Oak Tree Bend State of My Head

Dated June 17, 2016 (so Lila will be able to participate). This is a mandatory pack meeting for all OTB wolves, puppies included. Serach is going to share with the pack about the hunting accident and the subsequent change in leadership. It’s also going to be an opportunity for the pack to meet the different puppies. The first round will close June 24.
@Triell: Was vague about the hunt and the actual injury, but am happy to change anything if needed!
@Quentin @Kino @Drift @Darrah @Spieden @Naira @Aponi @Leotie @Ruenna @Kyna @Sahalie @Reiko @Treyah @Mako @Marina @Lila
Warm, sunny afternoon

Serach wasn’t even quite sure just what had happened. It had all dimmed in his mind and made him question if it had even been real. He recalled the adrenaline rush he had felt as he and his pack mates had chased after their prey, and the thirst for blood that needed to be quenched. But that was all he could remember, besides the fact that when it was all over, things were different.

It had been a few days since then, and although Serach knew he should have said something sooner, he had needed the time to process internally what had happened. Triell had been injured, severely enough that the pack’s patriarch had made the decision to cede leadership to his nephew. It should have occurred to Serach after Drestig left that he had become Triell’s right-hand in more ways than one, but the gravity of the situation had not really hit him until he found himself at the helm of a rapidly growing pack.

With the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, the new leader rose from his resting place and strode with a silent determination towards the pack den. The sun was shining overhead and the birds were chirping all around him, and he tried to take some pleasure in these simple things. Despite himself, a smile was toying about his lips and he took a deep breath as he settled himself in front of the den on the small hill. The place smelled strongly of Spieden and he chuffed in the direction of the entrance, letting her know he was here if she was inside with her children. How far he had come, he mused as he tilted his head back in front of the place where his own mother had given birth to him and his brother so many years ago.

Calling for the wolves of the Bend, he announced his intentions - he had news to share and it was time for the pack to bond with their newest members. Lowering his head, he quieted and waited, yellow eyes peering at the trees for any sign of his family.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2016, 08:36 PM by Serach.)

Even though Sahalie had bemoaned the age of her father's concubine, she had never thought of him as old, not even if he was closer in age to that woman than he was to her. But it felt so real now, with him being injured. He couldn't seem to just laugh it off as she might have laughed off an injury and kept trucking. When she heard Serach's call, despite all the hooplah about the cubs, she was filled with a sense of foreboding. Good news traveled casually in the Bend. Only bad news seemed to require formal meetings. And it was Serach who was calling. Not her father, not Spieden. Chewing on her lip, the girl wandered back towards the heart of the territory where the dens were.

The subtle growls and whines of the pups rose from all around her as the girl found Serach standing boldly in the clearing near the nominal oak tree. The confidence emanating from his body, though she could not say why, was comforting to the yearling, and she felt her natural smile creeping up to her face. No one was really here yet even if they were nearby, so she walked lightly towards her pack-mate and spoke quietly, "You'll take care of us, won't you Serach?" Her voice was warm and trusting. The man who had once been a young wall-flower now had lately been taking on a lot of responsibilities. It seemed only natural that he might take on the same ones Drestig had inherited from her Father when he had gone away.

She wished she could take care of them all. 

Leotie’s worries about the hunt had been on the mark and now she worried about Triell and what would happen now that he had been injured. She’d been in some shock about him being injured after it had happened because she had never expected him to get hurt. Not after she’d hunted with him and dealt with those birds, him being hurt was something she did not like seeing. Though she wanted to help the pack her worry for her friend kept her close to the den the past few days wanting to make sure that he would be okay.

When Serach’s call reached her ears Leotie had been laying in a shady area not far from the den dozing in the summer warmth. She didn’t really know why Serach would be calling them but she obeyed and rose from her resting spot before heading to the den where Serach and Sahaile were already waiting. She nodded to Serach before moving over next to Sahaile, “Hi,” she said to her friend as she sat back on her haunches to wait for the others to arrive. She hoped they would get there soon as her curiosity about why they had been called was getting impatient. The last time the news hadn’t been very good, she hoped it would be better this time.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2016, 08:10 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

Slight pp of Triell with permission, kids too cos tiny kids.

