Loviat walked on the thin line that was the border between this pack and the lands behind her. Of course she didn't dream of stepping over it as small as she was and how she would never stand a chance as much. More over she had been stalking these lands for days now hiding in the bushes moving back and forth. A pack was here and an interest to her. The scarred brown female looked around - she had not seen a wolf yet of this pack. This land they must not have used often but their scent has since then grown stronger and the hunter lowered her head. A home. The thought thrilled her - and it wouldn't be like before. She'd keep the fact she was a slave a secret. She no longer yearned for a life by that kind of master. An alpha to love and serve that's what she sought after.

Loviat called out, yearning. She could offer her hunting skills. Her knowledge of the stars, perhaps then the wolves here could teach her things as well. As her scarred face and chest looked over the border her paws idly struck the soil. Spreading and digging into the dirt as she enjoyed the feeling of it between her paws. There was a chance she could be forcefully claimed again but she wasn't going down without a fight if that were to happen. Calmly though she waited to see what her fate would slowly become.

Eli wasn't expecting the call to come for him as he was feeding the pair of voracious pups. They'd had rabbit earlier, but rabbit didn't have the sort of fat that growing pups needed, and of course they thought they were starving again, so he taken a beaver from the lake for the pair of them, and he'd just split the tail between the pair for dessert when a howl came for him from the border. He left them squabbling over the remains and set out at a trot for where the call had come.

A slender, scarred earthen female waited there for him, and after a moment of study, he dipped his head slightly to her. "Welcome to the borders of Aerie. What brings you here?"

Loviat suddenly felt like her heart was pounding against her chest. A male who was the alpha of this pack she assumed that she practically had been trying to see what happened on the inside. She didn't know if it was fate, or if it was just because it was the first pack she had come across in these lands. Though she smiled, clearing her throat and trying to speak clearly. "My name is Loviat. I've come to your pack in the hopes of offering my hunting and navigation skills as a member." this was how it went right?

She'd never willfully joined a pack before. She certainly hoped that didn't show. The scared female even tried not to hold eye contact. Whenever she felt like she was being too disrespectful her eyes would dart to one side. Lowering her head slightly to show her submissive nature.

Eligos let a long moment of silence fall after the woman spoke, while he studied her with expressionless red eyes. Her displays of submission came across almost as hiding something, the evasiveness as deviousness, but he was willing to entertain the idea that she was simply nervous. He tilted his head at her and finally spoke again. "What do you know about Aerie?" he asked with faint curiosity, and because he to know if she suited Aerie - and visa versa. It would do no good to anyone if they were to find out that they were ill suited after she had already joined and been struggling to mesh with their ideals. "What made you decide to join us?"

Loviat had to calm her heart down. She wasn't too keen on ettiquet but she knew enough that she was free now. She was no longer being held down by a master and she had a right to choose her own path. She took a deep breath and still with her head down in respect would be able to look At Eligos' red expressionless eyes. Her own lavender eyes tired, but shining brightly with will. When he asked what she knew about Aerie she was met with a bit of embarassment. "I... heard rumors, but other than that not much if I'm being honest." She took in a deep breath again, she could do this.

"I've been lost in the south for some time and came here. Watching for a few days, please sir I wish to join and oath my services to your pack." she didn't care if she wasn't a fit. She would make herself a fit, like a chameleon she could fit in wherever. Yet her nerves against this male Loviat was worried that she was saying all the wrong things. Gods help her.

He continued to watch her measuringly for a long moment after she spoke. He still wasn't certain that she was aware of what she was promising so much as she was desperate for anywhere, and that made him wary. "Hunters are a welcome addition to the pack," he said aloud finally. "We would of course need to be certain of your skill before you're able to gain ranks in whatever Path you ultimately follow, but there is no need for a specific test. Do the rumors say anything about Aerie being mercenaries, and not bound by any other pack's ideas of morality?" he added in an abrupt change. "Any contract we accept might be for something wolves might consider distasteful or immoral. No one would be forced to participate in something that made them uncomfortable, of course, but if you wish to join Aerie that is something you must be aware of and accept."

She was feeling a little bit more comfortable now and considering his words much more carefully. Loviat was happy when he said that hunters were welcome in the pack though and this made her happy. She focused on him a bit more easily taking a deep breath and trying to conceal the exhale as she did so. Letting her limbs loosen and her tense body stop doing what it naturally was used to doing. "I heard something about that.... mercenary work." that was probably what got her interest. Loviat thought it was funny, as a previous slave she sought that being hired to do something would ease a bit of her troubles and if she could contribute that way then it was fine.

"There's a lot of things I've seen that are immoral or distasteful but if it's a client then I'm aware of putting aside morals. Though... I don't have many morals. I'm actually seeking to gain some, morals and faith in something to put myself towards." she swallowed. Well he hadn't said no and that fact was making her more comfortable. She was okay with proving herself, how was he supposed to know what skills she possesed if he hadn't seen them? No test either, well that was a relief as well.

