Willow Ridge lay down the stars

Trying something "new"... WR members please "howl back" from wherever you are on the territory. There will be 2-3 rounds (first entails laying out everyone's location and anything they want to open with, second will deal with any responses (and a brief good night). Any who want to add-on their own "good night" are welcome to do so before I archive). Angier is currently at the Infirmary with the cubs (if you babies want to say something, I'm sure "Dad" will relay a little something for everyone to hear.). Assuming Skoll is curled up with @Sven in their private den. If you do not post, it will be assumed that the character in question is deep in slumber or much too far away (in which they may face some consequences). It's gonna get loud though! Everyone please "sound off!" Round 1 ends Sept 4th.
@Elettra, @Greer, @Morganna, @Adele, @Nicolò, @Enoki, @Hecate, @Isolde
Want a little opera to accompany that gif and its lyrics? Listen to Nessun Dorma.

Angier Lyall.

dilegua, o notte! tramontate, stelle! tramontate, stelle!

August 27th; Late evening; Partially clear, almost-full moon; 67 ° F, 20 ° C.

The clouds were starting to thin over Southern Eden and the stars were just beginning to come out. Angier Lyall, walked about Elettra's lands with a slower pace than usual, his pale eyes glued to the skies above. It had been sometime since he had taken the time to simply stop just to look at those twinkling things and wonder at their magnificence. His grandmother had always told him and his siblings that they were gifts to be beheld, each pinpoint of light making up a larger pattern in the sky. One day, she had told him, if he ever became someone to behold, the Guardians of the sky would fashion a likeness of him in the heavens, using each star as a piece of his constellation. He wondered now if any of these blinking lights belonged to him and if the Old Gods were generous enough to honor such a thing.

If not him, he wondered how many of them belonged to his sons and where his daughters' own stars might be prone to appear in the years to come.

When he had come upon the den, he peered in to smile at Niles and his sisters, the three of them huddled together in the Infirmary as they obediently awaited their bedtime story (for once). He could see in their faces, Niles' mostly as his brow had become well-defined with a dark pattern of fur, their curiosity in what was to come. Obviously, something was up.

The Leader pulled his head from the den opening then, after one longing look at the darkening heavens, he tilted his head back in a melodious song, calling for all Willow Ridge members to sound back a howl of their own to report their whereabouts and any news they might have. Elettra, my queen, he let out another smooth note. Where are you? It was almost playful, wondering if she might tease back at him with his name in her own succinct and aria-like tune.

Morganna... Greer... he tried next, inviting the older children to join in on the conversation that was just beginning. After a while, another string of names, Hecate, Adele, Nicolo, Enoki...

His right ear swiveled to the side, somewhat certain that he could hear some rustling inside the den. No doubt Niles was trying to climb over his sisters to get to the mouth of the den to listen. He kept quiet, ever-vigilant for an answer until he extended his call. Skoll? he requested. @Piety? A pause to see if he would get any answers before flat-out inquiring, Where are you? Report. What news from the borders or beyond?

It was a glorious night that couldn't be anything other than peaceful and dream like. Crickets chirped within the late evening hours as they welcomed the proper coming of night, the only sound breaking the silence of the willows with undulated sounds of their orchestrated songs wavering from soft in tone to loud and quick in pace, others joining in periodically to add their unique tune to the mix. Above them a thin layer of clouds allowed only the thinnest beams of light from the almost full moon to strike below and cast the world in a phantasmal glow. The gentle lullaby of the crickets and dreamy glow of the moon awe inspiring enough to keep sleep heavy lids open just a moment longer to bask in mother natures purest of gifts.

A lone silhouette could be made out between a pair of the closely knit willows, black as the night around it aside from the piebald patches of ivory fur that adorned various parts of her nape, shoulder blades and rump aglow under the pale moonlight. Enoki Ashrelle had just returned from a nights hunt near the marsh, between clenched jaws dangled the lifeless body of a well fed rabbit, her dark amber gaze locked on the fair orb of the moon itself that now lay visible once again in the night sky as it played hide and seek with the she-wolf behind the gathering of partial clouds. Another bout of restlessness led her to hunt for the pack and its once supposed slumbering sovereigns, seeking the comfort of the night and its elegant beauty as the twinkling of tiny dots fought to shine as the brightest object in the sky, yet holding no comparison to the brilliance of the ivory planetoid. Pausing nimble steps, the patchwork woman lowered her head to deposit her latest contribution into a freshly dug cache, swarthy paws swift in sifting the once disturbed soil back into place to seal in the deceased prey until a hungry mouth sought its contents.

