Beyond the borders

He was on patrol, just reaching the Lake, and he was beginning to think that once they had more fighters, he would be setting up group patrols. Perhaps a group for each land to monitor them. He could handle both, but it was a long stretch. However, all these musings dropped away as his nose ran across an unfamiliar scent, going right across the border. There was no trace of any hesitation on the outside, but Justice and Baine’s scents from a recent patrol of theirs – something that pleased him – along with his daily application of his scent should have been enough to stop any wolf familiar with packs in his or her tracks.

He contemplated howling for someone in the pack, but decided against it. By this male’s scent, he was dehydrated, which could have been the exact thing to cause him to walk right over the border. It was a more optimistic possibility than the other possibility that it was a loner who knew exactly what borders were and had intent to do harm.

He angled to follow the traces, moving at a silent walk. This area was, by far, the most wooded area of Celestial, trees and undergrowth fed by the moisture from the lake. So, despite the near Autumn dryness of some fallen leaf litter, the ground was still soft and loamy, which gave his paws plenty of places to land without giving him away with a crackle of leaves. He could smell the tiny splats of saliva from a lolling tongue, and the idea that this was a wolf who had been driven by thirst gained more credit. A tuft of fur here, a scuff of track there. A brown wolf – or one that had brown in his coat – who was slightly larger than what seemed to be the average for these continents… or had big feet for a small wolf?

No. The depth of the next impression said large. He slowed as he came to the edge of the tree line surrounding the lake, peering out to find the trespasser bent at the lake, drinking for all he was worth. After a bit, the lapping stopped, but the stranger remained hunched, perhaps contemplating the fish that swam in the water. There was no evidence of knowledge that he’d just entered into a pack’s territory; no wary glances over his shoulders, no flinching at any sound like it might be an avenging wolf bearing down upon his back at any second.

Deciding that this wolf wasn’t here to cause trouble, Regulus stepped from the trees and approached, keeping out of lunging distance – for the stranger; his own range was greater than the smaller male, just from his larger size – and gave a low woof. It wasn’t an overly hostile sound, though his posture spoke a bit more loudly of ‘I am the leader here’ than his usually casual air of command and confidence. His tail was held more stiffly over his hips than usual, his head cocked higher and those fathomless sapphires held a sharp reprimand. But there was no sign to be found that he would attack without provocation.

“Good day, stranger.... I'm sorry to have to start an introduction this way, but... I’m afraid you’ve trespassed into the territory of Celestial. Was this intentional, or did you merely miss the border markings?” His eyes searched the male’s face and body as he waited for an answer. He maintained a lack of hostility. If this fellow truly proved no threat, Regulus wasn’t averse to helping him out a little.