A gray shadow moved through the rocky landscape, slipping with a weird liquid grace across the boundary line into Tortuga territory. Though his path seemed to be meandering, crossing back and forth across the boundary in a lazy serpentine, Shay was in fact moving with purpose. Each time he passed Tortuga's scent markers, he was moving further into the territory before changing direction and wandering back out again. His strange, blank silver eyes were calmly tracking the territory around him, watching to see if any other wolves were nearby. His ears swiveled constantly to catch sound, but the motion lacked any sort of nervousness or anxiety. His mind worked in an endless stream of calculations and observations as his attention swept the nearly-silent terrain.

Once his paw skidded on a stone, sending him sprawling with his chin hitting the ground so that his teeth came together with an audible click, but he was back on his feet and continuing on without reaction. He was a little more careful where he stepped but otherwise he showed no sign that anything had occurred, no annoyance or anything. Just the same blank expression of a wolf lost in thought.

Fifty paces. Eighty-six degrees off boundary line. No Tortuga. Adjust heading. Jay call approximately two hundred paces ahead, six degrees of trajectory. Alarm call. Most likely alerting to this one's presence. Possibly Tortuga presence. Adjust heading.

The gray wolf continued to ghost deeper into Tortuga territory, apparently unconcerned by the fact that he was trespassing.

It was rare for the Tortugan pack lands to remain silent and lacking evidence of life. A reasonable explanation could be that winter had arrived to the southern hemisphere of Alacritis, bringing a chilling wind and snow that seemed to melt as it fell from the heavens to the dormant volcano. Despite its resting nature at the moment, the ground around it would forever be warm due to the magma that lazily brewed beneath the surface. Being at Mount Volkan's base was a thrilling challenge for the slowly growing pack, and a challenge was what Maija craved. The golden female was out and about, but no one except Taurig knew that she wasn't in her den. Her chosen home was right next door to his, so if her scent became obviously vacant by a breeze that passed his front entrance, he would know even if she hadn't said anything. At that moment, she was out "patrolling" the borders that were laced with the many scents that let others know the land was owned. Patrolling was not exactly what she was doing -- no, Maija was hunting. The game called to her inner core and she needed to answer it. Her paws were silent and gracefully carried her across the now familiar terrain as she searched out scents for any type of prey. She wanted to feel the thrill of her muscles working, the rush that came from successfully slaying a rabbit or even bigger game to satisfy her gullet. Even though she was slowly coming around to the ideals Taurig had in regards to being a fair ruler, she still yearned for the gush of blood that would stain her teeth from the fresh catch. Ohhhh, she was so ready! With winter finally there, Maija was able to detect scents better than in the warmer seasons. They rose above the ground like faint trails of fairy dust, leading her to either dead ends or where "X" marked the spot. Her concentration didn't waver as she pushed herself across the dense forest that was the first line of defense around the borders. She had caught the scent of a rabbit, a reoccurring delicacy for her and the pack members who ate what she caught and offered wordlessly. As she followed the fresh scent, another one hit her out of nowhere. It was then that her concentration was broken. Annoyance and a slight bout of impatience crept up in Maija's surprised gaze, but she quickly recovered the stoic expression as she realized the scent was unfamiliar to her. Definitely not prey, but not of the Tortugan pack mates, either, she became intrigued...and rather angry. Unfamiliar scents did not automatically register welcomed guests in her mind, and with that she set off to follow the trail that led away from her potential dinner. Her leaf green eyes narrowed as she hid herself around the trees, making sure her scent didn't get caught by the unseen stranger. Maija's ears flattened against her skull when she saw the liquid-like movement of the wolf crossing the borders without a care in the world. He moved like a clock-work mouse, back and forth, back and forth. The anger built up in the female with the icy eyes and she curled her lips back into a snarl. Lowering herself to the ground, she balanced her legs in a cowered position, giving her the advantage to crouch forward without quivering from lack of balance. The time to race after him didn't take too long for her. As he ran to race back into Tortugan territory, Maija's low growl escaped her throat and she was off. Her pace increased earlier than normal in a hunt and she ran towards the male at a perpendicular angle. The golden vixen leaped, shifting all of her weight into his right side, intending to have him waver from the frequent straight lines he was running. Body weight shifted and she reached out with her exposed teeth to snap at his scruff. Powerful legs carried Maija even further and she slowed her pace abruptly to stand with her scruff safely hidden by her lowered head, tail standing out to keep her balance as she began to circle him with eyes and muscle reactions watching and waiting for him to try and run off. Romanian tones filled with strict direction and coldness were revealed as she snarled, "Who dares trespass upon the lands of Tortuga? Explain yourself!" Nose immediately began to quiver for any scents that could detect hints of Glaciem. She impatiently waited for his response, tail beginning to flick its tip as a clear sign of her pet peeve. speech here

