Breaking the Comfort Zone (open)

Sansa's deep sunset orange eyes darted around the trees suspiciously. She was picking her way through the thick foliage while looking for her brother Kovarro. As usual it was a pointless attempt, especially with the added confusion the rain brought. The male so easily disappeared into the shadows, avoiding contact unless it was on his own terms. It didn't bother her much though, she knew he was there, somewhere. As she thought on about that a small flashback of her younger years popped into her head and she smiled. Sansa had always been afraid of the dark when she was younger, and one night the sounds of the trees and bushes in the shadows were particularly frightening her, keeping her up. Out of nowhere Kovarro had appeared assuring her that she had nothing to worry about, that it was him making all those noises and that it would always be him. It had made her feel at ease, and after that night there was no need to worry. Just as she was getting into their more embarrassing and playful moments as youngsters, Kovarro showed up, snapping her out of her thoughts. Before he could even say anything she picked up on the borderline warning them to stay away and looked at him questioningly. "I think we can sneak it, shouldn't be too difficult. This place isn't as navigable as it should be to chase down a pair of loners" she said softly while studying the wet surrounding area.

Kovarro approached his sister and licked at her muzzle in greeting before turning his head to follow her gaze. "Make the call" he urged while staring down a particular space in the trees. "There are two of them nearby, they would be onto us too quickly" he sighed then looked to his sister with a comforting smile. It made her nervous, because that always meant the possibility of something going seriously wrong. Sansa waited for a moment, then with a nod she tilted her head back and let out a call, signaling her presence on the borders of the territory. Kovarro would chime in with a choppy and broken howl, but for the most part of the song he kept quite and waited to see if the others would respond quickly. He hadn't been too sure if they were even pack members, but he wasn't willing to risk it.

It wasn't Blitz, Or Pravin that was nearby, but Xerxses. He frowned as he heard the call, knowing that both Blitz and Pravin were preoccupied at the Rapids and the Ridge. But he, as a pack member and a warrior, couldn't let the call go un-attended to, so he turned and headed in the direction. As he moved, his own deep and powerful howl responded to theirs, announcing his presence, as well as his intention to confront them. He wasn't too far away when he spotted them, a pair of wolves, standing at the border. He approached, proud and dominant, until he came to a stop just within the pack lands.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, getting right to the point, seeing introductions and formalities unnecessary at this particular moment. Find out what they wanted first, then deal with names and such later. It was always easier that way, at least to him. Getting right down to buisiness. The large white male finally sat, watching him intently, waiting for a response.

The pair's ears perked in unison as a response echoed across the lands and they looked to each other questioningly then sat down and awaited to be approached. It wasn't long before a large white male came into view, asking them what they were doing here. Sansa stood up even though the stranger sat down because she didn't like the way he had approached them. As she stood so did her brother and Kovarro watched his sister closely as she studied the white male hard. Finally she answered him "Walking...you could even say surviving". It wasn't exactly the sarcastic answer he was looking for and she knew that, but if he couldn't be so respectful, why should she? Sansa never saw the point in that particular greeting anyways. How often did a pack find loners with the intention of actually coming to their territory? It's not like they had known it was here and decided to stop on by. Therefore, it was a stupid question to begin with.

Kovarro, although uncomfortable with his sisters response, remained silent after she spoke. They had been through so much together, and he supported her in everything she did, even if it wasn't always the right choice. However, he knew his sister well enough to know first impressions were important to her, and if she got a bad feeling about someone or something, it was better to listen to her intuition than ignore it. He wasn't much better at talking to others anyways, so he left it up to her and just observed the male thoroughly.

Xerxses frowned at her response, taking a deep breath and starting over. It was obvious the female hadn't responded well to his initial response to their presence, and well, he couldn't exactly blame her. He had been letting his annoyance over being passed up for Beta get the better of him, and he knew he had to stop doing that. He sighed softly, opening his mouth to speak with a slight dip of his head. "My apologies, miss. I suppose that was a rather stupid question, huh? I'm Xerxses, a warrior in the pack that lives in these lands." He said, dipping his head a bit lower in a slight introductory bow before tilting his head slightly as he studied them.

The female was the one speaking, and the male seemed rather uncomfortable, but he couldn't really draw conclusions about either of them yet. He knew nothing about them, not even their names. "May I at least ask your names?" He asked, still sitting down as he watched the female on her feet. Were they siblings? They looked like they could be related. But he didn't say anything else, and instead listened for a response, hoping that she didn't get pissed off again. He had been wound up lately, and in hindsight, his initial greeting was rather rude and cold. Even for him.

She was quite pleased that the male seemed to be rethinking his initially crude behavior, but it was not enough to let down her guard so she remained wary of him. "Yes, it was." She responded confidently to his rhetorical question than glanced to her brother as she introduced him first. "This is my brother Kovarro. He's not much of a talker..." she explained as he continued to hold a uncomfortable stare on the male. Kovarro never really minded giving up manners for observation, which often got him in trouble if he tended to do so out in the open. For now, it seemed he had forgotten he was no longer hiding in the shadows per usual.

Sansa held a pause for a moment as she looked at her brother then briefly smiled before turning her attention back to Xerxses "and I am Sansa". She didn't return the favor of a formal bow, perhaps out of stubbornness or retaliation. "We come from the West"

Xerxses remained silent during the introductions, studying the two wolves curiously. They were quite a pair, and it was obvious which one tended to 'run' things. But he made no comments on that, and instead nodded slightly at their names and where they had come from. Now he was at a loss. It wasn't usually his job to figure out what lone wolves wanted, usually Blitz or Pravin did that. He didn't have the authority to accept them if they wished to join, either. He sighed softly, glancing back at the packlands in hopes that the alpha or beta would simply appear. No luck there.

So he turned back to the pair, tilting his head slightly. "Am I correct to assume that you are simply passing through? Or did you intend on joining our pack?" He asked, frowning at his wording. It probably didn't sound like the most intelligent question, but he was way out of his league here. Now that he thought about it, he was rather glad Blitz had promoted Pravin instead of himself. He was much better at these things.