Things were beginning to change for the ashen marked female, but if they were for the better she had yet to discern. Ever since washing up on the beach in the north she'd still been painfully reminded of her lonely existence. Her usual careless energy was replace by that of something a little less haphazard and more than once she'd contemplated on what to do with herself. Further along in her journey her boisterous energy had begun to come back and she managed to shove the negative thoughts deep into the recesses of her mind. The less she thought about all that had transpired the less worried she became and the curiosity for the land around her took hold.

This place offered more interesting scenery than she was used to and her journey was painfully slow at times. More than once she'd stopped to explore and sniff out her surroundings to learn a bit about them. She'd sniff the dying flowers that still remained, overly unimpressed with her timing as far as seasons, and studied the dry fields that she passed. The lack of water and prey in areas was concerning, but she didn't stoop to worry about them. Nature wasn't her concern so long as she fed and hydrated herself.

Eventually her paws led her to the borders of a pack. She'd skirted the first two she'd smelled in the north, but by the time she'd reached this one she was beginning to wonder if fate was trying to say something. She began to walk away from it, saying screw fate, when she decided to sit and wonder if it really was a good idea to join something. It was getting colder and she wasn't fond of the idea of being alone. Prey was already hard to find and Winter would only be that much harsher. Painstakingly, after much debate, she allowed herself to trail at the marked borders before she came to a stop. She wasn't indecisive anymore and decided to fling herself wholeheartedly at the idea. She wasn't one for thinking about something too long so she treated it like one of her adventures. This was all it would be, right? An adventure! A fun escapade she could try out and if she didn't like it she'd leave. They didn't know her and all would be well. Nothing would happen like the fate of the last pack she'd been in. So with that she tipped her head back and howled.

"SPEAK"

Bass Destruction He circled around the plains, his eye on the sky for any incoming storms. They really needed a good bought of rain, the river was lower than he had ever seen before, the lake as well. Sighing, he jumped on top of his den, laying on the cool rock as she watched the sky grow darker. The clouds seemed to be hanging on to the rain, desperate to keep it within themselves. He stuck his tongue out at them, just hoping that it would rain sometime soon. Lowering his head until it rested upon his pale legs, he contemplated calling a meeting. It had been awhile since anyone had called anything, not even Tinaro had called a battle meeting of any kind. He tried not to be too disappointed, the emotion seemed to be ruling his life as of late. His white ears flicked back as he blew out a sigh, but it was just then that someone at the borders called for an alpha. Bass' head shot up, tilting to the side as he looked towards the thicket. That was a voice he didn't know, and someone who didn't know him either. They called for a ruler, not him by name. Mmm, what could this be? Was someone actually coming in to join his overly quiet pack? Hopefully they were fun and did something to shake the cobwebs off this dusty group of wolves. Leaping to the ground, he set off for the borders with a spring in his step. Something new would be nice, and he didn't want to spend all day staring at the sky. Brushing through the tall grass that was growing more and more brittle, he finally reached the caller. She was a little thing, but closer to his age at first glance. Dipping his head in a greeting, he folded himself down in front of her. For once he felt like he was towering over someone, which didn't happen too often. Bass had thought he was tall until he met Valentine and his pack of giants. "Greetings, I am Bass Destruction. What brings you to Abaven?" he asked, curiosity bright in his yellow eyes. He didn't recognize her scent from anywhere, and it seemed to be a rare occurrence that he didn't at least know someone's family. As he waited he curled his tail at his side, looking down at the darker coated woman. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

She heard the wolf before she saw it. A large figure was hard scraping through the drying grass and her dark ears flicked forward attentively. More than anything, a curiosity burned within her to see who it was that would greet her. If it was a female she was going to be sorely disappointed, but the scents marking the borders were rather masculine. So unless it was a very brutish woman, she had high hopes that this leader would be a male.

