The flame-pointed form of the Adravendi female materialized through the faint wisps of fog that clung to the borderlands, scattering the mist in swirls behind her. She was patrolling the moor's eastern border this early morning, while dawn barely lightened the twilight with its faint pale light. It was the most likely direction for trespassers to come from, facing as it did more hospitable lands than Celestial's other borders. That wasn't to say that she generally neglected to patrol the other borders as well, on other days, but today she'd chosen this most strategic border.

She was patrolling alone, as usual. Without a lead warrior to assign patrols, it seemed that when and where they happened occurred according to the whim of whomever happened to feel up to patrolling somewhere that day. And unless that patroller deliberately sought out company, that meant that they generally occurred alone.

Gwen wasn't particularly keen on the idea of being the head warrior, but she had begun to wonder if maybe she should work towards that higher rank, simply to force some sense of structure on the pack's guardians and get them working together for the good of the pack. And it did feel like she was simply biding her time here instead of proving out her proud lineage. She was an Adravendi, a true-blooded Adravendi and yet here she sat, doing nothing while the adopted-in upstarts were the only Adravendis that the world saw. It irked her and wounded her pride more than a little that, when you asked anyone in Ardent who the Adravendis were, they would point to Erani's descendants rather than Cairo's. She didn't begrudge Regulus his success, no, not at all, nor did she hold any sort of grudge against the young man. He and Surreal before him, and Erani before her, had worked hard to ensure that their branch of the family was protected and well known.

But it did bother her that the true-blooded Adravendis could be so easily overlooked. And who was at fault for that? At least in part, she was.

So perhaps it was time to stop blending in and going with the flow. Maybe it was time to start standing out and showing the world that Cairo's Adravendis were not at an end. It made for a very introspective patrol, though she was careful to not allow it to affect her concentration on her surroundings.

He had healed from the raid, but mentally he was beginning to push himself. His loss of fight meant he needed to train more so that the next time he would not loose, the next time he would be able to properly protect the pack. He was determined to get himself back in the game and force himself to train more and to train harder. The fight left him with a slight limp vary minor compared to other wounds he had seen and heard about. That being said he was even more determined to push himself. This morning he was out for a run, working his muscles back into shape from taking it easy and healing. He didn't run hard since this was the first day he was really out an about. He needed to slowly work into it before he could go full force. When he made it to the Moore he slowed to a stop as his nose picked up the fresh trail that a member was leaving. Someone other then him was up this early and the lanky male was interested to find out who. He fallowed the trail quietly, catching his breath in the process after his morning run. Then up ahead he spotted the flame pointed female. He hadn't had interactions with her, but knew who she was. She was one of the worriers so she almost had to be patrolling. So he quickened his pace to catch up to her and walk along side her. "Mind if I join?" he asked quietly, not wanting to spook any potential intruders. "Talk" "You" Think

The sound of paw steps approaching drew Gwen's attention from the border to the young Celestial male. She recognized him as one of Surreal's children, her youngest litter if she remembered correctly, which made them adopted cousins of sorts she supposed. He had been one of the warriors injured in the raid, she remembered that clearly. She made it a point to keep loose tabs on the other warriors in the pack. Courteously she slowed her pace to allow him to catch up without straining himself. "No, I would be glad of the company," she assured the young wolf with a smile.

She turned her gaze and nose back to her patrol, trusting that he would do the same. After a moment she asked, "How is your leg?" She didn't want him to be pushing himself too hard to prove himself, as young men were often anxious to do after an injury. And to have the added pressure of being the alpha's brother on top of the usual concerns, it was certainly possible for even the most level headed youngster to act foolishly.

She had slowed down to let him catch up and was glad to have the company. Along with training the young male felt he needed to get to know other pack members better. He was aware that this women was somehow related to his family, but he didn't know the specifics, he didn't get lessons on his extended family and didn't realize the history behind his family, the full history that is. Sometime he hoped to learn, but now was not the time at all. It grew quiet then and like her he turned back to the task at hand. His senses alert as he took in the surroundings. The goal was to look for anything abnormal, any tale of trespassing or danger. This called for every sense a wolf had and for the most part you needed to be quiet. You didn't want to spook prey or intruders on your travels. Though with the wall now built around the territory they really hadn't had many issues from his knowledge. When the raid happened the wall was not done, but now it was done and it was harder for others to cross into Celestial lands. His left ear flicked to her as she asked about his leg and the young male nodded lightly. "Healed and I'm working back into my normal training routines," he replied. "Hopefully we won't have another one of those Raid's for a while." "Talk" "You" Think

The young man showed great vigilance in his stance and gaze as the pair traveled along the border, something Gwenevere approved of heartily. It would have been easy to be lulled into a false sense of security, here within the bounds of the pack on such a quiet morning. The fog muffled everything and gave the world around them a sleepy, peaceful aspect. Beautiful, really - but beauty did not preclude danger.

