ah whoops h*ck

((OOC note for pack owners: I've arranged this thread with a pack member so he'll be chased off over the course of the thread. He's leaving, I just wanted him to meet someone first. I hope that's okay.))

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Phew. Something stinks around here. He's not really sure what the smells mean, though. His memories are a fog, and he's not sure how to navigate them, so he's relying on instinct that knows nothing about being a wolf. Something tells him that wolves were children's stories, and that they had more heads than this. Or maybe they were uglier? He's not sure.

He isn't far into Empyrean territory-- he's not aware that it's Empyrean, after all, as a newcomer. And as a man who was not born a wolf, he does not even know how to tell the signs. But he hears the howls from not far off and something tells him that he's going in the wrong direction. There must be fifty of those beasts around. And he's not sure how he can convince them of their xeno problem-- he's pretty sure he's seen some cats around, and his brain has decided if he's been reborn as a wolf, the filth must be something else.

He pauses. Then his nose picks up a scent. Another person. His head raises and he turns his head in the direction of the scent. "Ah, pax vobiscum. I think I happen to be lost." The last words spoken before getting wrecked, he's pretty sure.
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I think this post could work for that skill... sweating

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Skoll is doing what he does best. Walking the border - its always been a habit, and it probably won't ever stop being one. It doesn't take long before he smells someone who clearly doesn't live within the pack's boundaries - everyones smells have mixed completely now. Skoll can't tell everyone apart all the time, but he can clearly tell when a stranger has appeared. 

He meanders over there, slowly enough that the stranger could turn back if they chose - but when no one comes out of the trees he chooses to pick up the pace. If this guy runs into someone else he's probably going to get attacked immediately - especially because the borders are so nicely marked. Not that skoll will allow someone to live if they're actively causing issues - some past fights come to mind. 

A golden male comes to his eyes, skoll doesn't immediately rush for the kill, he's not stupid. He doesn't have the same kind of hivemind like before - not everyone here is akin to a rabid dog and he's come to like it. Instead he marches forward as silently as he can get it, how quiet he is truly doesn't matter, but skoll likes the element of surprise. 

 "You're trespassing on Empyrean land." a gruff voice, clearly unused, pipes up. "State your business."

Maybe this guy isn't here to hurt anyone, skoll wouldn't be getting an answer if he were. With tensions everywhere - at least in skoll's opinion, he trusts no other packs - being diligent about keeping outsiders away is important. Who knows who could get attacked at the borders.
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He pauses. "Trespassing?" Despite being lupine, he knows nothing of the culture and expectations. He remembers order and the laws of land, though, and he stands bolt upright in his shock. "Oh. Mea culpa, I am new to this... existence, and I did not see the signs." He lowers his head respectfully. "Forgive me for asking more of you while I am uninvited. Perhaps you could escort me to the border and show me signs to avoid?"

The other man is short, scruffy, perhaps a bit off-putting. But Astartes does not let onto that. As the man is not a daemon, Astartes will be polite.
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Skoll watches the guy's attention come to him, thankfully it doesn't seem like the other man will fight right off the bat. They're similar heights, so the fight would be somewhat even, but Skoll doesn't particularly want to get given injuries right after getting better. The tan wolf's heavier form wouldn't do Skoll any favors either, but perhaps he could run the other man out of the territory through a chase - if he didn't immediately run deeper into the dangerous mountains. The other wolf wouldn't know the ins and outs of the place like Skoll, either - even if he did run more inward Skoll could get him off a cliff if he really tried hard enough. Anything to keep the stranger away from the pack's main resting areas. Especially with the young ones running around.

Trespassing? The dark man hears.

Didn't see the signs? Is he an idiot? The guy has to be of similar age to Skoll - there's absolutely no way no one taught him about boundaries or he didn't know what they were. It's essentially instinct to them. Did the guy not smell the heavy scent of an active group in the area? Skoll squints distastefully at the stranger. Are the questions fake, or is the guy really that innocent? It's a hard bargain, and Skoll isn't entirely sure if he wants to risk taking it. However, it could make it easier to get him outside of Empyrean territory without violence. Especially before any other packmates show. Is Skoll really lighthearted enough not to attack this guy though? Not really. Memories of randomly mauling strangers at the edges of Ursus come to mind. He'd pledged himself to a violent pack back then. Empyrean is different, but still violent. He's once again pledged himself somewhere dangerous, but somewhere dangerous and diplomatic where he can fit in.

The silence has probably sit for minutes at this point. He decides to take the non-violent route for now.

Skoll begins to walk, he's trusting this stranger to not go for an attack while his back is turned. Something that has killed many. He doesn't have much to respond with except for a grunt.

