The sky was blue as blue could be, and the faint wind was only cool instead of chilled. Its southerly blow trickled through the land and danced across the white earth. The light layer of snow was cool against his paws, and Flash showed no desire in setting foot in the drifts. He instead raced along Al’s back, poised against his tail, before leaping, and grabbing the strap of a saddle bag in one nimble hand, using it to haul himself up and onto the pack horse. Stubborn simply snorted, shaking his head, but otherwise showing no reaction to the mischief of the monkey.

Al didn’t so much as slow as the weight lifted from his back, placing large paws carefully on the snowy ground. A stray end of weat that he had plucked from the saddle bags earlier in the day. He whistled past the stem as he strolled with confident, almost lazy steps through the lands of Alactiris. The sun had risen and set many, many times since he had left his family’s lands, and he had long since reached a point where he no longer recognised a single strip of land.

He would be hopelessly lost if it wasn’t for the auspicious meeting of a colourful wolf. The young Lyrae had directed her towards the lands of a pack that would treat favourably with a tinkerer such as himself. He only regretted that he had not been able to answer the questions she herself had presented to him. No, he had seen no wolf that matched the description of her sister. He didn’t let this bring him down, had apologised and been on his way.

Now, with monkey and pony in tow, he would at last find himself but a few comfortable miles from the border of Fyri. He whistled as he covered the distance, sometimes with a monkey on his back, and sometimes without. Stubborn continued behind him, the same tireless pace in her hooves as the one to his paws.

The towering trees would enter his view before the scent of pack did, and he knew that he had followed the directions given without straying. He turned, weat still in his gum, and smiled at Flash. “And you doubted me, foolish Cebidae” he winked at the monkey, who raised a fist and chitted at him, before his party would stop at the border of Fyri. he seated himself comfortably on the snow, and raised his head, calling out to Fyri.

""

The snow was picking up as winter pressed on, and Ignatius was certain that a larger storm would soon be on its way. He was always working to keep their stores of food as full as possible while also keeping up with patrols and other matters. The pack needed to grow soon. There was only so much a small group could keep up with. On thr bright side, he was glad to have both Sou and Seph here with him. It was the first time they'd ever been able to do things in their own time, bonding and enjoying their time together freely. Ig did his best to focus on those positive things rather than other issues, but there was only so much to distract him anymore.

It was an unexpected howl that made him look up from cluttered den he'd been sitting in. Well. Nothing was being accomplished here anyway, so Ignatius would stand and abandon the mess - mostly hides and crafting projects he wasn't too happy with so far - keen to have a new thing to divert his attention to.

Upon arriving at the border, Ignatius would rink in the sight before him with one brow raised in an uncertain expression. A wolf, a monkey, and a pony. Sounded like the start of a bad joke. Still, Ig wasn't one to judge so he's approach with a friendly smile and a warm greeting like always. "Greetings, friend. I am Ignatius, alpha of Fýri. What brings you to my borders?"

He could see little beyond the towering forest before him, besides the great trees with a gentle coat of snow that settled gently in their branches. The pack in these lands was a mystery to him, as was much of Boreas, a land he was yet to explore in depths. He was content to sit back on his hunches in the cool snow, and await an audience with the master of this territory. Stubborn huffed behind him, stirring his wait from hoof to hoof restlessly, but didn’t move away from where he had led her. Flash chittered excitedly on his back, climbing to the space between the wolf's ears, and peering through the fluff there. When the colourful wolf that ruled the lands of Fyri made an appearance, the monkey raised himself slowly, his head floated above Al’s ears where he could watch with growing excitement. In contrast, Stubborn behind him fell still, he could no longer hear the restless movements. “Good day to you, Ignatius of Fyri.” he said politely “I am Akseli, but feel free to call me Al. This here is Stubborn, and Flash” he nodded to each animal as he introduced them. Flash waved a hand at the Alpha in greeting, Stubborn just looked at him with calm acceptance. “The lovely Lyrae pointed me in your direction, I am a traveller looking to settle in these lands, and I bring with me knowledge and tools of craft and healing, and seek an audition into Fyri” he smiled warmly at Ignatius as he explained his reason for being there. "Speech"

"Good to meet you all," he responded, looking at each in turn. Strange group, but they seemed alright enough. Akseli went on to tell him that Lyrae had pointed him in their direction. Ig nodded, digesting the information for a moment. Lyrae had been scarce, but he also knew from their first meeting that her sister had disappeared some time ago and so it made sense that she would stray. He couldn't entirely blame her, he'd do the same if Sephira simply vanished. Long as more pack members didn't go and fall off the face of the earth.

