Driftwood Surge from yesterday

He and Jynx had only been in the surge for a few days after following Lachesis back to the pack. Though his children were never far from his mind he was taking the time to rest and recover from the weeks that he and his mate had spent looking for Elyan and Arwyn. It was different for him to not have the worries of a leader and to just sit all day by the river or nap in a sunny spot that he had found. He hadn't strayed to far from Jynx but he also hadn't crowded her either. He chose to give her a little space in hopes that it would help her to not feel so stressed. He had yet to explore the territory as there would be time for that later. He did however spend some time hunting when he felt up to it to help the pack and try and regain some of the weight he'd lost while he and Jynx had been on their own.

The morning had been spent dozing on a flat rock not far from the river that he'd found shortly after arriving. The sound of the river a distance rushing that was both in a way comforting and relaxing in his ears. It wasn't so loud that it kept him from hearing the call that sounded through the territory. Raising his head the former leader yawned before rising to his feet. He was well aware of what the call meant having sent a few up himself during his time as leader. He didn't waste any time in making his way to the clearing where the meeting was to take place.

Upon entering he offered his old friend and Lilya a respectful dip of his head. He had yet to meet the female alpha but had seen her around just as he had many of the other wolves of the surge. He looked around at the wolves that were already gathered. His icy gaze landed on each of them in turn before resting on his mate. He went to her and brushed his muzzle along hers in greeting before settling next to her to wait for the rest of the pack to arrive.

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He did not see his sister, but Mathéo was largely unsurprised.  She came and went as she felt fit; no one cared, no one stopped her.  It was like their mother hadn’t been brutally murdered, it was like their sister hadn’t been left behind.  The world was a confusing place.  Some rules, it seemed, were fine to break.  Otherwise were not.  Or maybe it was because Risaela was still a child, and did not yell, and was happy.

There were rules, and then there were rules.  The latter were hard to grasp.

The large pup arrived after many others had gathered – it felt like the pack had practically doubled in size since relocating to Driftwood Surge.  Not seeing his sister, and seeing Lavender sit with a wolf he did not recognize, the tawny Tainn kept to himself, near the edge of the group.  He reclined in this outer perimeter, jaw on his forepaws, and he stared forward, near Lilya – but he did not make eye contact.  Listened, instead.

Ris was used to moving around. It wasn’t in her nature to be stagnant for very long - ever. So moving from Hearthwood River to Driftwood Surge was not at all difficult to do. She had been sleeping a bit more than usual, however... rest seemed to be a strong necessity at the moment. She was asleep when Lilya called, but stirred from the doze rather quickly. The tawny girl wondered where @“Mako” was, momentarily, before she decided to head off to the meeting. If he wasn’t there already, he absolutely would be soon enough.

Who she didn’t expect to see at the gathering, however, was her littermate. Theo was almost never out anymore, and the two hadn’t conversed in months. So she probably should have approached him with more caution when she did, but she was too excited to restrain herself.

She plopped down next to her brother and began to lap at his cheeks and brush their fur together, but didn’t say a word. Her body language should say enough.

Mako was never particularly known for his punctuality, and there was something that had to be said for showing up 'fashionably late'. But even still he hadn't intended to be dead-last. As he strolled towards the source of the howl, seemingly unconcerned with anything approaching haste, he realized much too late that he was, in fact, much too late. His amber eyes widened momentarily to see the all the wolves of the Surge already clustered together around their leaders waiting for the meeting to commence. Ducking his head down, the boy shuffled quietly in and settled down to Risaela, the only wolf he had much familiarity with and the only one he could trust not to snap his whiskers off for showing up so late.

Leadership Dem 2/3 - Ran Meeting || Next round ends 3/15/2018

'cause darling you're nothing but brave

The pack answered her call, slowly filtering in one after the other. Anastasia, Lachesis’s friend and former travelling partner was the first to arrive. She offered the woman a warm smile – she found herself fond of the woman, and found she was great counsel through their last meeting. Then arrived Inna’s daughter, Oksana, who had been quiet as of late, at least around Lilya. Then followed her mate with their oldest in tow, and a new member she had not gotten a chance to speak to personally yet – Reid. Her youngest arrived followed closely by Jynx and then Ayti. Emrys. Matheo. Risaela. Mako. There were still a few missing but she could seek them out after, figuring it was not at all improbable they had been outside the range of her call, exploring other lands.