Not long after her kill was concealed did a howl familiar in tone echoing from the direction of the infirmary silence the chirps of the night, commanding the air as her patriarch sang his wishes. Wanting to know what news his subordinates had for him as well as their locations. Cupping audits forward Enoki listened before suddenly and slowly her head tilted upwards as the lining of her lips parting to spread her jaws apart, ears splayed back against her skull as a melody of her own rose above that of the crickets and her king. Her voice rang pure and sweet on the crisp August air, seemingly echoing off the smooth barked trunks that surrounded her and enhancing the beauty of her howl letting it reach far and wide to ears willing to listen aside from Angier. 'I am here near the northern borders that remain strong and clear of danger. Restocked the caches with a rabbit after returning from a small hunt near the marsh' the song portrayed with words unspoken.

A few fleeting moments passed as the last dwindling notes of her soprano howl faded to silence, letting the previous music of the crickets fill the void once more. Her ears jerked forward then waiting to hear the various pitches of her fellow subordinates and sovereigns. The whereabouts of the rest of the pack remained unknown to the patchy woman. Were they granted sleep by the sandman whom had found them one by one, skipping the unique pelted woman and tawny man?

don't need reason

Morganna Archer

don't need rhyme

She had been tailing the herd well through the afternoon, at first it was just a faint scent, but it slowly grew. She knew with the sun setting she should make her way back to the small thicket where her brother insisted on remaining with her nephew but tonight she simply wanted to be alone. She was feeling Renier’s absence keenly, surely he would know what to make of all this mess, if only she could bend his ear across the space that separated them. She had broken free of the Willows long ago and made a swift retreat from the willows out onto fireweed rise. The unhindered view of the stars didn’t help to make her feel any less alone.

As if @Angier could hear her thoughts, his voice came drifting on the wind barely discernible from this distance. Supposedly calling for news. @Enoki was just out of her range so she didn’t realise that they answered in time. The herd are on the Rise, with young and old near sleep. she answered, pausing to smirk as the stag raised his head in alarm at the proximity of her lonely call. She hoped there was enough in her short message to let her father (now when did that happen?) and her brother to both know that she didn’t plan on returning home tonight. Perhaps others would hear her message and join her? A large part of her really hoped they wouldn’t.

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She had stolen a moment alone, as already her newest litter grew so very quickly. They were moving in and out of the den on their own now, joining their elders on small hunts, scouting trips around the borders and searches for vegetation. Tonight she had loped about her territory lazily, moving around the rocky formations at the footfalls of the mountains to the east and wallowing in the shallow river south. She had found some herbs a while back, stashed some in the storage den and then found more herbs to take back to the pack den, though long ago had grown tired of carrying them and so ate them. She was a bit more relaxed, if you will and there was not a single moment this night that she did not cherish.

The mother pauses, lifting her head to the skies and breathing deep. Pale eyes close as the sound of Angier's call echoes over the lands, firstly beckoning her before all others. Angier, love... Her call is a curled purr of a howl, echoing eerily over the deepening nightfall. I'm not far. She assures her mate, her voice reaching for him to which then after she moves, a faster trot into his direction. As she moves closer, it is Enoki whom answers next. She is at the northern border having returned from yet another successful hunt. Elettra cherished the woman as both a trusting, kind friend and loyal, promising huntress within their pack land. She had missed the woman when she had gone off on her own for a time in spring, though had learned to trust the woman's word even further more after she had returned as she promised she would. Morganna answered then, her call reaching out to Angier in return, to which Elettra smiled to as she quickened pace. It seemed Morganna had accepted Angier as a father-figured (if not the father granted he had been their since their birth) far better then Skoll could ever dream to and unfortunately though Asriel seemed to have taken kindly to Angier, had been gone from their lives so very long. Good luck. She offers her daughter as she pauses to make her reply just as she prances up onto the top of the rocky formation that made up their den.

