Black Thorn Downs i remember feeling the opposite of falling

ooc: any way we can backdate this to 4/7? I was trying to get him to run into Danica on 4/6, and he would've went to Minka no more than a day after. I'm just gonna have him talk about CRR & HHK, and name Iopah if not already done, never mind the rest about SW. It was time to finally bring the multiple concerns that had building up within his head to his leader's attention. Tokino was not considered in this; Gent had yet to have a definitive meeting with the man, and at the pack meeting it had been made pretty clear to the Lieris heir that it was Minka who truly and wholly lead the Downs wolves. Thus as the sun sunk down below the horizon, his idle, thoughtful paws turn to motion. Sky blues reflected as mere white holes in a black skull as they sought @Minka through the darkened brambles. He hoped to catch her alone, and therefore sought for her along the border of the pack, following the scent trail she'd intentionally left to mark this, now decidedly temporary, home. With luck, he would catch up to her before she returned to the heart of the pack lands, undoubtedly where others of their flag resided. With time, this wish was granted; at the Eastern-most border he saw her, a smudge of earthen tones mixed with the black branches of the entangling berry bushes. A soft bark fled his lips, asking her to wait up for him as he picked up the pace to more swiftly eat up the ground between them. A pinprick of anticipation antagonized the back of his nape, for he had little insight to what she might have to say. Gent was not familiar enough with the woman to say he knew her personality, and regardless of her demeanor the mention of his previous alliance with Hollow Heart Keep could end with sentencing for him. For all the man knew, Black Thorn Downs could have been the end of Naira and her clan.

(This post was last modified: Apr 28, 2015, 07:10 PM by Gent.)

So that would make that the day before Inali goes to SW I think? So Minka doesn't know yet/hasn't called off the war. She's about a month pregnant now so her sides are noticeably swollen according to the library.

At this point Minka knew without a doubt in her mind that she was pregnant, which only further delayed her plans of attack. She was constantly hungry, though she did her best to restrain herself from emptying the caches when she could and her sides had pushed past their usual size. While the swelling was minimal compared to how she would be in a few weeks time it was unmistakable even from afar that she was with child. Despite all of this the alpha still pulled her weight in the pack, taking her usual border patrols, one at dawn and another at dusk plus one extra at mid day. She typically did the loop by herself but she never rejected the company of her pack mates, especially her mate or son. This particular evening however she was solo, not that she minded, it gave her time to think over what had occurred at the meeting and what was still to come.

While she knew anger fueled the need for revenge the alpha was never one to jump into anything without a stable and thorough plan. This was why she had gone to their allies to seek aid, why they would be moving the pack to safer grounds before they even made an offensive strike. The meeting had been a formality so they could begin the first phase of their plan; the defense and yet she knew some of her members thought this was being too hasty. Suddenly the sound of Gent behind her stirred Minka back to the real world and out of her own thoughts. Gazing back over her shoulder the tawny form halted until her newest subordinate caught up with her before beginning her pace again. Offering him a warm smile she spoke, "What can I do for you Gent?" While this was a serious time amongst the pack it wasn't needed that every interaction be stressful or cold. After all, her subordinates were like her family and they deserved to be treated as such.

click!

ooc: okie dokie! As he drew closer, the young man immediately noticed her burdened state. The rounding of her sides and stomach forced his thoughts to consider the lives that were forming inside of her. Never had he been with a pack long enough to be present during the entire event of both pregnancy and birth, and being the youngest of his siblings it had never occurred before his eyes even within his own family. Seeing @Minka now in such a state reached deep into his chest and tugged at something paternal, something that desired only to protect. But Danica had been showing the same dismal yet blessed signs, and thus the conflict only grew stronger inside his head. He slowed his pace as he caught up to her, easily falling into her chosen gait. There was a moment's pause, a gathering of his breath, before he let it out. "I need to tell you about my past alliances, you deserve to be fully aware of the ties I made before joining the downs."Another brief pause, his blue eyes glancing up to her golden gaze before dropping back to his large paws. "I was born far North. The winter before this I traveled South to Mount Dire and joined the Nomad's Pass pack under Naira and Mapplethorpe. We were forced by the storms to relocate to the Ghastly Woods, and became Hollow Heart Keep. Before spring fully arrived, I was separated from the pack and only returned a month before coming to your door. I... tried to return to them, but I've no idea what has become of them. All I could find was any empty den site and stale scents."

