Our Doubts Are Traitors ((Acceptance))

[Donn]

On the morning, that time of day when it was cold, and the light was blue tinted, the mist hanging overhead, there was a visitor to the Borders of Arnlan. He had come swiftly, not heeding the noise of the human's homes, not taking the trouble to venture to a pack that was terrified of intrusion, not seeing any meaning to the other wolf pack that was miserable, in his view, making war with dogs, of all beasts. It was to Arnlan he came, for it were the only pack he could see of any interest. It did not mingle with humanity, it did not start violence for violence's sake. It seemed something worth being a part of. As a wolf, he could not live alone, that was irrational. Arnlan was the best option.

Phineas slowed. Turning his head this way and that, he came into a thicket of bushes, a line of trees before him. He stopped amongst the bushes, and sniffed for any scent, anything beyond the plantlife and various uninteresting small animals, that were of no consequence. He sat back on his hind legs, and pondered whether he could, or should continue further in, or to wait, or even if the whole idea was a serious misjudgement. A breeze momentarily ruffled the thicker, untidy fur about his neck and chest, which stood out from the black fur over the rest of his body, and he looked up, with his bright, orange eyes watching the trees. He didn't need to go further. Somehow he had the feeling they were coming anyway. "Alea iacta est" he muttered to himself. The Die is Cast. He would try and join Arnlan.

[nightblood]

"Haire ha..."

NightBlood stared at the dissapearing stars from atop a pile of rocks and boulders. She had seen this particular rock formation be used by others many times and had made a mental note to use it during her Sentry duties.

"Haire ha..."

As the Sentry sat upon the rocks, she thought about the recent happenings in her life. She had been back in the territory for a little over a week now, had been able to clean up and gain back a little of the weight she had lost on her journey. She still appeared a little scrawny, even though her muscle made her seem perfectly fit.

"Haire ha..."

Throwing out Tricker and losing Ziko wasn't the only thing on her mind. She had recently lost ShadeBlood and rejected Archer as a mate. As she sat there, thinking about her cousin, she carried out an old Dravirian tradition.

"Haire ha..."

She thought it was stupid, the Sun Greeting, but did it all the same. As a pup, she sang it only to please her father. He had said that she possessed a beautiful singing voice, better than her normal voice anyway. A majority of the pack had agreed with him, so she went along with it even though she thought they were crazy.

"Jan maja menine, A ina nwa noite, Yo ko naja hiru ka..."

She sang, waiting for the sun to soak the stars up in its rays. She would retire to sleep when the sun was fully in the sky. She had been awake most of the night.

"Yo o konira mana sa, Hej nanoro hu no u: A he namana hu no ahhh..."

Blood have been making her rounds around and through the territory. It was her job to confront wolves on the border, but it was also her job to make sure the pack was protected from the unwelcome.

"Haire ha-"

At the end of her song, NightBlood caught some movement in her periferal vision. A black pelt against the green foliage of Arnlan instantly made her think of Archer. She let loose a low growl, but stopped it on her second look. It was a male, but he had a white patch on his chest and golden eyes. His scent wasn't Arnlanian. Calming herself, she noted that it wasn't Sallinian either.

As she leaped off the rocks, there was an extra spring in her step. This newcomer would take her mind off Shade and everything, if not for a moment. She manuvered her way through the brush until she found his scent again. Following it directly to the new wolf, she went over different ways to confront him.

Her quick movement would have alerted him if he had good hearing. He might have even glimpsed her if his sight was keen. There was a rare chance that he could smell her. The wind might change direction. Suddenly, she had an idea. She would test his curosity.

She put the brakes on immediatly, stopping in her tracks. She crept up slowly until she could see him and be sure that he could not see her.

"Who goes there?" she asked in the deepest voice she could muster, "Speak while you still have your tounge."

[Donn]

He had heard it first. Phineas got up again, and stood still, listening. He is orange eyes peered out at the trees, looking for a sign of what was coming. How could one not be sensitive to such a large animal? It approached for a while, then stopped, and at that point Phineas lost track of it's movement until it spoke to him, the deep voice coming from the direction just behind Phineas' vision.

"Who goes there? Speak while you still have your tongue."

