The world was so changed from what she had known. No packs from those days still remained, no point of reference for her to build on, just an array of strange names and strange faces that merged into a kaleidoscope of noise that was bewildering even for a wolf as steady as Gwen. She had wandered for quite some time without truly feeling connected to anyplace. Even the range, where Seracia had once been, held no warmth for her. It felt... empty.

Her restless wandering had led her here, to the border of a pack. She stared onto the lands with faint puzzlement. The markers smelled... vaguely familiar, as if she could almost but not quite place one of the threads of scent that wove through it. She stood quiescent, head cooked to the side thoughtfully, for a long moment. Caution warned with curiosity, before the flame-point female lifted her muzzle to the sky and loosed a long, low note inviting the park's alpha to join her on the border.

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He was padding along the lakeward edge of the Plains’ borders when he heard the howl. It was unfamiliar, and his head swiveled away from a clump of grass his was nosing, checking the strength of the border marking. He paused long enough to add a fresh mark to the clump, before breaking into a long lope. As the older female came into view, he assessed her appearance. There was a note of familiarity in her build, something that set him at ease. Blue eyes and a base of cream, layered with earthen tones. He thought he could make out the faintest suggestion of cream spots dappling the blanket over her back and shoulders. He let a warm smile pull across his features as he approached, stopping a foot away on the other side of the border. “Good day, Lady. I am Regulus Adravendi, Archangel of Celestial. What brings you to the borders of Celestial today?” He regarded her curiously, ears perked as his haunches lowered to the ground, his tail flicking to curl about his hips. His tone was easy going and gentle, a direct contrast to his immense size.

The wolf that appeared to answer her call would likely have surprised most wolves with his coloration, but it was not far off the bright red coloration that Gwen's own father had displayed, so it wasn't the bright color itself that made her do a bit of a double take, rather it was from the startled, half-formed notion that somehow it was her father, a notion that died immediately. She shook her head with a rueful grimace. Wishful thinking, to be sure. She studied the wolf as he came closer. Young, strong, and very, very tall, his was one of the scents on the scent marker that was so oddly familiar despite clearly being a stranger.

At his name, her ears came stiffly forward from their previously relaxed position. Adravendi? Was he perhaps somehow a relative after all? That bright red coat was quite similar to Maverick's. But why would a child or grandchild of Maverick use only Epiphron's name? They had always used Adravendi-Mathias, though perhaps the younger generations had shortened it for ease. It was rather a mouthful...

Despite the questions that had been raised in her mind, Gwenevere calmly mimicked his pose, relaxing on her haunches with her flame-tipped tail curving across her forefeet. "Whose child are you?" she did inquire, the need to know warring with the requirements of polite greeting. She gave him a faintly apologetic smile. "I am Gwenevere Adravendi-Mathias. I have been gone from these lands for quite some time, and your border markers smelled familiar to me. I thought it wise to learn more."

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He was well used to the doubletakes he got from wolves who hadn’t met him. He was huge, and brightly colored. Granted, he’d seen some even more fascinatingly colored pelts in his relatively short lifetime, but he was still among those that were completely unnaturally shaded. Bright as a cardinal, red as blood. He’d never met his great Uncle Maverick. Even his grandmother had only met him perhaps three times; once as Epiphron was wed to him, second as they birthed their first litter in Seracia as King and Queen, and perhaps a third time when Erani had gone to relay the sad news of Cairo’s death. He didn’t miss the sudden interest at his surname, however. That was out of the norm. Had she known his mother? His grandmother? Had her paths crossed with Faite? Or Zuriel? Or one of his other siblings, perhaps? His head cocked at her question. He forestalled his response with silence, allowing her to introduce herself. Ahhh, that surname was familiar, certainly. A broad grin parted his carmine jaws, ears planning to the side in delight. “We’re cousins, then! My mother is- well, she was Surreal Adravendi. My grandmother was Erani Adravendi.” He faltered briefly at the tense of present over past, his grin dimming slightly as he spoke. That was a pain he was unlikely to heal completely from any time soon… if ever. He smiled down at the older woman, his cousin, as he sat back. “Celestial was founded by my mother, Surreal, three years ago; four years this upcoming late winter. This lake is our secondary holding, and Vericona Plains is our main territory. We welcome able bodied wolves willing to work together to sustain the vitality of the pack, and prefer to avoid conflict with other packs, unless one of those under attack is an ally.“ He paused, eyes finding her lighter blue gaze, questioning silently if she wished to hear more, or voice her own questions.

