For how long she lived nearby Aoede had yet to do much poking around the pack lands. They were springing up all over the place and encroaching on her family’s home. They were loners and couldn’t actually claim the land, as she found when more and more Ashen wolves began to shove into the river lands. Ao didn’t appreciate that fact one bit. So the girl took the opportunity to poke around herself.

Of course the Regni girl knew the dangers of toeing any line, so she kept away from the border as she observed what she could from afar. There was probably more information in the scent border than there was to be seen with her golden gaze. Still, she scanned the horizon, peering through the pale trees and she ducked under the budding foliage. Her dark pelt blended in well with her surroundings, but she didn’t feel near confident enough to breach the pack’s border.

She wondered how much her elders even knew about the pack here. She didn’t know anything more than she could smell. Fear dwelled in the unknown and she would not allow this place to make her fear. Aoede continued quietly, noting the deep greens of the leaves as compared to the white bark of the trees. The ground was covered in decomposing piles, but it was obviously full of life. Low light on the forest floor would cause the growth to be slower, but that made a great place for prey to hide. When they lived in such an abundant place why did they need to encroach on her home?

"Aoede Regni"

The leggy yearling followed the border of the forest, going through the motions of doing a patrol like his father usually did. In reality he didn't really know what he was supposed to be doing or looking for when he was doing this, but now that he was a year old and an apprentice he felt like he ought to be doing something to help out around the pack! This felt like an easy enough task to start out with so he had started walking around the edge of the pack every day just like Plague did. Sometimes he'd go at the same time as his dad and do the patrol with him to 'learn' what he was supposed to be doing, but his mind usually wandered and when he went to do it himself the next day he had already forgotten what it was he had been told. Never the less, he went on about his now usual routine, figuring he could at least make sure no one was near the borders or something like that.

Usually the patrols were quiet and uneventful, but as he rounded the edge of the pale trees near the river he noticed a stranger's scent pretty strongly near by. It was the first time he had ever caught anything that had warranted him stopping before and now that he had he wasn't entirely sure what to do. He stood at the border, peering out into the foliage in the distance as he tried to pick out where the scent was coming from. "Um... Hey! Whoever you are!" he called out, trying to puff out his chest with a frown in some attempt at being intimidating. "You better not be planning on coming into our land! Cause uh... I'll stop you if you do!" He stood there for a moment, eyeing his surroundings and trying to determine if anyone was actually there or if he was just imagining things and he was just yelling into nothing and making a fool of himself.

"Sitri Abraxas-Destruction"

Honestly she didn’t except to see anyone out here while she was poking around, the pack was already disrespectful enough to encroach on her home. Why would they have constant patrols? Her thought process was obviously flawed though. Her gilded gaze lifted from the foliage to find his tall form, much taller than she was. Reminiscent of her brothers really, age, height, and even his star spangled appearance. This wasn’t a full fledged adult member of Ashen she would be facing down. She watched him as he stood there at the border, puffing out his chest as he made himself look bigger and he called out a warning.

His eye didn’t stop on her so she knew that he hadn’t spotted her yet, but her scent betrayed her. For a moment she let silence settle back over them while she debated her next move. If she stayed still long enough she knew he would either come and investigate or move along, but taking after her father Ao couldn’t help the opportunity to mess with the young pack wolf.

Aoede lifted herself from the foliage, revealing her lithe form as she waded out of the forest. Golden gaze looked up at him defiantly, "Oh, I would never think about defying a strong pack wolf like you.” She offered bashfully with emphasis on her fluttering lashes.

"Aoede Regni"

It was so quiet and still that he was beginning to think that he had just imagined things or maybe just caught the scent of someone that had passed by, but just as he was going to make himself give it up and continue on his way there was a soft rustling in the bushes that made his lavender and blue gaze snap toward the sound. A small girl emerged, her coat mostly inky and dark with just a soft, faded patch of blue across her face with golden markings under her eyes. Once she was fully out in the open he could see the speckles of golden light that dotted over her fur like stars. He blinked a couple of times, thinking maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him, but no. Her markings were actually glowing and twinkling.

He had never seen anyone that looked like her before and in the daze that her pretty and eye catching looks caused he nearly missed what she had said entirely. There was a moment where his domineering bravado slipped when his eyes went wide with awe before he caught himself and his face flushed hot with embarrassment. "Ye-yeah!" he began to reply, his voice cracking in the middle of the word causing his face to burn even hotter. He cleared his throat, puffing his chest back out again as he tried to regain some scraps of composure. "Yeah, exactly! You don't want to mess with Ashen!" he insisted, taking back up his attempts at looking intimidating to scare off the loner that had been skulking around their borders.

