Silent Moon Plateau I made my choice

for Craw

Morganna didn't think it was possible to make herself any clearer. Nicolo had threatened her and she didn't just want him demoted, she wanted him gone. Her exit from the Underground Sea may have been less than ladylike but what the fuck did she care? Subtle hints hadn't worked, polite requests had gotten her nowhere and if anyone had tried to follow her out of there they should have been ready to catch her teeth with their face. She was done playing nicely.

Had she any prior experience with pregnancy she would have been prepared for the sudden shift of perspective, her world turning upside down. She would have been prepared for the overwhelming anxiety, the drive to do whatever it took to keep her unborn children safe, the guilt... Just what was she bringing them into?

Initially she set out across the rise at a steady lope towards the south, her limbs itching for a challenge she headed to the heights desperately hoping @Skoll had enough sense to head to the Grove or check on his girlfriend... While he still had her. She had done well so far to keep her true intentions between herself and @Elettra, but now the latest shift was clear there was someone else she needed to consult.

As the earth levelled out beneath her paws she finally slowed to catch her breath. Perhaps she shouldn't have made such a hasty retreat. 

Where would she find @Craw at this hour of the night? 

For future reference - this is set very shortly after the cavern meeting

She needn't have worried. As soon as the gathering had been dismissed, Craw had spent a short time with those left behind, such as @Renier, @Sven and most importantly @Wraith, who he had promised to catch up with later that day to discuss this... unusual turn of events. Soon afterwards, he had made his own exit from the cool, damp caverns. He chose his route precisely because it was the same dark tunnel he had watched Morganna slip out of, but more importantly she had left without @Skoll. The brother had a lot to get done now that he had made his public promise to half the pack. But Craw wanted to know more. There had to be something she wasn't telling him.

With her scent now carrying the telltale hint of pregnancy, his nose quickly identified her trail and latched on, her musk eclipsing everything else. The other men of the pack would be dispersing and travelling back to the territory, and Craw would follow in time - but first, answers. He pursued her unhurried, comfortable in the knowledge that he would catch her sooner or later. Skoll had been given three sunrises, after all, and he would catch her long before the first one rose. With the dark dulling his eyesight, he relied purely on sound and scent as he steadily made his way across the rocky, uneven terrain. Why was she coming this way? After that spectacle surely she would have wanted to get back to keep on top of any fallout rather than go for a late jaunt across the mountain range. As if he wasn't already hungry enough for an explanation, Craw eagerly pressed on, following the young, ballsy female leader wherever she might be taking him.

Finally, as he came upon a wide, flat plateau, her scent buzzing through his skull, he saw her familiar figure bathed in moonlight, movements slow. He was done chasing. "Morganna," he barked sharply, stood at the edge of the plain, only taking the extra steps necessary to stand fully on the level ground - he was so tired of rocks and pitfalls and uneven footings. "I expect you have a good reason for your theatrics," he said, loud enough to carry the distance between them, tone blunt and without unnecessary greeting. There was nobody else around to hear them anyway. "Beyond shaming your brother into action, of course. You invited a very particular audience."

Ah. She wouldn't have to find him after all. Her tail pointed straight at the ground, not even the hint of a lift as she turned to face him. Would he read her in the dark? "I'm sure mother would prefer plausible deniability but I guarantee she is not clueless, Adele would run straight ter Nicolo, I'm sure Enoki has better ways ter spend her time an' Capable isn't ready fer politics." Really why would any of them chose to come? It had very little to do with them. Clearly absent from the listed names was one, would he pick it up? 

"I didn't intend fer @Sven or @Niles ter be there but I suppose they're old enough now." Hell if Niles was willing to take on a pig, perhaps he should be the one challenging their uncle. Her magmatic rage had reduced to a simmer and if she didn't keep herself in check she would rant well beyond the sunrise, but truthfully Nicolo's presence and Skoll's unwillingness to follow through were the least of her concerns in that moment. "I've tried subtlety fer more than half our lives, an' still he sticks his foot in it!" or his dick... was there really any difference at this point?

Plausible deniability? So the great @Elettra Archer was in on whatever her daughter was doing? That changed so much - how had he not known for so long? Did the matriarch ever plan to reclaim her pack or was their hierarchy something else she had agreed to? All this time had had viewed the woman as a potential threat, and possibly for nothing. While it was frustrating that an ally had been kept from him, he assumed that Morganna had her reasons.

And reasons she had. @Adele, @Enoki and @Capable had all escaped invitation for good cause, but that list was one short, wasn't it? Skoll's training partner... with how precisely Morganna was playing her cards right now, there was no chance that she has just forgotten such a non-trivial member of the pack. Intrigue piquing further, both of his ears twisted about to point firmly in her direction, all attention on the dark woman, hungry for her words. He had taken a few more steps towards her without consciously meaning to. There was an exhilarating fire in her voice, a determination and deliberation that he had been craving from her. When her barbed whip cracked in Skoll's direction he almost growled in vicious glee.

