Willow Ridge This New Place

Well this is it.. Our new home..It's rather pretty I think. Hotei padded slowly and still cautiously through the territory. He was checking out the den and the cache area for food. Then afterward maybe the dark wolf might check the borders as that was his job now. Hotei had no problem marking borders, it was just when a dispute did arise that Burn side of him would have to take over.

You think everything is pretty and happy and sugar canes wimp.. The darker half of the wolf gazed out at the budding willows trying to imagine the place in summer. It was a nicer view than some dumb old river that was for sure.

The pair concentrated for a while, letting their minds meld as best they could. Once in a while it worked, other times they were constantly arguing on what to do. Today it seemed would be a good day for Kasai. As his personality was becoming more secure, though not neutral good or evil.. Just neutral to everyone around him. When they were together, a single entity, Kasai was much more attentive and quick to make decisions. Apart, and the two halves of wolf would take forever to decide what to do.

First Kage found the den. A neat little thing with the scents of all his other new pack mates all around the floors of the place. Perhaps we should meet a few of our new pack mates. Maybe some other guardians? Kasai questioned himself letting his nose take him trotting through the den. One area smelled strongly of herbs, and he wondered which of the wolves were medics. Then another area farther down the landscape was a cache. Not full but not empty either. His stomach growled but Kasai refused to partake in the bounty until he'd done some work himself.

On that note the burnt wolf turned and began padding around the territory, slowly heading toward the borders. He hoped to find at least one of the Ridge wolves before he set upon marking the border.

"Anyone there?." He let lose a loud questioning bark then paused searching the area for white, gray, rust, or black wolf pelts.

He was not much of a wolf kind of guy. Though he did his duty and responded whenever his presence was needed, he did not like sticking around many wolves, preferring to stay away from the others, perhaps save his sister and Kiche. Though his twin had dominated him in the rank challenge, Gui respected the man and he felt as though he had a connection to the large man, though being extremely large himself, it was not a shock. Compared to all of the other wolves within the pack the russet man had much more strength compared to the others, though he did not exactly make up for it with his speed and stamina, when used correctly, his strength could be something that any wolf would be terrified of, when in truth, all he was turned out to be a large cuddly looking bear. Which was actually what he looked like, a large bear cub.

Ever since he had joined the Ridge pack he had proudly been marking the borders and watching them since his joining, save the time he had stood guard over Narime when she had gotten trapped in the cavern. She was now gone with his own brother, Sloane, and he kind of already missed the talkative female. He knew that his brother would take care of the young girl, who was soon becoming a woman, Guiness would know this, for if Sloane did not then he would get one good beating from the honorable Thorben. Twitching his red ears when an unfamiliar bark sounded from within the Ridge territory, the man was quick to turn on his heel, his large red legs pushing him quicker than he would have preferred on a regular basis. Lifting his tail up slightly above his back he approached the dark man, though patches of missing fur in places proved light.

There was no need to Guiness to attack the man, for Elettra’s scent was already on his coat. Twitching his ears slightly, his golden amber eyes stared at the man before him. He had not seen the guy before, though, the slowly becoming stronger scent on his fur suggested that he was new to the pack, as the Guard knew that El would not take a deserter in easily. With a slight snort, he introduced himself, his words short and clipped, “Guiness Thorben.” He then remained silent, letting his name ring out into the air as he patiently waited for the response from the other man. Lifting one of his ears slightly so that he could hear better, his golden amber gaze strayed through the territory, the snow seemingly starting to melt slightly.

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Well... It seems I found one.. Kasai watched the giant brute impressed by his stature. The guy must be a poor hunter though with no speed to catch deer with.. Their minds agreed chuckling even on the inside. The rust colored fellow lifted his head and tail a bit and Kasai was left with a decision. Walk the walk and try for a higher rank among his fellows or just let the guy be boss. It was a natural ritual in wolf packs, this dance of dominance. Perhaps in the future once he knew the wolves better he would take part in these dances more.

For a moment he held his neutral stance looking over the male sizing him up. Then with a quick glance downward he relented even lowering his chin and tail a little. Kasai would find out by sticking around and watching who these wolves were. Including this guy. See their loyalty for himself, see their personalities and teamwork for himself. Only then would he gain their respect and dish it out in turn. Even though he was lowering himself Kasai kept himself reserved of judgement on the man. He might be worthy of such respect.

"Guiness Thorben...." He let the name roll off his tongue tasting it. A strong name, for an equally strong wolf. As of yet no other words came from his rusted maw. Not a talker...The kind of wolf I like. Perhaps we both like to judge by actions rather than words.. His thoughts remained silent as the yellow eyed wolf glanced up to the male with half a smile on his burnt face.

"Kasai Kage." He spoke once then waited for a command from this higher ranking officer. Or for this Guiness to start questioning him. It could go either way.

Flickering his ears towards the man as his own name was spoken, he waited for any other words to follow. Many of the wolves within the Willow Ridge pack seemed to be quite talkative, save himself and Kiche. If this was yet another man who rather have actions display more than words, it would be enough to please Guiness. Communication, in his mind, was much easier when one used it with actions, for words could always be interpreted the wrong way, though perhaps so could actions, but it was always easier to correct actions, as one could never take away words spoken. When no speech came from the burnt male’s mouth, he tilted his head slightly and crouched, as if asking him if he wanted to spar.

