Quaking Vale came home like a stone

@Castel set immediately after the claim thread

"We don't have to bother with the cache business," she said as soon as the boys were out of sight. Her first decree of leadership, a simple offering to shirk their duties. But it was a duty that had been shoved on her when, really, Sahalie now had her own say in what she did and didn't do, or what others did. That alone was rather astounding. As a loner, sure, it had been much the same way, and even their rag tag band had listened to her when she'd asked them to do things. But this was real now, it was official. "I mean what's the point of even finding a spot to put things if we don't have any prey?" And she did not feel like hunting, if that had been what Alastor had intended.

"I'd rather just talk," She took a seat next to a fallen, dry-moss covered log—oddly enough, the only normal tree out of the bunch, and it was dead—that would eventually become Larkspur's new "place." For a moment she simply let her eyes wander about the airy forest of narrow trees, watching the light come in. It was so different from the home she had been born to, but it felt like it suit her just fine all the same. More quietly, staring at her feet now, she admitted, "I know a lot of the time it seems all I want to do is talk." Not all of her talk was frivolous, though. If that's what this conversation became then that was fine, but there were some things on her mind, and she was sure there was stuff on Castel's.

"Whether you like it or realize it or not there's no other girls besides us here." Alastor had made that abundantly clear when he had chosen to take his brother and Larkspur with him around the borders. "And I think we're going to need to stick together. I mean. We all need to stick together but. I guess..." She sighed, her neck craning down so that she could reach up with her rear leg to itch behind her ear, "I just need some advice is all." Any other wolf might have known it as "girl talk" but Sahalie hadn't had many other female friends besides Kyna. With a pang she realized were her sunset friend here right now she would know the right things to do or say. Castel, on the other hand, well she was just getting to know Sahalie. There would be much more elaborating to do.

(This post was last modified: Apr 18, 2017, 10:35 PM by Sahalie.)

"Oh, thank god," the small girl breathed as Sahalie said they weren't going to form any caches. She didn't feel like she could walk much further, let alone the distance it would take to find a suitable place to store their food. And then, of course, there would be the whole finding food thing, and Cas was pretty sure she'd die before they could even take down a freaking rabbit. So, she flopped down beside the darker girl, sky-colored eyes meeting their sunny counterparts. A soft smile pulled at her lips. "Well, you know I'm always up for talking," she offered, spirits a little higher now that their pack had actually been formed.

She frowned when the new alpha female mentioned that the two of them were the only girls in the pack, and she nodded her head. "Like... um..." Cas hadn't had many girl friends in her life, either. There had been Adelayde, briefly, but mostly she'd always been surrounded by guys. She hadn't even had a mother figure in her youth. "Girl talk?" she asked, hoping that she got the phrase correct. It was a bit sad that she knew so little about the relationships between females in the packs. "But, yes, I know what you mean. I kind of hated how Al divided us like he did," she went on, resting her chin on her forepaws. "Dunno if it's good to create a gender divide so early on, y'know?"

Then the alpha mentioned needing advice, and Cas perked her large ears, angling them toward her friend with a smile. "I don't know how much help I'll be," she told her slowly, her tail wagging softly. "But I'll do my best to help you with whatever you need. At the very least, I can listen pretty well, so... shoot," she offered, ready to listen and respond to whatever the sunshine-eyed girl had to say.

omg time flies I didn't even know i'd made you wait TWO WEEKS ON THIS. pls i am sorry @Castel

Castel gave her free reign to open up and Sahalie took it gladly with a deep breath and a sigh before launching in. "Cause yeah. That's what's bothering me. The gender divide thing." It sounded a little silly to say it out loud, but she had no idea if it would lead to any larger issues. "I mean. I guess gender isn't really the big part of it but... If he had asked me what I thought we should do I would have wanted to go set the borders. The borders of the pack I dreamt about. Like yeah. I can go and sniff them all tomorrow and mark to my heart's content but I don't get a say if we pick this tree or that rock. It's all decided already and if I disagree then everyone's just going to think I'm being petty." And entitled. But she felt like she was entitled to at least this.

"I get that we couldn't all have gone out to mark the borders. Cause you're in no shape to do that. But maybe Larkspur could have stayed with you. He's not really the most physically fit either, even if he's the wisest...depending on how you determine that. Or Draven. Or Al." She made a frustrated noise. Anyone could have stayed. "We could have asked who wanted to stay. I just. That's what I wanted this place to be. Democratic. Fair."

She didn't want to rock the boat but she also didn't want to set the wrong tone. She had thought Alastor understood about what sort of place she wanted, but maybe there were things he still didn't see. "Everyone has to live here so I want everyone to have a say. That's what I've been trying to work towards. I just." She sighed once more and fell silent, stewing in her own discontent. 

-leaves the thing for three weeks- 's cool

Castel squinted a bit at the outpouring of words from her young leader's mouth, nodding as she started to piece together that the real problem had, indeed, been Al not asking for input from his co-leader. She remained silent as Sahalie did what the silver-dusted girl often did to others - she babbled. All the while, the new second just sat there, only to speak when Hal mentioned that Larkspur could've stayed with her. "I think I would rather have gone alone, thanks very much," she proclaimed, rolling her eyes. "And I want it on record that I could go mark borders. I'm just choosing not to." Her tone was light and airy, disguising the fact that her new leader thought her incapable of even performing the simplest of tasks.

Not that she was wrong - just that she didn't have to say it out loud.

"Sounds to me like you just need to talk to him," the small wolf stated confidently, resting her chin on her paws and looking up at the chocolate-coated girl. Perhaps Alastor and Sahalie needed to talk about a lot of things, but now was not the time for that. "Al's a good guy. I'm sure he'll listen to you, and, if he doesn't, we can get Niles to beat him up." It was a joke, and she would have said that Cas, herself, would beat him up, but that clearly was impossible.

Not that Niles beating him up was much more likely.

Cas arched an eyebrow with a smirk. "You said you wanted everyone to have a say, but you just stayed quiet when he was telling everybody what to do. That's a little hypocritical, Hal," she remarked, closing her eyes. "How are we all gonna have a say when our own alpha female can't speak her mind?"