Larkcall Lowlands Trial by Fire

((Backdated to 10/20/16,  evening))

((Wasn't sure if I should have marked this private or joining to I went with private with invites to WM wolves. @Craw specifically))

The white furred wolf trudged carefully back up the semi familiar path now, a dead pheasant clamped firmly between her jaws as she climbed the hillside, to the same spot where she had met @Lorcan and @Craw the first time, this was the last of her days and the last trial she had to face. The bird had proven to be the most difficult to catch of all the gifts she to offer. Her mind drifted back to five days ago, stalking hare through the forests south of the Lowlands. The second day had proved to be a little more difficult, she had been faced with a clever Martin, a creature that Saradathia had never faced before, though it quickly proved to be a challenge that she had overcome with surprise, what she hadn't chosen to admit, nor did she ever plan to had been the fact that they had stumbled across each other and only her instinctive response breed out of the severe shortage of prey in the far north allowed her to react quick enough to kill the prey before it had gotten away.

The third day had proved to be the easiest, she had returned to the lake where she had first met Lorcan and along the way, in a  shallow pool, laid some Burbot, fish, something the Yearling knew nothing about, except that they were food. After flailing around in the shallow pool, a few new cuts along her muzzle proved fruitful along with the knowledge that she absolutely hated how fish tasted. Day four had been a bit of a gamble. Saradathia had wanted to show that she could do more than just hunt, to show that she had a good amount of endurance and ability to run, she had dropped off a fairly twisted and dried branch from the Ghastly Woods along with another hare in case the first plan failed.

Now, here she stood, on the threshold of what would either be another disappointment, or her new life. Trying to figure out what sort of gifts, as the term was broad, that Craw expected, she had wanted a variety, and her heart had raced most days, coming up with now, in retrospect ridiculous ideas that never would have worked and luck had played a big role in her abilities, though it left only one thing to do. Dropping the pheasant carefully, Saradathia raised her scarred muzzle toward the sky and let out a loud howl.

welcome to the new age

WHITESTONE MONADNOCK

She had been warned that there was someone trying to join their ranks, a young friend of @Lorcan's it would seem. Unlike the last one, however, this one seemed intent on following through. Each day a new gift was left. Each was met with a raised brow, for someone that was interested in becoming a guardian (or was at least allegedly good at fighting), her gifts were geared far closer to those a prospective hunter might offer. Hare, martin, fish, a stick... she could only wonder what the prospect might try today.

This gift came with a summoning howl, the leader offering a slight roll of her eyes to @Celandine, a muttered "Duty calls..." as she ran her nose over both childrens heads and reminded them to behave, for this should only take a minute. She was sure @Craw would be quick to make an appearance, and if he didn't beat her there he wouldn't be far behind.

Her casual descent was halted when her eyes fell on the caller, eyes growing hard and steps becoming stiff as she realised Lorcan's friend was white. A barely suppressed growl grew in her chest, silent curses hurled at Craw for even considering it. He knew her opinion on the matter and that Celandine was the exception... but... Urgh well @Skoll wasn't here to try and fuck it come spring so maybe... just maybe she could make an exception.

"Odd selection fer a candidate guardian..." she called ahead, eyes locking on the stranger as she closed the distance between them, interested to see what the girl would make of her comment.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

Apologies this took me a while!

The familiar howl rang out across the lowlands, stirring Lorcan from his peaceful slumber. He had been trying his best to stay close to the pack lands after his recently misunderstanding with Craw and with the weather growing colder, he thought it best to just stay right within the marked pack borders unless out hunting for food. His healer role was somewhat useless now as all the flora began to die beneath the harsh chill of winter.

Shuffling up from his sleeping position, tail unfurling from around his muzzle, Lorcan rose up before immediately slipping down into a stretch, salmon pink tongue uncoiling from his mouth in a lazy yawn. Seconds passed before the cool air stroked cold fingers through his thickening agouti fur, snapping him awake as the cold temperature caused the young male to quiver and his fur to bristle momentarily. Not wanting to waste any more time standing still, Lorcan was somewhat quick to begin making his way across the large rock face towards the old goat track which lead down to the lowlands.

As he followed the trail, he caught the pungent scent of Morganna on the ground, who had obviously beat him to it. Adjusting his body posture accordingly, he shifted into a tentative traipse, russet ears falling back against the smooth curve of his skull and tail curling submissively between his legs as he carefully approached the swarthy woman, greeting her with a respectful whine before quickly settling down to sit a few feet behind her, unsure if she desired his presence. Salmon pink tongue swept nervously across his charcoal lips as he caught Morganna’s remark, golden eyes flickered across anxiously to meet Saradathia’s silver stare, offering her an apologetic smile.

