Whitestone Monadnock World on Fire

For @Craw only please. <3

Much like a snowball charging down a mountain side, gaining momentum and picking up snow, the weight of Morganna's discoveries on her recent journey was beginning to weigh her down. The momentum was impossible to stop, her stomach surging with every step she took to come back home. It was only now she was back here, that some semblance of stability had returned.

She observed the silver male through half-lidded eyes, the familiar rasp of his voice soothing her frayed nerves as he discussed this or that with the other wolves atop the monadnock. The first snow of the winter to come already falling from the sky above (though with any luck, it would still be another few weeks before they were blanketed in more than a thick white frost). Odin was off in the distance, rummaging through berry bushes, perhaps about to ambush @Kara, the mother much preferring to soak up what little warmth remained in the stone beneath her belly, claimed before the snow began to fall.

When she detected a lull in the conversation she rose with a pointed look and a stretch, making her way towards the path down onto the tundra. She was sure they had much catching up to do.

(This post was last modified: Oct 17, 2016, 01:51 PM by Morganna.)

The highest priority was that she returned with their children safe and unharmed, which had been the case. He could tell that the trip had changed her, but that fact surprised him not one bit. That Willow Ridge endured had been learned long ago from @Greer and @Celandine's successful reconnaissance - including the fact that @Nicolò also endured. To hear them speak of it, though, the Ridge was withered, shrunken, and as with all the rest, Craw could feign no shock at hearing that.

Their absence had not been terribly long, but every day that he had not woken up with her beside him or to the sound of @Odin and @Kara's tormenting each other had been a day dimmed, a day soaked in a vague, helpless kind of worry, the kind which was utterly unconstructive and served only to distract him. He had spent many mornings and evenings (and middays and afternoons and mid-mornings and well-lit midnights) casting his yellow gaze out over the rolling tundra in search of their approaching shapes. She had promised to come back safe, and she kept her promises. On one of those mornings, his watch had been fruitful, and the monadnock had become whole again.

Whether or not any of them sensed a change in him, it was not spoken to his face, though he could feel the release of tension even when just passing time at the pack's communal area, speaking with his subordinates. Morganna had not been back long but her return had not come one day too soon. As much as he trusted her to look after herself, he did not trust the rest of the world. Having sensed the unspoken weight she was carrying, he was expecting her to unload it, and was patient enough to let her pick her timing.

Falling into a comfortable silence with an amused grunt at one of his packmates' comments, he caught his mate's eye, and saw her intention. She was ready. Hefting himself up onto his feet, he rumbled playfully at those gathered as he passed them, running his nose through her fur from her rump to her shoulder as he caught up with her, inhaling deeply. Once level with her, his snout hooked under her jawline and up her chin, enjoying the weight of her head on the bridge of his nose with a soft growl. There was no doubt that he had missed her.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

@Craw - got the okay from Cade on the Skoll intel, thread in progress.

A simple touch was all it took to lift the worry from her shoulders, mouth opening to playfully drag her teeth along the top of Craw's snout in mock challenge. Her own pace picked up a little as she made for the path to the lowlands, intending to make a pass of the borders as they spoke. Allowing herself to get comfortable in the rhythm of her paws went a long way to easing some of the anxiety that had taken hold of her since her trip to the Ridge. It was news she wished she didn't have to share. "@Angier's missin', Niles too." She finally gave voice to the worst of her worries. "Mother's worried sick, I poked around, passed on th' word. Might be worth askin' th' packs ter the east ter keep an eye out too." Gods only knew how far they had stumbled. It had been months from what she could gather.

But that wasn't the oddest disappearance by far. "Hecate had a daughter an' vanished..." Just like the last one. The clear hint of her teeth made her own thoughts on the matter clear, "then Skoll took off an' dumped 'er on Sven." She was growling now, her pace increasing with the level of her agitation. "Sven thought 'e was with us. After what I did ter the last one fer runnin' off on 'er kid why would 'e expect any less if 'e turned up here without her?" she snorted her frustration. Gods above knew she loved her brother but why did he continually insist on fucking up? She wasn't sure she could ever forgive this one.

Anticipating news of the Ridge had Craw in two minds. On the one hand he was very much interested to hear what had happened, for it was her past and her family and as such important to him. Without the influence and weight of Morganna Archer, though, Craw could have happily watched the willows catch fire and never had them plague his thoughts for the rest of his days.

