Another howl, this time closer to the pack. She had already decided a few days prior... but had made the decision hastily. If she was to have a friend in Basilisk, she should give his community a shot. It wasn't fair to keep making him seek her out, bird or not. Wren stood a few careful steps away from Armada, keeping a respectful distance.

While she expected to see her new friend here, she didn't count on it right away. If he could vouch for her skills, she'd find it easier to be accepted if so. Still, she could talk for herself, couldn't she? Wren didn't bother sitting down, finding it annoying to do such a thing in front of an alpha. It was also not respectful, seen as being comfortable near their border.

She waited until a massive black shape emerged, then dropped her eyes. Wolf instinct and all; she couldn't look at a leader, an outranked wolf, in the eye.

"Speech"

The Warlord approached the borders of his woods. Answering the first summons at these borders. Likely the wolf wouldn’t know the significance of the moment. This evidence that showed new blood would find them here. He surveyed the tawny wolf as she dropped her eyes, and he came to a stop a comfortable distance from her.

He had caught faint traces of her scent on his grandson's coat, and it was easy to surmise who she was. Though Basilisk had mentioned nothing of any inclination she might have to join. “You must be Wren. My grandson has spoken highly of your hunting skills. You wish to join the Armada?” He asked softly.


"Speech"

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The massive wolf addressed her. Wren glanced up briefly, but didn't directly look at him. Her blue eyes were surprised, holding a brief shock before dropping again. Basilisk spoke of her? And, hey, this must be his grandfather. Big head honcho. There was no surprise about their shared looks. Basilisk looked like almost a spitting image of his grandpa.

"Yes, my name is Wren" she finally spoke, looking directly at the ground between them "Basilisk and I are friends, and he has spoken only good words about Armada." Which wasn't surprising now that she was here, seeing his family. Of course he'd have good things to say about his family's pack.

Would she be an outsider looking in?

"I would... like to hear from you, sir, about the pack before deciding. If you have time, that is" she added without haste, trying to be as polite as possible "but yes, I have thought about joining Armada."

"Speech"

“Of course” The Warlord said, seating himself on the grass across from her. It was a valid question, if she wished to join them as family. If what his grandson had said was true, then she was a hard worker and wasn’t above teaching the younger generation. Both skills he would value within the pack. “You can call my Sirius” he added as she referred to him as ‘sir’

“At its heart, the Armada is a pack built on its fighting prowess, of myself and its warriors. First and foremost, those joining will need to learn or display an ability to protect themselves. From there, a prospect can branch into a career of their choice. Be it navigating, hunting, fighting, or a trade. Any questions so far?” he asked, pausing to give her a chance to speak up.


"Speech"

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"So, Sirius" she had mulled the reply over in her mind before deciding to answer "I mostly hunt, but I can and will defend myself. I'm no expert in fighting but I'm training myself to do better... When you say, display, uh... do you mean I gotta fight someone right here? Right now?" But Wren didn't seem scared or offended by such a thing. She was... somewhat curious about the process of acceptance into the pack.

He said 'display' or 'learn'. She assumed she could learn on the road. But if not, she didn't know how she'd do more than flail stupidly if she was going to fight him of all people. Trips to the Battlefield aside, Wren didn't know what she could do to display a fighting spirit to a wolf his size. Fighting Basilisk was even out of the question, considering they were friends and he was huge. Wren liked a challenge;

But she didn't like embarrassing herself.

"Speech"

The Warlord shook his head at her question, but his smile would tell her he wasn’t offended by the asking. “No, I normally give a wolf a chance to settle in first, since prior knowledge isn’t a requisite for learning.” He went on to explain. So long as they were willing to learn, he didn’t require them to know beforehand. Of course, this had led to some wolves that were utterly hopeless, like Hanako. He’d probably be trying to train her until the day he died.

“I normally like to spar with new recruits myself, but you're welcome to request a different wolf if you prefer.” She’d be hard pressed to find a wolf closer to her size, but if there was a wolf she’d be more comfortable sparring with, that could be arranged. It was only to gouge what he was working with.


"Speech"

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She doubted there would be a wolf around her size in this northern land of giants. It was a lot like stories of jotunn she had heard about from the more raider-like wolves she'd come across. Giants among giants. Wren kept this to herself but likened the whole thing to Armada as a whole. Did they all breed huge wolves? Yikes.

"What about your culture?" Wren asked before Sirius could no doubt give a well-rehearsed talk about his pack. He had probably been alpha for a long time if this was the third generation. Or maybe... it was simply that he had come into power through other means. "trade? Any enemies?"

She needed to know the rules of this community. "I'm sorry for the questions, I just want to know this is a good thing for me. Not something to find out something later and disagree with, regret."

"Speech"

The Warlord's eyes crinkled with another smile as she asked about culture. “I was raised as a bodyguard, and you’ll likely see this influence in much of the Armada. As far as culture goes, we have wolves from many walks of life. I won’t discourage you from bringing your own piece of culture with you, so long as it does not hurt my wolves.” He explained. Culture wasn’t something he considered too hard. Though it was always interesting to hear how other wolves had been raised.

