Blacktail Deer Plateau Seize the night

Koontz hadn't yet crossed paths with Pitch—mostly because she'd been on the move ever since founding Dragonwatchers—but she knew quite a lot about the other she-wolf already. Some of it, she'd learned from Ariston. The rest, she'd discerned from the Sigma's scent. She knew, for instance, that Pitch was relatively young, just like the founding members of the pack, and that she was in good health. Koontz also knew, simply by merit of Pitch's sex, that she was competition in several ways. With Pitch, more than Ariston or Ray, the significance of rank would be more particular.

Although a little intimidated by the thought of having to prove herself the dominant female, Koontz knew she must meet her pack mate. She wanted to strike a friendship with her, if she could, in spite of the implicit rivalry. In fact, apart from the instinctual bits warranted by their very canine natures, she didn't want to compete with Pitch. She wanted the two of them to get along, develop a rapport, though all of that would have to wait until she'd actually met the other she-wolf.

After finally grabbing a few hours of sleep, Koontz rose with the moon and spent the first part of her night scouring the borders. Finding no one there, she trotted to the edge of the plateau overlooking the flatlands to the southeast. The Beta licked her jowls and stared up at the clear night sky, where a sliver of moon lent just enough light to edge the nearest trees with skeins of silver.

It wasn't the sight of the moon that coaxed the cry from the wolf's lips, but the urge to get this meeting underway once and for all. Hoping for the best, Koontz threw back her head before she could rethink it, requesting PItch's presence and giving the other wolf her location. Koontz then eased onto her silvery haunches, her tail wrapping tautly against her hindquarters so that its tip rested on her pale paws. While she waited, she tipped her head back to look at the dark heavens again, her pale eyes like two distant moons across the galaxy.

You know, I'm not sure we've ever threaded now that I think about it!

Through Ax, she knew enough about the pack to know that Koontz was the other leader, and that along with her brother Ray, they made up a little quadrant. She had been reaffirming the borders as she combed them trying to add her own scent, but not so much as to overshadow either of her leaders. It made for quick work of the day at least.

She felt a sort of interesting kinship already with her pack considering how few of them there were. So far her only companionship within the pack's borders had been with her Alpha Male but it did not change things at all in the terms of how she thought of the rest of the pack. She only knew that the other two parts to the quartet were both rather young as well, and that all of them made up a rather dashing set of creatures.

When the Beta Female's call rang out Pitch stopped her crawl of the lands and make an about face towards where the sound had originated from. She let out a much shorter response so she didn't come off as rude. When she arrived and spotted the grayscale female she was slightly out of breath from the run, but none the less happy and she donned a respectfully submissive posture as she ended her approach a few feet away. She wasn't going to assume she could simple call her 'Koo' to match 'Ax' and so she instead just bowed her head to the higher ranked female. "Ma'am," She said with her silver eyes somewhere around the female's chest. "I'm Pitch Delarosa."

If we ever have, it's been so long that I don't remember. Well, it's good to write with you at long last. :)

A voice not yet familiar howled back, causing Koontz's heart to skip a beat. She felt both anxious and excited to get to know the other she-wolf, for the reasons aforementioned and because she'd never really known female companionship. Her parents hadn't produced many daughters and those they had were already gone by the time Koontz came along. Then, of course, she hadn't had a very feminine influence in her mother. And when the time had come to take her leave of Seahawk Valley, she'd of course taken along her brother and met up with a decidedly male traveling companion in Ariston.

Pondering all this with both wonder and amusement, Koontz waited for Pitch to arrive. When she came, the young Beta stood. She lifted her head and tail and, upon seeing Pitch's submissive posture, she stepped forward and acknowledged the Sigma with a nip to the bridge of her muzzle. Ritual concluded, Koontz stepped back, her tail giving the air a sweep before she decided to ease right back onto her haunches.

"Call me Koontz," the youth insisted, feeling altogether too young to be called something like "ma'am." "I'm glad to meet you, Pitch. Thanks for coming. I wanted—I didn't interrupt you in the middle of a hunt, did I?" the Beta asked suddenly, belatedly realizing that Pitch was out of breath and forgetting that she'd probably run here to meet her.

