the colors of my life
are painted in black and white

Armai had been nervous ever since she'd left Talis for this scouting mission. A lot of the times it felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest and it took all her will power to force herself to stay calm. She had a plan set in mind about how it would all go down and if worse came to worse back up was available should she need it. She was hoping that it wouldn't come to that though - after all she was only a blind healer. How much of a threat could she be perceived as? it still didn't help quell her jitters but she was hoping that would fade over time.

She'd made sure to coat herself in mud, Nox too (though the cat was NOT happy about it), before washing herself off later down the road in the sea by Talis' lands. After that, once she was content her pack's scent was free from her pelt, she had set off pass the land bridge. Nox accompanied her all the way up until she was near the pack's borders before slipping off into the shadows to wait until they were ready to go home.

Armai had managed to find some herbs along the way and carried them in her mouth as she forced herself to act natural before heading to this pack's border. The scent was muffled by the bundle of herbs as she strolled forward. She was feeling pretty good about the whole ordeal until her feet hit a pile of stones and she nearly fell on her face. Well she was successfully past this packs borders but what had she tripped on. Her head bent down to nose around and was surprised when her nose struck the hard surface of rocks. She followed along the rocks for the moment before realizing that they probably stretched for a while. Had this pack surrounded their entire territory with them? She moved away from the stones now, trying to act as though she might not have noticed them, before seeing how much further she could make it into the territory. So far she could only tell that it was colder here. What if their herb stores were no better than hers? This would be a pointless trip if it wasn't.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Paladin had decided to patrol after his return from gathering Iris roots. The encounter with Sterling had been a welcome distraction. Now, only a few hours later, he settled the last stone that made the initial layer of the border stones. He didn’t doubt more would be laid, especially as the snow deepened over the winter. Snow crunching ahead in the slight flurries caught his attention, and he stood very still, one paw raised, watching with alert sapphire and amethyst eyes. A strange female ahead. One of the pack members he hadn’t met? But the wind, buffeting his face, carried her scent. A loner, as far as he could tell. The pungent scents of herbs mingled with her scent and, as he squinted, he spotted the bundle of the plants in her jaws. He knew the snow would disguise most of him, but his black markings, even sprinkled over with the stuff, would stand out like… well, like Regulus would have. However, she didn’t seem to see him, nor did she look from side to side. What did happen was that she tripped, nearly onto her face, over the stone border. And into the pack’s territory. He watched in silence as she investigated the border, her brow-points frowning, certain that with how her nose pressed to the stones, she should be able to smell the strong scents of a pack’s marks, even through the herbs in her jaws. However, after a moment, she continued on. A soft huff of breath misted from his jaws as he shifted to move parallel with her, stepping as lightly as he could and keeping his distance just beyond hearing over the crunch of snow initially. As he watched her, he eventually concluded that, since she hadn't seen him, she was either wholly unobservant of her surroundings, or she was blind. As soon as she had delved far too deep for comfort, which he deemed to be about a hundred paces, he put on a turn of speed, throwing out a howl to shatter the peaceful winter air, calling for the rest of the pack before he slammed on his brakes, aiming to set himself in her path, facing her. He stood a bit taller, though not by much, and now that he was closer, he could see the hint of cataracts that prevented her sight. Brogued baritone notes rumbled out in a firm, authoritative voice. “Turn back now. You’re trespassing in the territory of Celestial. Turn back now, or be attacked.” His posture was relaxed, but his paws were placed evenly to bear his weight comfortably, and his toes were spread, claws flexed to keep traction in the snow. His tail was held level with his spine, and his chin was tucked to guard his throat. He wasn’t keen on attacking a blind wolf, but he knew better than to deem her harmless just because of her lack of sight.

the colors of my life
are painted in black and white

It was the very light crunch of paw steps that alerted her to the presence of another. For a moment she was hoping it was Nox. It was light enough for her to believe it and Nox was pretty adept at being stealthy, but there was no way her companion would come out from where she was hiding unless Armai gave her the cue to. She chose to ignore the sound for the moment and wait and see what awaited her in the next few minutes. Either one of these pack wolves had found her or she was just hearing a prey animal. Either way she didn't let her ears flick to give notice that she'd heard whatever it was.

