Pestilence's loss in the raid came as a shock to her. Finally she'd beaten Harbringr and signalled the end of her training, but the stupid cat had got the drop on her and made her last act as an Ashen member a failure. Truthfully she didn't blame Natha, but it didn't mean it hurt any less. It was to be her last hurrah, proof of her unyielding strength as she left to make her mark on the world as a Klein... and when she lost, it crumbled her spirit just a little bit more.

She'd hastily said her goodbyes and left late at night, arriving at Fireside's borders early morning. Each step she took in the pack's direction brought her spirit a little higher, and by the time she was close enough to smell the livestock she was practically skipping. This was the place where she could shed her Abraxas name, spend time with her closest friend, and build herself stronger away from her family's religious influence. If they accepted her, that is.

Keeping her distance from the marked border enough to be polite and very apparently not about to trespass, Pestilence paused to collect herself. Her monkey followed behind carrying her pelts from her den as well as a satchel with her armor, and her snake was coiled around her neck. The yearling had quite obviously moved out and was prepared to move back in somewhere else. What if they wouldn't take her? The thought was terrifying, and Pestilence didn't know whether she'd have the courage to walk back to Ashen a failure again. Alarr seemed sure of her ability to join, and so she held onto his words as she tipped her head back and howled for the alpha.

Tyrian's response to the call was swift. He'd been nearby touching up scent markers so the caller wasn't more than a hop, skip and jump away. Tashi sat on his back smoking a pipe and Righty was running somewhere behind them as fast as her short little legs could carry her. She'd catch up eventually. Zahir was...well, being a cat so who knew where she was. Probably close by but with enough distance between them to make it clear she wasn't with them.

Upon arriving at the scene Tyrian's attention was immediately drawn to the baggage. That...was a first. But promising. Was she a trader like his nephew Jupiter? Just the sort who simply couldn't travel light? It was intriguing. As for the rest of his assessment, where some might have found her peculiar with her strange scars, towering height and odd companions, Tyrian was used to odd. Literally everyone in his family was tall, half of them had strange companions and a solid majority had mutations and odd colors out the wazoo. As far as first impressions went, he liked the look of her.

A puff of smoke trickled around Tyrian's ear as Tashi leaned around his neck to get a look at Pestilence. With a polite dip of his head Tyrian said, "Hello and welcome to Fireside. My name is Tyrian, I'm the alpha here. What can I do for you?"

It only occurred to her upon seeing the Fireside alpha how out of practice Pestilence was with any sort of social order. She wasn't great with her family, she never made an effort to meet new pack wolves, and any strangers she managed to meet she could always fall back on the 'hi, i'm a princess' thing. How did normal wolves introduce themselves, request to join a new pack? She caught him focused upon her luggage - her entire life she'd packed up and hauled here without permission at all - and heat flushed to her cheeks. Was she getting ahead of herself?

"I'm Pestilence Klein." She began, forcing a smile past her embarrassment and nerves. "Alarr is my best friend and he invited me by. I was hoping to join your ranks." Sure it wasn't the full truth, Pestilence pretty much begged Alarr those seasons ago to be allowed to come home with him after all. At some point though she thought for sure he'd extended at least one invitation, so it should have counted. Should she say please? Without any idea of what kind of wolf Tyrian was she had no idea how to appeal to him. He was a yearling like her, and Alarr said he was nice. Aside from that she was lost on how to plead her case.

Pestilence Klein. Tyrian wracked his brain trying to decide if he should know the last name or not. He thought it should be familiar but he wasn't sure why. One of his father's stories, perhaps? Ah, yes, that was it. That whole godfart story about that one weirdo fighting the two other weirdos. Or something. There was a Klein in there somewhere. Oh. Okay yes, now he remembered. The scabby guy who fought with (...for?) the godfart was a Klein. It had been awhile since he'd heard the story. Maybe he'd ask his father for a refresher just in case there was a useful tie in here.

Anyway, Pestilence Klein, best friend - if he could take this girl's word - to his brother, Alarr. He wasn't sure if he should take her at her word there or if it even mattered at all, but his brother had never mentioned to him being best friend's with a girl. Granted there was a lot Alarr probably didn't know about Tyrian, but a best friend? The brothers were very independent but if push came to shove Alarr could probably correctly name Sparrow as Tyrian's best friend. Which made Tyrian wonder why exactly he hadn't heard about this girl.

"Is that so," he said with a cheshire smile. Oh he was going to have to pester Alarr about this pretty girl later! "Well any friend of my brother's is a friend of mine. By chance, did Alarr tell you about the pack and what we do here?" If he had this would make the whole process easier.

The boy's smile unnerved her a bit, though Pestilence did her best to smile through the discomfort to appear as professional as possible. What did she say that caused such a reaction? He couldn't just be pleased to have a new member. The broad smile reminded her of when she was a pup and others her age had a special secret or were privy to an inside joke. Except Tyrian's wasn't so predatory as to make her think he was thinking anything nefarious. The lack of interaction of other yearlings her age outside her family group didn't help, and she shuffled her weight from foot to foot as she considered. He was Alarr's brother, so she should be able to trust him.

