Secret Falls like he's supposed to

Copper brows knitted together in a state of curiousness hearing a dual howl inviting those of Broken Timber Pines to their borders, the voices that formed such a duet lost to the Asurn leader. Nonetheless a summons was a summons and his responsibilities as leader deemed it a necessity to investigate the call, leaving the scatted bits of a half finished rabbit to be dealt with by another in the pack if some other forest inhabitant didn't beat them to it first. Creamy limbs strode confidently through the collection of tight knit vegetation and fallen timber that gave their home its name toward the direction the call had originated from, pace slowing only a fraction as the sound of murmured conversation graced his ears and the mixed scent of pack mates and strangers wafted into his nostrils. Apparently he was fashionable late to the party.

Pushing through the last barricade of underbrush that separated himself from those gathered with tail curled over his spine in silent demonstration of who he was on these lands, citrus eyes assessed the situation as quickly as possible. So far it seemed from his pack the youngest members Maeve; whom was sobbing and wrapped up in the embrace of an unknown ivory coated girl, and Zeta; whom was exchanging words with another pale coated male(Eirian would die happy if he never saw another silvered wolf again) with marks across his face that reminded Eirian of a spider he would gladly squish beneath his paws, were first to arrive. Even Iopah had managed to beat the fiery coated man to the scene, her naturally irritated attitude in tow as well while it demanded their reasoning for seeking their borders. Tone heavily laced with suspicion.

Unlike his co-partner, Eirian's voice withheld such accusation to his baritone words, settling his gaze on the older of the two present after deeming the spider-faced man to be the ringleader of this operation. Meeting those lemon hued eyes squarely he began to speak. "We don't get visitors often in our neck of the woods, but I am no less curious to know what the meaning for this-" A brief nudge of his head toward the sound of Maeve's crys. "-little get together is."

Posting with permission from @Zeta, @Celandine and @Maeve <3 whose turns are next!

First impressions were important to Craw. Once Maeve's introduction of Celandine left her lips, the Pines leadership finally showed up. The fact they had been beaten to the call by two subordinates had not damaged his perception of them, but the way the female introduced herself certainly did. Craw's ears flicked back as the creamy-toned woman approached, her rank obvious in her manner and her words. The spider did not flinch at her growl, at her distrustful tones, not intimidated in the slightest - but he did take note of it.

Goodness. This was not a comfortable leader, huh?

Another wolf appeared swiftly afterwards, a man of classic timber stature and colouring, who also wore his authority plainly. He also maintained a rather more pleasant attitude, though it was not a high bar to surpass. How suspicious these wolves were. His assumptions on their nature had been completely thrown off by the zesty and naive Zeta, who clearly bore no resemblance to this dour leadership. The image of a flower dying in a choking wasteland came to mind.

We don't get visitors often. "With welcomes as friendly as this, that does surprise me," he said dryly, eyes flicking between the unnecessarily-hostile woman and the more mannered man. "My name is Craw. I encountered Zeta," he started, nodding to the grey woman herself, "by the great lake to the north, where I learned of your existence. Seeing as my pack settled recently not two days' from here, I thought it polite to come and formally introduce myself." He paused, eyes narrowing, as if to ask 'was I mistaken?' "I brought Celandine Argyris with me, seeing as how we both seem to harbour members of the disbanded Silent Moon Plateau, that they may no longer be estranged." Licking his lips, his nose having twitched to a reasonably high place, Craw wondered if his mind might be changed on how worthwhile this pack was, considering that his patience was now damaged. "Is that an acceptable purpose?"

This move is taking forever. <3 Sorry for all of the waits.

Zeta was truly caught off-guard by Maeve's words. While the two girls took their time acknowledging her existence, it would then be her turn next to be without words. Cousin? "What?" She asked quietly, eyes narrowing in confusion. The white female didn't look anything like the rest of her family.. she must be related to Erebos? But she didn't look anything like her father either. Did she have aunts and uncles here in Relic Lore, too? Why hadn't her father said anything? And why.. Her eyes turned towards Craw then, still narrowed, but this time with a dim light of suspicion. Had he known about this family tie? Why would he have held this from her as well? Why was everyone in the know here except for her?

She would not have the time to ask, as a familiar angry growl was heard, and Zeta shrank automatically. Iopah emerged, looking at her judgingly. This wouldn't look good for her if she didn't have some explanation as to why she was standing here with a bunch of strangers.. and Maeve on their side. The last thing she wanted was for her alphas to think her untrustworthy after all she had been giving up not to go searching for her brother. The alphess addressed the group characteristically sharp, quickly followed by the emerging of her co-leader, Eirian. She lowered her features at his gaze and stayed there until she heard Craw begin speaking again. Why did she feel so guilty all of a sudden?