Without turning, Phineas spoke. "My, what a greeting. Do I not find you in an agreeable mood, then?" He turned around, and looked in the general direction the voice had come from. He spoke calmly, and politely, his voice had a charming quality to it. "My name is Phineas. Come come, why not present yourself properly, for I cannot see you. I am grateful of company though. Are you of the pack of Arnlan, by any chance?"

[nightblood]

"My, what a greeting. Do I not find you in an agreeable mood, then?"

Rising from her crouched position, NightBlood looked curiously at the black and white male. He was calm, despite her threatening sound. Instead of testing his curiosity, she found herself being tested of that. One could use his steady head in a rough situation.

Shaking her head, the Sentry reminded herself of what she was doing. She lowered her head until her chin was level with the snow and talked as she growled, trying to sound lethal. Would it work, though?

"We'll see."

"My name is Phineas. Come come, why not present yourself properly, for I cannot see you. I am grateful of company though. Are you of the pack of Arnlan, by any chance?"

A snarl escaped her. She was playing her part very well, or so she thought.

"How have you come to know of Arnlan? Answer my questions and I might find you worthy to see me."

She circled as she spoke, testing, instead, his courage. Many a dog had run at her sight when she was younger. If this canine called himself a wolf, he would stay... At least until he set eyes on her. Then it would be her decision wether he kept breathing long enough to see others or not. But that would come later.

[Donn]

""How have you come to know of Arnlan? Answer my questions and I might find you worthy to see me."

Phineas saw no reason to follow the voice as it started to move. The wolf who was speaking was making quite the performance, he thought. Instead, he continued to converse with the voice as if having a polite conversation. "Worthy? I dare do all that may become a wolf, you know. Arnlan is not so hard to hear of, and my knowledge of your whereabouts is neither here nor there. Not that I wish to aggravate you, au contraire, I would be delighted to meet your aquaintance." Phineas had been trying to work out, in the meantime exactly what this wolf was like, from the voice. Large, he guessed, from the acoustic of the growl, and it's less than subtle approach. Gender? It was a deepened voice, but it still puzzled Phineas, it didn't seem right. He didn't trouble himself over it's exact position, which by now was behind him again, for he used logic thinking, and that only brought him two outcomes. One, it would leave, two it would eventually show itself, one way or another. He posed a question of his own. "By what name might I refer to you? No need for a shy attitude," he chuckled.

[nightblood]

"Worthy? I dare do all that may become a wolf, you know. Arnlan is not so hard to hear of, and my knowledge of your whereabouts is neither here nor there. Not that I wish to aggravate you, au contraire, I would be delighted to meet your aquaintance."

His reluctance to become fearful of her amazed the Sentry. Of course, no wolf was ever really afraid of her... At least, the ones who came to Arnlan weren't. But this one was more than brave as he faced an unknown shadow.

"By what name might I refer to you? No need for a shy attitude," he chuckled.

Well, that tore her patience. He wouldn't run. This guy could be up against a rabid bear and wouldn't think twice about it, in her oppinion. As she came infront of him, she straightened up and stepped forward, carrying her head above his. She didn't need to lift it very high, however. The top of his head was barely above her shoulders.

"Name's NightBlood," she said normally, abandoning the growl and low voice, "I'm an Arnlan Sentry... And I'm not shy."

She gave Phineas a critical look, trying to find his faults. None sighted, she returned her attention to his face.

"Forgive my previous theatrical performance. You have a very calm head on your shoulders."

[Donn]

As expected, it came out. Phineas had guessed that they comment on a shy attitude might provoke it into coming out. He could see now he had been right. The wolf was quite big, and he had to look up to meet her face. She introduced herself as NightBlood. Not put off for a moment by the large wolf, he smiled charmingly. "A pleasure to finally meet you, NightBlood. I understand the need for such dramatic affairs. Scare off the less of heart, eh? A wise procedure. Now, to business?" Phineas was interested to get to the matter he had come for. Acceptance to Arnlan, though he did by no means rush NightBlood.

[nightblood]

"A pleasure to finally meet you, NightBlood. I understand the need for such dramatic affairs. Scare off the less of heart, eh? A wise procedure. Now, to business?"

"To business," The Sentry agreed as she noded once, a grin on her muzzle from the complement concerning her performance.