Al continued, quick to the point, and said he was looking to settle down. Ig nodded thoughtfully. "We aren't too short on healers, but Someone who can craft and do a bit of everything would be an asset. What sorts of things can you craft?" Looking at the group did give him an idea...

Al dipped his head, a friendly smile on his muzzle as greetings were exchanged. Little Flash leaned forward through the fur between his ears, reaching as far as he could without toppling as he tried to get the best vantage point to see this strange, red toned male. “Fair enough” the young tinkerer agreed, as the Alpha mentioned a crafter being more useful to him then a healer. “Flash has a hand in all things I craft, I can make oddities with clay, clay jars for a healers stash, bowls to carry water more easily” as he spoke, Flash trailed down his back and leapt the short distance between the wolf and the pony, and began to dig around in the saddlebags with assured ease, half hopping inside as he did so. He appeared a moment later, his head holding up the fold over lid, and a small clay item in his hands. He shook it at Iggy, before burrowing back inside and appearing with a thin, flat material. “I can craft Vellum, and indeed have many maps of the lands i’ve explored, etched carefully in the material” the monkey waved the vellum, with coloured lines carefully drawn across its surface. “I make the ink with berries” [/color] he would go on to explain. “I’ve dabbled in many different crafts, and try to match the need to my abilities, if you let me know what sort of items the pack has need of” "Speech"

Listening as the man described what he could do Ignatius had to say his interest was piqued. The little monkey was quick to pull some example's from the little horse's bags and Ig studied them appreciatively. At the moment he didn't have anyone else who'd professed to be a crafter. Helping Drifa to more efficiently organize and collect herbs would be a huge help for the small pack, and maps? That brought a whole host of possibilities to mind. "I must say, I'm impressed. For now I have a few projects I need to prioritize, though I'd really like to explore maps and recording things that way... Seems like a lot of possibilities are there. However, right now I'd like to get some snares made to help the hunters out first thing. I already have most of the materials but I'm not particularly great at crafting them," he'd admit.

After another beat he'd made up his mind. "I'd be happy to have you as a member of my pack, Akseli. The position of resident Crafter is yours," a small smile tugged at his lips as he moved to face the pack lands, gesturing for the other and his companions to follow. They could walk and talk for a moment. "I also have a longer term project you might be able to help me with. Where I grew up, we had a lot of unique customs that I'd like to bring with me into this pack. One of them was gladiatorial battles, another coal walking. Usually events where these things took place were held in an... arena of sorts. Since my lands are devoid of larger old structures so far as I can tell, I'm wanting to build something. It'll take a good deal of time I imagine, but I would like to use some stone and other materials to build an arena here. Well, not here, in the next land over. There's an old felled redwood I'd like to build it around. Perhaps if I explain further and outline what I want to do you might be able to help?"

Ignatius would express his opinion on the maps and little things they had shown him, and then go on to explain that he had materials set aside for snares, but had not yet crafted them. “I would love to assist you” he offered, through he hadn’t worked much with snares, he was sure he could think of some tricks that might work. That was after all what brought him into crafting, his ability to pull ideas from almost nothing.

“Thank you Ignatius” he said warmly as the man made up his mind, and offered him a position within the pack. His Alpha would then go on to explain a large project he had in mind, and as he began to outline in, Al cold see it was almost mind bogglingly huge. But, they were in a pack which meant they could hopefully use wolves for labour, and, perhaps Al could train some horses for lugging material, that would also be a long term project but one that might be essential in the end. He twitched an ear as Flash leaned forward curiously, listening to the Alpha’s every word. Flash did love a challenge, after all. Al grinned. “I would love to help you with this, as well”

The newly minted member expressed interest in both of the projects that Ignatius brought up. Good, there was a lot to be done around the pack still, it would help to have someone handy around to speedy things along further. "Wonderful. Perhaps I'll call you in the next few days to speak further on these matters."

Looking over Akseli and his companions one last time, Ignatius offered a smile as he added, "I think I'll let you do some exploring and settling in now though if you wish. I have some other things to tend to now. Let me know if you need anything though." With that and a quick nod, Ignatius would move to part ways.

-exit Ignatius-