A spark of recognition as the young man gave his name and lineage. His claim of cousinhood earned a polite smile - she didn't know about that, though she did know a bit about Erani and her children from Epiphron, and how Erani had adopted the Adravendi name. Granted Gwenevere had been quite young when she'd left, and more than a little bit of a spoiled brat, so perhaps the family relationship had been closer than she'd thought or cared to think. Her smile faded into somberness at the knowledge of their deaths, and she lowered her muzzle respectfully. "My mother told me about how Erani brought her and her siblings out of old Valhalla when the lands were destroyed, a long time ago, and some about Surreal. I'm sorry to hear that they've both passed. You have my condolences."

She kept her head tilted down as he spoke of the founding of his pack, and described it briefly. "It sounds much like Valhalla as I knew it," she observed, half to herself, and gave him a distantly friendly smile. "It has been quite a long time since I've been in these lands and it would be... good to be somewhere familiar for a change." Without being too familiar, she thought sadly, as the range she'd grown up in had been almost uncomfortably familiar. Growing up there... the argument with her parents... the challenge that had taken the pack away completely. It had inevitably reminded her of Lanse, and the still-raw loss.

She set that aside, set aside the sadness of the memories, and brought her muzzle up to survey her... cousin, then? with quietly firm dignity. "Would you have need of another warrior among your ranks, Regulus Adravendi? I have some skill in fighting, and in star navigation and weather-watching if you've more need of that, and a willingness to prove my worth."

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

He listened with interest as she spoke about her mother telling them about his Grandmother, and the coming to this continent. His head bowed in response to her condolences. “Thank you. We miss them, but none can stay forever.” A smile pulled at his lips at her remark, and he was glad that Celestial sounded that similar; it had been his mother’s hope when she’d planned and created the pack. It was her question that widened the smile on his face, and he responded easily, “We have use for any adults trained enough that they can pass on their knowledge. We have more Yearlings and pups than we do trained adults, and no high ranking wolves except myself, at the moment.” His voice sobered as he added, “We’ve experienced several deaths lately; my mother, then my father, and my cousin’s mate’s brother.” He smiled at Gwenevere, beating aside the sorrow. “So if you don’t mind teaching a lot of young children, I’ll be happy to see what you can give. You can join now as a Unit to see if you’ll enjoy it here for sure, and work up into a rank, or you could spar with me here and now so I can test your skills.” He cocked his head, waiting for her response with a smile that said he would be pleased with either one.

Her face stayed suitably grave - after all, they had been talking about the deaths of his close family members, and while she was able to set aside grief it did not mean she was insensible to others' needs - until he mentioned teaching the children. Her face softened, a subtle change that brought an extra warmth to her falsely-youthful features. They had always wanted children, her and Lanse... she would never have children of her own, now, but that did not mean she could not find joy in passing her knowledge to others' children. One did not refuse the comfort of a hearthfire in a cottage simply because they may no longer sit by the fireplace of a palace.

"Certainly I would be more than happy to help with the younglings," she assured him, before standing and stretching with a brisk efficiency quite at odds with the softness of her face moments ago. A moment of self-examination with the experience of someone who has long since learned their body's limits, but she nodded firmly to herself. She was tired from her journey, yes, but nowhere near exhausted. She had energy and strength to spare for this. "I see no reason to put off what we can do now, if you are amenable to a spar," she added, with a faint smile for him. It would be an interesting test of her skills, certainly. She was not much older than he was, not yet out of her prime physically, but she was barely taller than his elbow and built along much lighter lines.

Regulus Anatolii Adravendi

A smile parted his jaws at her assurance that she’d be happy to teach the children tail sweeping side to side as he rose to his paws. “If you don’t mind, I’ll call one of our Yearlings to witness the spar. It’s a rule in Celestial; spars must be conducted with a member of Celestial present to witness the spar’s outcome. Even my spars.” He added with a wink as he gave his muscles a stretch, shoulders rolling to shake off the mild stiffness from sitting there. “This is especially important for wolves wishing to rise in the ranks of fighting. If they lie about winning spars they did not, I could end up having a high-ranking wolf who didn’t truly earn his or her way up. Though I honestly doubt anyone would lie in Celestial, it’s also a good way for wolves to watch and learn.” Once she’d given her acquiescence, he called for Justice, in particular. The young female had been active, patrolling the borders often enough that he could pick out her scent as one of the strongest in the border markings. He felt it would be a good thing for her to observe, and meet Gwenevere, since the female may very well end up having a paw in mentoring Justice along with the rest of the younglings.

Justice's ears pricked up in surprise at the deep voice calling for her, specifically her. That was Regulus, but why would he be calling for her? Curious, and no small bit excited, she broke off her patrol on the far side of the territory and loped towards the sound. It took her a bit but she finally came within sight of the border, where the alpha was waiting for her with a stranger. Justice eyed the flame-pointed older female curiously - she was outside pack lands, so clearly no trespasser, though Regulus would hardly have called her in to help with a trespasser. "Reporting as requested, sir," she stated as she came to an efficient stop in front of them, drawing herself up as best as she could in an attempt to look like a professional adult. She didn't know why she'd been called, but she didn't want to make Regulus or the pack look bad by acting like a hyperactive, untrained pup.

