Willow Ridge Willow Ridge Pack Thread

the devil is & always will

Art by Marina!

It couldn't be avoided forever. Now that thing weren't so rocky at home and Leotie's health had returned, it was time that they made clear where exactly the Ridge stood with the Draw. Their proximity wasn't dire, but the pack still lie close enough that Sven wasn't comfortable not knowing. While he trusted Leotie and her word completely, having just her story to go off was not satisfactory. Did the Draw know the Ridge harbored their exiled pack mate? Would they hold it against them? Just how much did Naira's opinion of them change since the last time he had visited with Enoki? For all he knew, they had an enemy two days North of them. The Ridge was not in the position to be leisurely oblivious of such a thing.

So, with Nicolo sparse, Sven sought out @Ravenna alone to discuss a one-wolf scouting mission. If things turned sour, he trusted he could be in and out easily on his own. He found his cousin near the pack den, woofing amiably to get her attention.

"Ravenna," he greeted when she acknowledged him, "I need a moment. I want to go to the Draw, try and talk to Kerberos. I'm not comfortable not knowing where we stand with them."

be a gentleman.

Though perhaps not the wisest choice given the fact that Nicolo more or less kept to himself these days away from pack policies and politics, Ravenna had decided to shy away from her duties as the Leader for the time being. @Sven could take the reigns of watching the borders and @Leotie now that she was feeling up to par could take to hunting to store up for the winter - they didn't need much. Though with only one single wolf to cover those jobs, Ravenna also trusted that both @Adeltra and @Romanov were learning fast for their age, having little to no option given the fact that the pack needed all the help from their members as they could get.

Ravenna, for now, cleaned the den. She racked out all the dried or damp with decay herbs and vegetation out from the infirmary, grabbed in her jaws the various pelts and shook them out violently to re-fluff them. If anything, the little Willow Ridge family would be tidy and comfortable for the winter to come. Snow had already fallen and the herds residing. They did not have much time.

When Sven came, woofing for her attention, she dropped a collection of feathers from the turkey her and @Attica had hunted and fell to her rump to allow him to know she now had her attention. Her ears fell back at the mention of the Draw wolves, her lips pulling back tight in obvious unsatisfactory feeling. "Sven, Leotie has made it clear that their female Lead things ill of us... It will be dangerous." But when did that ever stop her cousin? "I know Kerberos leads there now. I went to visit when you had disappeared so they could keep an eye out... But it did not seem at the time he had much decision in the matter."

the devil is & always will

Art by Marina!

Sven nodded, familiar with Naira's change of heart (or so he saw it, unknowing that she had always harbored ill will toward the Ridge pack). He still didn't have a why for how it all went down, much less a what now. The ousting of Leotie was not necessarily damnation of their entire pack.

"Yeah, she told me the whole story. And I know she was honest, but there has to be more to it. If anything, there's been some time and, I just think its dangerous to assume and avoid. If we have a foe, we need to know. And if it is salvageable, it'd be good to have more than family on our side."

'On our side' being a term Sven was using lightly in reference to the tentative peace with Morganna and Greer.

"I won't pick a fight. If they want nothing to do with us, I'll get myself out safely."

It wouldn't be the first time he had outrun a pack.

be a gentleman.

Ravenna was hesitant with having Sven leave the pack again and go to the other lands two days out, which was evident over her features. After all, when Sven had wondered once before, he didn't come back for months after having been brutally attacked. If Sven did get attacked, Willow Ridge couldnt afford an outright war. Still, Ravenna had been quite friendly with Kerberos and he didn't seem like the kind of wolf who would let someone be beaten on his call. Knowing it not if the Charred wolves had made an enemy out of Willow Ridge was something they should know, so her cousin made a valid point. "Hurry back soon..." She said after much debate, leaving a wonder now if just what information he would be returning with come four days from now.

the devil is & always will

Art by Marina!

She didn't look convinced, and he couldn't tell if it was because she was worried the pack would be too aggressive or if she doubted Sven could do more than just piss them off. He was certain that the interaction with Greer's pack still hung in her mind, when in reality this was not the case.

But, at last, she reluctantly gave her blessing. Sven nodded, his features stern to prove to her that he took her concerns, and this mission, seriously.

"I will," he assured her, roughly bumping his crown against hers in good bye before heading off to tell @Leotie of his plan.

be a gentleman.

Ravenna hoped, if anything, things would go smoothly with Sven even if the pack in the north still decided they wanted nothing to do with them. Neutral terms were better then bad terms, after all. She assumed Sven would be best suited for the job too, having been there quite a number of times before that surely he had made happy with some of their members before things went sour.

Accepting Sven's head bump with a bit of a grumble, she watched as her age-mate cousin headed off, a determination in him now that he had a mission ahead of him. Ravenna watched him go, then turned and began working on the den where she had left off.