When Justice had first caught the errant wolf-scent on her patrol, she had thought it the scent of a rogue travelling along the border. Enough to put her on alert, her eyes, ears, and nose constantly scanning the area for the wolf who was getting so near the territory, but she hadn't even considered the possibility that turned out to be the true source of the scent.

As she grew nearer to the place where Valhallas territory touched another, the scent was finally strong enough for her to realize - another pack had moved to claim the lands next to Druids Moore as their own. Making her way through a gap in the wall, she made her way closer through the boundary between the two packs to confirm. Yes, there was no mistaking it. Valhalla had some new - and disturbingly close - neighbors.

Justice cursed aloud, hesitating between investigating further and informing Aurielle, but finally settled on the latter. It was more in line with her nature to leap without looking, but she also knew that the rest of the pack had to know about this discovery, before one of Gwen's yearlings stumbled on it themselves. Aurielle coul take the information and do what she wanted with it while Justice got back to doing what she did best, and protect the pack.

So she loped a distance back into Valhalla territory and raised her head, calling brusquely for the alpha to roust herself from wherever she was hiding and join her there.

Aurielle Adravendi

She’d run across the fresh border that morning, further south—it had, in fact, surprised her, and she’d had to skirt the lands she would normally have passed through to enjoy a stroll off to herself. She’d planned to take them someday, but now… She crossed the southern edge of the Moorland wall when she heard Justice’s brusque howl, and her path veered sharply. This wasn’t a call to chat about the weather, judging by the woman’s tone. She bujrst from the mist and slowed, head swiveling as she scanned quickly ]for anything amiss. From the looks of it – bent grass still rising from paw-prints – Justice ad come from beyond the wall, and a glance at the older woman’s face showed her the concern. “You smelled them, too?” Little mystery as to who she meant as she glanced to the east, a frown puckering her brow. Valhalla was too far to have heard the claiming of the fallen Kesali—this was unexpected. The pack’s numbers weren’t massive, but still—Valhalla wasn’t massive, either. Would this be a good neighbor, or a nightmare that they would end up warring against? She lapsed into quick mental calculations—currently, if they had to fend off a raid or a siege… they were at a disadvantage. Silently, she cursed the lack of a well-formed Shadow Circle. Scouts that knew how to remain unseen were precisely what they needed in this situation. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Aurielle was not long before she answered Justice's call, though the darker female was already shifting from paw to paw restlessly. When she burst through the mist Justice was grimly pleased to see the alpha was appropriately concerned. It wasn't a social call, after all. "You smelled them too?" she asked, and Justice gave a sharp nod, irrationally irritated that her warning was not needed after all. Her burly body half-turned towards the new border, impatient to return to her investigation. "I don't recognize any of the individual scents I could smell on the border," she began in a clipped tone, clearly eager to get back to any potential trouble that could be brewing. She wasn't a wolf made for peace. "Small pack. Mostly adults. Might be related, a family pack. Don't know. I dont have a hunter's nose," she admitted with a scowl and a rough shrug. Some of them seemed as alike as her and Paladins scents, or Laisren and Aurielle, or the yearlings, but she was far from an expert. "But they seem really similar to me anyway. I didn't want any of the kids stumbling into the other pack's lands without realizing they were there, so figured I should tell you so you can make sure everyone knows." Justice was just a fighter, not a ranking wolf. It was her responsibility or her problem to make sure everyone else knew. Her job was to keep the borders safe and tear up anyone stupid enough to try to go after her pack. Let Aurielle deal with the administrative side of it. "What's your take?"

Aurielle Adravendi

Aurielle listened to Justice’s report, nodding slowly as her eyes wandered back to the east, musing. “I will call a meeting tonight, in the plains, should be far enough off that our new neighbors don’t hear us clearly. It smelled like the alpha is a female, and I think you may be on to something—I smelled a great deal of similarity in the scents between her and her wolves.” Her head tilted in thought as she mused aloud, “I suppose my next course of action will be to pay them a visit and get a read on their alignment. It’d be nice to have an added buffer from any other packs that might was to raid from that direction, but if they are inclined to cause troubles… well. I wanted that land in the end, anyway. But we need greater numbers if it comes to a siege.” Her eyes turned to Justice, a thoughtful glint in those bi-hued blue eyes. “You’ve been in a low rank for far too long, you know. And we never did discuss where you want to be in the Circles. A fighter is a given. You’re highly experienced in comparison with the majority of our pack. Are you still inclined to continue training in healing?” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Justice's lip curled in an anticipatory grin at the mention of a siege. Not that she wanted to put her packmates in danger or risk what they had for nothing, but she thrived in the heightened danger something like that brought. She stared hard at the new border, wondering if the unknown pack would try to test them. Sparks of excitement raced down her spine, raising the fur in restless ripples.

She had to drag her attention back to Aurielle again, and flashed wicked grin at her when she commented that, for Justice, fighting was a given. Asking the question, though, that most people seemdd to forget in regards to her, was what brought her full attention. "Of course," she said with forced casualness to cover the sharp spike of interest. "I've been doing some training here and there where I could spare it but we have been so short on trained fighters that I've been putting off pursuing it with any depth."

Aurielle Adravendi

It was easy to see Justice’s eagerness to see a siege happen, and Aurielle wished she could share the same relish for battle. There was a part of her that agreed that it would be exciting, but she had to balance that with the concerns as to whether the pack could withstand a battle of such severity. Her head cocked as Justice spoke, and finally, she said, “Since you specialize in fighting, I’d like to put you in the War Circle. You would double in the Healer’s Circle as well…. Courageous Flicker, perhaps?” Her eyes watched the older woman, querying the rank suggestion. “There is another option, which would put you in high enough rank to recruit wolves to Valhalla. But it’s up to you whether you wish to run as the Lodestar or Sentinel, at least until some of our younger wolves are able to take those ranks…. Or challenge you for them.” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Justice nodded eagerly when Aurielle said she'd put her in the war circle, and that she'd double in the healer's circle. Yes, perfect, that was exactly what she wanted to do, as she'd wanted to do since she was a child - since her mother had been so sick and she couldn't do anything about it, since her father had been murdered and cannibalized and she could do nothing. She winced a little at the rank's name... she really couldn't picture herself describing herself as a courageous flicker if someone asked her rank... but Aurielle's next offer pricked up her ears and distracted her almost entirely from the pack next door.

"You want me as a beta?" she asked with some incredulity. Granted, she was one of the more experienced fighters, but she knew her faults and a lack of tact and patience was definitely among them, and higher ranking wolves, wolves who were supposed to recruit, were definitely supposed to have both of those things. Still, the position would put her in a much better position to protect the pack than as a mere fighter or healer. She twitched her ears restlessly in thought for a long moment before meeting Aurielle's eyes with determination. "If you're serious, I'd be willing to take the Sentinel position until someone more suited for it comes along." She turned a grim gaze on the border and bared her teeth. "With the volcano and the new neighbors we can't really afford to be without leadership positions, can we?" Her gaze went back to Aurielle, and her lips pressed together for a moment. "I'm going to keep an eye on things here until you call the meeting, unless you have something else for me to be doing."