Fee Fi Fo Fum, English wolf, not englishman.

[Lucian]

Blue eyes stood stark against a back drop of tan and brown the gaze flickering to the right, and to the left as it peered from behind a curtain of branches and leaves. The first thing besides a tentative look see to pierce the curtain of foliage was a leathery nose adorning a slim muzzle. Nostrils flared open exposing the sensitive insides of the canine’s nose to the air, and to the musky odor of a scent marking. A head fully popped out showing off the expressive brows of a dainty female wolf, her ears perked with interest. Taking another furtive look around Lucian slunk out of her bushy hide away, sternly muttering for the bush to ‘stay put’ out of the corner of her muzzle. Pausing for a moment, mid slink she took a moment to mentally reprimand herself for being so downright weird then gave it up for a lost cause when she couldn’t be bothered to listen to herself. So the brown colored wolf wriggled, and crawled belly pressed to the ground to one of the points of interest. Her twitching nose inhaling the smell of ownership. This was definitely someone’s pack lands. "Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the…" pausing she twitched an ear to the right and slammed her chin rather painfully down on a root clapping a forepaw over her eyes. "Dear spirits, I need to stop trying to TALK with myself. It’s getting embarrassing." A long, low canine groan rumbled in her throat and flowed out. "I’m still doing it. STOP IT! I SAID STOP!" Lucian sat bolt upright so fast that she, in fact, toppled right over landed with a muted ‘Oomph’ half on her back with her gangly legs sticking in the air, and her head grinding into the dirt. Her blue eyes gave another furtive glance around, sincerely hoping she wasn’t being watched. That’s just what she needed, her first impression on this band of unknowns to be that she was diseased or something. Lucian’s lips pulled back bearing her teeth in what could be seen as a grimace. A nervous sound wavering plaintively from her bared throat. "Bah." She grunted, letting her stiff body relax so that she just sprawled there. "Might as well get used to it. It’s not like I’m crazy or anything… Am I?" Well that was certainly something to ponder, so ponder it she did. For about two seconds, then she stopped. If she was honest with herself she didn’t care if she was crazy, really… Right? Right.

[Cælestis]

Left, right; left, right. He had been watching the squirrel for some time now, his dark, wood–like eyes studying its every move as it scurried around the undergrowth, its rusty orange coat standing out against its emerald surroundings. There was nothing expressive in his eyes, save for the feeling of boredom that thudded through his veins as his paws led him along his usual route that took the wolf around most of the vast expanse of his territory’s borders that he had accumulated. Scurry, sniff, flinch; scurry, sniff, flinch. The squirrel had caught onto his scent, he realized with a tinge of regret. The sniffing and flinching movements and the look of sudden alertness that had become apparent in the smaller mammal’s eyes had spelt out an end to his observations, or so the Alpha mused, his eyes still watching the little creature. Again, it went and sniffed, followed by a flinch––and then, as quick as a flash, it was gone, hurrying towards the nearest tree and clambering up the bark. Rising from where he had been crouched in the undergrowth for a while, the wolf took the time to stretch, moving from each position with a type of laziness that was reminiscent of actual laziness, and yet nothing like it. A loose yawn pulled itself from his mouth and he shook his body as if he had just climbed out from a river or a water source of some sort, taking the time to blink at a leisurely pace and then start off again, his body adjusting to the reasonably normal pace of his walk. Cælestis’s eyes browsed the foliage without much intent on finding anything; his duties as Alpha having been boring for the past two weeks or so. There wasn’t much activity within the lands, and yet, with winter coming, he would have thought that wolves would be attracted to the features of a pack––security, a family and something to call home; the list went on and on. Albeit, at the moment, his theory wasn’t proving correct, which was why he had resulted to watching the squirrel a few moments before. And then, quite unexpectedly, the wind changed to an upwind direction and brought him a whole new range of odours and smells. He paused in mid–step; paw dangling a few centimetres from the ground as the male’s body stiffened and his eyes grew alert as a fresh scent reached his nostrils on the breeze. It was a refreshing aroma, one that he had smelt only in day–old tracks that he had missed, and trespassers that had long–since vanished from the lands. The scent of another wolf was oh–so–exciting to him that he couldn’t help but suppress a yelp of utter ecstasy and excitement. Darting off into the bushes and narrowly avoiding many low logs and branches that lay strewn across the undergrowth, the Alpha wove his body around the tree trunks and was exceptionally careful not to trip over anything. With his white coat and peculiar markings (that were actually darker hairs under his top coat, I hasten to add!), he stood out like a sore thumb in the forest, so technically, anything about a mile away could see him––but did he care? You’re right – he didn’t! ‘Might as well get used to it.’ The sound of a creature’s voice reached his ears and Cælestis forced down another excited yelp, slowing his run to a fast–paced walk and emerging from behind a large pine tree, his fur looking a little worse for wear with a few leaves clinging to it for dear life. Tongue lolling out of his mouth, his eyes were instinctively trained on the newcomer and he found that he did not recognize the creature. After a moment of catching his breath, he inhaled again, determining that the other wolf was definitely a female, and then stepped further into her line of sight. It was now one of those times where he adopted his posture and became the more dominant, more confident wolf out of the two. Lifting his tail up so that it was above hers by a long way and raising his head, the male’s features were gentle and yet solemn at the same time, his eyes doing the once–over of the female before he spoke; tones somewhat casual and distant. “Welcome to Lachlan’s borders, wolf.”

