Oak Tree Bend holding pattern

Swiftly after she had taken her seat, Darrah appeared, choosing to sit next to the blonde paladin. She threw a thankful grin his way, recognizing that the prince was perhaps the only wolf within the pack that wanted Anneliese's company. By now, however, she was all but numb to the possibility. Content to sit separate, she merely returned her eyes to the leaders of this little gathering, intent on hearing whatever news they thought important enough to summon them collectively for. It was rare, after all, for them to be together in such complete numbers.

There wasn't long to wait. It seemed as soon as Darrah was settled next to her that Spieden's voice entered the air, addressing first Sahalie quietly before speaking to the pack as a whole. There was nothing eloquent about her words, the woman's announcement lacking all of the decorum that Anna was used to witnessing within her past leaders. Yet she was straight forward, and the woman found herself appreciative of this. Lacking decoration was alright. It was better than diction being used to mislead.

Triell's absence held no weight for the Schroder woman, as she had yet to formally meet with the man and had seen little of his leadership since joining the Bend. Naira, too, was a name lost upon her ears. It wasn't until Drestig was named as temporary alpha that Anneliese's interest was piqued. A small smile passed over her muzzle, the Drestig she had first met so long ago still present within her mind. He raised his own voice then, speaking with far more charisma than Spieden had been able to muster. After his small speech, a boy Anneliese had yet to formally meet (a common theme) stepped forward to show his approval in the form of submission toward Drestig, and next to her Darrah shouted out his own encouragement.

Yet amongst the praise, a small yet strong voice rose up to disapprove. Anna's smile vanished as the monthling claimed her father's departure to be an injustice, and the woman couldn't help but sympathise. It was a difficult decision, choosing between the love of your life and your children. Darrah rose up to rush to his sister, dismissing the importance of their mother, and Anna wasn't entirely sure if this was the wisest choice. It seemed he would perpetuate his own bitterness unto his younger siblings.

The leaders carried on, but Anna found she couldn't focus on the words they spoke. It wasn't until she herself had been mentioned that her gaze returned to Spieden's face, a modest blush of color coming to her cheeks as she hadn't expected to be openly praised for the legwork she'd done. She nodded to the reigning queen, and tried to register the rest of what was being said between the two. Hearthwood River was brought up, and the woman felt a tug at her heart as well as her nerves, but before she could worry about this connection Sahalie suddenly turned and detached herself from the meeting, a storm cloud all but visible over her head. Without thinking, Anneliese rose to her paws, skirting behind the leaders to chase after the girl without further disrupting those who were speaking.

/Exit

PLOT WITH ME!

It seemed that everyone was accepting of Drestig’s new role as their leader. It would be different to see him as something other than her student but adjusting was nothing new to her and it shouldn’t have been a problem. What surprised her the most, perhaps, was when Sahalie finally spoke up. Jessie had only interacted with the child once, and while she did remember most of what was said between them, the gray Scout picked up that the child tried to make everyone else happy. Jessie’s ears flicked toward immediately to pick up what the dark child had said and she felt a boil of anger rise in her chest. No one had any right to keep the identity of the child’s mother from her. Nayeli had been her friend and her friend had high morals, she wouldn’t have just up and left unless something had happened to her. Feeling her heart beginning to accelerate, Jessie turned her head away from the meeting and took deep breaths. There would be no use of her losing herself in the middle of the meeting in front of everyone.

When Serach spoke up, the Tainn directed her attention towards him, her emerald eyes curious as he spoke. She did not know he had such a keen interest in traveling. The thought of a trip excited her but saddened her at the same time. She was sure that a scouting trip was exactly what she needed but she was reluctant to stray too far from where Hotei lay buried. At the thought of her lost love, her heart began to ache again and her gaze reverted back to the earthy ground. Her heart was holding her back and she remained silent, missing anything else that was said after Serach’s words. A flash of white caught her eye and Jessie looked up briefly to see Anneliese leaving the meeting. Perhaps it would be best if I left as well. Dipping her head low, out of necessity and trying not to be rude, the pepper and salt colored woman went back the way she came. If she needed anything, it was some time alone to gather her thoughts.

{EXIT}

a little bit messy, a little bit ruined.
a beautiful disaster, just like me.

Drift was a child with a short attention span and his attention was quickly distracted from Sahalie and Darrah when the big one that looked like him spoke again. He tried to wrap his head around the big words, focusing one ones like sister and Kingsfall. The possibility that there were lands beyond Oak Tree Bend hadn’t even dawned on the boy who was far less adventurous than his sister, easily amused with his mud puddles and frogs. It wasn’t to last though as Sahalie got up and stormed off, the other one like him, one he didn’t get a chance to speak too got up and followed his sister, the grey one leaving too.

His brows drew down and his mouth turned down in a frown. It seemed extremely rude for everyone to just leave while the white one was still talking and he inched closer to Serach, replacing his frown with a smile to show that he was still interested in the stories. It may have passed through his mind that maybe it was a girl thing but Spieden was still here too. He was happy to stay and not overly phased by the comings and goings of others. While ever his Spie was still around, he knew he would be safe.

Darrah's words hadn't reached Sahalie like he'd intended, though the prince was positive that with a bit of time alone together he'd be able to persuade her into a more positive light. With a frown, he kissed the top of the small princesses head. 'She's stubborn, must run in the family.' disgruntled, the Tainn listened as his uncle continued with his bit of encouragement.

