Sun Mote Copse Landlocked.

@Niamh, @Phox, @Towhee.

The lucid darkness watched him as he roamed ever further from the sea's edge, clamboring through one wooded hillock in favor of another, until he was left out in the open upon a plateau. From the plateau he could see the stars; they watched him in silence, the moon a crooked crescent.

Alizarin breathed deeply of the brisk air, testing it, and then scowled when he found the faintest tendrils of familiar, repulsive sea. A northerly wind carried it from the coast. He chose to duck among some conifers and continue on at a quicker pace, eager to be free of it. His coat did well to blend with shadow or with the piled autumn leaves; he made his way along, slowing only when the same salted wind corrupted his path and hid the moon behind some cloud.

He crossed a bog, and then was left in the middle ground between legs of densely over-watered marshland. The mud slicked his limbs, matted his typically wild-kept coat in places where it usually hung loose and jagged (a slight improvement over the norm, to be sure). The young man was in a foul mood as he came upon the second winding waterway, partially because of how cold the air felt upon his skin. So very much like the sea.

He could never get far enough away from it, it seemed.

Before him nested a copse and he sought it for shelter, but could not settle. There were many scents woven in to the tapestry of th forest and the strongest among them were wolf scents, setting him on-edge. He would not sleep tonight; but then, Alizarin was used to that. He back-tracked along the muddied route he'd made and then reclined upon a pile of withered leaves, satisfied momentarily by their crunch.

It was sort of nice, being preoccupied with something so entirely pleasant. Towhee indulged herself, falling into daydreams whenever she patrolled the borders. Some of them were ridiculously impractical too, like the one where not only she and Niamh welcomed litters, but Fennec and Figment('s faceless baby mama) did as well. The springtime copse was overrun with little Blackthorns and Redhawks. The Sovereign knew this would probably be a nightmare in practice, but it was fun to dream.

A yawn forced her jaws apart as she finished her latest circuit, already looking forward to slipping into some real dreams. She neither saw nor heard the stranger lurking nearby, approaching the copse only to backtrack and settle in a bed of leaves. Towhee might have remained utterly oblivious to him and headed to bed unawares if not for a sudden shift in the wind. It sent the world rustling, leaves scuttling in treetops and across the forest floor, but Towhee heard none of it.

She did smell something though. Towhee froze and tipped her head into the air, orange eyes burning through the darkness at the wolfish scent slathered in earthier smells. "Who's there?" she barked into the night, hackles prickling as her tail arched stiffly over her back.

He was alone for about thirty minutes, maybe less. Something came striding through the night, efficiently avoiding many of the deeper pockets of sludge but not the leaf litter. The young man could follow their progress easily enough by listening carefully. He was ready to rise up from his crunchy pile when they stopped - their voice calling out oddly close to him, and he knew he had misjudged the distance between them.

Alizarin got to his feet. It would have been quite a sight, had nightfall not obscured him so thoroughly. Bits of red, gold, and yellow fragmented throughout his coat. Twigs netted in the mud that caked his belly. Burrs and brambles clung to his legs. He took a step towards the voice and then felt the need to shake off, letting pieces fly.

When that was out of his system he regarded the stranger: they were a little easier to see simply for th pale markings, as they turned grey in the liminal starlight, but otherwise they were a stark black configuration. I was just hittin' the hay. Didn't want to trespass. I didn't - did I?

He was tired and it showed in the surly tone of his voice, the clip of his cadence, not that Towhee would notice. He watched her for signs of acquiescence with an impatient aura radiating from his every inch.

There was movement out in the darkness. Towhee's eyes zeroed in on it and she rapidly closed the distance, catching the last few words on the stranger's lips. "—trespass. I didn't, did I?" She couldn't hear the tone of the words, yet now that she was closer, she could make out some details: lean build; dark, ragged coat; bright eyes; and a certain air of weary dishevelment.

"You have no business being this close to the copse, so I would prefer you moved further away," came Towhee's wooden reply. Unless, of course, he did.

The stranger's voice sounded a bit odd. It didn't have the pirate-style twang to it, he was grateful for that, but it wasn't as fluid sounding as his ears expected. He couldn't tell their gender off of the sound; otherwise, physically and without proper lighting, Alizarin assumed he spoke to a man. Clealry they were guarding their borders on a night patrol.

I'll move. He sighed, frustration bleeding pointlessly in to his tone. He did not follow through immediately though, caught by an idea. Hey, but before I do - do y'know of anyplace a guy could get a bit t'eat? Been on my own for a few weeks now... An' I don't want no trouble if I get to huntin' in the daytime. 

Somehow he doubted this guy would point him in a decent direction. They seemed rather standoffish, maybe they had a long day already and weren't keen on helping any rogues out. Alizarin began to move away after his queries nonetheless, listening as he moved, carefully plotting a course among the tangle.

She was a practiced hand at lipreading even in less than ideal light conditions. Even still, she only caught every second or third word and had to use contextual clues to form the full picture. Fortunately, Towhee was pretty adept at that too. Her expression shifted from blank when the stranger agreed to move to a small frown when asked about where to find something to eat.

Do I look like a maître d'? she wanted to ask but dialed back the sarcasm a little and said instead, "Anywhere but here." Towhee paused, frown growing thoughtful. "If you want to hunt here, you could always join the pack. Are you any good? At hunting, I mean?"

The fur along his nape prickled at the first comment, wanting to snipe back with something barbed; but the other wolf cut through any petulance when they mentioned joining the pack.