Thank you all fer gatherin… we ‘ave a couple of things ta discuss as th’weather starts ta warm. She started, glancing between all of them as she worded the announcements the best way possible. This spring, we want ta stress th’rules, that only leaders reserve th’right ta breed. Last year, while not unwelcomed, ‘ad been difficult… n’this year we want to do what is best fer th’Surge, to ensure its growth as a pack. Well, now that the awkward part of the meeting was over…

If ya haven’t already… over the next couple moons, Ah’d like fer you to think ‘bout yer roles in the pack, maybe seek out a specialty and talk to either Lachesis or I about it. Pack roles… and that left the training. She’d never run a training session before, but she knew she could do it. She’d seen her parents do it plenty of times, and she’d participated more than once. N’finally, after a discussion, we’ve decided that we’re gonna be ‘ostin’ a training session. It’ll go over combat basics. While we ‘ope to never ‘ave to use these skills on other wolves, the use of these on other predators is almost certain. We just want everyone ta be prepared fer whatever they might encounter. Ah’ll be running them once the weather warms up. She let a pause hang in the air – she wanted this, so what happened to Kisla never happens to anyone else… It’ll be set up in spars… n’there’ll be rules to ensure everyone’s safety… any questions? She glanced at Lachesis to see if he had anything to add before looking out at the rest of the pack, to see if they had anything they wanted to address or ask about.

(This post was last modified: Mar 24, 2018, 01:02 AM by Lilya.)

Eyes traveled first to Lavender as she made motion to sit beside the dove, content to keep her company. Ana smiled, pleased as ever to have someone give up any friends they might have to come and sit with her. It had been so long since she had felt wanted and needed, so this was definitely a strong emotional boost. Next came Reid, the red gentleman she had met not so long ago, who came to sit alongside Oksana just behind Ana. Without Reid's arrival, the dove would have never noticed the dark girl behind her but she smiled all the same. Truthfully, when was she not smiling?

Lilliana soon arrived with trouble written on her face as she sprayed the audience with a few droplets here and there. Cold but certainly not unwelcomed, as Ana wasn't much of a temperamental lady. As if from the depths of the dark himself, Aytigin seemed to come out of the woodwork and gave a swift tongue to the very damp twin. Anastasia watched the large grey guardian for a little longer, thinking back to when she had first met him and remembering each little detail about it. The meeting brought a smile to her face and eventually, she was able to tear her muzzle away to look back to Lilya and Lachesis.

Luckily enough, at Aytigin's unheard words to the alpha female, Lilya began to express the reasons that they had been drawn in. The breeding thing was not all that surprising but there was something in the dark part of the dove's mind that held power. As though Lilya's voice had grown deeper and darker, more commanding in tone as the dove felt a bit smaller than she had before. That overlooking moment of doing anything wrong if by accident or on purpose, a feeling that would likely stunt her heat for the spring season in fear of being punished. No matter how much she wanted what Lilya had, she needed to be here.

Even then, it was hard to decide what scared her more. The fact that the one thing she wanted most in life was prohibited or the fact that they wanted to put forth training sessions - combat! - of all things. As Lilya expressed for anyone to voice questions, the dove could feel one on the tip of her tongue but hadn't the strength to express how much of a peaceful coward she was. Do we have to participate? Anastasia wasn't much of a fighter and she had never been given a reason to, but she wasn't so sure that she was capable of what they were asking.

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Risaela arrived, eventually, as was her way. No one cared that she or her new friend were late, as was the pack's way. The larger Tainn blinked slowly, regarding her with a cool sigh - but he did not push his littermate away. She was the closest thing he had to a friend, really. Théo nosed her cheek, but nothing else, settling in as Lilya began to address the large gathering. For the most part, the change in rules did not apply to himself or his sister or their agemates. They were still children. It meant nothing. It was almost a little gross, in his young mind, but he sat and listened.

Then she mentioned the fighting. The training.

The wolf rolled his eyes. How pointless.

"Why?" It was said without heat - just that careful blankness Mathéo Tainn had managed to culture his entire life. "A cat will still rip your throat out anyways. Even in your own home."

Or maybe the wolves you grew with would push you out. No bared teeth. No fighting, no injuries. They never had to.

Still. He wouldn't up and leave, not yet. See what 'good reason' the woman might have.

(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2018, 03:03 AM by Matheo.)

When Reid arrived Oksana was relieved and as he sat down by her she moved to press against his side. She watched as the rest filed in an audible huff coming from her as Lilliana sprayed everyone with water from her pelt. Like really why couldn't she have done that before she got everyone wet, it was winter for the stars sake. Her orange eyes went to look up at Reid to see what he thought on the matter. An inaudible growl formed in her throat and her eyes narrowed when Aytigin appeared. His voice as he spoke raking on her nerves. It disgusted her that he was allowed to stay after what he'd done.

Finally it seemed that Lilya was ready to address everyone so Oksana turned to give her full attention. The first part she didn't care about obviously she was still just a pup. However when she came to the part about roles her tail wagged, this was something that she'd been giving a lot of thought to. She would have to seek the female lead out and speak with her about it as soon as she could. A nudge was given to Reid as she smiled up at him, I already know what I want to do, she said stretching so that she could whisper it in his ear.