Guiness had not trained much since arriving within the lore, for he had not had time to find a training buddy. Though perhaps if this male would accept his offer, the two could become friends, or in a sense, allies. He did not know if this man was going to be one of Elettra’s faithful followers or not, for time would soon answer the question for everyone within the pack. But perhaps if this man would accept Guiness’s request, a small bond could form between the two. He had known that when the pack meeting had ended that he needed to get better acquainted with his pack mates. Now was just a better time to do so.

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Well now won't this be fun? His thoughts echoed just after Guiness gave him the invitation to a sparring match. Burn had fought with some wolves after he'd escaped the fire. However never had he had the chance to spar with one so large. Perhaps because wolves this size only grew to this girth in well established packs. Rarely would any wolf find a loner in this russet mans form. Unless the loner had only recently left a pack.

His legs were shaking, but not from fright. No no no.. Shaking from excitement. A wide almost unfitting grin appeared on his maw as he lifted his head a bit once more looking over the fine wolf in front of him. His Tainn family's yellow eyes drifting around the Thorbens own amber one's. This would be a fine joust. Perhaps get a few more scars from the big lug to show off.

"Sure..." With a few twitches of his tail Kasai tensed himself ready for Guiness to make a quick surprise attack as soon as he had said sure. He wondered what tricks the big guy had. Maybe something new that he could try out later someplace quiet while no one was looking. This side of the dark wolf loved to fight, and loved to further his knowledge of fighting. Plus being able to spar with another wolf and know that you're testing each other to the max helped him to feel closer, or trust that same sparring partner more in battle.

Dancing sideways Kasai lept towards the big mans shoulder aiming his claws towards the russet males front legs. His head was held up ready to defend himself from those huge jaws that he was quickly nearing. Kasai was trying to trip the guy up then pounce upwards with his head in almost a wolf "uppercut" to Guiness chin if he could. Of course this was only if the plan went well.

So far Willow Ridge was a fit for the burnt ghost.

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His russet tail swayed behind him, his large ears pricking forward upon Hotei confirming their match. With a snort wag of his tail, amber eyes watched the movements of his pack mate in front of him. He did not wish to miss any of the movements from his pack mate, so when the man dashed out towards him, Guiness was ready. Almost automatically, his head ducked down to protect his legs, remembering that when Kiche had challenged him, how the priest had gone for his foreleg and that was how he had defeated the Thorben. Baring his pearly fangs at Kasai, he dodged to the left, his left paw flying into the air in an attempt to snag the burnt male on the shoulder and making sure that if he hit it would hurt, but not enough to seriously injure to male.

Even though he did succeed in dodging Kasai’s original attack, the red man still felt the man’s claws as they lightly scraped his side. A cold chill went down the man’s side and rooted him to the spot, leaving him immobile for a moment, before he went into action again. Backing away from the male, a playful sounding growl escaped him, his tail thudding heavily on the ground as he stared at the man. Guiness was trying to keep some distance between the two of them so that when his new pack mate did decide to attack, the Guardian would be able to assess where he was going and possibly get out of the way before it was too late. Watching the man, he was once again ready for action.

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Kasai was not surprised that a wolf already with the title of guardian was able to see his attack. It seemed as if the russet beast had already learned to guard his legs from some previous battle, but that was fine. It wouldn't be fun if Kasai had beaten him in the very first round of the match. Instead he watched the male back away with his tail wagging.

The dark wolfs tail flicked from side to side showing his enjoyment of the game. His yellow orbs ever watching the huge form of his opponent. This time Kasai stood watching and waiting. His body tense waiting to spring out of the way or catch an open spot after the russet wolf went after him. His ears kept themselves flat against his broad head so as not to be ripped away from his skull.

More idea's and plans filled the dark wolfs head as he stood patiently waiting for an attack. Kasai's legs stood stiffly even if his tail was flicking excitedly back and forth behind him. Would the russet man try to charge him straight on? Or would he try some cunning trick? It was all Kasai could do to keep himself from running forward blindly into Guiness' jaws.

Trying to get Kasai to make a move against him was a hard as trying to get a large boulder to move on command. Patience was one thing Guiness had been able to build up through his childhood and right now he knew that was one of the things that he would have to apply to the spar in front of him. Taunting was also something the guardian had obtained within his training, and as much as he had disliked bluffing when he was younger, sometimes he found it necessary to win a fight if he were to come out on top. Raising his head, he bared his fangs and growled at the male in front of him, not wanting to push his boundaries too far with the man. Perhaps if he would have been an actual enemy, the holy man would have actually spoke insulting words to him, to get him to attack, but that was not needed for such the occasion. Kasai was just another pack mate.

He pawed at the ground in front of him, much like an angry bear, his pearly whites flashing in the sunlight provided to them. Slowly the Thorben started to circle the man in front of him, knowing full well that he did not know the man’s story, nor why he was burnt like so. It was none of his business, but perhaps his opinion on that would have changed if he would have known that the pack mate in front of him was not Kasai, but Hotei Tainn, formerly from the Swift River pack. Twitching his ears, he quickly lunged towards the male, though his large bulk slowed him down by quite much, he was still fast. Raising his large paws he aimed for the black man’s shoulder in hopes that Guiness would be able to pin him down.

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