But she cared, so he made himself care.

Of the two male leaders Craw had forced himself to submit to, Angier Lyall was by far the most amenable. He decided to hold his tongue in suggesting that a blind man and his (admittedly sharp) mute son didn't exactly have the best survival odds... and that was assuming they were even together. If Angier had gotten himself lost on his own then there was no point in wasting time searching for him unless they wanted the closure of finding his bones. But there was no harm in putting out the word (or letting the others do so, anyway) if it put Morganna at ease.

The little snippet about Hecate and, even better, their favourite person ever, Skoll, was far more delicious, and he did not bother to hide the derisive (and frankly unsurprised) snort at hearing it. And Sven was acting as her parent?! Poor damned child. "I do sometimes wish that Skoll would come crawling..." he mused, in a whimsical 'on days when I'm feeling bored' kind of way, and now could apply that label to Hecate too - who, as Morganna hinted, would be lucky to get away with anything less than a chewed-off ear. "So just how many are left?" he asked, twitching an ear as he glanced at her. "It sounds like the only reliable mutts in the whole place came with us." Elettra aside, of course, but she was willow through and through, Craw had never expected her to be lured from the once-proud domain she had created.

It was already easy to tell by the tid-bits of tale she had woven so far that the Willows that remained were far from what they had left behind. "Nicolo, Renier and Sven. Mother, Ravenna, Adele and Enoki... and the pup, Attica." She finished off with a shrug, wondering if Renier's return to the willows would surprise a wolf as astute as Craw? Probably not, for where else would he go where he was able to do as he pleased without worry of being put back in his place. Even after @Craw had told Nicolo exactly what had gone down in the lead up to their departure, the Lyall was welcomed back with open arms... Well, that spoke more of the Willows than it did of the Monadnock.

But with the most distressing news finally out in the open, her thoughts were quickly being pulled away from the past. His calm demeanor through the whole retelling helping to settle her own frayed nerves with a solidity she had been lacking on their journey south. Thoughts of the thriving willows she had grown up in were safely preserved in the back of her mind while what she had left behind withered like a leaf under snow. It wasn't fair to her mother, but she had learned at an early age that fair was not something fate had in store for those not quick enough to anticipate the inevitable.

Taking a moment to consider their current position, scents lingering to the south but never quite strong enough to declare a claim coupled with her encounter with their medic to the west made her mention the encounter to the west with the old loner. "@Lorcan's limping, I ran inter him on th' way home. Did 'e tell yer what happened?"

Hearing @Renier's name among that prompted his brows to rise high on his forehead. At least they wouldn't have to worry about the man lurking around the tundra any more, but the fact that he had gone crawling back to the willows left a sour taste in Craw's mouth. The day they had found his gift, Craw and @Lorcan had spent some time searching for a trail but found nothing, and Craw had been glad for it. The wolf he had once tentatively considered a friend was clearly not the person he had once thought. Many descriptive words had circled the drain in trying to find the right one for Renier - possessive, entitled, oblivious, arrogant - but the problem was that Craw didn't know which truly fit, and which were just symptoms of his own aggressive prejudice against the tawny man. Morganna must have known him better, and saw no threat in his presence in Willow Ridge, otherwise she would have mentioned it with higher importance.

Better to just forget him, along with the rest of the willows. He doubted any of them would come this far north - and if they did, well, Craw would be sure to give them the proper welcome.

He did not miss the opportunity for amusement that @Nicolò had allowed Renier back despite being aware that all the men had once been rallied against him, but then, @Sven was apparently allowed to stay as well. Craw kept very mixed feelings on @Skoll's bastard, for while he could see the boy's father in him, he was also apparently capable of loyalty and was now looking after his half-sister. The lad had been dealt a difficult hand, there was no doubt. He would probably thrive outside of the willows, rather than let the place drag him down with it.

The spider was still mulling over what she had said when Morganna changed the subject, prompting a swift change of gears inside his head. The frown would have been all the answer she required. Either the medic was avoiding him or had managed to hide that little trait - but it can't have been too serious, Craw was sure he'd seen @Lorcan walking fine only recently. He was a healer, so maybe just applied some of his magic to himself. What was the story there? Was it an accident, or did Craw need to go return the favour? Morganna wouldn't have brought it up if it were benign.

