Another New Home

[ember]

Tarik moved through the forest in the dim light of the morning. The dark coloured male held his nose to the ground in an attempt to locate the Lakota pack. He had been in the area for a while, he knew there were several packs but he liked this territory the best. His ears flattened against his head and he shook his head in frustration for a moment. The scent of wolves was everywhere but that was the problem, he was having trouble following one trail without getting side tracked by a fresher one. He didn’t even know if he was following the scent of the pack or just wolves that had passed through before him. He grumbled under his breath and stopped walking. He would have to find them another way, this was taking far too long. He glanced around the forest, this really was a nice territory. He sighed, he hadn’t wanted to disturb anyone but he was sick of following dead end scent trails. He lifted his head and howled in his deep, rough tone. He let the sound carry across the territory for a long time before his finished. When he was done he stood very still, ears pinned forward listening for a reply.

[denali]

The femme stopped from what she was doing, which was taking a drink from the river, and raised her head with perked ears as she listened to the echoing cry. It didn't sound familiar, but she wasn't one to go and intercept trespassers. Her only dilemma was that she had a responsibility for the pack, and right now she seemed to be the closest to the howl. With a sigh, Denali heaved herself to her feet and started heading toward the cry at a fast trot.

She actually had no idea what she was going to do when she met up with the wolf inside the border. If it was from another pack, then she supposed that she would once again escort him to Rie. If it was a hostile, then she was obligated to protect her pack, no matter how much she was opposed to violence. In the end, either way, she would have to deal with it herself since Rie seemed to be out of range. As she came closer she began to trace the scent, following it deeper into the woods and increasing her speed. She had no problem with finding the right scent since tracking was one of her pros. Eventually she came to a spot where the scent was at it's strongest, and through her concentration she had failed to realize that she was walking right into the wolf itself, her nose bumping into his leg.

The Fae jumped back swiftly and balked at herself. How embarressing... Denali shrank back timidly for a moment as she met the eyes of the wolf, but straightened up to not look like an easy target. "Who..er, " she started, "Friend or foe?" she finally said, tail slightly tucked in her embarrassment.

[ember]

Tarik waited patiently for someone to respond to his call, it seemed as though nobody had heard him. He sighed, feeling even more frustrated. He moved to lift his head once more and then he heard movement to his side. As he turned to see the female she bumped into his side, surprising him. He jumped back slightly with a small growl. He then saw that she seemed to be as surprised as he was so he relaxed again. The female seemed nervous but she quickly recovered and asked if he was a friend or a foe. “Friend” he said calmly. “I was hoping to join you’re pack” he said. He looked her over quickly; he was a bit of a flirt he couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t sure if she was an alpha or not, maybe she was just a member who had been sent to greet him because the alpha or alphess was busy.

[denali]

Denali straightened her posture at his words. He wanted to join the pack? It wasn't everyday that some random wolf padded right up into the territory to ask about something like that. But nonetheless Denali sighed with relief, she would have hated to have to fight. She sized him up quickly, seeing that he was in fact in a good healthy condition, even though she doubted that Rie would turn anyone down, healthy or not.

"Uh," She said, a little unsure about what to do. She was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Follow me," she said, turning around and heading toward camp. She didn't need to follow any scents or whatnot. She had this territory almost completely memorized since she was small, so she knew the twists and turns like the back of her paw. She turned her head to see the wolf behind her. "I don't think Rie is here at the moment, but I'm sure she wont mind if you stay until she arrives. More than certain, actually." She gave a small smile. "I'm Denali." she introduced with a soft flick of her tail.

[ember]

He saw her relax when he told her that he intended to join, he was happy to see she wasn’t looking for a fight ether. Tarik waited quietly for her response, a little worried that he would be turned away for some reason or another. He didn’t enjoy being alone, he belonged in a pack. Finally she instructed him to follow her “alright” he said with a nod. He followed just behind her, relieved that he hadn’t been turned away yet. The brute did his best to remember the rout they were taking; he had to know his way around if he was going to live on this territory. He watched as the camp came into view. He listened while the female spoke “As long as you don’t think she will mind” he said, he didn’t want to get in any trouble with the alphes but Denali seemed friendly enough so he guessed the alphess, Rie would be too. It wasn’t until Denali said her name that he realised he hadn’t introduced himself yet “I’m Tarik” he responded. “It’s good to meet you Denali, how long have you been living here?” he asked.

[denali]

Denali smiled in relief when he answered, happy that he was friendly enough for conversation. She hated awkward silences, and she was sure that's what it would have been if she hadn't up spoken first. But she was completely as ease now and comfortable with talking to Tarik. She really was decent to be around most of the time and hoped that showed.

"I was born here actually, " she said, "Before Rie was Alpha. The old pack leader was not as great to be around as Rie is, though. I'm glad she took over." Denali said. She looked back to Tarik. "I'm almost certain you haven't been here before, your scent isn't recognizable. Are you from far?"

[ember]

Tarik was happy to see that she was at ease now. He really did like living in a pack and he would have hated for any of his future pack mates to be suspicious or nervous around him. He nodded when she explained that she had lived there her entire life. The way Denali spoke about Rei made him sure that she was a good leader. He wouldn’t have joined a pack where the members disliked their leader, so far things seemed to be going quite well. “She must be a good leader, you speak highly of her” he said with a smile. She asked if he had come from far away and he responded with a nod “I’ve never been in this area before, you’re right” he said. “I came from far away, like you said. I have been in the area for about a month now. This territory seemed like the nicest one” he told her with a slight wag of his tail.

[denali]

Denali softly chuckled. "Good. Rie will happy to hear that." she said. Her Alpha had worked hard to keep the pack in the best shape, well fed, and in the best living conditions as possible. Tarik's words were the greatest of confirmation that Rie was doing a good job, as well as the other pack mates. "Have you been in a pack before?" she asked, curious. So far she was liking Tarik more and more. She knew that she would not have a problem with him being in the pack. "I'm sure no one will mind if you haven't. I'm just simply curious." Denali said with one of her famous smiles.

They came up to a small stream where the water trickled down the rocks. As Denali came here, she took a right and continued down a small path that seemed to be eroded down from much use over the years. They weren't far now, and would probably be at camp in a few minutes at the most.

[ember]

Trik nodded when she asked if he had been in a pack before. "Yes, I'v been a member of two packs in the past..." he said. He hoped that didn't give the impression that he was the type to jump from pack to pack. "I was born in the pack...then my father asked me to leave after i refused to take the alpha position in his place. Then I joined another pack along with a friend of mine" he explained. He didn't go into details about why he left his second pack, he didn't enjoy thinking about it. He gave a small laugh to lighten his own mood, he didn't like dwelling on the past "Hopefully this will be the last time i have to change packs" he said with a small smile. He watched as they turned down the little path, he wanted to be able to remember the way to and from the dens.

[denali]

Denali listened as he spoke and told her about his packs, but could tell it wasn't something he wanted to talk about at the moment. She smiled sweetly and nodded. "I also hope it will be the last. I assume it is not very pleasant, moving from pack to pack that is..." she said, trailing off and hoping that she didn't walk over the mental line for comfortable conversation. But she cleared her throat as they made it to camp and smiled reassuringly. "Well, here it is." she said, motioning with her head to the clearing. There was a freshly killed deer in the clearing, still brandishing some left over meat from their last kill. The poor thing had wandered to close to the territory and the pack had taken advantage of the doe.

"Uh, If your hungry then you can go ahead and help yourself. We have already eaten." She sat down and looked around the clearing. She only hoped hat none of the higher ranks came and tried to bully Tarik because he wasn't part of the pack. At least not yet, he wasn't.