Sorry if this is weird. I do hate that period of trying to get into a character!.

She maintained the submissive overtones but did relax somewhat once the ceremony concluded and she had been offered a more commonplace title than 'ma'am.' She asked if she had interrupted her and she shook her head. "O-oh, nope!" She said quickly. "I..uh I guess Ax mentioned I hunt?" She assumed. Though it wasn't like it was some special talent that only she possessed, it was the only name she had made for herself in the pack so far.

"I was just checking the borders." She said after a pause to regain her composure and catch her breath. She didn't want to come off as weak and inferior already after all it made the most sense that she be the strongest around Koontz. No matter how much she helped, ultimately, she couldn't expect to get anywhere by just being a weakling. That was the oddity behind not living in a family pack; you actually had to survive on her own merit and not just being her Daddy's favorite.

Yeah, it's a bit like breaking in a new pair of jeans... they don't fit quite right at first but then, one day, suddenly they're comfy and fit perfectly. Hopefully. :P

Pitch reassured Koontz that she hadn't been hunting and seemed a little bemused about the Beta's knowledge of her skills. "Yes, he mentioned your proclivity," Koontz replied with a small smile, unaware as ever that using such words might make her seem like a snob. "I'm happy to have a skilled hunter in the ranks. My mother was and is still a great hunter. I'm only okay, especially compared to her," she shared.

When Pitch mentioned the borders, Koontz looked pleasantly surprised and, in fact, she was. "Great," she said, her gray snout bobbing in approval. Perhaps because she'd just mentioned it or maybe because it would give her something to help relax her during this encounter, the Beta suddenly wanted to propose that they walk the borders. But it seemed both herself and Pitch jad just come off patrols, so it didn't make any sense to do that. She fidgeted inwardly for a second, then let it go.

"Ariston's told me a little bit about you. But I called you here because I wanted to meet you myself. I'd like to get to know you, if you have a little bit of time to talk with me." Even as she said it, Koontz wondered if she sounded assertive enough. Wouldn't an Alpha (or even a Beta) have commanded its subordinate to tell her about him- or herself? Did she sound too polite? Koontz wondered if there was such a thing. She thought briefly of her father, then of her mother, and then made a concerted effort to focus on Pitch. She could—and certainly would—rehash every detail of this meeting later, possibly agonizing over particular details. But it could wait for now.

my apologize for the delay, it's been a rough week mentally. Had several migraines this week x.x;

Though Pitch could understand the negative connotation behind someone using too many large words, she had grown up in a rather academic home and it was more familiar to her than anything else she could imagine at that point. "I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm better than most people, but I find that's the time that being tiny helps the most. I can flush out almost anything and catching it is easy at that point." She said with a smile. She didn't like to boast much, so explaining her usual tactic was the easiest way to indulge herself slightly without coming off as a twit.

It was surprising, and yet not, that Koontz wanted to know more about her on a personal level. It was somewhat flattering, realizing that the Beta was taking time out of her duties to get to know her as more than just a scent and a sound from their brief communication through howls. That was the beauty of having a small pack still, she supposed. "Of course!" She said warmly, her silver eyes flashing for a second, wondering if she should just launch into her history, or maybe she wanted something more than surface details? In the interest of not repeating what might have already been said about her Pitch decided to go for the more logical option. "What is it that Ax has said about me so far?" She asked, wondering what her charismatic Alpha might have told Koontz so far.

No problem. Hope you feel better!

"He's really only mentioned your skills and given an overall good impression of you," Koontz admitted. Ariston had been quite thrilled over their very first female member aside from Koontz herself. She chewed her lip absently a moment, realizing that Pitch wanted her to lead the conversation, and added, "I'm not as interested in anyone's past as I am their future. If you'd like to tell me where you came from, I'm all ears, but what I really want to know is where you're going. What do you hope to get out of life, especially life with Dragonwatchers? That kind of thing," the Beta said, pinning those last four words on a tad bit awkwardly, which at least served her in the sense that it took the edge off the questions that rang like a generic and overly formal job interview.