(This post was last modified: May 04, 2015, 07:17 PM by Gent.)

The way that the meeting began was a surprise to the woman and at first she said nothing, though the flick of a tawny ear and a slightly cocking of her head showed she was indeed listening. Gent paused before he continued and once more the alpha flicked one of her audits to silently show that the floor was all his for the taking. When his words finished the mother said nothing for a time, merely nodding to indicate that she would acknowledge his words once she had sorted her thoughts. They had walked forward another few yards before she said anything at all, "So by now I'm assuming you know that our allies are Cut Rock River who were enemies of the Keep correct?" Golden eyes glanced sideways to take in his expression, how much did he know of the brief conflict between the two packs?

After a moment to gauge his reaction Minka continued, "My knowledge of the whole affair is limited though I will tell you what I do know. Maksim sent the River's scout here last August seeking our aid, if we were to wish Inali would join Naia in seeking out the Keep. They were going in an attempts at a truce between the packs, though when they arrived the only remaining member said that the pack had long disbanded and disappeared in separate directions." Once more the alpha stopped her monologue having offered all of the information that she had on the given subject. Her knowledge on everything that had transpired was hazy at best and she had never sought out more information after learning of their disbandment. Truly she had not spared the Keep much thought after that until now, only relieved that an enemy of their allies was no longer at their doorstep.

click!

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

ooc: kind of jumbled together for the sake of brevity, sorry Her moments of silence had him tense, however she remained collected and therefore, as far as he could tell by demeanor alone, his past allegiances had not appalled her. Of course, the first remark to finally fall from her jaws was in regards to the shredded relations between Cut Rock River and what had been Hollow Heart Keep. Another silent sigh escaped his throat as she certainly couldn't know of the key role he had played in that mess, but he knew that now he had to fill her in. He couldn't risk someone else unearthing his past for her, and therefore would not hide something so important. She then shared with him the limited information she had about the demise of his old pack, and he listened intently, both ears swiveling to face her as blue eyes watched her lips move. A truce? Odd, had that been Maksim's decision or had other events transpired? But the worst of it was her final sentence. Disbanded, separated, just like that? Hollow Heart Keep hadn't been destroyed, it had simply fallen apart? How could Naira allow that? How could he have not been there to stop it from happening? A noise of frustration was caught in his throat and his glacial vision searched the ground ahead of his paws as his mind worked over this new knowledge. Gent didn't like it, not one bit. While this ending allowed him the possibility of running into his old pack mates once more, the only ones he cared to meet again were Chulyin, Naira and Sagacity. The rest had little value to him; it wasn't the wolves of Hollow Heart Keep Gent had cherished, but rather the idea of what the pack could be under his leadership. Finally, his voice lifted to respond and supply Minka with a fresh batch of information. "Yes. My pack- past pack mate Sagacity and I are to blame for that, actually. I'm sure you remember the winter well, that there was no food and everyone was near starved to death. We found a kill at the Cut Rock River wolves' border and tried to take it, resulting in a fight with the alpha and his scout. I wouldn't normally approve of such borderline thievery today, but our pack was dying. We did what we had to do to keep each other alive." He would not apologize for it, though he had no qualms about now being an ally to the pack--they too had only done what was needed to survive. The winter had been so harsh, everyone was fighting fang and claw for their own life. "I also... I believe I know who attacked Lugh. I recognized two faint scents on him, the one was a thicket woman named Iopah who I have hunted with twice before. The second was someone I don't know personally, but must have been a part of Hollow Heart Keep for his scent lingered at the old den site with the rest of the pack's. I'm not sure about him, but I know for a fact that @Iopah is no longer allied with Secret Woodlands. I have a friend in that pack, a dear friend. She's only a yearling, and her name is @Danica . I ran into her in the fields yesterday, and I couldn't bring myself to attack her as you ordered. She's pregnant." He paused for a moment, feeling like he was rambling all of this off, but it was important to get it all out at once before what he said could anger Minka. Every now and then his gaze snuck up to her dial, to catch a glimpse of how she was reacting to each tidbit. "She told me that Iopah fled the pack," another pause, and then his final proclamation, "I will stand by you through this war no matter what direction you wish to take it in. I am not trying to compromise anything you want to accomplish. But I don't want harm to come to Danica. She's the only one, and that's why I'm telling you that there might be more to what happened than overly-vicious border patrol and it might not have anything to do with the Woodlands pack as a whole. She didn't seem to be at all aware that something had happened between her pack and ours; what if Iopah and this man acted outside of their alpha's reach? I only ask that you take this into consideration."