[Lucian]

The first thing to alert her to the fact that she was no longer alone was the well timed thump of paws against the ground. Well, actually the first thing was the smell of at least one other wolf living in the area, she wasn’t that stupid you know! That aside, the sound of paws drumming the earth was her first alert that another wolf was coming closer to her current place. The second clue was the flicker of something vaguely white out to the side that caught like an irritant in the corner of one blue eye. Then there he, snuffle, yeah he was strutting into the line of her vision all posturing, and proud. Lucian’s blue eyes crossed slightly as she stared at the male looming over her. Her ears attempted to swivel forward, but only succeeded in twitching against the ground a bit. She gawked blandly at him as he postured a bit, making his features leader-like and what not, though she could almost perceive the excited twitch in his muscles. He seemed to want to start waggling about like a puppy, but alas, as soon as she noticed the fact it was gone. "Could have been my eyes." She stated vaguely, it took a few moments before she realized she’d spoken her thoughts aloud. She really needed to do something about that. Like… Her thoughts cut of with a mental whip-crack as the stranger spoke up. Her gaze, which had gone hazy with inner thought snapped back to him. Wolf? she thought testily. Well, he certainly doesn’t know your name. an exasperated side of herself reminded her. For a moment she pondered getting up, but decided she’d just lay there. That way I won’t have to grovel again! Two birds with one stone! A bit giddy with this discovery Lucian waggled her tail a bit, kicking up crackling leaves to either side. "Lucian." She yapped automatically. "Or Luc… You can call me whatever so long as it isn’t Late For a Meal." Blue eyes shown with easy humor up at him, her tail curling vaguely over her haunches as she curled her neck back further, fully submissive in acceptance of his dominance of the area. "And you Mister Leader Man." She yipped, tail wagging of it’s own accord once more. She was hard put to choke down a swell of rambunctious chatter. She had someone to talk to! Will you look at that! In fact, she was practically squirming all over the ground. She’d be embarrassed, but she honestly couldn’t help it. She was boring to talk to… Did she just insult herself? Immediately she fell still, looking oddly thoughtful. Realizing he was still there with a sudden twitch she cast a sheepish flash of her fangs, "Don’t mind me, I’m not crazy or diseased you know. Just a bit odd, or weird, or different, or you know… Not normal. So really I’m perfectly average, and all that. I am, I really am!" she babbled on in this tangent for several moments, while her mind helpfully supplied that she sounded like a nutty squirrel. Nutty squirrel! HA! That one was funny! "NUTTY SQUIRREL~!" she yelped out, rather randomly. Lucian twitched again as she realized she was vocalizing her thoughts still and attempted to shrink her head into her shoulders. She had the worst luck with first impressions, she supposed. "Oh uhm, thanks for the welcome. They’re.. uh.. lovely borders." She added, sounding a bit meek.