His frown was answer enough and she let out a small sigh that the medic hadn't thought to let @Craw know. The name was a familiar one, once she had given herself some time to think on it. She remembered the leg Craw had gifted her and the tale that came along with it. "He dragged a drownin' pup outta the water an' got himself attacked fer his troubles, mentioned the name @Askan." She turned to watch his reaction as the words were spoken. She had scented the few wolves sticking to the tree line on her way to the willows and made sure to steer well clear of them on her way back. If they had decided to stay put, well that could prove to be very problematic indeed.

The treeline was within clear sight of the monadnock, a smattering of green against an otherwise golden landscape, "They're too close." She commented almost to herself having little doubt that her words were only echoing Craw's own thoughts. Their own goal may lay to the north but with sudden competition on the southern horizon perhaps they would need to adjust their sights? Was the event itself enough to spark a war or should the offenders be given a warning first? Her own reactive nature was more inclined to wipe them off the map before they had a chance to grow into a real problem.

The angry irritation to even hearing that name took a few heartbeats to bubble to the surface, and then it did, in an ugly silent snarl on his face. The word had the same effect as tasting something bitter - but this was worse, because apparently Lorcan had suffered for it. Motherfucking @Askan and his good-for-nothing ragtag collection of -

Her simple and curt observation helped to prevent his thoughts from spiralling completely out of control. Eyes narrowing as he followed her gaze, seeing that same smudge of trees in the distance, not knowing exactly how many were there, and it all just made his skin crawl. And now they had harmed Lorcan, possibly the most harmless and well-intentioned Whitestone wolf which did and might ever exist, for trying to save one of theirs - they didn't deserve his kindness. Craw wished that the child had drowned. Teach them a lesson in paying attention.

The growl low in his chest might have been response enough, but this was a topic he had... plenty to comment on, to put it lightly. "Too close," he echoed, hardly a shred of disagreement to be found here. "I thought they were going to remain a group of loners," he rasped, tone dark, still staring out over the horizon at the space which separated the two groups. It was never a good sign if you could stand in one place and see both borders, and even if they were a little elevated, it hardly added that much. "But they've not moved, and they've been scent-marking the forest more... I don't know if they have the numbers to call themselves a pack, but with winter approaching, they soon will."

Had Whitestone been settled for more than a year, been larger, then he would not have abided by this insult - but things were not so clear-cut. He recognised the scents of the dominant pair as the same two loners who had been lurking in that bit of the world since the Willow Ridge defectors arrived, but he had dismissed them as irrelevant; was every new pack supposed to chase off every trace of loner within a day's travel of themselves? But he could not fathom the logic in choosing to stay where a larger group of wolves established themselves, for Craw had always known such bands of vagrants to move like water, flowing back and forth to put as much distance between themselves and neighbouring dominant packs as possible. But then Willow Ridge had been different to his past experiences as well - perhaps it was just that not everyone saw the world in the same way as himself.

With a dark solemnity he looked back to Morganna, seeking her opinion, her guidance - for if it were solely up to him... Craw had waged war before. He was not afraid of it, only that Whitestone was not as strong as it could be. If Askan's sorry lot stuck to their space and didn't provoke his ire, then perhaps luck and coincidence would permit them to carry on existing as they were.

@Craw I am the worst </3 One more and we can archive for LP.

Morganna was not one to bide her time, she was an impatient creature with nary a care for the potential fallout, odds in her favor or not, but it wasn't just her she had to think of in this circumstance. It was her children and the soft wolves like Lorcan that weren't likely to bite back unless provoked. "We'll have ter work on the ones tha' don't fight, just in case. As long as they keep south we'll deal with 'em as we cross 'em." If only because picking them off one by one would prove more amusing from a psychological standpoint, and perhaps they weren't all so disagreeable as Askan.

She moved to click her teeth by his cheek in a teasing fashion, a sweep of her tail lifting her rump off the stone. "They'll come ter us eventually." She was certain, because she certainly wouldn't be going to them. As the established presence on the tundra and with numbers on their side she wouldn't be going out of her way to acknowledge them as any more than a rag-tag gaggle of strays until they proved themselves otherwise. Until that day came, they would have to make sure their own were more than capable of dispatching any pests that crossed their path.

(This post was last modified: Jan 26, 2017, 10:03 PM by Morganna.)