A full day had past since Odysseus had decided to make Abaven his home. He and Oly had spent a cold night under the stars and one, really, was enough for them both. It was time they find a good place to den. Or at least a temporary one that offered an escape from the elements at night while they made something a bit more permanent.

Normally Odysseus would have done his best to blend into his surroundings, to travel in the shadows and fight to escape the notice of those around him, but not today. Those days were behind him. Well, at least while he was in Abaven. These people were now his people and while not yet as precious to him as Oly, he would do his best to treat them with similar care. That included letting them see him.

So today as he wandered around the Rapids looked for a den his movements lacked the characteristic "armor" he usually wore to dissuade others from bothering him. There was nothing to be done about the frown his lips fell into naturally when at rest, but hopefully his packmates wouldn't find him too sour-looking to engage.

The elderly healer Kassander had been gone for so long, Peggy had accepted that he'd died. With all the confusion of Sparrow's dead, the pack's near-disbandment, and Shaye's subsequent takeover, she didn't think anyone else had really noticed he was even gone. By the time she'd even realized, it was too late to try to find him, and she'd accepted him as a casualty of the chaos of that point in time. He wasn't coming back, that much was obvious, but she'd still felt awkward to be standing there in front of the extensive den he'd built for himself with the intention of gathering his herb stores for her own use. It wasn't like she was going to use the den, though it was going to waste without anyone in it. She just didn't have any herb stores built up and thought, since he'd left them behind, he wouldn't really mind if she used his. But she'd finally chickened out and gone skittering back to the den she'd shared with her mother for such a short time after they'd come here.

On her way back to her den she paused midstep, the dark form of a stranger catching her gaze. Her eyes widened, taking in the massive, brutish form with fascination. He was every inch as tall as Rhyme and had the same dark shadowy coloration, but where the new secondary alpha was graceful, this male had the burly physique of a brawler. Peggy had never seen anyone as intimidating and yes, fascinating, as this stranger. She continued towards him with cautious interest sparked in her.

He must be a new member that Shaye had brought in, and while she hesitated to prejudge someone based on their appearance (her own leggy, lithe build, after all, would not immediately lead someone to think "fighter") she thought it might be that he was a warrior. She couldn't blame Shaye for bringing in warrior-types, given Abaven's recent history, and it was a bit of a relief to think that if she was doing so, she had no intention of rolling over for the Abraxas like Sparrow had. Having more fighters to balance the healers of the pack wouldn't hurt in that eventuality.

Peggy herself felt torn between the two paths, fighter and healer. She was trained as a healer thanks to Harmony, and she'd been taught most of her life to avoid any sort of harm to others, but the Abraxas takeover had awoken a protective rage in her that wouldn't be satisfied by standing idly by while evil was allowed its way with people. Maybe that's why she was finding herself drawn to the warriors of the pack, and why she now found herself gravitating towards this feral-looking male.

She had altered her course to cross his, and now slowed to a walk as she approached him. "Hello," she called out, and planted herself in his path in a determined sort of way, though at his height and build he'd loom over her like a thundercloud. Gulp.

A small pale form suddenly blocked the path ahead and Odysseus was forced to grind to a halt to avoid what would have been an inevitable collision. No doubt he'd have won such an uneven match if size was the only measure, but bowling over a smaller packmate seemed like a poor way to introduce himself to the pack.

"Good morning miss," he rumbled back. The woman was wiry and quite a bit smaller than him - although most were so that wasn't saying much. Her eyes were a bit unusual and perhaps a little disconcerting to look at initially, but after a beat he found her mismatched gaze more charming than anything else.

A rustling overhead briefly pulled his gaze away, and as he expected, the familiar silhouette of his companion could be seen in the boughs of a nearby tree. Oly didn't come down, though, so Odysseus' gaze quickly returned to Arpeggio. "My name's Odysseus and I've recently - yesterday, actually - joined Abaven as a Blackthorn."

Peggy grinned triumph at her correct guess when the male introduced himself as a Blackthorn, Shaye's word for a higher level warrior, but the smile faded slightly as she was taken aback by his rank. He was brand new but he was already a high ranking wolf? Were all the new wolves being ranked above the original Abaven wolves? Well, she wasn't going to blame this Odysseus for that if it was true, though it was a little hurtful that preference was being given to outsiders instead of trying to help the old members get to the ranks they should be at. Lark for instance was surely was just as worthy of the blackthorn rank, he'd been trained as a fighter since he was young, and Caelestis was young but she had a lot of experience too. But Peggy determinedly brightened her smile in welcome. Caught up in her own concerns, she hadn't even noticed the rustling in the tree, or Odysseus glancing up at it. "Good morning, Mister Odysseus, and it's a pleasure to meet you." Wouldn't her mother be proud to see her fiery daughter acting so respectfully and maturely... "I'm Arpeggio Destruction, and I'm a..." Oh wait, what was Shaye's word for an apprentice warrior? Shoot... Oh, right! "I'm an Oleaster. Welcome to Abaven!" ""

Truthfully when Arpeggio gave her rank Odysseus had no idea what it meant. Every pack had its own ranking system and many, in his experience, chose to rename what he considered to be the "standard fare" ranks. Sometimes he could guess what a title meant, but neither 'Blackthorn' or 'Oleaster' hinted at what the duties of those who held them might be.

"Thank you, Arpeggio." Alright, he was just going to go for it. If he was to learn anything about this pack he would do well to ask questions when he had them, and Arpeggio seemed like someone he could ask. "I'm...afraid I haven't had the opportunity to learn about the other ranks yet. If you don't mind me asking, what do Oleasters do?"

  "Odysseus" and "Olafur"