"Sitri Abraxas-Destruction"

She really had almost just stayed where she was there in the foliage by the pale white trees. Ao hadn’t been too many places but she hadn’t seen a forest like this one before. Part of her was regretful she wouldn’t be able to get a better look. The boy was in her way, however much admittance to the fact she much preferred him over any real authority. The air was clear and crisp throughout, she knew there had to be water nearby with the slight humidity in the scent of the breeze. Maybe one day she would sneak a peek. For now she was content making assessment from afar, and she found her view even better as she revealed her glittering frame to he white marked scarlet boy.

She was sure the ivory forests were full of life, however peaceful the environment was. There were sounds of birds within, and if she could look harder she was sure she would find a plethora of forest dwelling animals. Maybe she would never have a real census, but she could confidently say they had good hunting on their lands.

What she was finding even more interesting was the way the boy reacted to her. She was far more used to her siblings, she was just everyday to them. This Ashen yearling obviously hadn’t seen any one like her. Ao found herself liking that fact as he stuttered back at her. She saw a glimpse of awe, and the illusion was broken. He tried to puff himself back up but Aoede found it cute. "Oh yeah? I don’t know much about Ashen, you really that tough?” She asked with a tilt of her moon touched features.

"Aoede Regni"

It was difficult to keep up this tough, confident demeanor in front of someone as little and pretty as this stranger, but how was he supposed to know if she had bigger, scarier friends hiding in the bushes? Sure, he didn't smell any other scents besides hers near the border, but that didn't mean they weren't there! No, no matter how much he'd like to let his guard down and be nicer to the very pretty girl across from him he needed to be a good guard and maintain the border! That's what a patrolling wolf was supposed to do! When's he questioned him on whether Ashen was really that tough he scoffed, thinking for a moment that maybe she was joking about not knowing much about Ashen or their strength, but when she didn't correct herself he realized that she was serious.

"Well... Yeah! Of course!" he insisted, amazed that there were wolves out there that really didn't know about his family's pack considering how long they had held these lands and how many ties they had all over Boreas and Auster. "We have the best fighters around and Ashen is the head of the Empire that includes a bunch of other packs! We have allies all over the place so no matter where we go there's always someone to support us." He didn't know if all of that was exactly true, but it more or less sounded right based on what he had been taught and it sounded good to him. Surely the strength in numbers aspect was enough to impress her even if she didn't believe that they had the strongest warriors—even though they did!

"Sitri Abraxas-Destruction"

The boy was doing pretty well keeping up his front but Ao could see the hesitation in his features as she bat her long eyelashes at him, and offered her curious question about the Ashen lands. There remained a bit of suspicion despite how innocent the girl made herself look. She supposed that this was a good quality for a border patrol to have. She would have been, in fact she was even now as he gave her his opinion. Ao couldn’t really believe his words, she had to see it to believe it.

The boy insisted that Ashen was tough and strong, and looked at her funny when she questioned his perceived facts. He told her about Ashen and its allies, but she saw no one here but the two of them. "Oh, I see.” However unconvincing she might be. She understood what he said but that didn’t mean that she believed him. "Well, words don’t mean much next to action.” She spoke again with the curiosity remaining within her words. "I think you should show me how tough Ashen is.” She goaded him slightly as she pulled herself into a defensive position. Aoede really wanted to spar with this Ashen boy.

"Aoede Regni"

He could tell she still had her doubts regardless of all the evidence he gave her which certainly deflated his pride just a bit, but he didn't let that show on the outside. He just huffed softly and ultimately decided it didn't matter what she thought about them. She was a loner anyway so it wasn't like he was trying to prove their strength to another pack or something. She caught him by surprise though when she insisted that words didn't mean much when they were compared to action and then challenged him to show her how tough Ashen was. She got into a defensive, fight ready stance and for a second he was almost too stunned to do anything. She was just going to challenge him to a fight out of nowhere on his own pack border? If it wasn't for his sister he probably would have had some kind of concern about fighting someone so small too, but he had seen Seere and how well she could fight so he definitely didn't under estimate this smaller girl by any means.

He almost refused, trying to think of some kind of excuse about how he needed to finish his patrol or something, but eventually he relented. With all the talk he had been doing he knew he was going to have to own up to it otherwise everything he said was just going to be for show. "Fine, then I will!" he declared, shifting into a familiar fighting stance of his own. Part of him wondered if he should have taken his father's lessons more seriously in preparation for this moment, but nothing that could be done about it now! How was he supposed to know that some random, pretty loner was going to challenge him to a fight? He decided to take the initiative in the hopes that it would make him look stronger and crossed over the border to run toward her. He attempted to reach for her scruff with his teeth as he lunged forward, rearing back a bit to lift his foreleg to try and wrap it over her back to try and catch her and keep her from darting off.

