He had been lazy - complacent even - but who was going to stop him? After all, he had achieved his ambition of being the Cerberus of Iromar and, well, there wasn't a whole lot for him to do. The only wolf who truly came under question was Denali and there was no way he'd allow them to turn her away. She was his after all, in every possessive sense of the word. Of course, it seemed that laziness was only permitted to last so long for the last time Denali had come back to him, she reeked of his father. Now, it wasn't that he did not trust his father, it was just that he knew his father. It made him realize that he had to at least look like he was doing work, even if that meant just marking a border or two or eating some alligator eggs where everybody could see him.

So, he had begun his efforts of appearing important busy come the first ray of light. He had started simple, of course, filling his belly with the gifts of spring: a bird, a fresh alligator hatchling and a small hoard of mice. That at least made him appear like a proficiency hunter, right? He'd even dumped the remaining half of the bird outside his father's den as a sort of reminder, or perhaps a small attempt at humor. Old men needed their sons, after all. That had taken most of his morning, a morning that he completed by circumnavigating the pack as slowly - and dutifully - as possible. Yes, it surely looked as if he had been working hard. So hard, in fact, that he almost missed the leggy shadow that ambled through the marshes. He had been deep in non-thought, operating solely on bored instincts when his eyes swept over the creature. A crane, perhaps, though cranes seldom seemed so dark - nor did they usually have four legs.

He'd need to inspect whatever it was, his hulking form changing trajectory so slightly as he trudged forward, squelching and squishing through the mud and reeds. He'd finally grown into his adult size, a lumbering beast that seemed too squat for the amount of weight he carried. Nonetheless, he liked to imagine it made him appear intimidating, much more so than his father at least. Mostly, everything came down to surpassing his parents. He had to. If he did not, then his siblings would and he would be fast left behind. But where were they know? Nowhere, and that brought a creeping smile to his face as he moved to intercept the newcomer.

The first thing he noticed was their contradictory sizes. Whereas he was too short for his weight, it seemed like the black other was too tall for his own. It startled Astaroth, really, his eyes blinking in disbelief as he jogged to cut the male off.

"Where are you going?"

The question seemed natural, his eyes moving to find the unusual rainbow of the others. Strange creature, really, definitely not something he had seen in Iromar before. Still, he was curious and, well, this fell within his job right? The male didn't stink of Diveen, at least. That was always a good start, particularly if somebody wanted to enter Iromar with all four limbs attached.