The ebony she-wolf's paws quietly crushed the snow underneath them, resulting in a hissing, cracking sound one would name a crunch. With the frost of the night, the snow had hardened into near ice, and animals that weighed too much would break the delicate layer of ice crusting over the powder underneath, and a wolf was one of those beasts. Her weight bent and broke the crystallized flakes, creating very unwanted noise as she padded through the Moor, head low and tail swishing between her hinds absently. She was wide out in the open, and she knew it. The only way she could catch something is if she went hunting somewhere with thick foliage, because her pelt colour did her no favors in hunting. Black clashed against white as she flared her nostrils, inhaling deeply and quickly, making sure she would be seen by any prey without fail. But that didn't matter, because she scented many large things hurdling toward her, and at halting and staying still, she could feel the faint vibrations that resulted. Immediately, she turned to her right slightly, planning to circling past them. She had no intention of facing a herd of what were most likely stampeding deer head on. Her legs stretched out as she trotted forward, hearing and feeling the tell-tale rumbling getting nearer and nearer to the vixen. Her golden eyes flickered to the rapidly moving figures as they  headed in her direction, slightly on an angle to her. Her lobes pressed forward on her cranium,  and she snorted, breath manifesting itself as a cloud of frost from the cold. 'Does a chase suit your fancy?' Her late sister's voice whispered in the back of her head, answered by a simple no and chuff from the obsidian Delta.

She came to a halt once again, watching the hooved animals rumbled past her, her acute sense of hearing getting lost in the roar of dozens of feet driving themselves into the ground, the smell of fear easily detectable. Ariste tipped her head slightly, raising it to the wind as it shifted, sending the smell of freshly spilled blood in her direction. She realized that must be the reason all the herd was attempting to escape, one of them had been felled, presumably by an Erenyx wolf. Continuing on in the same direction, she approached into the breeze, so that her scent did not give away her presence yet. She felt the wind tugging on her silken locks of fur, trying to move them from protecting her body, effectively stopped by the double coat of winter hair she had no choice but to grow in protection of the biting, cruel cold, that strove to get under the skin and to the hot blood beneath it, attempting to freeze it and cause the life it sustained to cease. It tore the colourful life from the trees, accompanying the clouds that smothered the sun in spring and summer, forever existing, destroying, but also preparing and creating. It warned the forest creatures of the oncoming snow, and many other things. The long-legged fae dragged her warm tongue over her cold nose, eyes scanning in front of her, for the telltale form of a wolf.

Following her nose, the female trotted on, banner raised slightly in the air, as she walked through the snow, ear twitching as she listened for any sounds - howling, the scream of a wild cat, anything she would have to tend to. Finding nothing, she looked up, finally spotting the outlined physique of a male wolf, the scent of blood strong on her tongue, as a fallen doe lay beside him. She snorted, slowly approaching him with an unreadable gaze, and posture open to interpretation. "Greetings, brute." She rumbled, voice low as she addressed him, golden gaze falling on him. From his smell, she could tell he was of Erenyx, and was no threat to the pack as of yet. "What might your name and title be?" She inquired curiously, auditories swiveling to face him, each exhale of her warm breath still appearing as a white cloud of crystal frost. She seated herself a respectable distance away from him, for the benefit and comfort of both of them, tail lowering to curl around her paws. She allowed her minds to wander to the last time she had been here, she had stood victorious against a fae named Tundra, but had failed to conquer the Elite Fel. She had been injured, but she now wore the two scars on her muzzle with vague pride, regretting neither of them.

The Delta's head would tip ever so slightly, tilting to the left side as she listened to the words that rolled of his tongue, and observe as he, quite wisely for Erenyx, bowed his head in respect, though he not yet knew of her title. Warrior Malachai. He was obviously one newer to the pack, explaining why she had not heard of nor scented him around camp just yet. Her audits, the delicate black tulips danced in the wind, flicking from this direction to that, always alert and listening, picking up the most insignificant noise within earshot. Her fur would ruffle up a bit as a cool prickle settled over her skin from the cold, like the small, unharmful, yet annoying pine needles, especially found in the previous season that would cling to one's pelt, and stick into their flesh. Golden silver eyes would follow his motions, and her gaze moved down to the kill he offered her. She would not refuse it - he had offered it, after all, it could do no harm. But not yet would she approach to feast on it, exposing herself to attack. "Much obliged," She crowed slightly, taking a small pause to swipe her tongue over her jowls. "I am the one called Ariste. You may or may not have heard of me, as I am the Delta here.

I am guessing that you have not resided in these lands for long?" She asked, just to break the ice and get him talking, before she would continue on with her inquiry. Giving him a moment to answer that question, she raised herself on her paws, padding forward slightly and moving around the doe so she was opposite to him, able to detect his movements. Lowering her head to the fallen prey, her jaws opened, fangs clamping around a generous piece of meat, and with one tug, it was shredded, torn off its home on the female deer's bones. She took her time savouring the sweet flavour of the fresh, plump for winter meat as it slid down her throat, before repeating the process. Her tail would flicker behind her, the wind catching the fur and tugging on it, like an impatient pup would tug on its mother. After she took her own fill, leaving little more than the hard bones and fat, her head would raise to meet the Warrior's again, and her tongue snaked out of its cavern in her hungry jaws, licking the blood off. Paws shifting as she stepped back once again, she sat down, about the same distance from his as afore. "How are you finding your time in the Pack called Erenyx, Warrior?" She asked finally, genuinely curious to see what his answer would be, and how he would choose to take it. Some would take it as she meant the lands, such as if the Hunting grounds were satisfactory. Others could take it as the members, and the Alpha, to test to see if he were loyal or not. She left it vague, letting him fill in the blank, to see where his heart truly lie.