As Drestig went on with his speech, a small section was spent talking about the importance of pack roles and things of the like. It was made clear with the mention of 'Guardian' that the prince's uncle held high hopes for him. 'Guardian? I've never considered that before..' a cheeky smile filled the yearlings face as he pondered over what claiming such an important title would bring for him and his future. 'Could I really do that..?' Darrah knew that one day he'd rule the bend, though it was no secret that he hadn't the slightest clue what to do with his time meanwhile. Nodding in approval, the raven-esque figure would surely seek his uncle out as soon as possible to talk on the subject further, he was absolutely intrigued with the idea.

Sahalie storming off brought an obvious reaction to the dark prince, chase after her! Though before he could manage to put the idea in motion, Anneliese made her leave too. 'Perhaps this is best left in the paws of another female.' he sighed, finding a comfortable spot next to his brother. "She'll be alright.." the yearling spoke softly, though only intended on putting his own mind at ease. "Drestig, mind having a word after this?"

I curse the blue skies.

Darrah Tainn

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Spieden looked towards the Donata as he began to speak, her ear flicking with curiosity at the mention of a sister. Spieden didn't recall Serach having a sister, and this was the first time she had heard mention of the name Kisla. The name Kingsfall was new to her as well, and she wondered if one day she would ever have enough time as to explore things for herself. The Coho woman found herself distracted just as Serach began to mention scouts, her amber gaze shifting towards Sahalie who's demeanor was steadily darkening like a little stormcloud. Before Serach had even finished speaking Sahalie had stormed out, as storms were wont to do.

Apparently Sahalie had been a sort of cork, Spieden noticing that as soon as she left others drained away. Seemingly Spieden was left behind with just the guys, and she blinked and snuffed with bemusement. Darrah wanted to speak with Drestig, and while Spieden wondered the purpose she figured that if he wanted her there too, he would have asked. She glanced to Serach, giving the snowy male a sort of nod to dismiss him before lifting her haunches up to stand and picking her way down from her tree-root perch. She rounded towards Drift, softly nudging the boy's scalp with her snout in a quiet invitation to accompany her on a patrol before loping off into the forest.

(This post was last modified: Oct 03, 2015, 08:04 PM by Spieden.)

Serach was not used to speaking aloud in front of a crowd, and he was especially not used to grand gestures. It seems his mother's leadership gene had skipped him; glancing around at the reaction of the pack as he spoke up about wanting to take a trip to Kingsfall, he might as well have not said anything at all. Sahalie's abrupt departure interrupted him, and the boy's words faded off as he watched the cub storm off. That was apparently the signal for the end of the meeting, his proposal seemingly forgotten. Anneliese and Jessie took off, Anna headed off after Sahalie and Jessie back to who knows where.

Serach could only stand and watch, the eagerness glow on his face slowly dimming, replaced with a confused and hurt frown. He had never been taken particularly seriously at pack meetings when he had made the decision to speak up, and clearly without Triell, that trend was only going to continue. Looking down at his paws, he just managed to see Drift's supportive smile before the younger boy was crowded by Darrah and Spieden. He received no words from the lead female, but her dismissive nod said it all. His was the only excitement about the possibility of bridging the gap between Oak Tree Bend and Hearthwood River, it seemed.

Staring pointedly at the ground, the subordinate shuffled backwards before turning away and heading into the woods to nurse his wounded pride in private.

While he had hoped and wanted to make this meeting a grand occasion, it grew increasingly clear with every word spoken, that it wasn't gonna be. Even his own grandiose speech began to ring hollow as he looked around on the withdrawn faces. He wanted to inspire them, to give Oak Tree Bend new life, but right now all they saw was another loss. And how could he blame them? We've been through so much... Only Serach seemed to have some enthusiasm to share, grapping the chance to speak up and mention his trip to the north and the discovery of Hethwood River; Which Drestig greatly appreciated, both because he had forgotten it himself, in the midst of all the other announcements, and because the young man was showing some engagement in the middle of all this wallow. He didn't have time to acknowledge it though, as the emotion that had been building up within Sahalie finally burst out, the dark pup suddenly getting up and racing off, fuming like a storm cloud. Like everyone else's, Drestig's eyes followed her departure, brows furrowing as he watched her disappear among the trees. He wanted to follow her, try again to sooth her even if his words hadn't seemed to work the first time. But they were in the middle of a meeting and while the pup's departure had caused disruption, he couldn't very well just leave. Other's didn't seem to have the same quarrels though and ember eyes watched in dismay as several wolves took the pups cue and began filing out. The remaining excitement in his chest quickly deflated, and he glanced at Spieden, shrugging his shoulders resignedly. Then a voice piped up, and fiery eyes found equally bright oranges across from the two leaders. Drestig smiled lightly, not everyone had left, yet. Darrah sat next to Drift, who unlike his sister seemed to be taking the whole thing like a trooper; Good lad. And at the pale pup's other side was Sreach. For a moment the newly crowned leaders was torn, eyes darting back and forth between the boys. His lips parted to speak, but again he was too late, as the Donata's eyes turned to the ground and he quickly made his way away from the shrinking group. Drestig glanced after him for a moment, then he sighed and shook his head lightly, he would have to catch up with the boy later. Turning his attention back to Darrah, his smile returned, and he nodded once, curious to see what the prince wanted to speak about; Perhaps his earlier prompt had had the intended effect. Word count: 437 Thoughts ”Speech”

Dawnthieves.de

@Darrah if you wanted a thread, can you set something up, backdated to right after the meeting? c:
Thanks everyone for your patience <3