The frustrated sound that gurgled in Gent's throat caused Minka's own thoughts to pause as she glanced towards him. Had he been close with his previous pack? The alphas? Were they like family to him as her subordinates were to her? The woman realized then that she knew next to nothing about the man's past, she had no idea what kind of wolf he had been before he had shown up on her doorstep. The golden eyes searched the dark face for clues but found that she couldn't decipher his expression and quickly looked away when his gaze raised. She may be the alpha and have the right to stare her subordinates down if she so wished but it wasn't something she practiced unless necessary. Gent finished with his speech of what he and his pack mate had done which has sparked the tension and the alpha nodded once briskly. For a moment she said nothing before offering, "Stealing from another pack is never something I would condone to my own subordinates, but I understand your intentions were only for the best of your pack and that is not something I can fault you for. However, @Maksim is a dear friend of mine and our alliance is strong. If you wish to remain within our ranks I expect you to raise no more tension between the two of you and if it comes to it do what you must to smooth the waters.' Once more the golden eyes sought out Gent's gaze, her face stern to show her seriousness but not judgemental. He had merely been doing what he had to do, which is what she was doing now.

His next words caused the tawny eyebrows to raise and her steps to slow until she came to a dead halt. At first Minka had been frustrated that he had no followed direct orders until he added his last bit of information. Pregnant as just a yearling? That was far too young to be able to be responsible for a litter, most yearlings could barely be responsible for themselves. Suddenly the alpha couldn't help the wave of sadness that enveloped her, that poor child had gotten herself on a difficult path. Blinking against the sudden wetness in her eyes the expectant mother cursed her hormones, "I would never condone harming a pregnant female, no matter who they are or where their alliances lay. You did the right thing." That was all she said for now, her mind clouded by the hormones as she tried to work through everything he had told her.

Suddenly the tawny head shook, "If this is true I need to talk with Nina immediately, if the orders didn't come from her than this war is pointless violent. I still need to go see Maksim to see if I can count on his support but as soon as I return the two of us will need to seek out the Woodland Queen." There was no question in her voice as she used the term we, he had brought the information and should see it out to the end, even if it was a violent one. Her mind still reeling she had only one more thing to add, "Thank you Gent, you may have saved us from something unsightly." It was the truth, while he had been earning her trust steadily with his help with Lugh this cemented it in Minka's mind; Gent was one of them.

click!

Gent's movement had ceased with his Queen's, words having pressed forth from his tongue regardless of the emotions that passed through her eyes. It had all needed to be said, as much as he'd hated wasting the air with so many words, and hopefully none would be subject to mondegreen. In the end, it seemed it had all paid off. Appreciative of her subtle praise in his choice not to attack Danica, he could only be slightly thankful (or at least, slightly less upset) that she was pregnant, for the man wouldn't have turned against his friend regardless. Not without first giving her a chance, as he had, to avoid the possibility. As the woman next to him continued to speak, he grew more and more relieved, muscles visibly relaxing. So, she saw reason easily, this turn of situation told him, and he was very much appreciative for it. A sigh escaped him before it could be caught, and he looked away at the night around them as his mind began to clear. There was still a chance for things to not be resolved, yet this one time the man opted to be hopeful. His ties were so tattered from the past, he wanted so dearly to have at least one to still hold onto, and that was Danica. If things continued to spiral downward and he lost that, he wasn't quite sure what would become of his odd little emotions then. She then thanked him, and his pale eyes met with her small suns before the faintest of smiles passed over his lips. "Thank you, too, for uh, accepting my past," he returned, clearly not used to so readily expressing appreciation. From what he'd seen of this new home so far, it was something he might need to get used. This certainly wasn't the Keep, and Gent was finding he didn't want to try and sway them in that direction. Whatever it was that he was discovering here, he found that for some reason or other, he wanted to preserve it. "So," he began again, starting afresh their conversation as he took a few tentative steps forward, hoping to revive their walk. "Can I ask about you, about how you and Tokino came to own the Downs?"