She had delved a little deeper into the territory but it wasn't very far past the border before a howl shattered the silence. Ears flicked back nervously as she came to a halt. Now the crunching of snow was louder before she heard whoever it was slide to a halt in front of her. Her hackles raised by instinct and her mind felt like it was going a mile a minute as she tried to figure out a solution to this situation. Jaws clenched tightly over her bundle of herbs and she was hoping the mint and other strong smelling plants she'd chosen would be enough to convince whoever this was that she'd stumbled over the border by accident.

A strange accent reached her ears but she didn't stop to marvel over it. Instead her ears flattened against her skull and she crouched down lower to the earth and tucked her chin towards her throat. It was a non-threatening gesture, but if he really was going to attack her then there was no use giving him an immediate invitation towards her neck. Her tail tucked between her legs as she tried to appear rather terrified which wasn't hard considering she'd only been in one actual fight in her life and that hadn't exactly gone very far considering it had been interrupted.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was a pack's territory." She said as she let the herbs fall from her mouth. "I just was trying to find some herbs. It's been a rough winter and plants are scarce. I've never ventured in this area before so I wasn't aware that a pack called this place home." Only partially a lie, but herbs had been really scarce. Her tone was anxious as she replied to him and she took a couple slow steps backwards. She'd come here to scout for Talis but getting attacked at first sight hadn't really been on her to-do list.

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

He listened patiently to her stammered apologies, brow points lifting, though he knew the expression would go unseen, before he gave a low chuckle, his tone unconvinced. “Blind you may be, but that sharpens your other senses, Lady. When you tripped over our border-stones back yonder, I watched you nose them. Even with your herbs in your mouth, there was no way you could have missed the scents of our members that also mark out our borders with your nose that close to them. And, as a healer, your nose is one of your most important tools for discerning plants and which ones you’re sniffing.” At her age, which was certainly older than he, he doubted she was inexperienced in healing, or in the ways of wolf life. She smelled to be about the same age as Regulus... five, perhaps? He stepped forward as she stepped back, letting his paws fall heavily enough for a menacing crunch in the snow, though he would use his lithe frame to press her back should she not speed her retreat at hearing the warning steps. “I will repeat my warning, and only once more. Turn back and leave. I will escort you. Do not give me a reason to harm you.” His tone was unbending, not wavering with any indecision or nervousness. Calm, stern. His scent held no fear, nor anxiety. No weakness. He knew he was a first impression of his pack, and Celestial needed to appear as strong as it was. Otherwise, they’d have loners traipsing all across the lands where they would. Or worse.

the colors of my life
are painted in black and white

As the herbs had fluttered from her mouth she at least got a good scent of him. She didn't pause to think on it too much other than the fact that he smelled of herbs, and quite a few others, and she hadn't forgotten the summoning howl either. Ears flicked at the chuckle before he launched into an explanation about her nosing the stones. He obviously knew something about herbs, despite how young he sounded, with the way he tried to use them against her. Yes she'd certainly smelled the pack wolves on that border line but she wasn't about to stop playing stupid now. She'd at least commit to the lie.

Rather than repeat herself about not knowing a pack called the territory home she remained quiet as she heard him stepping towards her. Hackles bristled a small warning as he approached her and she quickly backed up a few steps to make sure the distance stayed there, barely containing the soft growl that threatened to emerge. He offered one more warning for her to leave, even offering an escort (although that didn't sound like she had much of a choice in the matter) as though he were some sort of gentleman. It didn't pair up nicely with beating up a blind healer, but Armai could tell her short lived journey through whatever pack this was was more than over. She'd at least learned a couple things.

"Trust me I'm leaving, it wouldn't be much of a fair fight." Maybe not for the boy at least but he didn't know that. Dragon and Nox were still waiting for her safe return and she at least felt a little less frazzled knowing they were there. She'd far overstayed her welcome though so she backed up a few more places before she turned the other way and back over the stones making sure not to trip on them this time.

-Exit Armai-