Underground Sea Changing Ground

Wraith's exit~

The implications of this meeting left an itch under Wraith's hackles. As only two wolves openly spoke, the Northerner knew the rest of them had been had. They weren't invited to open up a dialogue on pack relations as he'd expected. No, they were used as tools to spur @Skoll into action considering how he was dragging his paws on the matter. @Morganna throwing it out there before all of them like a slap was just a tactic to publicly shame the male for taking so long. 'All which is just.' Supposedly, it was the pack's motto. Wraith managed to keep the sneer off his face, but he felt it in his eyes all the same. More like 'Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.' Lately, Willow Ridge Pack felt less like a pack than it did like organized chaos. Weary of the overall lack of brotherhood within pack borders, the male gave a parting muzzle bump to both @Greer and @Craw before heading out of the cavern, allowing Morganna plenty of room for herself so she wouldn't think it was his intent to follow her. Upon breaking free from the cavern's darkness, the Northerner instead turned eastward farther up the mountain. With strong, confident paws, the mountain wolf scaled the cliffs to reach the tallest peak. Once there, he sat with a heavy sigh. Looking north, he imagined he could see his homelands, though they were too far off to be in sight. For the first time since leaving his home, Wraith lifted his muzzle to howl, singing out his grief, guilt, and yearning for the pack he'd left behind.

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de

Greer exit!

Morganna was quick to dismiss the meeting after Skoll’s announcement. She agreed to his three sunrise bullshit before striding past the wolves and taking her leave. It was painfully obvious that she was not pleased with the lack of initiative from the male Ridge wolves. Greer would have offered up himself to remove Nicolo from the throne but he did not possess the strength to push past all the wolves before him and challenge his uncle for the throne. The shadow had half-expected Wraith to chime in with his own offer; while he was not of Archer descent, he had proved himself worthy among the Ridge wolves; an unofficial Archer.

With a frown and a slight dip of his head, the shadow quickly took his leave after Morganna and Wraith had abandoned the underground sea. Leaving the darkness behind the boy headed away from the willows, as he was also in pursuit of solitude. He was worried about Skoll’s plan; he did not trust his older brother’s motives, but he did not trust his uncle even more. The current thread needed to be eliminated quickly before Greer focused on any future problems, as Nicolo was a far more pressing matter.

He could hear Wraith’s howl in the distance but he continued along his path, blindly in pursuit of the former Silent Moon territory. The yearling needed some time to himself before returning to his family, to think about what Morganna had said during the meeting. If Skoll did not live up to their expectations Greer would do something about it — or he would have Wraith go after the throne. Greer could not handle the stress and the drama that fuelled the willow wolves; the more problems, the less likely they were to thrive.

Whatever this meeting had meant to be, it had devolved into nothing more than Morganna versus her brother. Not a single other soul spoke up, and when Morganna snapped at Skoll, unimpressed by his promise - the mention of their last discussion pricked one of Craw's ears up - and then slunk out of the cavern, the meeting was abruptly concluded.

Craw snorted, but the cogs were turning, and while the leader's body language had made it perfectly clear that she wanted no company, he decided that he would try to get some answers soon anyway. Tonight, if possible. Turning his attention to those nearest to him, @Renier, @Wraith, @Greer, he caught a glimpse of the sour look on his dark friend's face before the man turned, offering his respect to both the young Archer and Craw before disappearing through one of the tunnels himself. Greer following shortly after.

Craw did not immediately move to disperse, content to sit beside Renier for a few moments, to mull over what exactly had just happened. "Did you know they intended to deal with Nicolo like this?" he wheezed quietly, meaning only for Renier to hear, and would remain talking with the tawny man if the Lyall also lingered. Either way, he would not make his own departure from the damp caverns for several minutes, gathering his thoughts - and when he did, he made sure to leave the same way as Morganna, picking up her fresh trail and following it.

Exit. Switch, let me know if the small pp/assumption of Ren isn't okay, and don't feel like you have to reply - just wanted Craw to stay behind for a bit before leaving.

I'm waking up enduring my biggest fears

Apparently other than Skoll no one was going to speak up. He was a bit troubled this was how it would be. Angier would not put in a word. Perhaps his Uncle was more changed than he had thought. Or he like the rest would leave it up to the siblings to work it out. Fine by him. Why it was evident Morganna was hardly impressed, what had she expected? Them all to counter act Nicolo and Skoll? Screw that, least everyone here knew it wasn't worth the effort. Ren didn't watch her leave, nor care to find her. Not now, and he wasn't sure if he would seek her out later either. Right now he felt like avoiding all things Archer.

He did however watch Wraith and Greer leave, eyes upon them, thinking about doing the same. Since Angier hadn't said anything, and Skoll was still present he felt there was nothing else to do. A raspy voice reached his ears, his head turned to the silver wolf beside him. "No, I did not. I was merely told it was a problem for later." The bitterness was evident in his hushed tone, but at least it seemed apparent Craw had probably been in the dark as much as the rest. It was only when the scarred man rose did Renier do the same, choosing to leave the tunnels entirely, and get some well needed fresh air.