She nodded sympathetically back to him as he spoke of his injury and his hope of no more raids. "There is always the possibility of a raid," she said, keeping her voice low as they moved, but then shook her head. "But I honestly find myself doubting that there will be another raid on Celestial for some time. The last took a great toll on both packs, and I doubt many others would be eager to risk themselves for so little gain. Far more likely we will find individuals and rogues, or predators, than a raid. It is much more difficult to detect an individual than a raiding party, so it is better to focus on that possibility to avoid overlooking smaller sign in our concern over a major incursion."

She raised her head to investigate a scent, catching the faint musk of a boar, but the spoor was old and had only crossed momentarily through one of the openings of the wall and back out. Boar were decent prey if you hunted in a group, but dangerous for the unwary. If this one returned they would need to keep an eye on it.

He remained vigilant, not wanting anything to slip by either of them on this patrol. He wanted to be able to do more for this pack and he knew he wasn't prepared for the raid. He wondered if there was a way to run drills to try and practice for another raid since there was always a possibility of one happening, maybe Gwen would know whether it was possible or not. Her words made him nod, agreeing. They had to keep an eye on everything, big or small to prevent someone from slipping through the cracks. It made perfect sense for him and made him focus more on picking out smaller and more minor details then bigger ones. Gwen was experienced and maybe she would even be up for teaching him further. After Faite had left he never really connected with anyone else as far as training and he knew he needed it. Maybe this women wouldn't mind teaching him more. He too caught the old scent of the boar, his nose twitching as he took it in. He knew they were difficult little beasts and that they could be rather dangerous with those ugly looking tusks. He made a mental note to come back in the morning and be sure the animal didn't come back. "Do you think you would be up to training me some more? So I'm better prepared. I was also wondering if drills for raid could be preformed" he asked quietly as he caught another old scent of mountain lion, and not one of his brother's companions. "Talk" "You" Think

"Hm," she hummed thoughtfully at his questions. "I certainly have no objections to helping you to train more. To be honest I think everyone in the pack could use a great deal more training than they've been getting. As far as raid drills go... Hm. That might be something to bring up with Regulus rather than me. Given that we don't really have enough wolves in the pack to make up two teams to play defenders and raiders, we would probably need to make arrangements with another pack, and I'm afraid I'm not of sufficient rank to arrange that. It's a good idea, though."

Gwen paused when they reached the mountain lion scent. Well, that was troubling. There were three lions who lived within Celestial's bounds, and their presence should have put off any other cougars from entering. The fact that one had dared brave another cougar's territory was cause for concern, even if the scent was old. Particularly with young wolves wandering the territory now. She would have to inform Regulus immediately. Well, this was one reason why it was good to patrol in pairs rather than singularly.

"Laisren, would you mind continuing the patrol alone for a while? I need to let Regulus know that there's a strange cougar this close to home. It might just be a young male passing through and nothing to worry about in the long run, but it might be dangerous to the pups while it's around. And if it's looking to settle into a new territory here... we may need to get a war party together and chase it off."

She seemed to like his idea, which made him feel rather good. She also brought up a good point with their numbers they would have to try and work with another pack because they didn't have big enough numbers to split the pack up for the training. She also seemed to be okay with training him more, a relief more then anything to him. He needed to train and spar and he would be happy if Gwen had the time to train him. He knew she had good knowledge on fighting and that he needed more of it. He wondered if Regulus would like the idea of the drills, he would have to talk to him and offer the idea. He didn't know if his brother would go for it, but there was no harm in bringing it up. The conversation then turned to the stale scent of cougar, her mood seemed to shift slightly. She asked if he would continue on alone and he looked to her giving a nod. Though he was enjoying the company he agreed that his brother should know about this. "Not a problem, I will finish out the patrol and look for anything else along the way," he said with another nod. "Talk" "You" Think