But when he spoke, it was softer, any agitation from the meeting dissolving away as he was realising that she had a plan. He moved towards her deliberately now, to come and stand before her in the dark, feeling it necessary to bind them together with physical closeness. "It's good you know that. Even if he displaces Nicolo, I believe Skoll would have been even worse for you - because you are close, because he knows you, because he is a law unto himself. I feared that you were soft on him. I'm glad to hear you are not."

Only able to see of her what the moonlight allowed, it was nevertheless easy to reach towards her to press the side of his muzzle against hers for a moment, to enjoy this moment of clarity. "And what of his bitch?" he rumbled quietly as he pulled away, his yellow eyes searching for her bright own in the darkness, desperately hungry to hear what plots she had been brewing without him, to be fully involved, to feed off this power trip he had been nursing since they first met. She was finally earning what she had inherited through coincidence, finally grasping the reins for herself, and it was intoxicating.

Morganna had always known what her brother was, but she loved him none the less. It was one thing for him to go against their mother, that much was to be expected. That was what children did, but when it was the stability of her rule that he threatened? She suddenly gained a whole new perspective. When @Craw went on to question the absent one from her list, she bought her flank alongside his in response to his gentle touch. "He took her, she's all but gone." Now she had a deadline to work with (provided her brother followed through), she supposed she felt some small relief.

"She reckons @Skoll will go with her. While he's dealing with his problem, I'll deal with mine." Once Nicolo had been run off, there was no reason for her to keep @Hecate around. She had suggested the possibility of a daughter, a strange suggestion if ever she had heard one. A daughter would pose a far greater threat to her own than a son, given the low probability of her carrying one herself. She pulled herself from her thoughts with a snort. "If he goes, are yer ready?" As the next ranked male she wanted him to be warned. If he didn't want this then she was giving him a chance to rectify things and add a little order to the chaos.

If Skoll decided to stay, she wanted Craw forewarned of the shit-storm she was about to unleash.

 She had only said perhaps...

Suspicions confirmed in only three words, Craw snorted as Morganna moved to stand next to him, unsurprised and yet, somehow, still disappointed in Skoll. There had been a glimmer of hope until now - but then, she would not have turned on him for anything less. Gently he leaned his shoulder against hers, head tipped down to the ground and eyes staring at the darkened ground. He wasn't looking at anything except the situation which was unfolding itself in his mind's eye. The ear closest to Morganna was twisted fully in her direction, soaking up all she spoke.

Hecate would be run out, and that could be the catalyst for driving Skoll away, but not before she had used him to remove Nicolo. It was rather elegant and straightforward, so long as her brother could be relied upon for this one bit of predictability. She had forced him to make that very public promise, so that all the pack would know of his failure if that third sunset went without a challenge, and that might get rid of him by itself. A win-win. And even if he displaced their uncle as Morganna had told him to, to learn of his - lover? mate? consort? - being banished while bearing his children - it would force his hand, surely. He would have no welcome place left in the pack when so obviously turned on by his beloved sibling and mother. Craw was almost glad he had not been consulted sooner; she had come up with an excellent plan without him.

And then the reason for his inclusion now became clear, and it was not unexpected. "I know how to do my job," he said gruffly, harkening back to a conversation they had had not too long ago. There was little else to say on the matter; if she did not trust his abilities then she would have made it clear by now. It hadn't been a part of his plan, but the man was adaptable, and it certainly didn't leave him in an unfavourable position. It wasn't like the role made him uncomfortable, he just hadn't expected it to happen this way. There was no turning back - he was entwined with the Ridge now, entirely.

But his needs weren't satisfied yet. If he was going to be in, all in, she needed to be as well. "What happened between you and Nicolo, exactly?" That they were at odds was plain for anyone to see, as though they were wrestling for the exact same position rather than embracing a partnership. That it wasn't working was clear - she had made it abundantly so - but with nothing personal against the older man, Craw needed to understand the true justification for her hostility if he was to wholeheartedly support it.

With @Craw's reassurances her last shred of anxiety was laid to rest, relief plain in the way her shoulders relaxed and she released the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. She had alluded to Nicolo's threats with others, @Wraith and @Renier, perhaps she was too concerned about Craw finding her motivations to be childish initially. But if he were to consider the possibility of becoming her partner in leadership, she supposed it was in his best interest to know where his predecessors had misstepped. "I told him I would be havin' pups this year, he challenged me on it plannin' ter have his own." Now with the scent of pregnancy filling the air around her she had to smirk, at the time it had been a rather sensitive topic.

She had to shrug. "Isolde was missin' and mother never lost any before @Sven... I told him I'd eat any that weren't m' own, even @Skoll's... So he showed his hand and threatened ter convince the pack I was too unstable ter lead." and hadn't that worked out well for him? "If he stays theres no guarantee he won't keep trying ter pull me down. One way or another, he needs ter disappear."

Her relief was so tangible he could feel it. Perhaps this was one of the last pieces of the puzzle to fall into place, and now her way was clear. He was satisfied at what the last couple of months had turned her into. Still very much Morganna, but a more intelligent and tactful beast than the one he had run into before the winter.