{exit}

ANGIER LYALL

When Morganna replied to her brother, Angier could release the breath he didn't even realize he had been holding captive in his lungs. He could sense and even feel her get to her feet and make her leave. His brows rose and fell, the tensions and testosterone in the air almost suffocating. Sven's and Greer's musk wafted his way but he did not dare move until his 'lead' told him it was okay; it was a long way down back from where they had come from and he was not readily anticipating an accidental death. He kept his head bowed and his tail tucked close to his body. Only his ears seemed to move, perking up as their heard Wraith's mournful song. He hadn't even realized that Greer had even slipped away.

At the back of the cavern, he could just barely hear the bits of words that Craw and Renier were whispering to one another. Whispering. It was making him uncomfortable. Angier grit his teeth and moved to nudge Skoll's elbow with his nose. He just barely touched that stark black paw and sniffed. As carefully as he could, highly aware that Niles was still somewhere at his back, he shakily moved to sit up, preparing himself to leave. If Skoll was going to hold true to his words, then he wanted to get out of the way. Otherwise, he was not going to just sit idly by and wait for the fallout; he wanted to get out of his step-son's fur and take cover.

diligently and honestly

Are you watching closely?
Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

NILES ARCHER LYALL

With the meeting  dismissed, Niles was unsure now of what to do besides leave. Morganna exited the cavern and Niles saw after her as well as those that departed in her wake. He had always known about Morganna and Skoll being close, being born in the same litter and all (just like him and Ravenna and Isolde), so for the both of them to be this tense and disgruntled could only mean trouble. He cast his eyes to Angier's face, certain now that his decision to figuratively take cover and lay low was a wise one.

Sven's approach readily caught his eye though and, as his age-mate pressed his face into Skoll's chest, Niles grazed his chin across the back of his own father's neck and shoulder in comfort. Two could play this game, really... He cast a wary gray eye in his nephew's direction before standing up and patiently waiting for Angier to move. If Skoll was going to help lead Angier down, then Niles was going to follow after the both of them before requesting to relieve the darker Archer of the old man's company. Perhaps this would be a god time for both pairs of fathers and sons to catch up with one another separately... and, frankly, the sooner he could get away from Sven, the better.

(Fade.)

better an honest enemy than a false friend

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Hhhhhhhh... Sorry for holding this up for so long, Spring was just crazy for me. @Sven, feel free to wrap this up and archive?

SKÖLL ARCHER

"Three more sunrises gives yer a whole week since our last discussion." Morganna had said, "Get. It. Done. He needs ter go." To this, Skoll merely scoffed, so confident in his success in the matter and highly oblivious to the number of factors that would prevent him from failing to follow through. She brushed past him and he scowled to himself as Wraith and Greer followed suit. He didn't really want to think that Greer favored Morganna more than him, but, he wasn't about ready to kid himself. Really, what else was new?

As Craw and Renier exchanged a few words, Skoll stared at them before they, too, also turned to leave. He cared little for what they were muttering about under their breaths. That wasn't new either. Angier touched his right wrist and Skoll exhaled as a signal that they were going to go also. He rose to his feet as his son came on over, burying his face to his chest. Skoll nuzzled his chin to Sven's skull, suddenly aware of Niles now and his own tenderness towards the aging Lyall. He even took a moment to affectionately nibble at the boy's ears, preening the fur behind them for just a second.

"Come on," he relayed quietly, nudging the pale boy's cheek though he spoke to the small group that remained, "let's head back... Forget this mess and get some rest." He particularly eyed both his son and half-brother when he spoke the latter cluster of words. Then, as carefully as he could manage, whenever Angier was ready, he was going to walk the patriarch back down to the forest floor and into the expanse of Willows he could still navigate on his own by sense of smell.

(Fade.)

honesty above all

i'm a dreamer, i'm a man

i'm doing whatever i can to make the bad things go away

@Skoll done! c:

His father did not seem particularly affected, but perhaps he was keeping his cards close to his vest. Regardless, it helped to ease some of the tension the meet up had inspired within the boy, and he did not mind holding still the spare few seconds to soak up the attention gifted to him by the man. When his voice entered the air, however, Sven was forced to hide a small frown. Forget this mess? That was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to know what exactly was going on, what his father's thoughts were on the matter, why he was suddenly at odds with aunt Morganna, and what he intended to do to fix it all. The boy knew better than to press with Skoll as well, however, and so he silently obeyed.

They were the last to go, and Sven for a split moment was alone in the caverns as he took up the very rear, wishing not to be near neither Angier nor the blind man's son. His grey eyes cast back at the underground sea and the glow of it that was fueled by the moon, the memory of @Sahalie rising up to greet his thoughts. It had been too long since he'd visited her, so wrapped up in his own self-appointed meddlings. He'd have to make a trip back through these tunnels soon, and ask her if she'd ever ventured here at night. If not, he'd show her. That would help him take his mind off these adult matters that apparently he could not help.

A soft huff escaped him as he tore his eyes eye to press back into the dark after his father. Maybe sleep would do him well for the moment.