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

Jaq - hope it's okay to assume that Craw learned her name from Lorcan, since they didn't exchange pleasantries in the last thread :)

Craw's opinion of the loner's gifts had fallen much in line with @Morgannas: the small white girl was showing her skills more in line with hunting and providing than with guarding. A prospective guardian should have brought trophies from the dangerous creatures they had felled, a sign that they could defend themselves and others. The prey animals - and even her branch, an attempt at showing diversity, he assumed - did not fall in that category. Recalling Lorcan's little friend, though, the emphasis was always on the little - not that a dimensionally-challenged wolf was useless or even should be dismissed, but Craw could think of better uses for her. Himself and @Isuni - and @Wraith, though the man styled himself more towards teaching - were enough. Of scouts, they had two, and now a medic - but no dedicated hunter.

Her gifts did not displease him. He knew how hard it could be to survive on your own, and providing for herself under those circumstances was no simple matter; to then sacrifice one of her wins every day for five days in a row was nothing to dismiss. Where the first loner had failed to offer anything at all, she had succeeded, and earned that much respect. When he heard her voice on that fifth day, he was happy to rise to meet it.

Something niggled at the back of his mind as he loped across the monadnock towards the track, almost lazily, catching sight of Lorcan ahead answering the same call as himself. To his satisfaction, his prediction of the medic helping the girl had been proven wrong - or at least they had done a good job hiding it. To be sloppy was worse than to be pandering.

But what had he forgotten? As he made his way down, spotting her small white shape waiting by the borders, with Lorcan ahead and Morganna in front of - oh. Heh. The white thing. Pushing a little speed into his gait, he arrived as Lorcan approached Morganna, unabashed in the knowledge that the loner's colour might be... off-putting to some. If she was going to be an asset, then Morganna would just have to get over her little prejudice. It wasn't like her brother was in any position to abuse any of the Whitestone women.

He chuffed as he approached, gaze falling onto the girl, coming to step beside his mate. While his tail and head rose in dominance in front of the loner, his lips quirked in hinted warmth. She had not disappointed him, and his mood was not nearly as sour as it had been last time. Lorcan had been climbing his way out of the dirt, slowly but surely, and Craw was largely content with him once more.

"Saradathia," he rumbled in soft greeting, making sure to keep tabs on Morganna's reaction, for, unfortunately, this was not his decision alone to make. A wolf didn't bring five dead bodies to a pack's borders and then howl for attention only to walk away - but he wanted to hear her speak her piece first all the same.

The small wolf’s torn ear flicked, as soon as the howl emitted from her died down, she stood on her guard, she wasn’t sure what to expect from the mandock wolves, but she came expecting to have to fight for a place within their folds. Her stance was slightly rigid as the first wolf appeared. Would this be her first challenge? The alpha female’s words brought a brief, confused look to the girl’s scarred muzzle, quickly vanishing though as a familiar grey and tan figured appeared.


Lorcan… she thought quiety, trying to hide the vague sense of pleasure and comfort his presence brought her to this situation. The submissive whine toward the black wolf told Saradathia all she needed to know. She was the higher ranking of the two and the white wolf quickly matched his actions to a lesser extent, her tail falling behind her, neutrally, just as the large behemoth Craw appeared.


She swallowed nervously as he came closer, His massive size still off putting to the yougn wolf who hadn’t ever seen a wolf larger than Lorcan before bumping into him. She took a deep breath as the male alpha greeted her. Now was her time to make or break her station with these wolves.


She started by dipped her scarred muzzle to both Craw and the smaller, lead female. “Ma’am?” She spoke as she lifted her muzzle “I don't understand where the notion that i sought to be a guardian was conceived from. I hate that the information was false and may have given you a false impression of what it is I came seeking when I first encounter Craw and Lorcan.” She paused, she didn’t want to offend or annoy either of the Alphas with a sudden torrent of words. Instead she gestured at the pieces of prey. “I come seeking a chance to fight for my place within a pack, I didn’t come expecting to have to do anything less, but fighting isn’t something I’m fond of, it’s running and chasing that I prefer, if I can contribute to your pack’s exceptional pool of skills then that's all I seek.”

Morganna needn't wonder if the girl lost her ear for the same reasons Piety did, she was clearly too young, but next spring would be a different matter. Lorcan's whine was answered with a slight wave of her tail, the rattling breath of Craw giving him away long before his scent as he moved up to stand by her side. The loner was ignored for a moment as she pressed her nose to her mate's cheek in greeting, a single flick of her ear committing the name to memory. Well she'd gone to this much effort, it'd be cruel to turn her away now.

