Round Stone Crest i'm already torn

For @Minka and @Kova

Ever since the threat of war and the slaughter of his mother and younger siblings had come to light, Bane Aranna knew his time in Black Thorn Downs are coming to an end. Though due to Inali's betrayal to the pack she had saved the day, keeping the fighting at bay as the pack moved from one land to another. Still, a worry overwhelmed the chocolate young man, with a need to return to Nina once more, a yearning to be at Inali's side... He cared for Minka and Kova very deeply, the only two within the ranks he could say he cared for. Not that he had a problem with any other, yet Bane's friends were few and far between and even less of them fully could comprehend the male's antics. It hurt him to leave them, yet, but Minka did not need Bane - she never did. Her pack was strong, with new children to love and care for and a new man already rising through the ranks with promise of being at her side. Nina had no new children, no mate, and last he knew the pack was anything but strong and safe. Nina needed him more, his mother needed him more.

The howl echoed through the lands in a low, sorrowful air. He trudged along the borders in a manner he had time and time before yet this time it was different. He was no longer the silent guardian of the watch post. He was not one of them any longer, having spent more and more time wondering beyond the edges of a place he had not fully been able to consider home. Round Stone Crest was not right for him, though he relished the time it had once been Black Thorn Downs. He sits then, patiently, awaiting out those he had called for - Minka and her eldest son.

I am so sorry! I didn't see the tag for this, @Bane @Kova also let me know if the pp isn't okay @Gent

The sound of a long solemn note drastically contrasted the mood that seemed to fill the small birthing den. Surrounded by the soft kneaded dirt and shed fur with the plump pups snuggled into her belly Minka could almost forget the recent tragedies. Almost but not quite, the absence of her mate was like a cold slap in the face when she would awake from a nap. For just a brief moment she would expect to see his platinum form nestled beside her or singing to their children but instead she was met with empty air. It was crushing that moment when she remembered, the image of her mate's body mangled in the grass, the moment she realized her children would never have their real father. She pushed through though and everyday she was able to hold herself together for a little bit longer before she lost all of her composure, it still hurt but she was getting better at hiding it. Her children did not have a father, the last thing they needed was a mother who couldn't take care of them.

The tawny cranium lifted at the sound of Bane's call and she left the den as soon as she could summon Gent to take her place. The pups weren't old enough to be left alone and at this point they had grown used to the dark man being around, they shouldn't fuss too much while she was gone. It took several minutes before her golden eyes fell on their silent guardian and when they did her expression matched the tone of his cry. Minka said nothing but she nodded to indicate that he should speak, it was clear that this meeting would not be filled with joy. Recently it seemed like those moments were few and far between for the woman.

you should have never changed

MINKA LAGINA

into something real

by Sarah

click!

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

A lot of this is random words to fill it. Sorry  XD At least the words paint a nice picture of their territory :3

The howl made the young wolf yank his head up and out of a moose carcass he'd previously been feasting on. The animal had to have wandered into their territory and died there a couple of days ago, but the coyotes had long since begun eating away at it.

Without wasting any time dawdling at the moose carcass, Kova leaped over the body then began loping towards the center of his mothers territory.

The landscape was fertile with a wide range of old tall wide fir trees that covered the slopes of the hills. There were five different native species of fir trees filling up the forests of Round Stone Crests range, four separate kinds of native junipers, three species of larch tree, five species of towering spruce trees which made up the majority of the forest, and eight different species of pine trees that grew scattered through the other conifer tree species. A small clearing here and there sported a huge variety of wild flowers and herbs. These flowers painted the sun filled clearings in purples, pinks, yellows, reds, and white throughout spring and summer. Truly it was a grand place to live during the warm months. Kova raced by all of these sights to get to Bane's location at the summit of the petite mountain.

When he arrived the bits of moose flesh that had been on his muzzle were licked away by the youth, but much of the blood still coated his maw. He tried hard as he could to clean off the extra meal from his gray toned face before slowing to a stop before Minka and Bane. From then on Kova kept his head lowered while a slightly bashful look passed over his features. With the other two wolves present, including his lovely mother, Kova didn't want to look like a mess in front of them. However it was a bit too late to do anything about it. Instead he took a deep breath and tried to look as worried about Bane's call as he could. Though Kova could not imagine why Bane would call for Minka and himself. It wasn't like he could do much to help out.  “What's wrong?” He asked somewhat sensing the tenseness of his dark pack mate. Sure the howl had been sad sounding, but Kova could not see what Bane was so sad about.