Sitri vs Aoede for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Red-Shouldered Hawk, Female - Flying
Companion 2: Snow leopard, Male - Battle
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Intermediate Navigator

"Sitri Abraxas-Destruction"

Aoede had never been one to take a wolf by its word, maybe it was her upbringing or natural inclination not to trust strangers. So she didn’t trust Sitri any further than she could throw him. And she had every intention of throwing him. Sitri seemed surprised that she wanted him to back up his words with action, but that surprise swiftly dripped from his features to be replaced with determination. As Ao fell into her defensive position Ayla the dark coated fox appeared behind her, ready to back up her master.

For a moment she thought the young man was going to deny her a spar, but he had already been so much fun. He couldn’t tell her no now, and she was right. A smirk lit up her features in amusement as he finally agreed to her challenge. He didn’t attack her immediately but once he did Ao couldn’t be caught. He tried to wrap his legs around her as he lunged for her scruff but the girl was nothing if not fast. Her small paws moved her swiftly. As he lunged she leapt to the right, just out of his reach.

Aoede relied on her speed as she threw herself back towards him, aiming to shove herself into his shoulder and throw him off balance as he tried to recover from his first miss.
"Aoede Regni"

Aoede vs Sitri for spar
Round 1 of 2
Age: over 1
Size: Small
Build: Light
Companion 1: Silver phase red fox, Female - Battle - Boosted
Mutation 1: Elongated fangs - Offensive
Mutation 2: Agility boost - Agility
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Intermediate Navigator

Just as he was about to snatch her scruff and grapple her, the little, sparkly wolf darted out of reach and left him with nothing to hold on to. His paw swiped at nothing and he nearly went face planting into the ground, but managed to catch himself at the last second, his teeth snapping closed on thin air. His gaze snapped up to his opponent while he was trying to regain his footing, spotting her lunging at him with her shoulder aimed to his at the last moment. Luckily for him though, his snow leopard Slate was at the ready and came bounding toward them as soon as Sitri’s initial attack missed and he rushed the smaller wolf, making a running leap with both of his large, rounded paws aimed toward her side to knock her off course and keep her from slamming into Sitri.

This at least gave him enough to right his balance again and he regained his original stance quickly. He tried to take advantage of the opening Slate had created and jumped back into the fight, wanting to wrap his forelegs around her sides to throw her to the ground and pin her under him. She might be fast, but he knew he had the advantage in size and weight so if he could get her pinned then it would be easy to get the fight to go in his favor.

Sitri vs Aoede for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Extra large
Build: Medium
Companion 1: Red-Shouldered Hawk, Female - Flying
Companion 2: Snow leopard, Male - Battle
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Intermediate Navigator

"Sitri Abraxas-Destruction"

The exact outcome she was looking for happened and she grinned as Sitri almost went tripping forward. Almost. He caught himself as she tried to tackle him, but suddenly the young snow leopard was pushing her down. Thankfully Ayla was right behind her. The fox was barely three inches shorter than she was, and gave a similar attack, aiming to take out Sitri’s leg so he’d be sent flying. He recovered enough that he was swiftly leaping after her again. Ao was already skittering away from the snow leopard, so she was able to partially dodge his grapple. Instead of his arms being wrapped around her, he just shoved her down while his body went to overwhelm her. Ao did her best to try and roll out from beneath him before he could fully pin her.

"Aoede Regni"

Aoede vs Sitri for spar
Round 2 of 2
Age: over 1
Size: Small
Build: Light
Companion 1: Silver phase red fox, Female - Battle - Boosted
Mutation 1: Elongated fangs - Offensive
Mutation 2: Agility boost - Agility
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Intermediate Navigator

And the winner is...

SITRI

AOEDE must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: AOEDE Attack Roll: 65 Defense Roll: 66 Agility Roll: 16 Perception Roll: 95 Total: 242 Attack[65] + 30% Bonus[19.50]: 84.50 Defense[66] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 66.00 Agility[16] + 30% Bonus[4.80]: 20.80 Perception[95] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 95.00 Total[266.30] + 15% Bonus[39.95]: 306.25 SITRI Attack Roll: 57 Defense Roll: 80 Agility Roll: 25 Perception Roll: 94 Total: 256 Attack[57] + 15% Bonus[8.55]: 65.55 Defense[80] + 5% Bonus[4.00]: 84.00 Agility[25] + 10% Bonus[2.50]: 27.50 Perception[94] + 10% Bonus[9.40]: 103.40 Total[280.45] + 10% Bonus[28.05]: 308.50