“The Armada is in the process of building a market to promote neutrality and trade. It would be interesting to see how that develops. As for enemies, the Pirates lead by Sparrow have some bad blood with us. Sparrow loved the same woman as my son, and I'm sure you can see how well that went over. Fireside has a habit of poking the bear, so to speak, but we’ve yet to fight over it. We have allies in Ashen, The Hallows, Elysium, Abaven, and Habari. Neutrality with the rest” he went on. More than happy to give her the larger picture of what enemies and allies she might be making in joining his pack. He knew that Halo had a friendship with a Fireside wolf, and he wouldn’t disallow it so long as it didn’t get her hurt. “Don’t be sorry for your questions. The Armada laws are engraved on an Obelisk at the heart of our territory, you’re welcome to familiarise yourself with them before you make your final choice.” He would add.


"Speech"

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Pirates.

The word cut through her like a knife. She winced visibly. Her pirate alpha... Where was he now? How was his family doing? She didn't expect to find pirates here. Maybe she had been drifting further from the water than she liked. Sirius didn't seem annoyed with her questions; he gave answers to them readily. He told her not to apologize, that there was somewhere to always look at the rules.

And a marketplace. She recalled the pirates she ran with had been in the process of making tracks to one. Turning from the sea to a guild, to trade and explore and make friendships with others. Maybe this was fate telling her to stop roaming. She swallowed. "My former pack lived by the sea, and the alpha was the captain of us. We were going to turn into a guild of sorts before the realm was destroyed." She left out the beta part.

"So I've got some knowledge of selling and bartering, even if I'm terrible at it" she admitted "if you've use for me, I would like to join your pack. You can ask me anything; I'll try to answer to the best of my ability."

"Speech"

He did not miss the way she winced, but kept speaking, giving her a chance to recover. He mulled over his own words, but he did not know her well enough to know what had caused the reaction. “I’m sorry for your loss” he said when she told him how her home had been destroyed.

“We could certainly use some experience. This is the Armadas first time trying such a venture” he explained, and gave her a rueful smile. It was going to be interesting to see how the Armadas trade worked out. If they could hold the promise of neutrality.

“Then let me show you around, Wren. You’ve already proved yourself a capable hunter. Would you like to join the ranks of our Stalkers?” He said as he got to his paws and waited for her to do so as well. She invited questions, and he tested the waters. “You flinched during my explanation of those that dislike us. Were you familiar with one of the packs?”


"Speech"

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She shook her head. "I didn't even know this realm had pirates" Wren began, frowning "I thought maybe there could be hope; that my previous alpha found himself here, fell in with them... But if they're causing trouble, he would find out. He didn't want to do that. His pack was neutral, like Armada. He wouldn't live in a place with needless problems." She was open and honest about it, considering he had asked and she had flinched.

"Like I said, my previous pack lived by the waters... and my alpha considered himself a pirate. But we never raided or attacked anyone. We kept ourselves to ourselves, and lived off the water" Sirius would ask to show her around, giving her the rank of a Stalker. A leg up from Fisherman, but more or less how she started in another realm "my alpha abandoned us when the land was beginning to decay. I don't like pirates. Not any more."

She scowled, moving over the scent line to join Sirius. She nodded for him to lead the way. "And I accept the position." she added.

"Speech"

“Our pirates are run by an Imperialis, Sparrow. I believe much of the pack are her family, and the Imperialis have been here for longer than you’ve been alive” He said apologetically. He doubted she would find her Alpha among them. “I’m not much fond of them myself” he said rather dryly.

As she stepped across the border, he brushed lightly against her, leaving his scent in her coat. It would ensure the patrollers didn’t bother her. “Then welcome to the Armada, Wren” he said. Showing her into the heart of the pack as he led her through the forest and into the mouth of the valley. He led her first to the Obelisk, the warm fire pit blazing nearby. “The caves are heated from an underground source. Feel free to pick an empty den as your own” he offered


"Speech"

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Well, shit. She had hoped for some type of closure. Maybe an explanation, why he had taken his family and left her. Alone. Wren fought back the annoyance and fell in step with Sirius as he showed her Armada. He would eventually leave her to pick a den site, which she would eventually. She stepped forward to view the Obelisk, squinting at the words through the light of the afternoon's setting sun.

Imperialis had not been the name of her pirate king's surname anyway. "Thank you" she said to him before Sirius left "I'll let you know if there are any problems, Sirius." Though she may seek out Basilisk first before their alpha. She did like to handle things alone, but a friend could be welcomed with any issue.

Wren began to walk away if excused, falling into the tunnel system and ignoring the dread of claustrophobia. She fought back the fear and unease, trying to find a den location.

/end
"Speech"

“I’ll send a healer to see him. You can get him settled into the den I mentioned, if you like” he suggested. They had reached the end of the Col, and started to head around the mountain towards the Gorge now. “I was going to start with filling you in on the Alphas that live in these lands.” He explained. He had listed the names of the packs to her when she had first joined, and told her a little of The Pirates and Fireside. Now, he would tell her of their allies. “The Hallows is led by my Daughter and son in law, down in Auster. I’ll likely introduce you to them first. The Hallows is a good pack, and Art a good wolf to have on your side.” He started. “Next is Ashen, and i’ll take you to meet Venom when we have a chance. They are our closest allies - I was a part of their wolf before I made the Armada. Much like you are part of mine. “ He explained.

They were skirting the edge of the red forest now, and it wouldn’t be long before they arrived at the gorge. “Venom…” He paused. How did one describe the daughter he wished had been his? “She’s strong and noble.” He said. “Ashen’s been around a long time now, so she may have some good advice to share” He said as they arrived at the Gorge. “Want to show me around?”


"Speech"

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