When the sturdy gray wolf's flicking ears detected the sound of paws racing over the rocky ground, it was already too late for him to do anything more than turn his head slightly a flash of golden pelt before the larger wolf slammed into his side. The breath left Shay with a sharp grunt as the impact sent him rolling. He regained his feet clumsily and quickly took stock - his side ached a little, but it didn't seem anything was broken. The other wolf had managed to catch the scruff of his neck as he went down, so there was a stinging pain and a bit of blood. No serious injuries - acceptable outcome.

Shay turned to face the other wolf, his head cocked to the side as he studied her form with his silver eyes. Her extreme reaction to his presence in the territory suggested she was Tortuga, and her scent confirmed it. Body language showed readiness to fight. Anger? Anger was likely. Perhaps annoyance. Anger and annoyance were sometimes indistinguishable to him. Logic suggested that having trespassed on pack territory, this body language represented a serious threat to his safety. His previous observations had suggested a wolf confronted with such body language would display submissive postures.

Belatedly Shay lay down and rolled partway onto his back, flashing his belly to the other wolf. He checked it over in his head - belly exposed, throat bared, paws tucked in. Everything seemed right. If this situation stayed true to previous experience, the posture would inform the other wolf of his submissiveness and lack of hostile intentions.

All the while these thoughts played out in his mind, his eyes stayed fixed on her with that same curious blankness. No fear, no anger, just a mild interest. "I am called Shay Bearkiller," he informed her, his words tumbling out quickly and in a near monotone. He evinced no pride at the surname, nor any other apparent emotion concerning it. "I am running an experimental analysis of the dynamics between Tortuga wolves and unaffiliated intruders." He saw no reason to tell her anything but the truth, in his own logical manner.

The golden vixen was still angry, not letting any of her guards down. She had taught herself to never let her guards down, no matter how much the opposite party showed surrender. Leaf green eyes held a gaze that was hard to hold onto, especially when they were as stony as the boulders that littered her pack lands far and wide. Frost seemed to radiate from the icy stare that she bore down to the male, pondering what he would say as an explanation. Then, he rolled over and exposed his belly, apparently showing that he meant no harm. She wasn't thoroughly convinced, especially since he had been running back and forth across the territory lines. She continued to walk around him with her ears flat against her skull and body in a defensive stance. Her tail twitched again as he began to explain his reasons for running like a wind-up toy. Her stature didn't change as she listened; she wasn't stingy enough that she would cut him off in midsentence. His explanation was a weird one for sure. It was one she had never heard of before from another wolf's lips. An analyst, here among the wolves surrounding Tortuga? Just what was the world coming to? Maija wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to let this male see her questions behind the stony stare. Instead, she twitched her tail at a slower rate and her facial features slightly eased back into their normal places. Maija gave a soft snort at his words and said, "Obviously, the results have not been good." Speech,

Shay watched as the other wolf seemed to process what he had said. Facial expression and posture changed slightly. Indicating what? Acceptance? Perhaps. The wolf's words made that likely. Shay made note of them. Results not good? "Oh no," he hastened to reassure her. Though hastened may have been an overstatement - his voice didn't really change. "The results have certainly been of a satisfactory nature. The outcome was within expected parameters." He blinked at her guilelessly. "Admittedly more painful than hoped for. But I am not dead or permanently injured, and that is always to be considered of paramount importance." He wasn't certain enough time had passed for it to be socially acceptable to move, so he remained in his submissive posture, head cocked to the side as he studied the other wolf curiously. The flicking of the wolf's tail - a personal quirk perhaps? Indicative of what? Anger? Fear? Fear was, he surmised, a rather unlikely reaction for him to inspire in any wolf. "Speech"