As a young wolf it wasn't such a surprise that she lacked the voice to address the misunderstanding on her first attempt to gain entry, but nothing was given away in Morganna's steely stare. It was true they were short a hunter, and with a slowly released breath (a silent sigh that would only be detectable to Craw as she leaned into his flank) she finally smirked. "No point in fightin' with winter on th' way. Lorcan won't have enough plants ter patch yer up later if we use 'em all now." It was a statement with two meanings, no need to fight now, no need to be stupid down the track, but whether the latter would be detected would only be revealed in time.

She paused to see if Craw would have anything else to add, he had more experience with this one, and so she would leave the final say to him.

@Craw

As Lorcan settled down silently a few paces behind Morganna, he caught scent of Craw and almost in that very moment the large monochrome male sauntered into the gathering, greeting his mate as could be expected and ignoring him. The agouti male tried to catch Craw’s gaze to determine what kind of mood he was in, but it seemed his superior’s attention was strictly towards the potential newcomer. Deciding it would be best to remain silent and not make a fuss, Lorcan remained in a submissive stance and settled his rear down on the ground to watch the situation unfold from the side lines.

When Saradathia began her response to Morganna’s remark, Lorcan felt a lump grow in his throat. Oops. He had obviously misunderstood what she had meant when they had first met, and now, the helpful suggestion that he had made to Craw earlier in the week was making both him and Saradathia look foolish. Russet ears pressed back harder against his head as he felt his face flush hot with embarrassment, and as his golden eyes flickered up apologetically towards Morganna and Craw, he sunk nervously lower to the ground.

Fortunately it seemed Morganna could see past his foolish assumptions, her words hinting that perhaps the young pale girl could be of some use to the pack. From the sounds of it Saradathia was in fact more interested in become a hunter, but then again he couldn’t be sure. He’d made the assumptions once before. As Morganna directed her attention towards Craw, Lorcan did also, waiting with silent anticipation for his verdict.

# P O R C A N

sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realise

how much they need to fall back together

One more from everyone else and done? This can be Craw's last post :)

While he could almost smell her tension, @Saradathia kept herself composed, dipping her head in respect before beginning her speech. A brow quirked as she explained the misunderstanding, something which made more sense to Craw than the idea that the little white slip of a wolf before them could really aspire to be a guardian. This clarity was pleasing, and he similarly liked how she sought to correct them bluntly while remaining polite and non-abrasive. Straight-speaking wolves were definitely among his favourites.

From the corner of his eye he saw Lorcan shrink a little, as if ashamed by the mistake, but Craw just huffed dismissively, high tail even giving a slow wag in his pleasure. Sara's blatant flattery of Whitestone went neither unnoticed or unappreciated, and he felt Morganna's soft sigh before she addressed it, and it was clear that the unfortunate colour that Sara had been born with had not sullied her decision.

"You've shown you're capable with what you have brought," Craw said, stepping forward as he lay down the final verdict, "as well as your ability to act in the best interests of others with no need for constant reward." And her presented image of confidence, despite the nerves he could sense underneath, went a good way in her favour as well. "We could do with a hunter as dedicated as that. Welcome to Whitestone."

With that he moved forward to gently but firmly grab her small muzzle in his own vast one, and she would feel the quiet growl rattling in his throat in her snout. He held her only a moment before releasing her and brushing past, pressing their flanks together despite the size difference, leaving his scent clearly on her pelt, and with that it was done.

She was one of them, and he hoped not just for the winter.

All the tension that had been building up into bundles of nervousness had dissolved quickly with what the girl thought was confirmation that somehow she had navigated the minefield of trying to please the heads of the pack. As Morganna left the decision up to Craw, a small sigh of relief escaped the yearling, though that had been quickly replaced by wide eyed surprise as Craw’s comments turned into a muzzle grab, surprising was all as she felt the larger wolf grip her gently within his own. Positive that if he tried, he’d probably be able to swallow her entire head within it.


“Thank you….” She said quietly, the first peace she head felt since leaving the north washing over her gently, though it was replaced with a small fear. What if the Monadnock pack proved to be just as vicious as her last? Fearful apprehension swelled within the pit of Saradathia’s stomach at the thought, though by how..nice some of the wolves seems, it was a good guess to be unlikely...but she wouldn’t know until she met the rest of them. Silvery eyes glanced between each of the wolves present as she dipped her scarred muzzle before each of them in turn.