-::-

He was pleased by how quickly Justice responded to his call. A smile crossed his jaws at her words, and he dipped his head, winking slightly at the girl. “Thank you, Justice.” He turned to face Gwenevere, adding “Now, Justice, this is Gwenevere. She wishes to join as a fighter. Protocol states that I, or a high-ranking wolf in the fighting lines, must test her in a spar to see if her skill matches her words. But we need a witness to verify the outcome if she’s asked. So I called you.” He cast a smile down at the dark girl. “All you need to do is watch. This is also a chance for you to observe a spar and take notes on attacks, so watch closely.” He nodded to Gwenevere, adding, “I will warn you; this will be a hard-hitting spar. I don’t mind if you make me bleed or give me bruises, and I hope you don’t mind either, but it will help me get a better idea of your skill than if we bat about like pups. I assure you I won’t maim you or break limbs.” with a gentle grin, even as his initial defenses fell into place- his tail leveled with his spine as his paws settled into a squared stance, just slightly outside of his shoulders and hips. The claws spread on each paw as his toes also spread, furthering traction and grip on the footing. His elbows and hocks bent slightly, lowering his center of gravity and loosening his joints for freer movement. His hackles raised from the base of his skull, all the way to the base of his tail, and ears that had been perked in good natured attentiveness now flicked back, pinning against the risen fur, nestled safely as his head lowered to align with his spine, matching his tail. His jaws parted slightly, teeth baring as his jowls lifted and his face wrinkled into a protective scowl around his eyes as they narrowed to slits. As his shoulders rolled forward, and his neck scrunched back to protect his vertebrae between the shoulder blades, the action rolled his scruff into a protective layer of flesh, fat and fur around his neck, and his chin tucked to guard his throat from the shorter female. These defenses were all set into place with practiced speed as he asked of his opponent “If you’re ready?” He waited no longer than it took for Gwen to nod or make some other kind of confirming gesture or word before he launched himself forward, wanting to close the five feet of distance swiftly and come at her face-one, with him angling just slightly to his own left. He sought to bring himself slightly lower, legs bending to accomplish the feat as he threw his right shoulder forward, dropping it slightly and aiming the bony point of the shoulder for Gwenevere’s chest, seeking to thrust hard into her outer right breast just under the base of her neck, wanting to hook the point of his right shoulder against the inner side of her own right shoulder and shove her backward with his momentum and force. Simultaneously, his head tipped sharply to his own left, muzzle pointing to his right as his jaws parted and he sought to lunge his head forward and down swiftly, seeking a firm hold on Gwenevere’s scruff, upper canines seeking a placement on the left side if her scruff, a hand’s breadth above her shoulder blades, and the canines of his lower jaw seeking a similar spot upon the right side of her scruff. He wanted to obtain a good, solid grip from which he might be able to do further damage to her in the future, or restrain any attempts to get away and use her smaller size and agility against him. His right foreleg rose quickly, while his other three limbs compensated, hind legs squaring and left front paw placing itself under his center of gravity as his right front paw sought to hook around the inside of Gwenevere’s right foreleg at the ankle, wishing to jerk it sharply toward himself and out from under her to unbalance her, before he sought to drive forward and shove the whole right side of his chest into her right shoulder, wanting to further unbalance her, and maybe even shove her hard enough to fall back onto her rump. He hoped, and didn’t doubt, that Justice was watching closely and learning from being a witness, and just as much, he hoped Gwen was as good as she said she was, because they needed her even more than she knew. -:: Regulus vs Gwenevere for Legionary Test Spar ::- Round 1/3 Height: 42" Build: Heavy Extra Notes: Distance agreed upon by Tealah <3 Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Gwenevere inclined her head politely to the yearling who answered Regulus' call to observe their spar, then nodded again in response to Regulus' words. "It would hardly be a proper test otherwise, would it?" she said dryly, though with a smile to take any sting from her words. "You can expect me to do the same."

As the alpha set his defenses, Gwenevere did the same, relaxing into a warrior's stance with the ease of long practice. Her paws stood just over shoulder- and hip-distance apart, her weight centered and evenly distributed over all four limbs. She held her weight lightly and on her toes like a sprinter ready for the starting gun, joints slightly bent and lose, all to allow for sudden and swift movement. Her tail rose while her head dipped to make a line with her spine for balance.

Her ears flicked back to protect them from his teeth and her eyes, while remaining watchfully upon him, narrowed to slits to minimize their exposure. She raised her hackles, but unlike most fighters opted not to scrunch her neck and shoulders together - she found the posture to be confining and stiff and felt it slowed her movements. She did tuck her chin slightly to protect her throat despite her opponent's height and the friendly nature of the spar - it wouldn't do to get into the habit of forgetting, only to come to grief when she did need it.

He asked if she was ready, both having fallen into their respective stances. "Ready," she affirmed, seeing no reason to wait any longer when they were both already ready. Frankly were their positions reversed she might not have waited for her opponent to be ready - a better test would be how they fought when surprised, in her opinion. A duel was all well and good, but a real enemy wouldn't wait until you were ready.

He charged, which was only logical for a wolf of his size to do. Charge and use their body weight to overwhelm their opponent. With the opponent being her size it certainly would have if she'd held still for him to hit. She didn't, of course. She sidestepped to her left and pivoted toward her right in the same smooth motion, bringing her to face ninety degrees to her previous position and a good foot to the left, seeking to face Regulus' right shoulder. The movement took her out of range of Regulus' charge and his attempt to hook her foreleg both, though his teeth did slice across her forehead above her right eye, leaving a moderate gash that - as head wounds tended to do - bled profusely. And annoyingly.

She flinched at the sudden spike of pain and shook the blood from her eye. A fight that would already need to end quickly simply because her fighting style would take more energy than his would now be complicated by being virtually blind in one eye. Still, muscle memory was a beautiful thing, and she'd had a good long time as a lone female to have reason to build her fighting skills even before she and Lanse had taken up together and honed their skills in sparring one another.

She lashed out by reflex even as she was blinking the blood away, teeth seeking to sink into his right elbow, her head tilting slightly so that her lower jaw would be to the outside point of his elbow and her upper to the inside curve. Not to hold, but with the intention to lacerate and withdraw without pause. His right elbow, favored enough that she had seen and marked as a weakness. As she did she shifted her weight to her hindquarters and brought her left forepaw up towards his right flank, attempting to jab the dull claws hard into the fleshy area there. Was he ticklish? She certainly didn't know but ticklish or not it would be an unpleasant distraction for the big red male if she reached her target.

All right so yes, her and Lanse's spars had always been... unconventional. And certainly ended much less appropriately than how this one would, to be sure. But the odd style certainly suited her size and taught her a great deal of improvisation, and she was certainly practical enough to use whatever odd idea and technique came her way if it worked well enough.

GWENEVERE vs REGULUS for LEGIONARY TEST SPAR

Round 1/3

Height: 30"

Build: Medium

-::-

Good, she was fast. As she eluded his heavy slam, he sought to adjust, hind paws setting hard into the ground as his right fore-paw – having missed its mark – returned to the ground, weight readjusting to all four legs, even if only temporarily. His teeth, having missed her scruff, instead caught her above the eye, and he thought a silent apology even as he continued the spar. As she sought to lash out at his right elbow, Regulus sought to drop his front end to come level with her head’s height, seeking to swerve hard to his right, wanting to counter her questing canines by slamming the outer edge of the bony point of his right shoulder hard into her face, the nose in particular. He hoped to smash into her nose and cause a distracting amount of bruising and pain at the very least, and at most, to give her a nosebleed to restrict her breathing. He sought to swing his hind end around, pivoting on his front paws, to bring him head to head with Gwenevere – causing her paw to jab only air – his paws shifting to fall quickly into alignment with his hips and shoulders, elbows and hocks bending to loosen the joints and free his movement as he sought to lunge forward, head twisting to his left as his jaws parted, seeking a hold on her muzzle, upper canines seeking placement on the right side of her muzzle, his lower canines striving to clamp into the left side of her muzzle, slighter further toward her nose. He wanted a solid grip to hold her in check and disable her ability to use her teeth on him. His head and tail remained level with his spine, chin tucked to guard his throat from the smaller wolf, face a mask of snarling wrinkles around narrowed eyes. His ears remained pinned back against risen hackles that extended the length of his spine to the base of his tail as he readjusted his defenses slightly, shoulders rolling forward to guard the base of his neck. His weight was distributed to each leg, toes flexing to spread and add to his traction and balance with claws digging into the ground to aid that goal further. He worked silently, watching and calculating her skill. Thus far, he liked what he saw. She was quick and inventive, and she had clear enough skill, that was plain to see. It certainly gave him hope that the children would be in good paws with her, whether she got the rank of Legionary or not with this spar. -:: Regulus vs Gwenevere for Legionary Test Spar ::- Round 2/3 Height: 42" Build: Heavy Extra Notes: Sorry for how long this took :P *Is tickled that she finally got a spar post written.* Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think