She had known something like this would happen. She gritted her teeth as she picked through her herbs, with any luck nothing was broken, but even given the time that had passed since the hunt he still carried himself rather gingerly. She finally found what she was after, a well chewed branch of scrub pine. Arnica might have been better suited but the administer ran the risk of ingesting the plant which would result in a rather grizzly end, a stray lick or heaven forbid one of the children bury their nose in the poultice - she grimaced. She wanted to keep their little family together for as long as possible. She had no intentions of going anywhere, and she would do her best to make sure nobody else did either. She returned with the stick for her dark companion, "It'll take your mind off it if nothing else," and if it hadn't been for the turning of @Triell's ears she might have missed the summons altogether.

A heavy huff was offered in response, only loud enough for those in the immediate vicinity to hear. Their children were still at least a month off from joining the rest of the pack at the shared den and on such wobbly limbs in no state to make the walk on their own. Triell was injured and she had not one but two children to drag along as well as her dark counterpart. Displeasure was painted clearly on her face, scowl only softened as she chose to remind herself that @Serach was young, and yet to have a litter of his own. Perhaps these things slipped his mind or he wasn't aware at all. After short consultation, Triell decided to try and brave carrying @Reiko, with a sharp warning that a kick from an elk would be the least of his worries if he dared to drop their son.

Slowly, ever so slowly to accommodate for his injuries (even Naira was outpacing him when the weather was as lovely as today), they made their way to the meeting, Naira cradling @Treyah in her jaws, and Triell carrying Reiko. When they finally reached the den, the children were unleashed with a nudge from their mother, free to mingle with their sister and the other bend wolves that had gathered. A worried eye was cast to the dark Tainn, wondering how he had fared the journey but ultimately her attention was drawn back to Serach, sombre expression quirked into a small smile to see him standing there, better family than a stranger - or worse yet, no leader at all, and he had earned this through all his hard work caring for the surplus of pregnant females. This alone was enough to chase away any lingering agitation from her mind.

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2016, 05:08 AM by Naira.)

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Serach's fancy new title. At first Darrah didn't know how to go about processing the news. However, as unlikely as it may sound, this time he was able to sit down and think out the situation rationally before completely making a fool of himself in another premature hissy fit. He had been gone for six months. There were faces residing in the Bend now that he'd never seen before! The young Tainn was certainly out of touch, and that alone really hindered him from being fit for the throne. It's not like the situation was permanent, or so he'd hoped. Though challenging Serach sure would prove to be a bit interesting, nevertheless in the long run it'd be undesirable. 'He's older than me, stronger..' the raven sighed, when would life give him a break?

"Speak of the devil..." The call was unmistakable, and Darrah knew immediately it's exact purpose. "Welp, no sense in wallowing in this stuff.. It'll sort itself out over time, even if I have to give it a little..unwanted push." he let out another sigh, trotting toward the location in which another eventful pack meeting would be held.

"Ladies.." Darrah smiled, promptly placing himself next to Sahalie. "Serach.." the (again) former-prince offered up a nod to his new alpha, trying desperately to dismiss the awkward feeling that came alongside it.

Celebrate the way the night hides scars.

Darrah Tainn

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

Pack meetings didn't arrange themselves out of thin air, and thus Spieden already had an idea of the purpose for Serach's call. Though the unfortunate state of motherhood prevented her attendance to the hunt, Triell's injury and Serach's rise to fill his place had been no secret. Outside of an embarrassing encounter on her behalf eons ago, Spieden had no strong opinions on Serach. He seemed quiet, but none-the-less dedicated, which suited her just fine. And it hadn't gone unnoticed that he'd truly stepped up to the plate within the past few weeks, even before Triell's mishap.

Spieden wasn't sure whether their short attention spans would afford the children any actual understanding of what was going on, but at the least they would get to meet the pack in full. With so many free spirits and individual wills in the Bend, it was rare for them to all come together at once place at the same time.

