She'd set out on a long patrol, then decided to take it one step further and make a quick visit to the other packs. It would be intelligence gathering and disseminating, nothing more, but the star-wolf Mithras' visit had alerted her to the formation of new packs. The world was ever moving, and she had been bound to Yfir for far too long with her young litter. They were old enough now to be on a diet largely consisting of meat, so they were no longer dependent on her for sustenance. They would be fine with the pack watching them while she made her rounds, and with her milk drying up she was beginning to return to her usual angular, slim shape. A long journey would help her to regain her endurance now as well. She'd made her way south and west, skirting the territory she recognized as belonging to Mithras Aeris and his pack. He had chosen fertile lands, and they would likely suit the sort of pack he had described his as. A learned pack. She could not entirely disapprove of the concept but she was disinterested herself. It would surely fall into the same trap of soft weakness as Alacratian packs often did. She had a thought to drop in on Mithras and offer him a spar to test his abilities and see where they stood as a threat, but she had spoken to him recently enough that there'd be little else to offer, and so she continued on her scouting mission. She was stopped by a new border in an old territory, a new pack claiming the lands Hellstrom had laid claim to not long past. She sampled the scent, and was amused to find it layered with Surreal's scent. So the woman had found the power she had craved after all. She considered penetrating the invisible barrier of the territory's border to test them, but ultimately decided against it for now. She knew too little about this pack to take such an immediate risk. She knew the lands well enough already that there was no real justification for such a trespass. Instead she circled the borders of the pack silently, probing the scents that marked it for as much information as she could gather through scent alone. Many of the scents were the same as they had been when it was simply Surreal and her family, but it seemed the woman had managed to gain several unrelated followers after all. She scent-marked the outside-side of a bush that had already been marked on the inside-side by Surreal's pack as a border marker, a mix of faint whimsy and bold statement of the wolf, literally, on their doorstep. Kapra would probably appreciate the gesture and find amusement in it, though to her the focus was less on amusing herself and more on appearances. She took care to scrape the ground there with her hindclaws as well, adding a visual mark to reinforce the scent. She'd been offended by the offer of a bribe when last she'd met up with this pack's alpha, and she was making her displeasure clear in the faint threat implied by the mark. Not that she actually intended to seek to take the woman's pack lands from her in a siege - full out war was not Katja's way and she was by no means interested in it, but the show of force was there, well enough. Her unspoken statement made, she moved on along the border, lifting her muzzle to call imperiously for the alpha or her representative. She had business with them. "Talk" "You" Think

Creed had been trying to keep himself rather busy and at least with a fairly new pack he could easily do that. Between his duties of training Baine now, familiarizing himself with other packs, and even border patrol at home it was an easy task to keep his mind occupied. It wasn't as though he had any other pressing matters to attend to so he'd set out that morning to go scout the edges of their territories and mark it to make sure they didn't have any unwelcome guests. Surreal had already made it perfectly clear she didn't approve of trespassers and to be completely honest he didn't either. While he didn't openly want anyone just waltzing in, it at least would prove to be entertaining. It wasn't until a bit later on in the day that anything would pop up. The scent of a female dangerously close to their borders caught his attention. It seemed she was skirting just along the outside of it so he trotted following the scent rather closely. He trailed it all the way until he came across a bush a previous pack member had marked. It wasn't until he got to the other side of it, opposite their border, that he caught the scent of the female. His nose wrinkled distastefully as he sniffed it. He didn't recognize the wolf but whomever it was clearly had the intentions of offending them. With that thought Creed quickly marked over the strange female's scent with his own marking and then scuffed up the ground over her own before deciding to leave the area. He was already heading towards the female's location when he heard the call for Surreal. Originally he'd be happy to let Surreal handle her own business though in this case he was already here and he wanted to see if she was a threat. So he headed towards her location having no doubt in his mind that Surreal would come along shortly. It didn't take him long to reach her and he observed her swiftly taking note of the slight bit of fat left around her stomach. It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduct she'd recently had a litter. Her looks meant little to him other than the fact she was slightly smaller than him and much leaner. Past that he had no idea who she was other than she smelled of a pack he knew nothing of. "Can Ah help ye?" He asked in a monotone, yet polite, voice as he came to a stop a few feet away. While his rank was nothing special he still carried his head high, ears forward as he waited warily for her answer. He was doing his best not to judge her until she announced why she was here, though judging by the scent marker almost right on top of their border he couldn't imagine it wasn't anything wonderful. Walk, "Talk" Think