[Cælestis]

This Alpha business certainly seemed terrible when it dawned upon him that he had to act all high and mighty in front of another wolf, even if it was just for the time being. He felt much like a coiled spring – albeit, he didn’t know what one was, but the comparison was somewhat similar – with his energy all wound up and contained in his body, just waiting to burst out and make him run and frolic about in all his excitement. Although, really, he hadn’t been expecting her to talk––just to look at him with some sort of apprehension mixed with awe and then grovel at his feet and enquire if she could join Lachlan. When she spoke, the words and the fact that she had voiced her thoughts were treated as a kind of shock towards the male’s system and he did nothing but stare at her with a blank look on his face when he realized what she had said. ‘Could have been my eyes.’ and he was automatically thinking ‘What?’ Cælestis did not to respond to her unexpected statement and – instead – set about padding further towards the borders, his eyes taking in her physical features and mentally storing her scent into a little pocket of his brain. He let his tongue loll out of his mouth for a moment, standing with a degree of authority and casualness laced into his body language, his ears alert and waiting for whatever else she was going to say. He didn’t have to wait long, he noted, before the female’s name tumbled from within her muzzle. ‘Lucian,’ uttered as a yap that had elements of excitement to it, he couldn’t really tell, but nonetheless, he had a name. ‘Or Luc… you can call me whatever you want, as long as it isn’t Late For a Meal.’ Her attempt at humour was lost on the male as he regarded her with blank eyes, inwardly wondering what she had eaten to make her so unreadable and so confusing and random. ‘And you, Mister Leader Man.’ If it weren’t for the sheer happiness inside of him at finding another wolf, Cælestis would have turned to walk away. He caught sight of her tail wagging in a happy–go–lucky manner and therefore decided against it; despite showing submission to him, she was daring enough to do that and he quite liked her manner of courage and daring. It would be interesting, at least, and that really was the truth. “Cælestis,” he stated with firm tones, relaxing his posture somewhat and sliding into an easy sitting position, “Call me Cælestis… or Cæl.” After his somewhat bland statement of his name and such, the Alpha rose and moved towards Lucian, lowering his muzzle slightly so that he could sniff her in a friendly manner, storing her scent into his mind again. After the ‘ritual’ had been completed, the male sat back down, yawning lazily and shaking his head as if he had just ventured out of a river and was soaking wet. Turning his attention back to the newest member of Lachlan, he tilted his head slightly and came to the decision that he should informally greet her to her new home. “Welcome to Lachlan, Lucian. Consider yourself one of the pack.” The official, excited greeting could come later––for now he’d stick to being formal.

[Lucian]

Even if she showed a rambunctious and easy front, inside there was a mind that was swiftly calculating everything around her, and these thoughts were tucked away. They did not come out, blurted from her muzzle nor did they translate to her body language. Had they done so, she would have been tense and snarling. No, Lucian rather prefer to throw everyone off guard, and what better way than to be a lovable idiot. Given, it wasn’t an act, really… but in a manner it was. She just wasn’t as stupid as she made herself out to be. Like any seasoned wanderer, whether it be one year or more, she was wary as soon as she scented a marking. She was a bit annoyed that her humor just seemed to wash off this male like dew on a leaf, but she was used to it. Everyone was always so serious these days, and try as she might she just couldn’t get them to lighten up! Ah well, life goes on as they say. When he drifted nearer, after announcing his name and began to sniff at her, Lucian’s body stiffened minutely the only show that there was actually a mild amount of fear and wailing instinct beneath the brown ball of idiocy. Of course she was terrified witless! Who wouldn’t be? The guy was massive in comparison, and could probably snap her scrawny neck in half. Well, okay, so that wasn’t an unusual thing when it came to her and other wolves. A mental grumble about her runtiness meandered across her mind. "I think I’ll call you Cael, if you don’t horribly mind." She breathed, as soon as he’d backed off a bit and sat down. Her voice sounding a bit wavery for a moment before she leapt back into her chipper manner. "Less of a mouthful, you know, and me being the fool I am I’d forget the long way ‘round." Finally she rolled over onto her tan colored underside, leaves sticking to her fur like weird ornaments. She remained like this, belly down with her tail trapped under her own body, her keen blue eyes gauging the male her ears perked forward and at full attention. Those next words though, they sent a quiver of excitement careening crazily through her dainty body. A home! She had a pack again! She wasn’t alone! She gave a gleeful yelp and bounced to her feet, quite literally dancing in place. She’d have bounced over and licked that big males face thrice over if she didn’t think he’d cuff her into next year, she was so happy. Other than the fact that her whole body was wagging with the force of her swinging tail, her posture was neutral. After all, she didn’t know where she would rank in this new home and she didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes already. That’d just be bad manners… the stepping on toes could wait until she gauged her new world thoroughly, after all.