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Vaguely, Astartes dives into his memory. He looks at his paws as the other man turns, swearing that they were once flesh. Dark on the back, light on the palm. Heavily calloused. Usually armored. Meant to carry a weapon. Then his mind returns to the wolf. A world he should understand. The scents he should recognize, but doesn't. He follows Skoll, trying not to act too disoriented. He's a burden on wolfkind, isn't he? A wolf that does not know how to exist.

"Do you remember your life before this place?" he asks suddenly, as they're in the middle of walking. "I... I remember the smell of smoke. That's it." That and the fact that gold means something. Gold is sacred, and the eagles with twin heads... "I can't tell if it's normal to forget everything or not."
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The silence of the walk is nice to Skoll. It gives him time to think - he's bringing the both of them to the border. This guy is lucky he didn't catch the eye of Desdemona, or Hydra. He's sure the golden man would be torn to shreds if they were to find him. Skoll will not give him the teeth. He's decided, for now. Once they hit the border Skoll will tell this guy to leave and not come back unless he wants to get spotted by the true protectors of this place. Unless they, for some reason, decide to teach this wolf about what it means to be within a pack and invite him in. Skoll can't do that himself, so he won't be mentioning it to the guy at all. 

His nose flares when Astartes begins to ask more questions. With them, comes Skoll's understanding of what's going on. 

"I do." he grunts. 

Painfully so, he finds himself remembering everything. No matter how gruesome or regretful. He turns to make sure no one's at his back. Ghosts of the past seem to appear in these lands for some. So far, Skoll has been left away from them - except for the one wolf within Empyrean that is familiar, but Skoll never did talk to him about it. Perhaps that man does not remember, if so Skoll does not want to bring confusion. Surely he would search for Skoll if he had problems with the dark wolf being here. 

Smoke is familiar to Skoll, too. He's drenched in it, he can smell it over everything even if it should not smell that way. There's danger of fire with every step he takes, almost as if him existing is the cause of it. The others cannot smell it. Skoll is alone in his observations. Another trick of the mind. 

"Some forget, some do not." Vague and not helpful, but Skoll is not one for talking.

"Do not dwell on it. Forge your own path." He is a hypocrite. But the best way to work through these things is to forget, in his opinion. Maybe someone will come along and remind the stranger of before, maybe not. Skoll will not be helping him remember. 

They're gaining on the border now. Skoll can smell the heavy scent of the markings. How the guy didn't immediately sniff them out is still lost on Skoll.

"Sniff. That is the border smell. Strong enough to show there is many here, you cannot mistake it." Hopefully that means Astartes won't make the same mistake again.

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Astartes listens, and the answers are there. Do not dwell. Move on. And yet Astartes stares at his paws, knowing they should flex in different ways. The hands should be brown, not gold. The insides are pink, instead of the brown of his paw pads. He should see the veins criss-crossing them, worn from years of holding weapons. And he should hold them, not idly flail his paw at them.

"I was not born this way," he says after a few moments, inhaling border scent that is so wrong. He knows what it means now, but he knows why he didn't before. "It is... Bizarre." He notices the scents and turns from the land. "But I thank you for telling me this. Most would not believe me, that I did not come from a wolf. I... remember bits of the body before, speaking to you of this."

He glances at Skoll. Instinct says to avert his gaze, just a bit, to show that he's not threatening. And yet he wants to make eye contact, to affirm to the other wolf that he hears and sees him. That he appreciates this. Still, he decides he needs to listen to the wolf body and not the body that came before. So he smiles into the air, not into the eyes of Skoll. "You didn't have to believe me. Yet you did. I will repay a debt in the future, if you wish." He begins to turn. "But I don't think I'll overstay. I can tell I vex you greatly. Farewell. Should you wish to find me, call upon Astartes."

That, now that he thinks of it, is probably not even his birth name. But something tells him the name his mother gave him is not important. No, Astartes means more. And so he keeps it, clutching it to his chest, as he turns to head out of the grounds.
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Skoll watches the guy and wonders if it's normal to be this disoriented about your own body upon coming here. Skoll looks the same, he always has even through any of his travels. This place is only odd in the sense it sweeps you up and you're not where you were before. Like some kind of curse, but Skoll does not believe in such things. There is no proof that it's a curse or some kind of magic besides strange stories. Those dead coming back - Skoll's own story. Wolves waking up places they did not fall asleep. It's odd, but... Skoll does not want to believe it could be anything else besides someone forgetting where they were, or who they were last. Ignoring his own situation. 

"You'd be surprised." It's true. Skoll does not explore much, nor does he speak to many, but if Astartes has a history like that, there must be others. At least some pretending to not be what they were before. If you'd believe in the change, anyway. Maybe Skoll is just in denial. 

Skoll does not take debts, but he does not say this. Living with a pack whom took those very seriously, it's not worth it to him anymore. If Astartes chooses to repay somehow, Skoll will not stop him, but he doubts the two will meet again. 

"Skoll."

With that, he lets the guy go.

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