Round Stone Crest seventh symphony

For @Minka and @Raela only.
Backdated to 6/8, moments after argument with Astraeus ends.

'You're a good man, Gent Lieris.'

Dusk was settling around them, the blue of the sky overtaken and darkened by mottled hues of salmon and deep purples as the embers of the setting sun died down. Winding through the forest's many thick legs, Raela close at his side, the man couldn't help but hear Minka's words play over and over in his head. He'd been accoladed with the word good before, but in the sense of being skilled at one thing or another. Never had the word reflected his character, and it was a missing aspect of himself that he'd never been given reason to ponder before stepping under the Lagina widow's umbrella. Now, especially, the praise repeated itself and gave him cause to wonder, did he really deserve it? Was he truly a good man?

They approached the alpha's den in little time, Minka tucked inside with all three of her young ones. Gent cleared his throat, and gazed up momentarily as the bloated clouds encroaching from the west which threatened rain. Doubt was running strongly through him, both of the decision he had just made to allow Astraeus Taranath to stay within Round Stone Crest's ranks and of his own viability as a good man. Were his choices truly good, was he truly serving the pack the best that he could? Or was Astraeus at all right to challenge and disrespect him, if not for any reasons that the would-be guardian conjured up but rather for those that would allow Aeus to transform into such a monster at all?

"Minka," he finally spoke out. "There's been a problem."

(This post was last modified: Jul 15, 2015, 04:42 AM by Gent.)

OOC: Short little post but she's here!

She didn't want to be away from Aeus right now, but she didn't really want to tackle this issue at the moment either. Truth be told, she was much more comfortable around the great black beast of an alpha than her own boyfriend; even if Gent had nearly just kicked him out. Gent hadn't hurt her – in fact he was the one thing making her feel the slightest bit better right now. She stayed close; dulled eyes panning the ground while scenes from before played over and over. Why? She hadn't a clue. It was much more comfortable to be able to focus on anything else; the forest, birds, whatever; but somehow the worries kept coming back. They always came back. It was a relief of sorts when the den came into view. The little Crestlings simply couldn't be looked upon or even associated with sadness. Tokino had been a good leader, and she felt awful for Minka, but the pups were leading good lives so far. They had no idea that a single thing was missing from them. For that, she was grateful.  Raela parked herself outside the den, allowing Gent to summon the matriarch. She had no business getting too close to the little ones just yet. Even if Minka truly didn't mind, she didn't want to take the chance when it wasn't necessary. They weren't here to gawk at the little ones or play. She was hardly in the mood for frolicking. Reclining on her haunches felt much better after the walk. She even extended a back paw to scratch at her neck while they waited for the other woman's response. What was she going to have to say? What if Minka saw fit to banish him anyway? Rae's tongue slid across her ivory muzzle subconsciously; a little nervous gesture that might have gone unnoticed to one not looking for it. Oh how she hoped Aeus would fix this.   Image © Chris Smith Photography Manipulation © Jenandra

(This post was last modified: Jul 15, 2015, 05:40 PM by Raela.)

            

The pups were sleeping, or at least mostly sleeping. Every once and a while one of the bundles would suddenly quake with a yawn before squirming and squeaking about until they resettled. With her first litter Minka had awoken every time this had occurred sure that the child would need something and would stay awake for hours just to be safe. This time around the mother was much more relaxed and comfortable with her parenting abilities, these tremors only being allotted a single eye slitting open before she went back to sleep. It was the middle of the day which was an unusual time for the alpha to be sleeping under normal circumstance but since the arrival of the royal litter the Lagina woman slept when she could. Typically this meant short naps throughout the day and night and never a full rest which was exhausting but every moment with her children was rewarding nonetheless.