Surreal Adravendi

Surreal and Regulus were paired today for Patrol. She was pleased to find Creed's scent fresh ahead of theirs. However, she was not so pleased to find Katja's little gift, though Creed had been swift in reclaiming the ground. A snort left her as she laid her mark thickly overall, before surging ahead as Katja's howl rang out. Her posture radiated authority; tail and head erect as she trotted briskly toward the call. Creed was already there, and she gave the male a light nod of greeting before her eyes hardened as she focused on Katja, aware of Regulus' massive vibrant red frame taking her other side, the left. She threw on a calm smile, at odds with the hardened gaze, as she remarked, "You've made your little subtle threat on my border quite clear, Katja. Just as you made your stance clear on our last encounter. So what, pray tell, has brought you so far south this time. Your call makes it sound like you have words." A brow point lifted as she regarded the dark northern leader. Her body language held no fear, nor did it hold nerves, only readiness to both listen and to take on the smaller female if needs must. She wasn't her late niece, and she'd not need much provocation to see about taking a prisoner. Her tone was as polite as Creed's had been but it held steel and a warning under the accented notes. She wouldn't be one bit surprised if a raid was near in her future from Yfir. The pack wasn't large, and while Yfir likely couldn't know what skill level Celestial's wolves were, Surreal did. It was another thing that galvanized her thoughts towards an idea. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think 'OoC: Sooooo sorry this is late. I don't know where my head has been lately, blarrrgh! Now to get Regulus in.'

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

Regulus was delighted to have this patroll with his mother. It was a chance to learn more of what to do as a leader when his time came, and he listened avidly as she told him about his grandmother's time as Alpha, and of Chrysanthe, and what she could remember of Erani's recount of Cairo's leadership. But as they found a scent that wasn't famioliar to him, though covered by Creed's, he frowned, laying his own mark just as thickly as his mother had, though to the side to as to leave her's as the supreme scent. He kept at her hip as she came upon the small (tiny, to him) female, and Creed's hugely fluffy (how did he survive the heat in that coat?) frame. Regulus gave the female a once over, noting her and acknowledging that she must have the skill to back up her ballsy move on the border. Her call had been imperious, on the verge of rude. Regulus took a place at his mother's left shoulder, effectively flanking her on either side with support, paws falling easily into a practiced stance of readiness as he listened to his mother's polite if veiled warning guised as a greeting. If it came to a fight, he was all in, and he didn't doubt Creed's readiness to add his teeth.

It would not take long for a rustle of paw on grass to announce the arrival of another wolf. Without surprise, she noted his scent was drenched with Surreal's pack-scent. Some sort of border guard, likely. She answered his examination with an unimpressed, flat stare of her own. "I rather doubt it," she told him dryly, "as you are not Surreal Adravendi." Though his coloring was similar, this wolf's very distinctive markings made it unlikely he was actually related to the Adravendi though certainly not impossible. Speculation was largely useless, however, and was in any case interrupted by Surreal's sudden appearance, followed closely by a hulking bright red male. Had she not just met Mithras Aeris this red wolf's appearance might have put her hackles up - but compared to the star-dusted Macedonian this male seemed nearly normal. "Ah, speaking of... Heil, Surreal Adravendi," she greeted crisply, her own stance and expression unphased by Surreal's attempt at authoritative intimidation. She returned Surreal's hard gaze with a bland, cold stare. It was rather difficult to be impressed or intimidated by someone who had previously attempted to bribe her into not raiding their pack - a show of intimidation did little to dispel that memory and certainly nothing to impress. "I do on occasion leave the north for something other than raiding, and as you can see, I am not here to raid you. Unless you are concerned a single Yfir wolf could raid your pack after announcing themselves at the border?" She raised an eyebrow as though inviting comment, but continued on. "As it happens I have had several members of my pack go missing and I am seeking them out. Two wolves specifically" - she cared little to find the thrall that had gone missing on their original trek north, as he'd been useless even before then - "One being a Vereux Armada, slate gray with white underside, missing an eye and bears a painted rune over the scar. He disappeared without a word months ago. He may have died, or he may have betrayed us. We seek knowledge of him one way or the other, that we may move forward accordingly." "Talk" "You" Think