Silent, Craw listened to what had passed between the leaders. That the catalyst for their disagreement had been regarding reproduction was far from a surprise. It did surprise Craw, however, that Nicolo would have been so presumptuous and antagonistic; this was Morganna's pack before his, as passed down by her mother, if you fancied seeing it that way. And they were family besides; it would not have been impossible to agree upon the both of them having litters, though she was right to point at Sven's existence as a likely reason for Isolde's demise. But Nicolo had no public mate, no obvious mother for these hypothetical children. Likely the topic of offspring had just been the final straw in an already established mutual dislike. Morganna, unstable? She was hot-headed, but had given little reason to doubt her reliability as leader. He must have been speaking from his distrust and distaste of her.

"I agree," he said, quieter now, "though it is unfortunate it had to be like this. Nicolo could have been a useful ally, under different circumstances. But I assume your mother is implicit in all of this, and she will know her own sibling best - I trust her judgement, and your own. If Skoll does not challenge him then your little meeting has sown seeds of doubt and dissent. A leader with no followers is no leader. He is finished; you have finished him."

Glancing to the side to catch her eye, he shook his shoulders to loosen them, feeling the excitement of her conspiring giving way to a cool, collected calm. A readiness for what was to come. When he spoke again it was not with judgement or resentment, just the kind of bluntness that he had become accustomed to with her. "I wish you had told me that earlier. Is there anything else I should know?"

Her mothers loyalty was to family, Morganna was sure she would only be granted favour over Nicolo through being borne from @Elettra herself. "She didn' wan'ter know specifics but she's a sharp woman. I'm sure she's figured it out." At least Morganna had lessened her stance from must die to get him the fuck out of my pack. She truly had intended to discuss that particular conversation with @Craw long before this night, but usually she had worked herself into such a rage by the time it came to their spar she intended to bring it up after, with a more level head... Then when they finished she was too exhausted. Next time, next time. Always next time.

At first she smiled, smirking as she countered, "Now where's the fun in that?" but then she paused. "I'm sorry." she was genuinely remorseful. "I promise ter not keep you in the dark again." and she meant it. She supposed rumours would be flying about the potential father of her children, and having one more voice to nip suspicions in the bud would prevent further chaos surely. "If anyone asks, these children are mine. Theres no sure way ter tell who the father may be. That was deliberate, with everythin' goin' on back here." None of the males should be suffering any backlash from their involvement with her. They had been far enough away from the willows to avoid prying eyes, and she had worked to ensure there was no proof. Any accusations would be unfounded, unless those involved had spoken up themselves.

Considering the topic closed she turned to the silver wolf with a question of her own swirling about in her mind. "Yer've done so much ter aid me but asked fer very little in return. Surely you had goals of yer own before I caught you up in my mess." She had a vision for this pack and while the first stage was almost realised there was still a long way to go. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

(This post was last modified: Mar 31, 2016, 08:57 PM by Morganna.)

The sharp, smirking rebuttal was not out of character, but then it was quickly reversed and replaced with a more genuine sentiment. That was unexpected and welcome. It was clear that she was able to take matters seriously from the very plans she had revealed, but the more she demonstrated it, the easier it was to believe that he was backing the right horse. Not that he hadn't also gone to some length to strengthen that horse and help sabotage the others. When she spoke of her whelps, Craw just nodded, having already deduced as much - he had spoken to Wraith on the matter and come to the very same conclusion. He was about to remark on it when something in Morganna's manner shifted, just slightly, and an ear twisted towards her afresh to hear what was on her mind.

Oh. He paused, straightening his shoulders as he considered the question, his rough tongue passing high over the bridge of his nose. They were beautiful words, words he loved to hear, but he hadn't been wanting them yet. Not yet. It wasn't wise to put fingers in too many pies - this whole entire Archer business had begun as a means to rebuild himself from scratch, to reaffirm what he knew he was capable of, and it was delivering in fantastic ways. But he wasn't going to lie to her. "Once your scheme is complete," he said evenly, "and your children are safely delivered, we can have that conversation. There is enough for us to be dealing with, for now. I am patient."

Hopefully she wouldn't press it. He had made his promise, akin to the one of three sunrises; his was just a few extra sunrises on top. He fully expected her to hold him to his words. "In the meantime," he rumbled, steering the conversation back to familiar ground, "you must make preparations before Skoll carries out your challenge. Speak to Wraith; he is on our side, but will need to hear it from you. I would like for Sven to want to stay in the ridge even if his father leaves. If you do too, I would advise speaking with him; he is fondest of you most of all. With your mother complicit, Enoki may remain loyal. I cannot speak for Greer, Renier or Capable, though I don't think any of them have particular love for either your uncle or brother."

It was just becoming a list of names, but identifying loose ends and how to wrap them up was important. Every eventuality needed to be accounted for. "Adele will do as Nicolo does, and the same with Angier, your youngest siblings and your mother. Skoll... will be dangerous. You know it. It's important to cut off as many of his lifelines as possible. He has Hecate, but don't let him get anyone else."