To her glee it was indeed a male that greeted her. She shamelessly studied him. Silver eyes glanced over his towering form (which was no surprise to her) and the pale white fur that coated most of him. His brown markings were intriguing and she studied the golden eyes that peeked out from the ivory of his face. His stature was impressive and overall her judgement about him was a good one. She greeted him with a barely contained grin and a soft wave of her tail.

His name was the most intriguing thing about him. Bass Destruction. She smirked as she looked him over again. He didn't seem very destructive, though she supposed looks were deceiving. She didn't believe she looked as innocent and feminine as her body portrayed her to be.

"I'm Asha." She greeted warmly, still relieved that he was indeed a male and not some crazy beefed up woman. "I came to join." She wasted no time getting to the point.

"SPEAK"

Bass Destruction Bass didn't miss the open inspection that the small woman gave him, which made the corner of his lips turn up in a small smirk. From what he could tell she was around his age, but looks could be very desceptive. He just found humor in getting... well checked out for lack of a better term. It had been quite a long time since he had been looked at in such a way, or since he had even thought about a woman other than Wren. They had settled down quite quickly, and since she left it was a thought that never crossed his mind. Even now he payed her no more attention than he would any other stranger at his borders. When she introduced herself as Asha he dipped his head in greeting, that smile still on his maw. "Pleasure to meet you, Asha," he said smoothly. And then she very bluntly said that she was here to join, making Bass blink rapidly as a single brow rose. She knew nothing of his pack and yet she was so eager to join? "Well then, wouldn't you like to know about Abaven first?" he asked with a muffled laugh, shaking his head back and forth slowly. "And then I need to know a little more about yourself, such as your skills and what type of rank you would be seeking." The Primo wasn't known for turning a wolf away at his borders, in fact he couldn't think of a time he ever had. To him it was just interesting that she would be so quick to jump on joining without knowing a thing about him and his pack. It made him wonder if she was running from anything, or trying to hide from someone. She didn't seem the type, but it was hard to assume with so little knowledge of her. Waiting patiently for this oh-so-eager one, he found himself growing more and more curious. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

"Pleasure to meet you, Asha,"

He was so formal - it was something she wasn't quite used to. Still she dipped her own head and smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you too." The words came automatically. A typical polite response for the beginnings of a conversation. She would have called it a boring first start if it hadn't been for the flick of surprise that took over his face. She stifled the grin that threatened to take over.

He laughed next and Asha grinned at his words. She was blunt and didn't waste time on beating around the bush. Of course she'd expected him to launch into what his pack was like (she had to admit she was somewhat hoping for them all to be serial killers or something - wouldn't that be fun!) and what all the rules were and whatnot. Typical things that were required of alphas. Instead she was glad she had managed to mix up the droll routine just a bit.

"Well explain away my friends and I'll happily tell you anything you wanna know." he found herself chuckling before she looked up at him eagerly waiting to hear all about his pack.

"SPEAK"

Bass Destruction He had to laugh at her eager attitude, it seemed like she was ready to jump in with her guns a' blazin'. It was something that he had missed about the active days of Abaven, and it was something that he knew the pack could use. "Well, we are a bit different than average packs. In times of crisis or anything else, really, we lease out our members to other packs. Because of this we stand normally on pretty solid grounds with all other packs," he tried not to pick sides but that could be hard. "It could be fighters, healers, field medics or scouts. It's a bit out there but it has helped in the past," he said with a soft chuckle. It had been a bit out there when he thought up the idea for Abaven, but he hoped to be a bit more of an assistant pack than anything else. Lately, they had been slowly sinking into the background. While he wanted to be a bit more of a be-there-for-you type pack, it.... hadn't exactly gone that way. He assisted in a few raids and training newer packs, but most of the fighting had been called from himself. He vividly remembered the meeting where he called for the siege, how wolves said that it wasn't what they had expected from him. And his sister Rhythm... Well he wasn't as soft as wolves first thought he was. Clearing his throat to get rid of the memories, giving Asha an apologetic look for vanishing into his thoughts. "Anyways, where do you think your specialties lay in? We have pretty normal run of the mill fighters and healers, and then a field medic who can do both. And the officers of course, who keep track of our allies and enemies -- if we had any," shifting his weight to his other side, waiting for her to reveal a bit about herself. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