Then Lilya went on to talk about combat trailing and the little Crow could hardly contain her excitement about that. That was squashed though as Matheo spoke and by now Oksana knew the truth of what happened to her grandmum, Matheo's mum. A whimper sounded from her and she rose to her paws to go over to him amd touch her nose to his. I’m sorry Matheo. I never told you that and should have but maybe the training will keep anything like that happening again. If we all know what to do, you know? She said quietly so she didn't disturb the others but loud enough they could hear her.

(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2018, 02:39 PM by Oksana.)

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leader dem 2/3 - lead pack meeting 

Lachesis remained quiet as the rest of the hoard gathered, his expression neutral as his subordinates greeted both him and Lilya. A smile broke across his pale features at the arrival of his daughter, who had scent a shower of water droplets over her packmates. Trust Lil Lil to make a grand entrance, he thought to himself as he watched his tawny daughter take a seat, followed closely by a quick scolding from Aytigin. The former leaders of the Notch arrived shortly after, followed by Kisla’s children and the new yearling that had accompanied Risaela home after her trip to the Fields. Once it appeared everyone had arrived Lachesis turned to his mate, his lips drawn tight as he waited for her to begin the meeting.

The sparrow started with the elephant in the room—breeding. It was a necessary subject, as they did not want a repeat of the year before. With their current numbers they would be more than capable of handling more than one litters (especially since the children were nearing their first birthdays), but Lachesis couldn’t let it happen again. Next year maybe, but not now. Not after everything they’d been through. Those who break this rule will be removed from the pack, he added, his voice stern as he addressed the pack. He wanted to make it clear that they would not tolerate those who broke pack law, even if they were expecting a litter.

Pack roles were next on the list of topics that Lachesis and Lilya had discussed prior. They wanted their members to feel more involved; to have a purpose within the pack. While he did not expect every wolf to take up a role Lachesis wanted those with talents in certain fields to use their skills to benefit the pack.

The next topic was training and spars—which he did not realize would be such a sensitive subject until he cast a glance over in Anastasia’s direction. His expression grew soft; he knew she wasn’t a fighter. It was why she was in pursuit of the advisor role—she was more of a diplomat than she was a fighter.  Just as he was about to speak Mathéo’s voice cut through the clearing. Lachesis’ head snapped in the direction of the boy, a surprised expression tugging at his pale features. His heart broke for the child, for he had not been adjusting well after his mother’s death. But the Stark didn’t know what he could do for the young Tainn, to help him heal. Oksana was quick to console the boy, her voice soft as she tried to reassure him. The training, and the sparring, can be optional, he chimed in, his gaze flicking first to Lilya, then to Anastasia, before landing on Mathéo. Yes, a cat could come barging through the territory and attack one of us again. And yes, even with training, we might not survive. It is a bitter fact of life, but it is good to be prepared. To learn skills that could protect you, and your packmates, in the future. 

(This post was last modified: Apr 09, 2018, 02:36 PM by Lachesis.)

stick with those who stick with you

Lilliana! the girl hissed as her sister sent a wave of water droplets over the gathering. Her pear-coloured eyes narrowed into slits as the rambunctious Stark settled down, her tongue dragging across her tawny legs as though nothing had happened. What a brat! she thought hastily to herself, a deep frown etched into her dark features as she glanced around. Her tail wagged softly behind her at the arrival of Mathéo, the quiet boy who had kept to himself both before and after the move to Driftwood. However, her plume sagged as he settled down elsewhere, away from her, clearly disinterested in the meeting. Risaela and her dark friend were the last to arrive, as usual, but the girl bit her tongue. Now that they had arrived her parents could explain why they had gathered the pack together…

Her attention weaved in and out as her mother spoke, addressing the Surge wolves with a voice she had not heard before. It was commanding and deep; dripping with authority. It made her proud to be the daughter of two leaders. Her nose wrinkled as her mother mentioned something about breeding. Gross! She didn’t want to hear about that! How icky! Her scowl remained as her mother went on to say that she wanted the Driftwood wolves to start pursuing roles—something that Lavender needed to think more of. But what really surprised the girl was the mention of sparring and training. She was perplexed by the idea, as it hadn’t been something that had crossed her mind before. She supposed it could be useful… but Mathé seemed to disagree. His voice caused her ears to sweep back against her skull. It pained her to hear him be so negative, but it was warranted. His mother most likely knew how to fight—how to protect herself—but had still fallen victim to a bloody cat. But, her father made sense… it was good to be prepared. But would Lachesis’ words sway Théo’s troubled thoughts…?