Kingsfall this dream is now our reality

-official claim thread for the Paradise Falls group! Morning, mostly sunny. Permission to PP Flair's presence given and Flair will post last once everyone else is in, otherwise no posting order. I'll add Colette in at random eventually c:

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The group as a whole seemed to be settling in nicely to the new home. The falls, the canyon, and the many caves therein had thus far provided adequate shelter. Their numbers still were not strong, but with Reika back, and her ghostly friend Colette evidently opting to remain closer to the group after all, the group was starting to seem more like a pack than just a ragtag little band.

Once the sun had risen and graced their little valley with its light, Jet had positioned himself in the center of it, on a slightly elevated rocky outcrop alongside Flair. With the frozen falls as a backdrop, he tipped his head back and announced a summons, for everyone to pause what they were doing and meet here.

Hopefully, nobody had wandered too far yet.

The dream and vision he’d first had over a year ago now was so close to coming true, and now it was time to make this claim official. To mark these lands for themselves so that, for as long as they were to remain here, there would be no mistaking that this place was going to be their home.

The call that they all had been expecting finally came. The mother lifted her head from where it had been resting on her paws and turned towards where it had come. She had been settling in as much as she could, but knew that her boys probably still missed the lake from time to time so she took them back to visit whenever they asked. It made it a little bit hard to stay put within the Falls as much as she normally would have, but she was doing her best to balance all of her responsibilities. She hunted, tracked the herds, kept her children in line, walked what would go on to become their borders, did anything she asked.

But Finley still struggled, she was struggling to find who she was outside of the responsibilities. She supposed maybe she was having a mid-life crisis, something her family always joked about but that she never thought would happen to her.

She got to her paws, and nudged her sleeping sons to get up as well, they had business to attend to. Finley was the first to arrive, and she moved forward to touch her nose against Jethro’s chin in respect, lingering for maybe a second too long before pulling away. She took her seat kiddy corner to the new leader dutifully, waiting for everyone to arrive and for the meeting to begin.

Cas woke from muddled dreams to his mother's gentle prodding. The boy was still tired as the little family roused and left their sleeping place, but that sensation was quickly replaced with a growing anticipation. Awareness had dawned on him that there was something going on, and a look was exchanged with Ryder. Had the day finally come?

Since they had moved here, he had been settling in well enough, finding opportunities to explore. With the group concentrated together more, it was even easier to see other faces. And their mom made sure that day trips to the lake helped to soothe the pangs of homesickness. But since their arrival here, the promise of something more was in the air, and even the young Caspian could sense the waiting.

As they arrived and took their seats, Cas gave Jethro a respectful nod, unable to hide the enthusiastic wagging of his tail. Following Finley's lead he did not offer a vocal greeting, though his eyes sparkled as he offered a nose bop to the familiar man. After bouncing to sit by her left side, he did his best to be still and not squirm. It was a truly valiant effort, and mostly successful. After all, mum would want him to be polite! But the boy's frame was thrumming with excitement, as his ears twitched and tail stirred, and his bright gaze found one face and then the next.

Since her return Reika had spent a lot of time resting. She was glad to know that in her absence the group had stayed together and remained at the caves. She felt that any day now they would become more than just a small group of wolves who'd come together to help each other get by. Something else that pleased Reika was that it seemed Colette had returned. She hadn't yet had the chance to speak with her yet but she felt confident that they would eventually.

Her gaze landed on the boy she'd brought back with her. She was glad that he'd made the choice to come along. Nix hadn't gone far from the caves since their arrival, she supposed it would take him some time.

Her ears pricked at the call from Jethro requesting their presence. The Archer girl knew that it was time. She rose to her feet calling for the boy to follow. Quickly she made her way to the meeting place where Finley and Caspian were already waiting. She brushed her muzzle against Jethros in greeting before find a place to wait for the other's.

Ryder followed quietly along with his mother and brother, his interest in the events now unfolding mild at best. For him, the biggest change had already happened, and despite how many ways it had been explained to him the youth still didn't get what difference calling themselves a pack made. Perhaps he would find out in time, but it wasn't something he'd be going out of his way to decipher. If this was what the adults wanted, then whatever. It had been too bad so far and if it did get rough, well- he tried not to think about what was not yet an issue.

Third in line, he gave Jethro a fond greeting by leaning into chest briefly as he passed by, a wolfish approximation of a side-hug. Flair was given a nod and a smile, and then his sterling eyes drifted toward the dark child at Reika's side. He'd been aware of the third boy's presence for a short while now, but this was the first he'd seen of him. If his mother had not drilled into him how rude staring was, he would have done so unabashedly. For her sake alone did he tear his sights away to focus on the duo who had summoned them instead.

(This post was last modified: Feb 15, 2023, 04:02 AM by Ryder.)

It was about time, was the ghost’s first thought when she heard him. It was about time the leaders staked their official claim on this place, for the others, she thought. Now they could all be more unified, and maybe slightly better protected, too. She supposed she would be included in that, as well.