Her words struck him as odd, and he tilted his head slightly to study her expression, but it seemed guileless. She was no child, though she was young, and presumably her family if she had had one would have had the shaping of her morals and her faith or lack thereof. But perhaps she had not had the privilege of a family's upbringing, and it was foolish of him to assume that every wolf born had been so privileged as he had been to have been raised under the tutelage of someone like his own father. Well, he would keep his eye on her, for there had been some oddities about this conversation that he didn't entirely care for, but there was nothing specific that he felt warranted turning away a potential member of their already-small pack. "Very well," he replied to her, inclining his head. "As long as you are aware of the pack's nature, and work towards it's betterment I see nothing to bar you from joining us, Loviat." He stepped aside, with a motion inviting her to join him within Aerie's boundaries.

He thought a moment - what would a wolf who was essentially a stranger need to know about them immediately? "We each train in one or more of several Paths. The wolves who follow the Path of Fang are the warriors. The Path of Antler are the specialist hunters, the Path of Leaf are those who heal." Those were the simple ones. "Beyond those basics, we have the wolves who follow the Path of Sun, whose minds are their greatest assets and serve as negotiators and record-keepers. The Path of Moon are wolves to whom faith is most important, and they study any of the various religions and spiritualities that this world knows. The Path of Earth are those who specialize in crafting and trading goods, and the Path of Shadow are for those whose ways are more secretive and sly."

He waited a moment to allow her to digest this information. "Do you have an idea of where you might wish to begin? Or would you prefer some time as a haggard, our Pathless rank, until you have had time to decide?"

She tried to read him, but of course she spent a majority of her life looking down at the paws of others. Perhaps it was the fact that she had grown fed up of this that provoked her to seek this path. It slightly differed from her previous one in the back of her mind she figured she was still addicted to being told what to do. However with dark days on her dark mind she had trekked through and hadn't let it break her. She was a parentless child and with that it would take her a moment to learn the ways of these wolves. Loviat's eyes brightened though as he offered his home to her. She stepped across the border cautiously more towards the sense that she was taking in the feeling of the ravine under her paws. Willingly stepping into territory... it was a freeing feeling.

Loviat listened carefully to his explainations, her ears perked forward to listen. Her tail wagged slightly at the start of it when he finished she was already sure of what she wanted to do. Although he made note she could use a pathless rank but somehow it felt almost like an insult. "The path of Antler seems to be my best fit. I'm a hunter by nature - although I've recently been delving into navigation as well." she explained. Giving a brief sigh, she didn't like talking about her past but she best saw that he was aware of it. "I was previously a slave to a group of wolves, I can't remember if they were in auster or farther past since I hate to think about it. I had been a slave since birth and I saw no need to be abused anymore so here I am. It is in the past but I felt the need to let you know. Now I only wish to put myself towards something and sharpen my hunting skills." she nodded her head. She normally wasn't open with the information but she tried to act casual about it at the same time.

Her unexpected confession was incredibly enlightening, and explained a great deal of her oddities and inconsistencies. He held her gaze for a long moment as he perused her, then nodded thoughtfully. He wouldn't normally be willing to accept into their ranks the type of wolf who had been a lifelong slave - docile, dimwitted obedience and timidity didn't well fit into the Abraxas ways, and they would have only fallen back into their meek slave-like habits. But a wolf who had engineered her escape from life as a slave and who was willing and determined to make more of herself than that, that he could be willing to give a chance to. They'd see if she lived up to her claims, or if she would backslide into that old lifestyle. If she did... a mental shrug, and Eligos set that aside. If she did, they'd have a slave, and that was that. Aerie benefited either way. "We will be glad to have another hunter," he rumbled. "You'll start as an apprentice and move up in the ranks as you prove your skill." Turning, he led the newest Aerie hunter into the pack lands, staying close enough to her that his scent would fall onto her, so that the other members of Aerie would know that she was welcomed there. "I suggest settling in one of the caverns in the ravine, for safety's sake, though a couple wolves have chosen to den out by the lake instead."

NEVER LOOK BACK

She certainly hoped that telling the man of her past did not come to bite her. After all she had been met with nothing but abuse, her scars showed proof of that. Not anymore, she may not have been a fighter but she was tired of being told what to do with no benefit afterwards. Loviat woud nod her head at him and gave him a smile. She was thankful after all and all the more excited to get started with her training.

"Thank you Eligos I won't dissappoint you." it was a promise. He had given her something to believe in and that was him. Though she wasn't sure what sort of culture waited her she was certain that she would fit in just fine. Whether he wanted to see her off or not she would go to find a cavern. Perhaps get a better lay of the land so it was easier to move through.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN