Leaving Celestial's lands for the last time was in an odd way a relief. It felt... somehow... like he was leaving behind the part of himself that had led him to join Regulus' pack, like he was comfortable once again in his own skin. Celestial had felt like his pelt was too tight, like who he was, was too confined. It felt... like an itch constantly there, reminding him of how he'd once lived, suggesting that he could do better if only he had the chance.

Now he'd taken that chance, grabbed onto the opportunity with all his strength. Now he had the chance to make up, in some small way, for the part he'd played in his brothers' murder. All those lives - he would not, of course, go so far as to say they were innocent lives, for they were after all men of honor, but the lives of comrades and mentors and proteges he had known and for the most part loved nonetheless - lost because of his mistake. Well, he had lived through that period of his life, he'd lost, and he'd learned from it. That experience shaped him, and he would not waste it.

He would not think of himself as Mask any longer, but rather reclaim the name that he had been given at birth. Perhaps he would, in times he needed to remain anonymous, give that name once again. But he was through hiding who he was behind a mask - he would live and die as Enrico, and he would face whatever might come of that decision. Even if it brought Basileus' jaws to his throat.

His pawsteps had brought him once again to the bow of the ship he'd been so fascinated with before. He'd decided that the benefits outweighed the potential for being trapped within it. Now here he was.

Ready.

The dark male paused for a moment to study the deck of the ship for signs of recent occupation in case he needed to remove anyone, but if someone had been using it as a base they were away from home at the moment. Perhaps he would need to reinforce his authority if they attempted to return, but not this second. Satisfied with his findings, he raised his muzzle and, in a low, smooth note, howled his claim on these lands, raising his standard and inviting those who would seek to better themselves under his guidance.

A howl rose up through the pines. Ferrous listened to it dispassionately. The howler was inviting rogues to join him in a pack or something. That didn't interest her. She wanted to do her own thing, be her own person. She couldn't do that with some stuffy old fart barking orders at her and dictating how she lived her life. So she ignored it.

"You know..." Zahir ventured.

Ferrous turned an equally dispassionate eye on her companion. She knew exactly what the cat was going to say, so she beat her companion to it. "You need a pack," she said in a mocking, nasally voice. In her regular voice she then said, "Just like I need another hole in my head." She thought for a second, then added. "Or diarrhea."

Zahir padded closer. "Think about it. In a pack you'd never be hungry. Or lonely." She sat down beside her young ward. "You'd be surrounded by wolves."

Ferrous scowled into the dirt and was quiet for several moments before she asked, "Will you leave me with them?"

"Never." Several seconds ticked by. "Will you just try it? If you don't like the pack, or the alpha, we can just leave."

---

With unhappiness etched quite clearly across her face, Ferrous approached Enrico. Zahir trailed a couple steps behind her. They'd learned quite early in their relationship that there were wolves who had no tolerance for other predators. If this man was one of them Zahir would be off like a shot and Ferrous wouldn't be far behind her.

Distrustfully Ferrous eyed the older male. She'd never been a member of a pack and she wasn't sure how to approach him. Thieving was one thing, she knew how to play up her youthfulness and use it to her advantage, but this was different. She wanted this guy to know she was strong and free; that she didn't need him. He needed her. No way he'd believe that if he thought she was too young and stupid to know anything.

"So you got a pack, huh?" Her wary expression became a touch curious. Against her better judgement she was indeed curious. "What's so great about it?"

He had been a wanderer for as long as he could remember. The youth had nothing really going for him in life, and he wasn't quite sure how much longer he could deal with that. Every day was a constant fight for survival, and when the seasons changed and prey got scarce in certain parts, he found it hard to hunt. Surviving on his own was a daily struggle, and he was so tired of it. He didn't know what it was like to live in a pack. Let alone live with others. He could barely remember what it was like to live with his family...his fathers had disappeared, leaving him alone. And his sister? He had absolutely no idea where she was. He hadn't seen any of them since he was a pup, and gradually...he began to forget who they were.

As he wandered the northern parts, he heard a howl. One that sounded important. Someone was claiming a pack, right? He had heard howls like that across the lands every now and then, but he always steered clear. He didn't know what packs were like...what they did to loners. He had no knowledge of any of that. But for once, he got curious. Pausing where he was, he listened until the howl died in the wind. He stared in the direction where it came from for several beats, and eventually his paws began to carry him towards the ship that jutted out from the landscape. If anything, he could at least see what was going on. But he was honestly so tired of being alone. He needed a change.

Climbing up the ship, each paw moved forward with uncertainty. He didn't know if this was a bad idea or a good one, or maybe it was even the worst idea he ever had. But, he was already here. He arrived in time to hear a young girl question who he assumed was the one that called, and his gaze turned to the dark male as he too, waited for an answer.

Text speech Thought

Enrico, his perch on the bow of the ship secured, waited with unruffled calm, alone, after he sent out his call. If anyone wanted to come, they would. If they didn't, they wouldn't. It was as simple as that, and he was neither anxious nor offended as the minutes ticked by.

A movement caught his eye - no, two forms, not one. He studied the pair with great interest as they approached the ship across the permanent ice surrounding the ship. A pup - perhaps? she looked quite young, yet there was the way she held herself, and that defiant blue-white gaze that said she was older... he'd seen that precocious maturity in pups once or twice, but something about her that made him think this 'pup' was older - and a big cat that certainly called for a second glance. He'd thought it was a leopard, but she was like no leopard he'd ever seen. He knew vaguely that there were northern leopards of this general shape, but he'd never seen one. Still, he'd never heard that they were of this strange coloration, and certainly someone would have mentioned if they had six inch long fangs. She was unusual enough that to pretend not to notice would be more noticeable than not, so he took a moment to regard the cat studyingly.

A second young wolf, this one a male bearing an earthen pelt rather than both Enrico and the first youngling, slunk up quietly as the young female asked a defiant question. Enrico didn't need to even consider her question, a single word coming after only a beat, calmly and quietly. "Nothing."

He tilted his head slightly, watching her. His heart ached a little, thinking she'd have done well in the cosca if they'd only been more accepting of females, at the same time wary knowing how treacherous a seemingly innocent girl could be. "A pack is only as great as those who support it," he went on to explain. "A pack of lazy individuals will never be great no matter how righteous and vaunted the laws of the pack they lay claim to. A pack of cowards no more than cowerds even if their alpha vouches the pack as a pack of great warriors. A pack is what the individuals make of it, so a wise alpha will only choose those individuals proven to follow his - or her - ideals. So since I have no followers yet, no packmates, what makes my pack great is... nothing."

He smiled faintly. "Of course, I could tell you that I will make this pack great by only accepting wolves who are willing to pull their own weight and improve themselves, who are willing to set aside what is accepted as what is normal by the standards laid out by most packs in favor of setting their own standard, individuals who will care more about taking care of this pack and doing right by their packmates than about the senseless and impractical requirements of morality and lawfulness... but as I have not yet proven that to be true you cannot know that for certain any more than I can know for certain that I can trust you, yes?"

The answer she got was simple and startling. Instantly - and perhaps a bit rudely - one browspot shot up as the corners of her mouth turned down, her expression the embodiment of a snarky "really?" Had she just trekked all the way across the ice and up like a billion flights of stairs for nothing?

She soon found out that the reaction was a bit premature as the male went on to elaborate. Ferrous schooled her impertinent expression into something a little bit more neutral, although she couldn't quite get rid of all of her skepticism.

As the male spoke Ferrous' critical expression began to change. Honestly she was surprised by his honesty. It surprised her that this alpha - technically an alpha of nothing at the moment - was willing to admit he wasn't the big swinging dick of the North. He was blunt and seemingly willing to take his time choosing members. She didn't feel like he was trying to woo her to the pack to fill some quota which was what she'd expected.

Perhaps a bit too blunt for her own good, she replied, "Then it looks like we's at an impasse, huh? If we can't trust ya to do right by your pack, to accept wolves who will only make it better, and ya can't trust us to be those wolves, we should just call it a day right now and go our separate ways 'cause we ain't ever gonna get anywhere, right?"

Without even looking at Zahir, Ferrous knew she was making her companion nervous, but she had to ask. If there was one thing Ferrous had learned from thieving it was that things that seemed absolute weren't always so. He had to be going somewhere with this, right? There had to be a "catch" to reel them in; some kind of twist to overcome the chasm his honest words had created.

Cepheus too, waited for an answer to the girls question. And it would come. Both brows furrowed as he took in what the new alpha said. Though the man didn't have a pack just yet, he was surprised to find that he wasn't trying too hard to sway them. If at all. Of course, he had never been in a pack, either. But he saw how they worked to some extent. Wouldn't it have been in his best interest to sway them to join or something? He mentally shrugged, and he wasn't sure he cared too much. But he had come all this way, surely there was something that would come out of it, right? The girl spoke up again after the man finished his explanation, and Cepheus silently agreed. His gaze turned to the dark coated male, unsure of what he really wanted to say. He never really spoke to many others, so he felt like he was in an awkward sort of position. But then again, he did come here to find something. A place to call home. A place he might actually be useful instead of living life alone for the rest of his life. "I'll be honest here. I've been a loner since I was born, but that's not the kind of life I want to keep living. I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone in these lands that I can trust right away. Isn't it something that oughta be earned?" Did this guy have some sort of...agenda or something? Some secret power that he had where he automatically knew who was trustworthy or not? How would this man know if prospective pack members were trustworthy unless he knew them beforehand? One thing was for certain...he wanted a chance to prove himself. A chance to belong somewhere. ooc//crap tag i'm sorry T^T hard to focus rn Speak

If nothing else, his honest assessment of his own pack - or lack thereof - seemed to catch the girl's attention, though the male seemed confused. "We could," he agreed with the girl, tilting his head in her direction in acknowledgement. "We could all of us go our separate ways and live our lives in whatever way they may lead us. It's likely none of us would even remember this conversation. Or..."

He paused, letting his eyes drift to the lands around them. "Or we could take chances. Take risks. Take the opportunity to prove ourselves, to improve ourselves. To maybe find friends we can trust, a home." He refocused on the younger wolves. "And yes, perhaps it doesn't work out between us. Perhaps some wolves prove untrustworthy, or lazy, or cowardly, and are no longer welcome. Perhaps some wolves do not like me, or the way we do things, and choose to leave. But to part ways amicably after having had a chance to gain experience is not such a bad thing, yes?"

He stopped again, tilting his head back and forth between them. "I wish for this pack to give young wolves the opportunity to grow, and to rise above the generation before them. What is accepted as 'the right way' doesn't need to be the only right way - we can make our own way." He gave the tiniest of shrugs. "But a life like that isn't for everyone. I don't expect you'd be very interested."

Normally in situations like this Ferrous would do her best to project a facade to mask her true feelings, but this one was different. She had nothing to gain by pretending, so as the man continued to speak, his words clearly meant to reel her in, Ferrous found her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Where was the catch? The hook was easy to see, but the tactic was odd. There was nothing stopping her from walking away.

And yet here she was not walking away.

In fact, it seemed he was willing to accept she might eventually walk away. How bizarre. He was leaving all the doors open instead of corralling her towards one. How did he expect to gain new members if he didn't herd them?

If she were being honest, though, she rather liked having all those options. It was hard to escape the sneaking suspicion that there might be trap hidden somewhere in there, but if Ferrous set her paranoia aside for a moment, the appeal was there.

Her frown deepened as she thought. After a moment she snuck a peek at Zahir, which didn't do her any good as the cat remained passive in the hopes Ferrous would make the decision herself. "I might be," she hedged with a casual, dismissive sniff meant to undercut her interest. "If I were, what would be the next step?"

Enrico couldn't help the tiny smile that glitter across his muzzle and was gone. She was a feisty little thing, wasn't she? He would be disappointed if this didn't go as he hoped and she walked away after all. “The next step would be determining where your interests lie and ranking you accordingly. The way I have envisioned the pack is as a series of guilds, each focused on one general path with the ability to microfocus on specializations within that path. Fighters, hunters, healers, scouts, traders and craftmen. A fighter, for instance, may be content to simply guard the borders and protect them from harm. Or they may find an interest in something more specific and choose to learn more about it. Perhaps as a bodyguard, which takes different skills than simply patrolling a border, or even as an assassin.”

He said the last casually, watching both wolves carefully for a reaction to the idea of assassins being permitted among them, though he did not show his intense scrutiny outwardly. Niente, like it's alpha, was not going to always be sunshine, rainbows, and sweet cuddly bunnies. It was also blood, and backalley deals, and knives in the dark. They had to be able to accept that, to fit in this pack.

In response to Enrico's words Ferrous nodded her understanding coolly; her expression noncommittal. Inwardly she was a bit less collected. No matter how much she downplayed it, this was a big deal. There were so many what ifs. What if the catch came later when she was in too deep to make a clean getaway? What if in the middle of the night he hit her over the head with a rock and traded her to some loonies? What if this pack was perfect for her? Out of all the what ifs, that last one was the scariest. She'd have to commit to something bigger than herself and that thought terrified her. Her siblings had faded away one by one until it was just her and Zahir. Their disappearances had wounded her, but she'd grown stronger because of them. The isolation had made her tough. Detached. This pack could change that and that was not okay.

Ferrous waffled a few seconds longer - she was just calloused enough that the bit about the assassin had blown by her completely - and then nodded to herself firmly. Alright, she'd made up her mind.

She cocked her head and stared up at the big wannabe alpha. "Alright, Mister Alpha guy. I'm interested. I'll give your pack a try - if you want." Fearlessly she fixed him with a stern look before continuing, "But if it's not for me, if it's no good, I'll be on my way before you can say 'take a chance.'"

Returning her stern glance with a serious one of his own, he nodded. "Of course. You will be free to go on your way if you feel you do not fit." It seemed reasonable enough, since the pack was still so new and did not have a set reputation for wolves to know if they were suited before they attempted to join. "You and your intriguing friend, if she is interested as well..." He lifted a brow inquiringly towards the sabre-toothed leopard, "... are more than welcome to find dens here. From what I have seen of this place, there are a honeycomb of dens within this place already, many of them already packed with warm materials. Some have very interesting human items that I do not know the uses for, but if you take a liking to one that is filled with things you do not want, I can assist you in moving them if you like. Or of course you may choose to dig a den out towards the border, where there is solid land rather than ice." He himself had doubts about the comfort and ease of trying to dig in frozen ground, but she certainly had that option. "We do not need to work out what guild you wish to follow until you've settled in and learned the lands. I am, by the way, Enrico Falcone. What shall I call you? And you?" He added to the cat, addressing her directly rather than through the wolf friend as many often did.

He turned an questioning glance towards the earthen male who up until now had not seemed to have much to say. "You, signor? Have I satisfied your curiosity enough to decide what you will do?"