Soon enough in time the both of them came to him. Firstly in was Minka, whom he lowered his head to respectfully, a small (yet seemingly forced) smile pressing over his chocolate mug. He was happy that despite the fact that her mate had recently died, she was doing well enough with the children especially with someone to help as a second parent, a role which Gent had taken up the very day the pups were born. A both bold and disrespectful move (towards Tokino that is) as far as Bane was considered. Shortly after Kova arrived, a bit bloody from having been eaten it seemed, who came up bashfully before them. Bane's head rises, his tail waving behind him silently at the arrival of the youth. He reminded him at a much younger age, bounding around him along the many trails along the pack's borders they had taken, the first being when Bane had warded off a stranger from both the borders and Kova. Now the boy had grown to outweigh himself, carrying the same powerful build of his father before him.

Bane at this moment took the time to settle down into a sit, finally speaking up now that they had both made it to him. "I will be leaving..." He did not know how to sugar-coat the obvious. "I don't think it would be best to explain another pack's affairs, but I feel Nina needs me gravely..." He knew that they too would want him here, but wanting him around and needing him around were two different things. Since the pups had been born and Gent rose higher and higher in the ranks after their more, Bane had been less and less present. No one had questioned it. No one had sought him out. "Please understand I care for you both very much..." ...but he would always love Nina more. She was like a mother too him. He could only hope that they would both understand. However there was a great possibility they would consider just as much as traitor as Inali.

Bane's nod was greeted with a smile of her own, though it felt as forced and foreign on her maw as the guardian's own looked. Ready to hear him begin whatever business he had for her they were interrupted by the arrival of her first born son. Glancing towards him she couldn't help the bemused smirk that crept across her face at the sight of Kova's long muzzle which had only hastily been cleaned. He was growing quickly, a yearling in his own right and an official member of the pack but he was still her child and Minka had to stop herself from reaching over to groom him. It would have embarrassed him in front of Bane but the mother sorely wished to do so anyways, it was only the serious tone of the meeting that allowed her to restrain herself.

Turning her attention back to the guardian she saw that he had sat and followed suit, her own rump hitting the ground with a gentle thud. As he spoke the golden eyes widened in surprise but she said nothing until he was done nor made any signs of aggression. Tilting her head slightly to the right as he finished she couldn't help the small sad smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Standing and stepping forward so as to press her muzzle against the man's neck if he accepted her embrace she murmured, "She raised you, you are a good man Bane for going to her in your time of need." Taking a step back she continued, "Just know that you will always be welcome back within the Crest if you so choose." It never crossed her mind to caution him about telling the Woodlands of their affairs or to swear him a traitor. He was going home, and he had told them before he left. Minka could only hope if any of her children left her pack they would be allowed to return to her without grudges if the time came.

you should have never changed

MINKA LAGINA

into something real

by Sarah

click!

Kova shuffled his paws as Bane greeted him with a waving ebony tail. His own silver banner tugged to the right, then to the left, repeating like this for a time as the young Lagina whined a little hello. The silver wolf noted Minka's smirk and shook his mane wondering why she was smiling at him. It wasn't a warm happy smile either, more like an amused one, and Kova didn't like being the butt of a joke without knowing what the joke was. So instead he tried to focus on Bane's face. His brows creased as Kova tilted his head to the side and listened for when the black guardian would tell them as to why he had called them. The wind blew through the wolves pelts as they stood there across from each other looking but not staring at the face across from them. Bane looked like he was hurt, but Kova couldn't smell any wounds on the dark wolf. However when the Aranna wolf began to tell them about how some wolf named Nina needed him. Kova held a blank expression on his face as he wondered just who this Nina wolf was. His eyes flicked to Minka as she spoke to Bane, and this made Kova thoroughly confused. Until the facts presented to him seemed to align themselves.  “Nina is your mother?” he asked innocently before looking back to Minka again then back to Bane.

Then Minka said that he would always be welcomed back, and Kova could only nod enthusiastically to this. “Yes please come back some day. I'm going to miss you Bane.” He said sadly while giving Bane a puppy dog look. Why does he have to go though? What's wrong with his mother? Maybe I can help somehow? Kova thought quietly while refusing to let his urge to cuddle with Bane take over. That would both be embarrassing, he knew this, and it would probably be the wrong thing to do right now. However, the urge was strong within the young one as he sat in place clawing at the dirt. Unable to bear losing Bane without hugging him goodbye, Kova made himself lean his full weight right into Minka. “Mom is there anything we can do to help?” Kova asked looking at her with pleading eyes. He wanted there to be some way that Bane could stay with them.