As Magnolia Glen's new recruit, there was much to learn, to hear about, to memorize, to learn... Things that were not meant to be feared or frightened of. With winter on the pack's doorstep and with not too many members about - at this point, Tannis was able to safely assume that there were at least three or four cubs and possibly one other male (apart from Phineas) in the area - the brute was on edge. As much as he had wanted to dwell within the safety of the pack's heart, the den, he knew all too well that attempting so much as to worm his way into the den beside the Argyris cubs would be an immediate ticket to being shown out from the safety of the magnolia trees. An air of apprehension hung in the air and Tannis had been left in the dark, not knowing anything about how he had caught Phineas on his way back home from the mountains or how the wolves of Magnolia Glen were in the middle of a plan to relocate elsewhere within Relic Lore.

Along the borders, the coyote-like man crept, not so low as to drag his belly on the ground but he slunk about as though he had not wanted to be seen. Wherever he happened to stumble upon a place where Phineas or the other man - Phineas' Second or wingman perhaps - had left their mark, Tannis did the same. Every tree felt the brush of his russet-tinted sides and the gray fur of his temples, every cluster of knotted roots were pressed down upon with both of his forepaws. Even the occasional wayward branch was sniffed at and sometimes broken, just to ensure that any wandering rogue would know that they were approaching lands that belonged to a pack and family and were well-monitored by three males.

Tannis took a moment to stop at the side of a magnolia tree whose branches were still clinging to the wilted petals of the summer's blossoms and, for the first time in quite a long time, he stood up at his full height to stretch his limbs. After tilting his head from side to side he stared through the woods to where he saw the creek. His once-folded ears came forward and without much caution at all, he came to lower his lips to the frigid water to quench his thirst...