His pack? Yet another thing the male had withheld from her, it would seem. As she raised back up to her comfortable height, she watched him begrudgingly. He wasn't accepting their callous greetings any more than they were willing to give. She did not want to be caught in this interaction and be blamed for it. It was all a misunderstanding. A lot of misunderstanding for everybody involved, but no need to get out of sorts about! She had to help the situation simmer. "Craw was helping me find my brother," she added in quickly, explaining to her alphas. They knew she had been searching nonstop for Zane, continually coming back after a day of search. Zig-zagging in and out of the pack at a large radius had given the girl a lot of time to learn the land; but, she always made sure to come back. They would understand. They were good wolves. They had to.

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

Celandine's gaze followed as Maeve introduced Zeta. Cousin? So Craw hadn't been lying. Gods she was paranoid, wasn't she? Ignoring the laugh that threatened to bubble up from her throat, the woman made a note to apologize later. Or, well, make it up to him somehow. Without another thought, her attention returned to Maeve. "Whose?" Was all she offered, though she already knew who the father was. The resemblance was there.

Bright eyes turned away from her companion as the alphas arrived. The woman's tone was suspicious, and in Celandine's mind, bordering on accusatory. And there it was, the tension gnawing away at her stomach. Pale ears fell to her crown as the fae turned to stand beside Maeve. That way she'd be able to see the trio of leaders without having to crane her neck. 

Craw bit back, though his tone seemed more at ease than the alpha female's had been, and for one fleeting second she felt... proud? Regardless of what the emotion was, it had passed. Still, she kept her ears trained on the conversation, should things go south. She had no doubt the man could handle himself in any fight, but should this turn into one, it would be an entire pack against two.

Have you seen my OOC preferences?

Who's? The question was rather confusing to the young fae. Did Phineas possess other siblings? Unless the princess had assumed someone on her mothers side, however Maeve had no way of knowing anything about that. "Er, Erebos.. And.. Delia.." She offered back, though not quite sure Celandine would be too familiar with the woman involved. "Zeta, this is erm.. Celandine is.. Yer dad's niece..." Not that it mattered, unless Zeta planned to travel away with the trio this would likely be the last time they'd see each other. Cella was never really one to make new friends.

It really should have been expected, however somehow Maeve managed to get so caught up in the moment that she'd nearly forgotten they were standing at the borders of the Pines. Until the alpha's showed up, that is. Iopah was of course her usual dandy self, though thankfully Eirian trailed in soon after. Surely he'd be able to calm the Queen down if things got messy, right? The fae made sure to lay low while the 'adults' had their discussion. Her sharp tongue would definitely only make things worse, and the last thing anyone needed was for a fight to break loose. Scooting a little closer to her long lost friend, the girl quietly watched the scene unfold before her.

It was hard to know what kind of greeting to expect from these strangers; certainly they weren't overjoyed with hers. Too bad it wasn't her burning desire to make friends with everyone she met. They had wanted the alpha of a pack and that's what they had gotten. She hadn't tramped to a foreign pack's border to look down her nose at them. This was their error, not hers. Iopah lifted a brow at the acerbic question, "Depends on how you imagined this going." The reason hardly mattered now; it was actions that spoke, not flowery motives.

The queen let her gaze travel over the two she-wolves under discussion, thinking either might volunteer something into the conversation. Expecting as much as she got from Maeve, Iopah let her ears flick towards Zeta at the yearling's words. The mission was not unknown, but it was unsettling that the girl had spoken to this stranger (and not her alpha) about her missing brother. "I wish you had told me about your help, Zeta." There were more Pines' wolves missing than Zane, but the extra help to find Bracken had slipped through her pawpads without evening being aware of it.

"How did they come to be separated?

Her gaze landed back on Craw, as he seemed the only one interested in particpating in the conversation. "I was under the impression that the Plateau wolves all came here after the pack fell apart." It was curious how this "long lost" Celandine had been misplaced.

Although Eirian had gotten an answer to his question it was the way the spider-faced man went about presenting his words that truly rubbed the copper male's fur the wrong way. The man had a lot of nerve coming to his borders to spew such condescending words regardless of their intentions for visiting when in the end Eirian and Iopah were on their home turf with more members laying in wait should the need to send up a call arise, leaving this Craw fellow and his partner sorely outnumbered should the situation turned sour quickly. They were beginning to tread in dangerous waters. Regardless, though, the copper leader listened to those condescending words followed by an acerbic question in which Iopah answered in an equal manor. How did they perceive this encounter to go?

A russet ear twitched to the side when Zeta chimed in to announce she had in a way hired this man to help her search for the missing brother Zane, holding back a condescending snort that wanted to be made as a thought crossed his mind in regards to Craw's success, or better yet lack of in regards to finding this missing wolf. Instead he bit his tongue and allowed Iopah to command the conversation seeing as it would be mainly between themselves and Craw. Just like his partner he too had been under the assumption what was left of the dying pack Silent Moon Plateau had sought their borders together that day they arrived, but apparently this ivory female was yet another member of the motley crue which rose a couple questions, one in which Iopah already asked.

