Xetor flips through the herbs that he'd collected while out on a patrol of the borders. Multitasking was something that he usually did well, and today was no different. The more sensitive plants were dying off now even though the snows had not yet come to them. Frost was taking out many of the flowers and other herbs. Tor had filled the medicine den with the help of Titan's medicinal plant deposits every now and then. He had also scented many herbs placed into the den by @Morganna, @Angier, and even once by @Skoll. However one pack could never have too many in stock. Anything could happen during the winter months.

Xetor hoped that they wouldn't have any reason to use the massive stores of herbs this winter. However he wasn't sure how bad Relic-Lore's winters get. He knew about the empire's last winter. It had been a brutal one and some of the family died. However maybe this land had a better time when it came to the season of snow storms.

He finished organizing the herbs into their specific places along the inside of the den. Then Tor moved back utside to look around at the landscape. Things were much more dreary than they had been in the summer. The trees really did look like they were weeping in fear of the cold season to come.

"Stupid trees." The quiet comment was huffed out as Xetor rolled his shoulders and readied himself for the rest of the day. He wondered where the other pack members were.

The main thing that he had learned was how to find new herbs or plants that needed to be tried out. The youth had figured out that certain plants that smelled or tasted like other known herbs often times had similar properties. The dark wolf had first noticed it with arnica and goldenrod. They both had similar scents and he knew that they could both help with bruises, cuts, as well as other injuries. The same could be said for the tastes of ergot and hyssop. The ergot had a much stronger taste compared to the hyssop which was only somewhat close. However both could help out with headaches to a degree. With the hyssop only helping headaches a little while the ergot helps more greatly.

So now Titan was out looking for plants that smelled similar to others that he already knew about. However the scents of his pack mate Xetor had Titan growling a bit. He didn't like the male that he was sure about. Yet Titan knew the order of things. He was but a lowly yearling and besides, why cause trouble if he wasn't even sure how long he would stay for? It was true that Titan wanted to prove to the others that he was a strong and capable wolf, but picking a fight with someone so soon after joining looked stupid even for Titan.

Pausing in his steps and musing over the idea of challenges, Titan let his fur fluff out against the chilling wind. It was growing colder out, and after surviving last years winter Titan knew what hardships were in store for him and the pack. Better to obey for now. Nobody would do well if they went into winter with injuries or illness. Even with a pack of healers working on them.

A second more fresh scent of a she wolf crossed Titan's nose making him turn to look in the direction that it came from. The scent was coming from the border, but he couldn't quite tell if the wolf had crossed the border or not. They better have not... Titan thought as he left his plant searching job and started for the border. A short clipped howl was echoed from his black muzzle as Titan sped forward. The call was to alert his pack mates of possible danger. The call could alternately mean that "he was checking it out" so that they would know what he was doing if they wanted to go look. Titan would just make sure that the woman was over the border and not across it. He would probably get snapped at by the higher ups if the loners scent was found over the border and he hadn't done anything about it. Better safe than sorry.

Titan looks around quietly as he spots the border and approaches it. There was no she wolf in sight. However her scent was there inside of the border. Titan wrinkled his nose in a silent snarl as he looked for paw prints to determine the direction the she wolf was heading. However it was his nose that figured the trail out first. Nose to the ground following her scent, Titan dimly realized that the woman had looped around back over the border into neutral territory. She hadn't crossed into their territory for very long. Perhaps by accident? He found it a little hard to believe since there were so many wolves in the pack and each helped with border patrols and marking the trails. Xetor's pungent smell reminded Titan that the second had just checked the border himself. Unless she can't smell I doubt she seems to care that much about crossing...At least she decided to get back across. Titan thought quietly while allowing the snarl to fall from his face.

The dark wolf lifted his head to look for the she wolf who seemed to be very close. His dark blue eyes spotted the woman just outside of the territory. Annoyed with the she wolf but not condoning her to being chased off yet, Titan decided to approach the loner. His slow steps forward were confident and heavy as the large male watched for her reaction.

"Why are you here?" The short question was uttered in a low growl that vibrated through Titan's belly as he closed the distance between them.

The breeze blew against Titans fur as a crow uttered a harsh call above the pair of wolves. It winged its way over the scenery while the wolves squared off. Titan held his ground despite being a yearling up against an adult. He would soon be like her, respected just for making it to adulthood. However for now he had to fight for the right to be seen as strong, because yearlings and pup just couldn't seem to do things that adults did. Even though Titan did those things almost every day now.

"What is your name then?" Titan asked once more hoping to get a straight answer form the womans lips. She seemed to like wasting his time so far, and Titan couldn't help but feel like this woman wasn't exactly trying to make peace and be friendly at all. Not that she wasn't acting nicely, but he just got bad vibes from her. As if she was actually a threat instead of a possible new pack mate should Elettra favor the she wolf.

Xetor flicked his ears as the sound of Titans howl catches him off guard. He hadn't been expecting to see or hear from the Thorben male since both he and Titan liked to avoid each other. Or at least it seemed that way. Tor certainly tried to avoid Mr. Tall as much as he could. However, it was the tone of the call that made him nervous. Danger was a problem. A yearling going to head off danger was an even worse problem even if it wasn't one of Elettra's young.

Xetor immediately turned and headed towards the call. His paws flicked out ahead of his body as the Archer male chased Titan's scent. It had taken him a few minutes to reach the place where Titan had scented the females smell just inside the border. He paused there also taking in that scent while the fur along his spine bristled. Then the dark male sped off again towards the location of the loner and the yearling. The scene that arrived before his eyes was a surprising one. The loner had crossed back out of the border, perhaps realizing her mistake, but stayed at the invisible line as if waiting for a friendly greeting. Titan was confronting the woman but despite his intimidating size the lad wasn't snarling at the woman or chasing her off. Instead he was talking with her.

Anger flared in Xetor's grey shaded amber hued eyes as he strode forward with his head tipped up trying to look taller than the silver lined black male before him. A sharp nip to the rear was given to Titan before Tor lifted himself and lay his two front legs on Titan's shoulders trying to push him down into submission.

"Yearlings have no right to be patrolling borders alone. Besides aren't you training to be a healer?" The words came out hushed but harsh as Tor drew close to Titan's ear then nipped the boys crown to drag him down. He would get to the loner as soon as he finished tutoring Titan on where yearlings should be in the rankings around here. As it was, Xetor's steely gaze was trained on the woman to make sure she wouldn't take their scuffle as a chance to dash away or attack him from behind.