Somnus Border Outskirts

During his travels with the large group of rogues, Corvidae had branched off. Though the valley that Astro had spoken of sounded beautiful, Cori just couldn't allow himself to go. If he did, he would need to find a way to get to an alder tree on a near weekly basis so that his teeth didn't hurt too much. It wasn't an easy decision, but he had decided to bid Astro, Knox, Noone, Kebechet, Spirit, Astoria, and everyone who's names he couldn't quite remember a goodbye in good spirits. On his journey to his current whereabouts, he had torn another large strip of bark from a familiar alder tree, the bark allowing him to carry on without too much pain.

The only stone he currently held in his mouth was the lovely pink stone gifted to him by Kebechet. The typical grey pebbles that usually occupied his mouth were left along his journey. He found that just the sea-smoothed stone was enough to satisfy his compulsions. It lost it's salty flavour long ago, but as he had told Knox, it wasn't the taste that made him carry the rocks, it was his crippling irrational fear that he would never find food again if the stones left his maw for too long. Along his route, the sediment of many terrains, including this one, had passed through his claws as he scraped at it, blunting the claws on his right forepaw considerably on the rocky terrain approaching the valley before he departed. But he was here now, and there was more to explore.

He was no fool, the scent of a pack was prevalent here. He didn't travel far into their territory, but his desire for companionship pushed him to the borders. He wasn't alone out here, another rogues scent wove through the edge of the pack. Almost automatically, Cori followed the scent, looking forward to meeting the wolf he could potentially be packmates, or even just friends if they were both turned away, with. The scent of dried blood clung to the rogue's scent as well, pushing Cori to be a little faster in his approach. However, his tail pulled him away, a jutting lump of snow likely hiding a felled tree being its target. Mismatched cobalt and obsidian eyes flicked nervously between the lump and the direction of the wolf, knowing that if he didn't approach the wolf that they could be in danger but also knowing that if he didn't make sure the lump was safe it could hurt him. As it always did, the compulsion won and the large piebald male trailed over to the concealed stump.

After clearing a bit of snow off of the dead tree, Cori's tail smacked against it three times, a completely unreliable measurement of whether or not something was truly safe but it was enough for the compulsion to fade into the back of his mind. Soon enough it would likely rear its ugly head and strike him again, but for now, he was fine. Back on track to find his fellow rogue, Cori marched forth, his happy-go-lucky personality shining through his jolly steps. With a flap of bark firmly clenched between worn teeth and a rosy stone hidden behind the same faded barriers, Cori's first impression wasn't always that great with others, but he held hope that his personality would shine through.

The rogue was easier to spot with his untreated injuries. Such a pristinely white pelt blended in so well with the snow apart from ugly red streaks. With all the snow, Cori sifted through his brain, trying to remember anything that could help his fellow rogue that could be found in such harsh weather. He doubted that he needed to relieve the pain of a toothache any time soon. Marigold wouldn't do, their flowers wouldn't bloom until spring. Burdock or horsetail were his best options, so he set out to find them. Placing his bark down a few meters away from the sleeping male, Cori scouted the surrounding area, his nose pressed into the snow searching for the telltale scent of hidden burdock while his odd gaze scanned the snowy landscape for any signs of the reed-like plant he was searching for.

The tops of some browned horsetail caught his eyes first, his now snowy muzzle bursting into a grin as he trotted over to the plants. They wouldn't be nearly as potent now that they were dead, but it would work well enough. Shifting the stone into his cheeks, the apprentice salutary snipped a few stalks of the herb off. Making his way back to the anonymous rogue, Cori resisted the urge to chew the stalks immediately. He didn't want his stone getting caught up in the poultice. Dropping the pearly mineral deposit onto his bark flap, he started to chew the stringy herb between his blunted teeth. Mashing up the stalks, Cori nudged the sleepy rogue, his mouth full and unable to formally introduce himself. Probably a bad idea looking back on it, but he wanted to help before he thought of telling the fellow rogue who he was.

Nudging the male gently with his paw, Cori hoped that the paste coming out of his mouth didn't make him look rabid or diseased or anything. He was only trying to help. Through the thick paste, Cori managed to get out, "Its a poultice, for your wounds." It was muffled sure, but smearing some of the poultice onto his paw freed up some space in his mouth. Looking to the male for permission and seeing it granted, Cori smeared the off-colour paste against the slashed on the male's side. He knew it was probably a bit disrespectful to use the pack's herbs, but it was better to prove helpful medically than useless. With the majority of the paste on the other male's injuries, Cori cleared the rest of the herb out of his mouth, the odd taste not familiar on his palette. Scooping his stone back into his mouth and placing a possessive paw onto the large peel of bark, Cori gave the male a smile, "Hi! My name's Corvidae but you can call me Cori if you'd like. I just put a quick horsetail poultice on your gashes, it'll keep them from getting infected. Sorry to wake you up but I figured I shouldn't just smear something on you without at least asking you first. What about you? Who are you?"

@winchesterbrosinc Beta Violet

Cori couldn't help but feel a bit bad that he woke the male up from his nap, he was obviously tired. That didn't seem to stop the other rogue form reciprocating his bright smile. "My name is Jolon, I came from way up North. It's nice to meet you, Cori, I was starting to get a bit lonely out here all alone," the puppy-like personality of the larger rogue shone through already. Cori was already excited to converse with the male, they seemed to share a positive outlook on life. A skinny black banner already began to waggle a little harder behind him at the mere thought. "Wait here, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes," Jolon began to depart, sending a sinking feeling into Cori's gut but he chose to ignore it. He said he would be right back, why would he have any reason to believe that he was lying? Giving Jolon a quick nod, the male watched as he disappeared away from the borders, further into rogue territory.

