, besides the wolves in it? For Wylla, it wasn't like one pack was better or more prestigious than another. She would've scoffed at the very thought.

Unlike many border guards, Wylla had no use for a wolf's skills. She had no love of conducting stiff interviews. She'd always been the type to see for herself what made a wolf—that had been true in Grimnismal, as well. So she appraised the soggy Greyson with a critical eye, surveying the mass of him, the rugged look of his coat, the lustre of his eyes. Healthy, so obviously he could feed himself. Strong enough to get this far up the mountain.

Good enough.

Hunt with us, she proposed, shooting Wintersbane a quick side-eye. There are usually hares on this part of the mountain. Show us what you can do. She didn't say it, but unless Greyson screwed up the fundamentals of hunting, she wouldn't turn him away. They were in the unfortunate position of being low on adult numbers and couldn't afford to be choosy, so long as their cool grey candidate could at least find living prey.

The thinning of Wintersbane's lips did not go unnoticed by Greyson. He blinked, breaking their eye contact subconsciously, as he considered if his answer, whilst honest, may have proved offensive to the lead male. Wintersbane, however, remained silent on the matter. Greyson redirected his attention over to Wylla, hoping that she may have something to contribute before the atmosphere had a chance to grow anymore awkward. 

Greyson, having missed Wylla's telling smile, fought to remain still and composed as she eyed him—the tickle of a raindrop trickling down the back of his neck making it all the more difficult not to shudder in that moment. The male bit down softly at his lower lip and waited. 

Wylla's proposal came as a surprise to the loner. The current conditions were far from ideal—though perhaps that was part of her plan. The heavy rain would ruin any scent trails left by the hares, dispersing their scent across the mountain rock and making it a challenge for him to track them down. Still, Greyson had offered up his services in return for shelter. It was only fair that she should want to witness his skillset before sealing the deal. Not often one to step away from a challenge, Greyson accepted Wylla's proposal with a nod. 

Greyson knew it would be beneficial to locate flatter terrain to hunt on. Hares were small, swift and nimble creatures, able to navigate the sea of sharp rocks and boulders more easily than wolves of his size. At least on more even mountain terrain he would be able to chase it down without fear of serious injury—that was even he even found one.

"It would be best if we relocate to more even terrain." Greyson stated, his silver gaze flickering between the pack wolves. "Any suggestions?" He asked, before glancing across the tumbling mountain slops on either side of him. This was their land. It would make sense that they should have a better lay of the land than him. Greyson fully intended to utilise their inside knowledge to his advantage.

Sorry I didn't see the note to skip Wintersbane!

Greyson was sharp—for the first time that she could remember, another living, breathing wolf seemed to agree with her that Sawtooth's slopes were atrociously dangerous. At least, that's how she chose to take his remark. It was quite a large stretch to come to that conclusion, but Wylla was too busy being pleased that someone else thought the terrain was treacherous to be rational or logical about it.
C'mon, there's flat ground further up the mountain, she said, gesturing with a flick of her muzzle as she turned uphill. Rain sluiced into her eyes and she blinked it away with a grimace. From here, the peak was completely obscured by the downpour. In these conditions they'd be lucky to find the hares at all, but that was sort of the point. It wasn't important that Greyson actually catch a hare. It was only important that he demonstrate his capability to do so if the weather wasn't so horrible.
Wintersbane might balk at the idea of Wylla leading Greyson straight into their valley claim, but she saw only two sides to that coin: either he passed this trial, became one of them, and would be welcomed there anyway, or he failed and they outnumbered him and chased him from their territory. She saw no harm in leading him there for this trial—they were too far from the whelping dens for him to present any real threat to their most vulnerable. When they reached the high lip of mountain, with the valley basin and its rivers and forests sprawling out beneath them, Wylla turned to face Greyson and said, lead on. Time to find a hard.

Wylla seemed more than willing to offer her knowledge, indicating to him the flatter ground further up the mountain. The grey male's eyes narrowed as he peered through the falling rain towards the higher peaks, no doubt located deeper within their territory. Greyson offered a polite nod towards @Wylla and paused to allow Wintersbane to walk in front of him if he so wished, before slipping in to follow obediently behind the dark female. 

The rocks were slippery as they ascended the ridge, forcing Greyson to take care of his footing, however eventually the murky depths of the valley could be sighted. Silver eyes scanned the terrain with interest. The forests were too thick to offer much chances of him catching anything, especially not a hare. The rivers were high with the heavy rainfall, a danger to small animals capable of being swept away. That left the valley basin itself, where the land was relatively flat and few obstacles stood in his way. That was where he would have the best chance of chasing down a meal, so upon Wylla's instuction for him to lead, Greyson was quick to chose the path which snaked down to the valley.

Leaving the harsh rock for a softer grass terrain, Greyson's behaviour changed. He loped forwards, keeping a low profile as his nose inhaled the air around him for any scent of hares located deeper in the valley. Silver eyes also remained sharp, despite the rain, searching for any flash of white fur against the darker backdrop of the mountain valley. Eventually he picked up the faint scent of some fresh droppings, tracking them down with his nose to the ground was more of a challenge. The rain had dispersed the scent, making it harder for the male to close in on it. Eventually though, he stumbled across them, and determined that they were fresh enough that the hare was probably somewhere close by. 

He froze then, lifting his head to search the valley slopes nearby. All he needed was a glimpse of white fur and—Greyson darted off to the right and moved in a quick lope towards one side of the valley, closing the distance between him and the adult hare he had just spotted. He had the hare locked in his sights, though no doubt it would soon spot him and he would need to give chase.

If the blue-grey Eisen objected to Wylla's methods, he didn't say anything as they made their way back into Sagtannet's claim proper. Wiry Wylla was more than happy to give Greyson the reins on this expedition, and was quite pleased when he chose to go down into the valley. The ground was more open there, positively sprawling in some places. Good for wolves and not so good for their prey. If nothing else, he knew what to look for in good hunting ground. A good sign, that.

With the rain diluting scent trails and giving them a fluid quality that made them difficult to follow, Wylla wasn't expecting much more than for Greyson to find one, which he did. She'd already decided he was fit for their ranks, but Greyson did her one better and actually found a living, breathing hare. She could sense the moment his scanning eyes locked on his quarry. It took Wylla another few seconds of squinting through the downpour to spot it, and by that time Greyson was already on the move. A prowling wolf was unmistakable. Even someone coming on the scene just now would be able to recognize the signs of a hunt.

Wylla loped some distance behind Greyson, observing rather than getting involved, though she shot a triumphant smile in Wintersbane's direction. This man, she thought, had earned his right to be one of them.

(It certainly helped that her emotional tumult drove her to seek the company of newcomers if only to escape the familiar, which meant Greyson had a bit of an advantage—it was likely she'd have accepted him even if he failed to even locate a scent, purely because he was someone new to talk to.)

Welcome to Sagtannet! I've titled Greyson up because from this point on he'd have to do something pretty drastic to be turned away. We can continue this thread past his hunt if you'd like or we can wrap it up, and I for one would be happy to have another!