Watching the brute with calculating eyes, the female gauged his reactions with a blank gaze, portraying no particular emotions.  Ebony audits remained riveted in his direction, each and everyone one of his words reaching them effortlessly. As he confirming that he was, indeed, new to the pack, she stored it away in her mind, with the other basic information she had gathered from him - which was not much. Waiting patiently for the chance to delve slightly deeper, the fea rolled her shoulder forward, stretching out the muscles so they didn't bunch up while she was resting, putting to waste the whole process of loosening them to allow quicker, less sluggish and harsh responses from her legs. Such a thing would definitely come in handy should she find herself having to fight, or perhaps run from that stampede circling back around. The snow glittered beneath her paws as she shifted her seat, narrowing her bright orbs. She made no response to his sarcasm when speaking of the Alpha, only fixing him with an unreadable look, not a flat out warning, but a sign of her lack of amusement. "Well, I'm sure you'll meet plenty of wolves in time." The words rolled smoothly off her tongue, effortless, but untainted by an upbeat tone, to support her belief of that.

Her mouth would open to reveal a jaw filled with her knifes of teeth, tongue once again thoughtlessly running over her muzzle, across the scar that sat on it. "Tell me, where do you hail from? Are these lands anything familiar to you? Perhaps like an old pack or old territories, something that reminds you of but memories." She attempted to coax an answer out of the brute, with a question that wasn't too personal, but also gave her more insight on his background, as to where he came from. Her ears perked up further on her head, twitching slightly as she listened to the sound around her, nostrils flaring as she inhaled the frosty air, creating constant wisps of smoke when she exhaled the air from her lungs. In created a beastly look about her, much like the snorting of a bull, pulling back his head and pawing the ground, preparing the charge. But she stood in no position, instead sitting gracefully, as if she were a black wisp of smoke as well, an illusion that would crumble at any moment. Her eyes only added to the appearance, golden tinted by silver, glittering maliciously as the winter sun reflected off them. But, besides this, no facial expression was given at the moment, and nor would it until given reason for one. She stayed like this, as she awaited a response from Malachai, casting her luminaries over the surrounding area, as a routine check, before returning to the Warrior.

The fae listened, her head cocking to the side slightly as Malachai warned her of his past. An amused smirk ghosted across her black lips, but she did nothing other than give a short nod, refraining rolling her eyes. She doubted his past could be so gory and dysfunctional that even she would cringe at it, and be hesitant of hearing it. Listening to the Warrior brute's story, she did not find herself appalled, but then again, it was likely he was withholding information and certain details. She didn't expect his whole life story. Gold, silver-threaded luminaries studied the male, trying to read him, his emotions and thoughts. That was a skill she had had to develop for survival, the ability to observe. And it was just that - nothing supernatural about it, just observing one's demeanor. However, Erenyx was a place in which that was a difficult thing to do, what with most ever wolf that inhabited the lands equally skilled at masking emotions. She knew some wolves masked their emotions because they didn't want to seem weak. Other simply didn't have much emotion. She, on the other hand, didn't do it because of either of those reasons.  As Malachai inquired about her own past, her gaze narrowed slightly. True, she 'owed' him to tell him that, but that didn't mean she would. She considered for a moment, running her salmon-coloured tongue across her front teeth, she inhaled slowly, before opening her mouth. She picked each word carefully, fashioning it so that not too much was revealed, but enough.

"I come from the life of a Loner, born without a pack with several brothers and sisters. I lived as a loner for four months, before I was.. taken into a pack, not much unlike this one, perhaps worse." She paused to take a breath, when her audits swiveled to the side, to face the large cat before she turned to look at it. Her orbs narrowed at the look the puma gave her, but she didn't react much, instead rising to her paws and turning to face it. A look of mixed surprised and distaste crossed her eyes at the mention of loving Malachai. "Well, I can assure you that we are no more than Packmates, nevermind lovebirds." The words rolled off her tongue easily, with cool professionalism as she corrected the feline before he could try to develop that idea any further. Rolling her shoulders, she stretched out her muscles and continued watching the cat to make sure he didn't try to bolt towards her, prepared to dodge and counter attack, if necessary. "Now, pussycat, have you come to do nothing more than attempt to cause trouble?" She still spoke with an uncaring tone, but it was beginning to fade, as a sharp prick of hostility was slithered into it. She quite hated pumas, she quite hated them a lot. And she didn't fancy them hunting on their grounds, when the wolves could use the food after winter when pray was just returning, and hungry wolves constantly needed the food pile restocked.