Sun's Comin' Up

In the dark morning sky, the ebony form of a raven swooped across the plains, keen eyes scanning about the edges of the forests that surrounded Hallowed lands. Its head snapped in the direction of the two wolves at the border—a Hallowed wolf and a stranger. The raven circled smoothly in the air, eyeing the two lupines once more before it took off with a strong flap of inky wings, soaring across the plains to its master. Artorias was conducting his morning patrols, wandering the edges of the pack's borders and scoping out any remnants of the Ooze left behind now that the Long Night had ended. Thankfully, most of the pestilence seemed to have burned away with the return of the sun. The world was gradually returning to normal, though the horrors of the nightmare would not soon be forgotten.

With a graceful flap of his wings, Corbin swooped down from the sky to settle on Artorias' back. "Master Artorias, there seems to be a stranger at our borders conversing with Sota," he informed him in smooth English lyrics. Artorias' ears flicked back, a steely look of cautious intrigue cross his features. A stranger had shown up to their borders without calling for any wolves of the pack? How bizarre... But Artorias would not assume the worst, not without validation. "Show me." Corbin bobbed his head in a nod and took to the sky, leading the dire wolf across the plains back to where Sota and the stranger were. Artorias followed at a swift trot, arriving across the sea of grasses to find the Hallows' smallest member speaking to a wolf almost of equal height to himself.

"Good morning," Artorias greeted both wolves as he approached, dipping his head to Sota, then turning curious eyes to the stranger at their border. Though the light wasn't the greatest in the dawn, he could make out the markings in her natural-colored coat. Her scent held hints of other wolves; this was a pack wolf, though not the scent of any pack he recognized. A new troop, perhaps? "I wasn't aware we had a guest. Who's your friend, Sota?" Artorias withheld introductions for now. Once he had a better idea of why another pack's wolf was lingering at his borders, then he'd determine if this was a friendly encounter or not.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Argent"