"He hasn't told me much, just that-" Her words stumbled, and she realized she needed to be careful on what she'd say. Alarr mentioned he might have a raid for her in the future, would he get in trouble for admitting that his pack was planning something like that when she was not yet accepted? Shit. "- something about raiding. I'm happy to participate. I'm not a pacifist or anything." Pesto punctuated her words with a laugh, as if the idea of being against battle was ridiculous. They wouldn't be raiding Ashen, right? Shit, shit, shit.

Ah, so she didn't know much about the pack at all. That was too bad. He would have liked to skip the power point n slideshow portion of this meeting, but alas. "Good," he said with a chuckle. "Because there will be a lot of those. But that's not really what we're about. At the center of everything we do here is our prey animal husbandry program. We raise herds of prey animals, such as sheep, for food. Their rearing, grazing, shepherding, slaughtering and the like, is at the heart of everything we do." Tyrian studied Pestilence for a moment, trying to decide if he needed to give her the whole spiel or if an abbreviated version would suffice.

In the end he decided not to cut any corners. "For example, our roaming types - the hunters, the navigators, and so on - regularly explore the rogue lands in search of new stock to add to our flocks. Our fighters raid occasionally for the same reason. The healers strive to be as versed in the care of sheep as they are in the care of wolves. And so on; there isn't a career path in Fireside that doesn't touch on animal husbandry at some point."

All of this, he knew, deviated quite a bit from the usual wolf way of doing things. For those completely unaware of their nature as he suspected Pestilence (further proof he needed to interrogate Alarr since Pestilence clearly wasn't joining for the job opportunities) to be, it might be a lot to process. "We do all of this not out of fondness for the sheep or some misguided attempt to worship, but out of a desire to be prepared should anything like the volcano happen again."

Tyrian flashed a sardonic grin then asked, "Now, knowing that your odds of getting very close and personal with sheep are going to skyrocket if you join us, are you still interested in joining?"

Whatever thoughts and expectations might have swam in her mind for this last season, nothing prepared her for hearing what it was Fireside devoted themselves to. Her lips parted, and she blinked a few times as he spoke. How had Alarr not mentioned this, or anything like it? Was it some big secret? Pesto had never heard of wolves who kept other animals and made it the main aspect of their pack. It was not off-putting, just odd. When his speech was over, Pestilence let out a quiet bark of a laugh. "I mean, it's weird." She admitted, smiling over at him. "But nothing weirder then what I've been raised in. I'm cool with sheep." Her shoulders lifted in a shrug, and she couldn't help but chuckle once more.

"I'm a fighter primarily, though I'd be happy to be placed wherever you see fit until I can prove to you that it's where I belong. I have uh, high ambitions." Alarr had mentioned that he was promoted high even as a yearling, that Fireside saw his skills and potential and did not judge him for his age. Pestilence yearned for the same treatment, after all - even once she'd graduated out of training she remained ranked with the basic fighters in Ashen. She'd sleep with the sheep if that's what Tyrian asked of her, but the Klein yearling desired to rise and never stop until she was considered one of the greatest fighters in the land.

As most likely would, Pestilence found the concept odd. However she was not put off by it which sealed the deal in Tyrian's opinion. If she had no qualms with "rubbing elbows" with sheep and goats, and was willing to learn and train, then he saw no reason to deny Alarr's friend the chance to call Fireside home. Normally he would be a bit more thorough with the vetting process, but again, this was his brother's friend. His brother wouldn't keep unsavory company. And while it was tempting to call Alarr to the border and make a show out of considering this - let's be honest, at the very least she was interested - possible girlfriend of his, in the end that was probably more trouble than it was worth. He'd just have to gig his brother about Pestilence later. See what he could stir up.

"Good," he said with a smile in response to her having high ambitions. "As for where you'll start, new members typically start as commoners so we have a chance to assess their skills and they have a chance to see how things are run. It's good that you already have a career path in mind." Tyrian paused to consider what he wanted to do. "I think that's what we'll do: start you off as a commoner. After you've had a chance to settle in either I can assess your fighting skills or another skilled fighter can. If they'll vouch for your skill or I think you're ready, you'll be upgraded to a fighter rank. In the meantime you'll mind the sheep with the other commoners and herders, and have a chance to see how things are run."

Tyrian motioned Pestilence over the border with a smile. He didn't know how she'd feel about being on sheep duty instead of immediately being ranked as a fighter, but more than anything else he wanted new wolves to have an appreciation for what he considered to be Fireside's cornerstone. Their preparedness was their top priority and Fireside had hung its hat on the idea of livestock. Everyone took a turn in the mud. "Come on, I'll show you around."

-exit?-