Left alone, Cori was granted some unneeded time to think. Jolon sure was nice. Usually, most wolves would hesitate after seeing a wolf so odd looking. Mismatched eyes, an odd pelt, a stone and strip of bark hanging from his mouth, an inexplicable need to tap things with his tail three times, it wasn't as if Cori was exactly normal. But Jolon didn't pause at all! He didn't stutter, didn't question, didn't even let his gaze linger too long on all the things potentially 'off' about Cori. What a great guy! Jolon was also considerably bigger than Cori. Even though they were pretty much the same height, his snowy frame was filled out with muscle while Cori's was boney and sinewy. He would definitely be able to get stronger if he stuck with Jolon.

Speak of the angel, the large form of his fellow rogue was barreling towards him from the trees, a limp carcass hanging from well-fed jaws. Jumping back to his paws, Cori's tail wagged rapidly behind him at the thought of food. It was plain to see that he needed to put a little more meat on his bones. Having painful, worn down teeth made it difficult for him to hunt larger prey, so he usually got by on hares like the one Jolon brought back. "For you! No better way to express gratitude than offering a meal, that's what my father always said," the excitable male peppered Cori with words. His stomach grumbled in appreciated for the meal placed before him, his primal side wanting him to devour the hare whole while his rational mind had other ideas.

"Man, I'd just love to down this all in one go, but I don't think it'd look too good having a pile of bones on the pack border. What if they thought we caught it in their territory? I'm so thankful that you brought me this, it looks so delicious, but what if we use it as a gift? Maybe it'll improve their opinion of us and we'll find more friends? Wait... would you consider us friends? We did only just meet... Maybe pre-friends! Nearly friends. Freinds-to-be?" Cori's train of thought derailed relatively quickly once the idea of friendship popped up. He hoped that he and Jolon at least had the buds of a friendship peeking through the snow. A secondary thought popped into the slightly herb inclined male's mind, a cobalt and ink gaze switching over to the other male's wounds, making sure that enough of the poultice was left smeared on the male's side so his wounds wouldn't get infected. Satisfied that there was definitely enough, his mismatched gaze slicked back to meet Jolon's, a bright smile on his face. Through his teeth the faintest hint of his stone was visible, the older male having tucked it into his cheek to talk. His paw still planted firmly on his bark, Cori could only hope that a pack wolf would find them soon.

@winchesterbrosinc

A concerned look grew onto Cori's face as he watched Jolon's obvious disappointment that he didn't eat the hare he worked so hard to catch, but his worries quickly melted away as the larger male's bouncy attitude returned. "Yeah, I think that's a great idea, Cori, if they think we are valuable, or that we have some skills they might be more inclined to accept us and like, and possibly inclined to allow us entry into the pack. You're a genius, Cori! You a Salutary, and able to patch up wounds! And you can even find suitable herbs in the winter? I know that's hard to do, my mother used to complain about such things whenever the harshest cold came around, she never could seem to find the correct herbs for what she needed," Jolon's excitement over something that just seemed logical to the older male just showed off his delightful personality more. How fun was someone who found joy in everything? Cori decided that evidently, the answer was extremely fun!

As his injured companion agreed that indeed they were friends, Corvidae's tail whipped up a storm. A friend already! The rosy stone in his maw was a constant reminder of the wolves he left behind in search of more mouth numbing alder bark. It wasn't the trade he would have preferred to make, but if he wanted to be in any sort of comfort he needed the clacking of the stone against his ivories to not be as painful. Jolon's concerns about whether or not they would be found by any member of the pack they bordered were completely reflected in Cori's mind. He had the same thought while he was waiting for Jolon to return, but he was confident that someone would definitely find them. The gentle wind at the western border was blowing towards the pack lands, their scent must've already travelled a fair distance.

"Hello, I couldn't help but notice you're standing at my borders, are you looking to join or are you simply passing through?" a new voice broke the crisp winter air. Cori's mismatched gaze was instantly drawn away from Jolon and onto the mystery female approaching. Her stance was that of a wolf in charge, but that's not what caused Cori's brain to stutter. Her eyes were such a stark lavender in contrast to such a pure white coat, the flash of authority behind purple lenses even from just a simple question was intriguing. It was Jolon's voice that snapped him out of his stupor, "Well, we were hoping to join your pack, we weren't quite sure of how your pack would respond, so we decided to wait here. My name's Jolon, I've been travelling for a while now, and this is Corvidae, he patched me up earlier, I had some nasty cougar wounds. We come bearing gifts as well, albeit small, but a nice meal nonetheless, food is always the way to another wolf's heart. I caught it on the rogue side of the border as well, so you don't have to worry about that, I promise."

The snow being flicked onto his rump was just another wake-up call, the excitable male beside him causing Cori's mental blockade to finally fall. As he was about to stand and introduce himself (despite Jolon having already done the initial job for him) the stunned male completely forgot that his paw was laying claim to a slippery strip of bark. When he put weight on his paw, he skidded forwards rather than standing, the blunder quickly recovered back into a sitting position. Burning with embarrassment, Cori ticked his stone into his cheek and tried to get out the words he wanted, "Yes, my name's Corvidae but you can call me Cori, most wolves find it easier than the whole mouthful... that is... my name. I have a few herbal skills but I definitely need more practice." Cursing himself internally, the oddly patterned male kept a respectful gaze, not meeting her gaze directly out of respect and embarrassment for himself. Usually, he was so bubbly and active. Meeting this anonymous Somnus she-wolf had thrown his brain for a loop that was completely different to how he met every other wolf. Letting his tail waggle slightly behind him, Cori turned over the stone in his mouth, the occasional 'clack' of sea glass hitting his teeth muted by his lips.

@winchesterbrosinc Beta Violet