[Cælestis]

During the short space of time that he had gone up and proceeded to sniff Lucian in order to ‘greet’ her as a proper Alpha would, he sensed her body tense up but had – at that moment in time – thought nothing of it; it was a normal thing for wolves to do, was it not? He had done it many–a–time whilst he had been an Omega; he had tensed up when the Alphas and Betas sniffed him, but he could not recall why. Whenever Aiden had sniffed him, he had tensed up because of fear, and the male now had an inkling of suspicion that she was scared of him. He mulled over the possibility in silence; any thoughts that he was having never registering on his face as the reasons as to why she could be scared of him moved in and around his mind at ease. His tongue lolled out of his mouth again and he panted loosely, still mulling over the reasons why. It had only been a slight tensing of her muscles, but really, Alpha or not, he could not have a wolf in the pack that was scared of him – it just would not do! ‘I think I’ll call you Cæl, if you don’t horribly mind.’ It had taken him a while to register the fact that Lucian had spoken again, and he looked up with a lazy expression crossing his features, deciding on whether or not he should make a comment on her original statement. For the moment, he came to the conclusion that he could comment on it later. ‘Less of a mouthful, you know,’ and he did personally agree with that. Cælestis stirred slightly when it became apparent to him that Lucian was up and moving. His eyes averted themselves from where he had been studying the ground and his head jerked upwards in a sudden, abrupt motion that found the white male staring at the female. Okay, so I wouldn’t put it as ‘staring’; it was more like he was watching her but in an intense manner, as if he was almost analysing her and deciding things based upon her actions. For a moment, the Alpha was content to let her stand and be happy that she had a home, but it was after a few minutes that he was aware of a small ache filling his stomach. Rising to his feet and gesturing with his head for her to follow him, he paused in mid–step, once again watching her intently. “Cæl is a good,” he responded in an off–hand manner before speaking again, “But for the moment, we have more important matters at hand. How do you feel about a hunt?”

[Lucian]

Since her new alpha didn’t seem to mind her general jovial romping she persisted to wobble about, skittering her claws in the mud and kicking up debris in general. Not even minding when he regarded her with an intense stare. She might have been mildly afraid of the monster male, but she wasn’t about to let that show, she had her pride. Being a runt like her one tended to be scared of anything bigger than them, that was a weakness she was not willing to admit. Flicking her head from side to side she watched a few leaves flutter off of her rumpled coat causing her to pause in her frolicking. Wrinkling her snout a bit she tensed her body and roughly shook herself sending dirt, dust, leaves, grass, and whatever else she’d picked up off the ground flying every which way. Plopping her rump down on the ground with a slight thump she craned her neck around to stare down the curve of her back, tail twitching minutely. "Thats better, I actually look brown again instead of like a mottled rotting mouse." She bemoaned the fact with a long suffering sigh. She wasn’t vain by any meaning of the word, but still… She felt a tad bit silly presenting such a poor prospect to this pack, her pack. Oh what a wonderful idea that was! Then again she couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They, or he, or whoever made up this group (she hadn’t seen any other wolves yet, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there) probably regretted setting eyes on her. She snorted in amusement. Maybe the rest died in shame when their leader accepted me. she thought cattily, sending a few sly glances around herself. Perfectly amused she twitched her head around toward Cael, and quirked it to the left watching him watch her. Then he was up on his paws, and drifting off, and Lucian was right behind him like some sort of overly bouncy shadow, not even really waiting for the ‘follow me’ gesture. The mention that Cael was fine, confused her momentarily before she recalled her previous babbling, and nodded once to show her agreement whether he cared or not. The next bit of his words caused her pause. "A hunt?" she echoed softly, her voice dropping from the chipper yip she normally had to a thoughtful murmur. Slowly a sly look overtook her open features, a cold calculating predators mask. It came on sluggishly making it all the more fearsome, and effective. The change seemed to seep, and drip into ever corner of the brown she-wolf’s body. Trickling until it filled her. She was a wolf, if not a strange one, and any hunter knew that the hunt was not a place for jest. It was a place for silence and cunning, and if Lucian was anything… Cunning was it. "That… would be great." She would have purred those words if she had been a cat. She had been a loner after all, the chance at a meal was very, very appealing.