Pale gray eyes move over the sight of the equally pale, pregnant move and she breathes out a deep sigh. With the disruption Skoll had caused by going against pack law and bedding some stranger, Piety then running off on the pack, Xetor's death and Reiner having left for the time being, certainly things were a bit rocky for the pack, as often they were. Still, their inner turmoils had remained their own business and allowed them to stand strong in the face of their enemies thus far. Still yet confidant in her reign and age, Elettra pads down from her perch and around to the opening of the pack den, to which she slips down into the Infirmary where her mate lies, surrounded by bodies of children. She silently embraces her mate, licking along his muzzle and cheek before settling down. The length of her body along side Niles seeing as she could not get to Angier, though her head reaches out to rest at his front paws.

On the outskirts of Willow Ridge, Skoll had been blinking away the sleep in his eyes when Angier and the rest of the pack had started their collaborative aria. It made his lips curl upward in disgust and his ribcage feel as though it ought to clench itself around his heart... to keep it from escaping him once more. They - his family - didn't even realize that Piety had gone... had been missing for much too long. His son's snout came to graze his shoulder and the black prince's face morphed into a frown. Obviously, they were all making his little heir upset. His head lifted and he cast his silver-eyed gaze out into the gathering dark.

"Doesn't he know mother's gone?" came the boy's begrudging tone after Angier's call. Skoll's ears drew forward; then, as tenderly as he could muster, he touched his nose to the base of his son's ear with a sniff while the rest of the pack answered in turn. At least Morganna was somewhere out there. He smoothed out a tuft of off-white fur at the back of Sven's head when another question flit from the little royal's lips, "Can... can you tell them I say hi, dad?" There was a low rumble from his chest as he withdrew himself from the cub's shoulders and nape. That was a definite "no." But the boy seemed to insist with all the right notes, "Especially Aunt Morg?"

Aunt Morg...

An amused grin skirted along his white-lined lips; and, after some time, he carefully pushed himself up onto all fours, stepping over Sven's still roly-poly figure. The air was growing colder with the cooler autumn nights underway, but it wasn't too much to handle. He shook out his stark black coat and lifted his pale irises up to a darkening veil full of emerging stars. Soon enough, the near-complete moon would bathe the lands in an eerie glow - just about the time in which he would embark on a night-long search for Sven's missing mother.

Piety's missing, Angier, he started, his own song joining those of his family on a woeful note. I'd appreciate any tips. This, he offered to Morganna in particular, but didn't bother to specify. Besides, no one in their right mind would even think to help the lowest-ranking member in the pack. His tail which had hung limply at his heels for a time, lifted as an afterthought, By the by, Sven says 'good night' to his aunt and his Nonna.

He had just begun to settle down with his sister, @Adele , when the first call rang out. Nico’s ears flickered slightly towards his alpha’s voice, curious as to what this was about. This was not something he was used to. So when Angier inquired about their locations, Nicolò listened attentively to the other’s responses. Deciding that it was about time for them to answer, Nico gave a brisk nod to his sister before moving towards their makeshift den in the northern part of Willow Ridge. The dark man let his tenor voice answer Angier, Adele and I are settling down for the night. He huffed softly, processing what the others had mentioned.

Apparently, Piety, the bitch that had gotten herself pregnant was now missing. Perhaps it was no surprise to the others but still disappointing in the least. Nico was unsure if there were to be a search party for the woman. At the meeting they had, it didn’t seem like his older sister liked the girl very much. While he did not feel like he knew the entire story about that, he felt like it was Elettra’s story to tell and so he kept his thoughts to himself.

Not quite knowing what was expected of this call, Nico waited slightly for any sign of what he should have been doing. Usually the only wolf whose location mattered to him was Adele. There was no need for him to worry on that because they were usually side by side anyway. No fuss was needed, so Adele and Nico simply waited.

WesternStock @ DA, KYghost @ DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

The music, it was beautiful! The call which echoed from her father's lips, the sounds which came in return, all strange to her, for although surely she had heard their howls before (especially her mother's) it was only now in life was she beginning to pick up things and remember them. Voices were far different in howls then otherwise and the sounds that came pouring into the opening of the den had her tail waving with utmost glee. Ravenna finds herself struggles, yips and barks in order to try and say hello back to the group. There was one in particular that was dark, eerie to her - the voice of @Skoll. Though he was her elder brother, she had never seen him before unlike the rest of the pack, including his son. Soon though, after much struggle with her own callings, she began to settle down. Ravenna would find herself a placement around Niles and Isolde, back legs kicking out to press at her father's side. By the time her mother had arrived into the birthing den rested at the back of the pack's rocky formation of a home base, Ravenna had been fast asleep, slumbering to the sounds of her family's howls.