In the back of his mind Alizarin corrected their words to what he was used to (crew) and stood stiffly in place, considering the offer. It would benefit him in the coming colder months to have a home base. This was further from the dreaded sea than he had been in a while, too.

I can hunt very well, he boasted, turning to face them with a renewed sense of pride lifting his posture. Best trained to fish an' scavenge, but I am proficient at bringing down red meat too. Not half bad a fighter either. He did not want to overstate his abilities nor oversimplify his strengths so he left it at that.

If I can stay, I'll keep ya fed. Did they have an accord?

He wasn't very modest, though Towhee didn't mind that. Anyone could say anything during the interview, positive or negative. What mattered was what came after that. Accepting new recruits was always a calculated risk and all she could do was go by her instincts and judgment, honed by dozens of encounters mind-numbingly similar to this one.

"How much skill does it really take to scavenge?" Towhee asked rhetorically before asking, "Got a name? And what's your story? Where were you a few weeks ago? Why aren't you there now?"

The wolf listened, only to jab holes in his words with quick derisive commentary. Alizarin wasn't sure how to take that; he was used to much more abrasive behavior so this still wasn't the worst conversation he'd ever had, interview or not, but he was also road-weary and hungry, which made him somewhat short tempered.

He should just get it over with and introduce himself. Wanting to distance himself from Tortuga at this point in his life, he opted for his birth name - mostly - and chose to drop his surname for now. He knew he wasn't far from the coast where his mother lived, and wasn't sure how notorious the Rivaini name might be.

I'm Reyes. I come from up the coast - a region called Tortuga. Wasn't born there, more like.. Ended up there. Ran with a few crews that I didn't agree with but I did my time, then left. I ain't there now because I value my sanity. The people there have questionable morals and I'm sick 'o all that. He was as candid as he thought was appropriate, knowing that some details would only lead to more questions - and maybe cost him this opportunity.

Look - I'm wantin' to start over somewhere clean, ride out the winter and maybe beyond that if ya find me worth keepin'. I won't eat more than my fair share, and I can put the work in. And with that, he finally shut his gob.

Towhee had long ago given up on trying to get wolves to stick. It still never sat well when someone confessed they didn't intend to lay down permanent roots. But she appreciated the honesty. She could set her expectations accordingly. Of course, it went without saying that she'd expect him to pull his weight as long as he lived here, though he said it anyway.

"Fair enough," she said simply. "Is there anything you'd like to know about me or the pack you're pledging yourself to before we make this official?" Towhee wondered, eyes dancing like flames in the dark.

Well, that was that, then. 

Everything he said could have been bullshit for all this guy knew, but it was true enough to earn Reyes a place here. He had been expecting a hard pass, to spend the night caked in mud and then by morning take his shiverring, soggy ass down another path until the next claim popped up. Thankful that he didn't have to keep hunting (and ultimately quite surprised this attempt had gone as well as it did) he was a bit perplexed by the end result.

There were more questions - rather, there was a momentary question period he was welcome to lead. He ended up shrugging.

You ain't the type to go raidin' other packs for kicks, are ya? He doubted it. Somehow such behavior was solely in the realm of the "Asshole Pirate Experience". He let out a small chuff of a laugh before Towhee could reply, and then cut in with a real question - What's your name anyway? I should probably learn the names of m'new captains too, now that I think about it.

Her lips pursed at the question, though before she could come up with a response, he laughed and asked her something else. He referred to her as a captain, which was peculiar but not particularly unwelcome. Her actual title sounded so stuffy sometimes. I'll allow it, Towhee thought.

"I'm Towhee, and this is Firebirds. Put your money where your mouth is and things'll work out just fine. Why don't you start by hunting us up some of that red meat you mentioned," she said, gesturing toward the copse. "And no, for the record, we don't raid other packs. Who does that?" It was another rhetorical her question, her expression implying what she thought of the whole enterprise: absurd.

As she waited for Reyes to take point—and she slipped out of interrogator mode—she suddenly remembered what she'd been thinking about before she'd come across him. And she realized she'd just recruited a healthy young male who could hopefully fight and hunt as well as he said. His appearance didn't particularly appeal to her but, then again, it was dark and he was dirty. Maybe he would clean up well and look better in the light of day.

She didn't say anything as she prepared to follow him, though her mind whirred and a new, lascivious light burned in her gaze.

We can fade here if you like, though I'm game to continue—up to you!

Well now I am intrigued. Fade here, have a morning-after thread?

Much as he needed to sleep, he knew he needed to live up to expectations in the moment so he accepted the situation. Hopefully he wouldn't screw this up and lose his spot. If he did, well, he'd move on in the morning and whatever. 

The guy introduced themselves (Towhee? What kind of name is that?) and made a quick comment, one Reyes figured was rhetorical by the way it lilted; but he could not help the fascetious smirk that appeared upon his face. It was rare for him to be friendly with strangers and rarer still for him to smile, but he was amused (as well as over-tired). It was easy for him to feign interest in this task if he told himself it was for the betterment of his crew - besides, he still thought Towhee was a man and this was just an exercize of manliness or something.

Aye, you'd be surprised - he spoke over his shoulder, turning in to the narrow path between the trees as he led the way along the claim's edge. It was easy enough to follow the borders as he scouted for a game trail. With some luck he'd find one and they'd get some precious meat to fill their bellies - then in the morning, he'd be taking full advantage of this place and the people inside it.