Some things just didn't turn out the way you expect. It was a shame, but ultimately of little consequence; the moment @Maeve had appeared, Craw's primary goal had been achieved. The only relationship here he had been truly eager to strengthen had been that between himself and his subordinate, and, perhaps with this display of his ability to keep a promise, some measure of that had been achieved. A pleasant relationship with this pack would have been a bonus, but the power of a first impression was undeniable. The male leader's manner was perfectly acceptable, but this woman... as far as Craw was concerned, there were only a few reasons for such a pointless display of hostility towards an entirely polite call for attention. Perhaps she was paranoid and unpleasant, or perhaps she had good reason to be wary of those near her territory - and forming a relationship which might already come with enemies was hardly appealing.

And if these Pines wolves didn't have enemies now, then Craw didn't doubt that they'd be more than able to make plenty with bedside manners like that.

How he imagined this going? Disappointingly, the other leader had nothing to add, as if the female had covered it all perfectly. Craw snorted, listening to Zeta explain how she knew him and to the leader lament @Zeta's lack of openness (which was a little hilarious, given just how forward the Argyris was) and then make some remark about the Plateau wolves as though he was mistaken, or had been misleading her. Or had been misled.

The spider glanced to @Celandine, saw her stood so close to Maeve, and it took no time at all to know that he believed her. The Pines leader could question it all she wanted. There was likely just a mismatch of timelines here, with the leader not realising that Celandine had split off from the Plateau before it disbanded, but he decided it wasn't worth his time to explain it. "Then I suppose you were wrong. As for my intentions, they've been satisfied." He glanced to Celandine, then at Maeve, and concluded that he was fine with what he expected would happen. However they had chosen to take his cold explanation of why they were here, it remained that neither of them had introduced themselves in turn, and why should he need to hold their hand in how you were supposed to behave in situations like this? This wasn't a diplomatic exchange, it was a joke.

"We'll be on our way. Sorry to disturb you." Not that he sounded sorry at all. Looking to Zeta, the coldness of his manner thawed just a little. "Black fur, orange eyes." And then, as he started to turn around, quite done with this waste of effort: "Celandine."

Zeta felt like none of what she was doing was greatly affecting the situation. She wasn't fully comprehending any part of this. Who Craw really was, and why it had not somehow surfaced during their meeting. What this Celandine was doing here and her relationship with Maeve. Why Iopah and Eirian were being cold with the strangers. She felt like she was standing there as others had conversations around her, and she had no idea how to immerse herself into any of them with intelligent input. Her green eyes flicked nervously from wolf to wolf as they spoke, but she decidedly said nothing. 

When Iopah spoke to her, her ears flattened against her head in surprise. She had not been trying to hide anything! She just hadn't thought it important to discuss asking Craw to keep an eye out for her brother. Perhaps it would have seemed more important to report had she known that he knew about the Argyris family AND had his very own pack. But somehow, that had gotten lost in translation. She felt terrible that her alpha might think her dishonest or sneaky, and she opened her mouth to perhaps defend herself, but knew nothing that would titivate her position, so closed it immediately afterwards. 

Craw dismissed his party, and she looked at him, unready for him to leave. He didn't have any information of her brother, but she also had the other unanswered questions about what was going on here. What about her apparent cousin? He confirmed her brother's physical attributes, and her eyebrows fell to the sides hopelessly. She wanted to ask him to stay, but a side glance to her alphas forced her to stay silent. She didn't want to seem like she had sided with an enemy, especially now that they thought he had been harbouring him like a secret. Her frustration mounted, but fizzled into disappointment. A lot had happened here, and she didn't quite understand any of it.

the rabbit

Adopt my twin!

It would seem the female lead was less than thrilled about their appearance, though Celandine couldn't have cared any less. She never planned on seeing the woman's face again. She hadn't even paid the woman any mind until she mentioned something about the Plateau wolves, and for just a second, the former princess felt herself falter. She hadn't planned on being questioned, hadn't already formulated the perfect response. Thankfully, Craw came back with his own retort, rendering the pale fae's own reply unnecessary. She'd think of something later, in case the situation ever arose again.

"Celandine." Her attention fell upon Craw as he called her, and just like the pathetic little subordinate she was, Celandine moved towards him. The response was done subconsciously, her paws closing the distance between them without her brain having to think about it. How pleasant. There was of course, one last thing she had to do, and with her alpha already on his way out, it would seem she had run out of time. So when her brilliant eyes fell upon him, she knew she had only a moment to ask. The woman nodded towards Maeve, forcing pale ears to lay flat against her skull. It was a display of respect but maybe, just maybe, the hint of an apology resonated somewhere in there. Craw's nod was all the affirmation she needed. "Come along Maeve." There would be plenty of time on the trip home to talk. 

Casting one last indifferent glance towards the small group that had gathered, she let her eyes rest on Zeta. She pondered the girl for a moment, but then she was following Craw again, amber orbs facing forward once more.

Have you seen my OOC preferences?