Lifting her head at the sound of approaching pawsteps Minka did her best to blink away the grogginess. Her audits swivelled forward and instantly she recognized both their scents, though Gent's words were enough to wake her fully. Glancing down towards the pups she did her best to gently nudge them together so they could share body heat and not get cold as long as she wasn't away for longer than a few minutes. Ignoring their cries of protest that tugged at her heart as she exited the den, she only stood at the entrance so she could retreat inside if needed in less than a second. The golden eyes glanced from Gent to Raela and the serious expressions on both their faces caused the woman's heart to sink, "What happened, is someone hurt? Is Kova okay?" Her hormones were still elevated from the recent childbirth and instinctively she felt the need to first assure herself that her son was okay. She couldn't lose him and Tokino as well as Noble. It was too much, she was sure if anyone else was stolen from her she couldn't bear it.

  

"Speech."

click!

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Gent will only be about half way through his explanation here, but I'm splitting it up into two posts to give Minka and Raela time to react/interject as need be.

Through the murky covering of the den, Minka appeared. She stood at the threshold, half her body still swallowed in darkness, and concern overwhelmed her golden eyes. Instantly, Gent's black little hunt was tugged upon, and he felt the need to instantly dispel her worries with a rushed, "Everyone's fine." The woman was already lachrymose by nature, and the man was mildly sore with himself for not being more cautious with his approach.

That having been said, it was necessary to swiftly fill in the details for her, but as Gent attempted to collect his thoughts, something he had been trying to do their entire journey here, he felt as though his head were underwater and the flood was stalling his mind. What if she blamed him? It was perhaps the greatest fear, especially given that Astraeus had served Minka longer than he himself had. Gent realized he'd no idea what kind of rapport the other man had with the queen, and the ground underneath his paws felt as though it were crumbling, threatening to give way. His confidence had without a doubt been absolutely shaken tonight.

"It's Astraeus, he's..." his voice trailed off as the man was unable to find the words, and found himself being overly conscious of what came out of his mouth. Finally, he decided on simply recounting the situation for her.

"I offered him the opportunity to earn the open guardian position, as we discussed, and he turned it down. Said he needs to be an advisor instead. And the way he was... tryin' to hold his head higher than mine, smirking at me, thinking he can pick and choose what role he fills despite the pack's needs... the same way he always is when someone else isn't there to see it. Disrespectful, challenging my authority. Structure won't last when there's a wolf like that in the ranks, it can't. If he's allowed to keep his act up, why should anyone else respect and heed my position?" Surely Minka had to understand, right?

"So I called him out, told him I didn't trust him, that he needed to defer himself to me. And he refused. Told me I wasn't his king. That's when Raela showed up, and he tried to play it off. Something about a game?" his eyes shifted to his friend then, heart suspended as he hoped dearly she would back him up.

There was but a moment of pause as the Crest's matriarch urged her children together; attempting to keep them warm and comfortable in her temporary absence. Raela's orange ears twitched as the muffled mews came through the opening; unable to mask the slight smirk that spread across her face. Despite this whole situation, there was a second's comfort for her in the children. Minka's nervous words folded the smaller woman's ears with a tinge of shame for worrying her so. Gent was quick to correct her, though, and the meeting could continue without any more assurances. She waited, eyes drifting over to the black behemoth as he fought for the right words.  Something was off about the man's sudden anxiety. He seemed almost, insecure about this. That was a word she'd never before associated with Gent, and her ears returned to their erect position as he detailed the incident. Every word stung, yet she knew it to be truth. The woman remained quiet until his last couple of sentences; quickly sensing that it would be her turn to speak up soon. The King's last question came across the air as pleading; pleading for her to assist in this tale. Having already been watching him closely she met his gaze. Her attention turned swiftly to Minka as she spoke.  “I don't understand what he meant but he was yapping about something like that,” her voice was deflated but her expression remained alert, at least until she had to explain further. “He was being very disrespectful to Gent,” she admitted, her gaze falling. “Both in what he said and how he behaved. He said he respected you but not him.” Why Aeus? Why did you have to go and do this? “I saw no good reason for it.” She shook her head, “He had no right to act how he did.” She didn't want to elaborate just yet. If Gent was intent on relaying the events as they'd occurred she'd let him. She was here as a witness, after all. Her eyes finally rose from their dejected depths, searching for her companion and waiting for him to keep going.  Image © Chris Smith Photography Manipulation © Jenandra