Asha listened patiently as Bass explained what his pack was like - she listened with an interested look on her face. More than anything, she was surprised to here they were like a band of wolves for hire if they were needed. That was something she hadn't seen before. Her old pack had been just a normal pack and she'd even seen packs intent on dark intent, but not one like this. That fact excited her. Did that mean they'd get to deal with the other packs in this place. Not that she'd seen any of the others, but she didn't care. In time she'd get to know more about them - so far she was enjoying her stroke of luck in coming to this one first.

She didn't miss the spaced out look his face took on and it was if he was lost in his own head. She felt impatience buzzing, but she shoved the feeling away. She didn't want to come off as ruse so she waited until he snapped back to reality. He smiled at her apologetically and she smiled back. The conversation shifted to her and she was left to mull over how she'd fit into the pack. She wasn't quite sure about that part, much less knew how to explain herself to him, and she fumbled over words for a few good seconds.

"I suppose you could call me a jack of all trades. I'm a decent hunter, can fight alright, although healing is probably my least favorite. I know how to patch up wounds but that's about it. If you asked me to help a sick wolf I don't think that'd go over pretty well." She chuckled softly at that. "I suppose the better question is, where do you think I'd fit in best, or better yet, what rank do you need filled the most?"

"SPEAK"

Bass Destruction Bass couldn't help but laugh when she mentioned healing, it wasn't his favorite either. "I'm not a fan of herbs either, I leave that to others to learn," he said with a grin, his tail thumping on the ground behind him. But if she was so open to ranks, he wasn't quite sure where he would put her. He thought about Finch and Sandpiper, the only wolves who held the officer rank, as well as Dart. In all reality he needed more healers, but it was clear that she wouldn't fit into that. Humming softly, he eyed her with his brows slightly pulled together. "Well you could be a fighter and train under someone if you wanted, or simply hold your own. Or you could take an officer position, we only have two adults with that rank and one apprentice. Ultimately the choice is up to you, and you're more than welcome to pick one and see if it's for you. It's not a damning choice, you can switch things up at any time," Bass said thoughtfully, his head tilting to the side. He didn't feel comfortable just picking one for her, he didn't know too much about her skills or the level she was at. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

She chuckled as he admitted that he wasn't very familiar with herbs either. She took enough pride in being able to patch up her own wounds and that was about the extent that she felt she needed to learn. She certainly wouldn't be pursuing any healers rank here within Abaven. As he continued speaking though her indecision grew. What did she want to do. This pack's ranking system was different to her. She'd been a fighter in her old pack but that'd been ages ago. Maybe it was time to spice things up a bit? The worse thing that could happen would be that she didn't like it and he did say she could change it. A new start seemed like the way to go so she grinned softly.

"That Officer rank you've explained sounds interesting enough. I'll go with that if that's okay."

"SPEAK"

Bass Destruction When she said she wanted to take up the officer rank, a large smile cracked open his lips. His pale tail thumped on the ground behind him, nodding his head up and down. Good, he needed more of those, well really he just needed more active members if he was being honest. "Well then Asha, welcome to Abaven. You will be known as a Pattuglia, the officer rank. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask either me, Dart or Finch. They share your rank, as well as Sandpiper but she’s still an apprentice," he explained, turning to lead the way into the borders. "We control the Serpent Plains here, as well as the Monument Rapids to the west and the Rustling Thicket to the east. You’re free to make your den anywhere you wish," swishing his tail, his gaze roamed over the plains and he hesitated. Right, the snakes. He always forgot about that. "The plains got their name for a reason, are you familiar with snakes?" the pale man asked, turning his head back to look at the darker woman from over his shoulder. There were poisonous ones, as well as those with venom. It was important that she knew which was which, and what snakes to avoid. He was going to head back to his den and leave her to her own to explore, but he had to make sure that she would be safe in doing so. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"