Her sleek and multicolored pelt had blended into the trees and surroundings during autumn, but with winter fast approaching and snow sticking to the ground she felt out of place. She had been going along the borders, finding it in her nature to stick a bit closer to home during the cold fronts. She had always looked to hide in the shadows, just as the way she was raised as well. So she had confused herself, how could she find herself out of place with winter. Winter had more darkness, the darkness becoming the essence of shadows, the nights were longer. Perhaps she was over thinking it, lets face it, she was over thinking it. Her thoughts were like decant liquids, fluidly pouring from one area to another, a thought to a thought at a time.

Her mind snapped back into focus of what was ahead of her. Her mind had been rather disheveled lately, but she had slowly started to reorganize it. Fact from fiction. The borders around her, fact. She was doing a patrol, as she knew that though she was a scout, she had to help out whenever she could on the home front. Guiness, whom she saw as the lead guardian, was loyal at that. Though others did border runs, she saw him as the one who did all the work and he needed a break sometimes. She had been gone for a long while, she had to make it up to her pack.

She had been doing her borders when she could have sworn to Artemis that there was a scent in the area, one that she was unfamiliar with. <b style="color:#2897ed;">"Who goes there?" She called out with a stiff, yet nonviolent voice before she could even see the man, or boy. She came into the line of sight with the boy. A yearling, ebony fur, she gave a frown. He was scrawny and definitely a loner. She figured that there would not be many loners to deal with, especially with the snow tempting a moderate winter at least. <b style="color:#2897ed;">"Your near the borders of Willow Ridge, I suppose there is a purpose for your presence?" She demanded answers.

For the past several weeks all Guiness had been doing was looking after Tempest, her injuries finally seemingly getting better. Winter was fast approaching though and the large tank worried about his sister’s health more than anything. Even though he was loyal, the wolf was not one that liked to sit around for very long with nothing to do. So while his sister seemed to be resting, Guiness slipped out from his post and made his way towards the borders. Even if he did leave his dear Tempest for a moment it wouldn’t affect her too much, he was sure that Skana was in the pack den somewhere and if Tempest did need immediate attention she would be the better bet than him. Sometimes he even thought his dear twin would fake sleep so that he could sneak away for a little while for his own alone time.

Nothing had alerted him that anything was wrong with the borders but his old routine was hard to shake and he loyally followed his old path along their borders, his large body moving effortlessly through the familiar area. Snorting lowly, he raised his head slightly when he caught sight of Semananti. Neither of them had the time to talk to one another, as their duties usually conflicted but the woman was one of the few friends he had gained since he had been in the Lore, which had been quite a long time since the first day he had arrived. Ever since he had joined Willow Ridge he had been home bound and only went out of his way to leave the territory every so often. There was however, another there that he did not recognize and the Vigilante narrowed his eyes at the younger wolf. It was obvious that Guiness towered over him with his tank-like size. He had not met many that even challenged his size and strength, but looking down at the young man, he could still tell that he had some developing to do….now onto why he was on their borders?

Guiness arrived, then Elettra, and suddenly it was a party. As soon as Guiness had arrived, she let her tail tuck lower than his, then as Elettra arrived, Sema dropped her tail lower. She gave Elettra a respectful lick on the chin and she knew the situation was now for Elettra to handle. Another rouge looking for a home for the winter season, or a little longer. Whichever it was, he was a boy, a yearling. However, yearlings were strong sometimes too despite the bad vibe she associated it with. She associated yearling with naive, a trait that she herself found a disgust for. There were few who had proven her wrong, one of the huntresses of Artemis she had traveled with had been a mighty yearling.

She was the only one to prove Sema wrong. But Sema saw a bit of promise in the boy. Strong muscles and a good frame for fighting and hunting. Sema heard the boy request his home, he was respectful enough to be a pack mate. But whether Elettra saw these things, that was yet to be determined. She stayed silent, though it was evident she was lost in examining this wolf. Every joiner that she had been there for, when they joined, she examined them. a small smile pursed her muzzle as she waited for Elettra to decide. He was decent as far as she could tell. But she knew nothing about him, she would decide what she thought of him if she got to know him more. That was, if Elettra accepted him.

The Guard surveyed the stranger, confusion crossing through him when he was sure that he somewhat recognized the boy, yet Guiness was sure that he had never crossed paths with this yearling before. It was something about his eyes and his coloring, but after a few moments of studying the largely built boy, who could probably end up matching him in height, he realized what had caught him off guard. The boy looked slightly like Kasai Kage, who had all but disappeared from the pack many months ago. It had caused the Vigilante to assume that something had happened to the male, because he had not seemed to be one to disappear or disappoint…as well as the fact that winter had approached far more quickly than normal. If this had been so it would have been foolish to leave Willow Ridge behind, and Guiness knew full well that Kasai wasn’t a fool.

When he sensed a strong presence behind him, he did not need to glance back to immediately know who it was. Elettra had always carried a strong air around her and it was one of the many things that he had needed to compel him here. Lowering his posture slightly in a sign of respect for his dearest Lady, he watched her stroll forward and she spoke. Guiness was pretty sure it didn’t take the other boy very long to figure out who the real leader of the pack was and the brute had no problem in letting Elettra take care of this encounter. None the less, Guiness listened attentively, his suspicions that this boy, Nios he called himself, was related to Kasai diminished greatly. However, had the man had the knowledge of Kasai’s real name then there wouldn’t have been any misconception that they were indeed related. Turning to his lady, he watched her reaction and listened to her verdict.