Colette still wasn’t sure how or even why she was still here. Didn’t know that she deserved to be, yet.. nobody so far had seemed to take an issue with her presence. And for as long as they did allow her to stay, it would be her job to do what she could for them all. To help and defend them all, especially the kids…

Carefully the ghost traversed to the meeting area, finding mostly familiar faces gathered thus far. The dark man, Flair, the kid she’d helped, his mother, and of course Reika. Along with a kid? Who was he? Despite her curiosity though, it wasn’t hard to decide who to sit by, for the younger Archer woman was her closest friend here. With small nods to those she knew, the ghost positioned herself close to her friend to wait.

Observing Reika amidst the group had Cole feeling something closer to happiness and encouragement than she had for a while. They all had worked for this - deserved it.  

Nix thought he was always going to be on his own after getting lost hut then he'd met Reika and Flair and thst changed. He was now living with a group of wolves that he was still getting to know but they all seemed nice. It was good to be a part of a group again. He was also learning that some things he'd always taken for granted weren't what ge thought they were. During his time with this group and with Reika he'd learned that they were close to becoming a pack.

Nix had always thought that packs just were, that they didn't have to be formed. So he felt like being a part of the would be exciting. He'd stayed close to Reika, learning the ropes and everything. That day wasn't any different as he lay on his side a few feet from her.

He roled on to his stomach when he heard the call and immediatly his gaze went to Reika. A moment later she was urging him to go with her. So he got to his feet and followed her to where some of the others were waiting. Once Reika had settled Nix settled next to her.

Early morning was something that was still not Siyet's favorite. She found herself sleeping later into the day and staying up late into the night. It must have been hard to adjust to the amount of sunlight that was now present this far south.

In her morning lull she heard a familiar call, Jethro. She immediately popped up, wondering what he could need. She got up, shook her fur of all the dust it had picked up and head towards Jet's call.

She found that she must have been one of the last to arrive as there were already quite a few people surrounding Jet. She was very interested in what would be happening next, for her, and for all those around her.

Luca's first night at the falls had been peaceful. The male had curled up in one of the empty caves and fell asleep knowing, at last, he wasn't alone. He was snoring, dead to the world, until Jethro's call. A single brown eye begrudgingly opened then shut. He rolled over off of his back and slowly found his footing. The grey man shook himself free of dirt before stretching into a deep bow position, then leaning forward so that his belly almost touched the ground. In turn, he held one hind leg out and placed them back down. His jaws parted for a yawn and he licked his dry lips.

He did not quite understand how things worked around here. The leaders were not mates as his parents had been. It seemed untraditional, but he reminded himself that the southerners might've simply shared different customs than Artic Wolves. The small, muscular, wolf trotted out from the cave and headed off to where Jethro called from. As he approached the scene he noted the many faces, and that he might've been late. An apologetic glance to the leaders, his head bowed, before he scanned over the group more thoroughly. His eyes lingered on a woman with pale blue eyes and a dark face. He wondered who she might be, and perhaps, looked longer than he should have.

Luca found a spot amongst the group that didn't encroach on anyone's personal space but also didn't leave him on the outskirts. He sat down, brown eyes watching Jethro intently. His ears pressed forward curious about what he had to say. His tail wagged behind him and his head remained low and neutral.

"HE SPEAKS"

Their little slice of paradise had been through its first test – they’d survived the brunt of winter, well sheltered in the many caverns around the Falls, and they’d grown stronger for it. Now that Reika was back and they’d even managed to add to their numbers, the long awaited time had finally come. The fiery alphess greeted her leading partner with a firm nod, followed by a crooked grin in anticipation of what was to come. She took position at his shoulder, casting her eyes around the valley as he called out for their pack to gather. One by one they trickled in, each greeting their leaders in their own unique way, and they all earned a warm smile from the older female, especially the pups – she even winked at Caspian, his innocent excitement infectious. She was glad to see both Colette and the dark child amongst the group rather than on the outskirts, courtesy of Reika, and even their newest recruit didn’t stay on the outskirts – they were a tight-knit bunch, but welcoming too. Once everyone had arrived, Flair cast a glance at Jethro, sharing a silent moment and a deep breath before turning to their pack. “Thank y’ all for comin’” she smiled proudly as her eyes travelled from face to face; “I don’t think it’s any mystery what this’s about.” Much like herself and Jethro, most of these wolves had been waiting for this day to come for a long time. “We’ve stuck t’gether for this long, through the toughest part of th’ year. It’s about time we made it official!” Her tail waved high as a banner behind her, a fiery streak against the icy blue of the falls. “I’d say this has proven t’ be a worthy territory, if y’ all agree?” An honest question posed to everyone openly, this was something they would be doing together, and should all be happy about. Once she’d said her piece, she turned to Jethro again, opening for him to add what he wanted. She was eager to be properly settled, to have enforceable borders and a higher guarantee of safety for them all – but she wouldn’t forget that this had been his dream for well over a year now, and she wanted to make sure it was all he’d hoped for. ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de, FairieGoodMother @DA & Lakela @DA