Blood flicked an ear as the wind picked up, ruffling her fur. She started to sit down, but the pain in her back leg flared. Wincing, she stood up again and started to pace in front of the black and white wolf, walking off the pain.

"You wish for acceptance into Arnlan. That is something I no longer wish to pass out so easily. If you wish to gain entry, you must have something to offer the pack."

There was a grunt and she snorted as she turned again, signaling another flar of pain by flattening her ears momentarily.

"And I'll have none of this 'I can hold my own in a fight and I'm good with pups' shit. I've heard that too many times."

Turning once again, she began mumbling something about the fact that there were no more pups in Arnlan. Catching herself, she stopped in front of Phineas and turned to him.

"What do you have to offer that will benefit the pack?"

[Donn]

Phineas smiled to himself for a moment. He was useless with pups anyway. "As a sentry for Arnlan, I'm sure you must come across a range of wolves. Foolish, naive, inexperienced young things, I'll wager. I present myself as far from a fool as I know. My previous pack had me as a Beta before it was disbanded. We had our own enemies, and I took every measure to know everything about them. My areas of expertise are intelligence, information, stealth, and foresight. I advised the Alpha himself in several situations. He trusted me." Phineas had spoken with his eyes always on NightBlood's. He spoke in the same calm tone, watching her movement.

[nightblood]

"As a sentry for Arnlan, I'm sure you must come across a range of wolves. Foolish, naive, inexperienced young things, I'll wager. I present myself as far from a fool as I know. My previous pack had me as a Beta before it was disbanded. We had our own enemies, and I took every measure to know everything about them. My areas of expertise are intelligence, information, stealth, and foresight. I advised the Alpha himself in several situations. He trusted me."

Blood maulded over his speech in her mind. Spoken by any other wolf, she would have thought they were being arrogant. However, Phineas had an air of grace and composure, telling her that he was only stating the facts, not showing off. Finding no fault to dwell over, she desided to comment on his last statement.

"And can you be trusted?" the Sentry asked, returning to her pacing, but never taking her eye off him, "Our enemy is Sallin. Although we do not fight them, we do not trust them and they are killed on sight at the border. Erg...!"

There was another jolt of pain and NightBlood struggled not to call out for assistance. She mght go to see Ravenshard about the pain after this meeting.

"If I took my eye off you, would I look again to find you charging, or perhaps an injured packmate felled by your fangs? We've no place for treachery in this pack. I hope you hold the same distain I have for such a crime."

[Donn]

Phineas did not query NightBlood's apparent discomfort, he had the feeling she didn't want it mentioned, so raised an eyebrow and said. "Of course you can trust me, NightBlood. There'd be no logical reason to be treacherous, for why go to the trouble of joining the pack to hurt some wolf? A pointless venture. I've not a hot head, and I know where my loyalties lie." Phineas thought briefly about Sallin, from it's mention. He thought them profoundly stupid, waging war on dogs, and barely worthy the title of wolf pack.

[nightblood]

"Of course you can trust me, NightBlood. There'd be no logical reason to be treacherous, for why go to the trouble of joining the pack to hurt some wolf? A pointless venture. I've not a hot head, and I know where my loyalties lie."

The Sentry stopped her pacing once again and looked at him, staring him in the eye. It would be a direct threat... had they been enemies. It was as if she was trying to find a trace of ill intent in his golden eyes. None found, she turned away and rounded the area in front of him until she stood directly infront of him once again. By turning away, she was testing him to see if he was true to his word; that he wouldn't attack her when her back was turned. She didn't comment on it, however.

"We could use your steady head on our side if we're ever in a battle. You're Alphas are a brother and sister pair; Karolek and Sofika, both black in color, one with green spots on his nose, the other with blue on hers. Welcome to Arnlan. Get your barrings and familiarize yourself with the territory. The punishment for leaving it is death."

There was a sudden sound in the tree tops, a snap, perhaps. The red-eyed Sentry looked up in the direction of the noise, but saw nothing. Keeping her eyes on the area, she finished her speach.

"Arnlan is a pack of shadows. Most of them are willing to help in a time of need."

With a flick of her tail, she signaled his dismissal and allowed him into the pack lands. Her eyes narrowed, never leaving the brach where the noise had come from.