Redtail Rise his foolish decrees, his words so contrived

3/5 — guarding/refreshing borders
all welcome!

He thrived here already.

The title he wore was heavy, but he carried it well. Sides raw from the slams of both Avi and Tulimaq, but he took pleasure in the sensation of it. To feel his muscles build and be flexed so frequently was a joy unmatched by much else.

It was why he kept the momentum going, keen to keep up on their borders. Red eyes scoured the horizon of the plains that met their claim. He wondered if he might encounter another beast today.

wolves on the breeze.

darkclaw was careful.

the rise was hotly marked. he kept well back from the scent trails left by men and their fiery young leader.

the almost-grown boy only howled, keeping his tail low. he did not want to be alone in the snow longer.

i was eyeing him, im so happy i get him first ;;

A call, young but strong.

Prophet wasted no time in cutting across the stretch of land to where the man rung his summons.

Giant, muscular. Healthy. He could see potential in the man's form, but what of his mind? His attitude? Would he have to break the man if he wished for there to be any use in his body?

What do you call for?

Did he wish for a place among the rise?

:D

a fighter lunged across the land. 

darkclaw turned and galloped a short way away, then lay down in the snow. 

his ears fell back, tongue licking his jaws in an attempt to appease. there was no effort made to answer.

He was quick, he was respectful.

It oozed some mild sense of confidence from Prophet to see the man in the snow. His ears pushed forward as he stared down his nose, red eyes raked over the ashy form before him once more.

Speak,

It is a command.

Do you hunt or fight?

If there were no words, he would test the man with harsher tactics.

the words were only growls. 

darkclaw did not understand. he whined, tail thumping lowly in the snow.

he reached out to lick the other's jaw if allowed. it was breeding season and the red eyes of this wolf frightened him. he had felt the teeth of his own brother. 

this man would be his judge or his punisher. the massive wolf kept himself low.

The man did not speak.

He thought of the garbled way Avi had spoken.

Sudden thoughts ripped away from him as a tongue traced his jaw. The man was not a threat, that much remained clear as day. Yet he needed to be tested if he could not do so much as speak what he might do.

Prophet was momentarily uncertain how to assure the man he would not bloody him, but perhaps he could goad the submissive man into action.

He shoved his shoulder down into the other man in a push as if they were young brothers. Then slapped his paws in the snow, a silent invitation for a tussle. His tail remained calm, hackles unprickled with aggression or excitement as of now.

Prophet hoped this proved to the man he did not mean harm.

he was not scruffed nor bitten.

darkclaw lifted his head slightly as the other initiated a playtime. he lay in the white bank for another moment before lifting up and shaking the snow from his coat.

he lowered himself into his own bow, darting forward to knock their shoulders together.

darkclaw had not expected to receive a welcome.

It is a fresh bloom against the bruising of Tulimaq and Avi.

He reveled in it with a warm thrum of his vocal chords. The man a stone wall even against his own large muscular build. A challenging foe, much the way Tulimaq had been, but for different reasons.

After being knocked off balance by the man's size, he sought to lunge back towards him. A flurry of snow to announce his arrival as he aimed to wrap his forelegs around the man's thick neck. To put them so close in each other's face was a danger, but he wished to gauge the response for what it may be.

Respect, hostility, whatever may come.

throwing the other off-balance sent a sizzle of dominance through darkclaw.

but he was not foolish to act on it again. 

when the other encircled him in a hard embrace, darkclaw froze.

and then he was twisting forward with a playful growl. darkclaw tried to break away and ran past.

he hoped to entice the other to chase him along the snowy expanse.

He would be hot on the man when he broke free, quick to give chase as the other had hoped for.

Although it was not without sharp clicks of his teeth aimed at his rump (intended to pull tufts more than to damage) as he followed. He hoped to herd them along the edge of the territories, unwilling to let this man get too deep until their time one-on-one came to an end.

darkclaw felt the other's teeth on his haunches.

he veered where he was guided, glancing back along his shoulder.

the wolf was aware that he was being tested. but it was a different test from what he had been given before.

eventually he arced back to where the stranger had found him and dropped again, waving massive paws in the air.

It would end where they had started, almost the same position too, the massive man on the ground.

Prophet loomed over him, sides heaved with the exertion of their chase and his prior tussles taking toll. He reached with intent to mouth at the man's neck.

The man had not spoken, but he had proved himself in the eyes of Prophet. He would still need to be presented before Avi for full welcomes.

Although there laid the problem that the man had no name to spread. Who was he? What would he be called?

He saw the fur of his father in the man — and until further notice, Prophet would utter the name for him.

Augur, He rumbled with warmth.

Then sought to prod the man till he rose once more. It was time to bring him before the eyes of @Avicus for further appraisal.

the test ended.

darkclaw lay still, leaving his throat unguarded in submission.

the stranger made a sound. the boy repeated it, a rumble that vibrated in his deep chest.

when he was bid to rise he did so happily, tail tucked with a whine that offered deference. 

he would be more mindful of his place in the future. darkclaw's face still ached beneath the healing scar.

can wrap this up and get another one going if you'd like? :)

He felt certain of this one's place among them as the male remained below him in his posturing.

The borders had been fruitful today and they would be blessed with a behemoth for it. Prophet could take the man as a brother in arms and mold him for the fight against the mother murderer that Avi sought revenge against.