"Marina, Mako, c'mon," She interrupted their playtime, nudging them out of the shadow of the den and allowing them to spill forth freely into the gathering. She stopped besides Serach, meeting the male's chartreuse eyes. How strange it was that he'd been a yearling when they first met, and now here he was, leading the pack. Her fiery amber gaze then swept out to the rest of the group that had already arrived as she'd been herding cubs. Sahalie, Leotie, Naira with her brood in tow, and Triell. Her eyes lingered on her old co-lead, trying to tell if he fared any better or worse.

pp of Lila because she's too little to say no

 

Serach's call had not gone ignored even if the new mother was the last to arrive. Lila had already began proving herself to be just as stubborn as her mother and as Aponi had tried to coax her awake the girl had merely grumbled and gone back to sleep. The happened through multiple nudges with her snout and a few well placed licks and still nothing but grunts of displeasure. Quickly the Aquila grew tired of asking her nicely to rise from her nap and had grabbed the girl gently in her mouth and hoisted them both out of the birthing den.

Still due to Lila's antics the pair arrived after Sahalie, Spieden and unfortunately her own mother and her new round of children. Dipping her head in respect to Serach, who she truly had begun to genuinely respect since the birth of her pup and also Spieden Aponi settled near Sahalie. Placing her daughter at her feet the blue eyes gave her a stern gaze, a clear warning is respects to not only how she should behave but also which wolves she were to avoid. Namely Naira. Treyah and Reiko would have sometime before they joined either the approved or disapproved list and for now Aponi remained silent on them. Lila could play with whomever she wished as long as her bitch of a mother wasn't present.

 

Honestly, momma woke her to feed her. Not, not this. Lila was perfectly content in her bed. Whatever momma wanted couldn't be that interesting. No, Lila was wrong. Suddenly not on her bed, but now being carried. No fair! Short limbs wiggled, but gave little leeway. Stubbornly, she let out a humph, lips in pout as she hovered long the ground.

It wasn't like she didn't mind outside, but it hadn't been her idea. Suddenly, she was struck by an array of scents. Each one the same and yet different. Gray-blue irises widened, she had never seen all the faces. Soooo, maybe this was important. Yet, as her toes touched the ground, the frame of her mother at her back, she had no idea what this was. Oh, momma was giving her that look. Lila took it into consideration.

When eyes dropped away from her mom she could see there were others, her size. Ears cupped forward, tiny tail twtiched, and she took a good look around. She really did want to go play. There was one, momma obviously did not want her near. Why she didn't understand the why, she always listened to momma about that stuff. If she didn't, she couldn't go outside, and that was important. Head cocked to the side, seeing who they were sitting by. Was the brown girl with bright eyes beside them okay too? Baby eyes couldn't stop staring at her. She was like Kyna, but not. She decided she must be okay if they were this close.

A little bold, she leaned to get a better look at the tawny pups, by the no no lady. She thought they were a little less intimidating then the other pair. She really, really wanted to play. Expectantly, she looked to Aponi. Could she play? When would she know?

(This post was last modified: Jun 20, 2016, 11:53 PM by Lila.)

 

Kino royally sucked. He’d been out hunting that morning managing to catch two rabbits, though the second was rather scrawny in his opinion. The elk hunt had left him off his game, a feeling of guilt settling in his stomach. He knew there hadn’t been anything he could do about what had happened, but there was still something nagging in his mind that told him that he should have at least tried. Now, Triell was down for the count and Serach had stepped up to the plate. Sahalie’s father was a good man, a great man in fact, but everyone knew that he was getting older. The pale boy honestly doubted that he would be able to retake his position with his injury and his age. In his mind, at least until Hal was of age and able to step up to take Speiden’s place, the reign of Tainn in the Bend was coming to a concession.

So lost in his thoughts he’d been and the weather so nice, he’d found a sunny spot to lay in and had promptly fallen asleep. An echo of a howl perforated his sub-consciousness, bringing him to but it still took a few moments before he was able to truly process what it had been. He stumbled to his paws, topaz gaze bleary and limbs clumsy from sleep but off he went like a great lumbering beast. He clumped noisily through the woods, slowly evening out as he was able to shake off the last bits of his nap before joining the party.

He found he wasn’t last, exactly, but pretty damn close. Moving into the meeting, he gave Serach the first greeting of his arrival out of respect, dipping his head and averting his gaze as he moved along. Ocean eyes moved over to where Naira and Triell sat, his lips curling up slightly as he caught sight of their children and Hal’s half siblings. Jeez, they certainly were getting big. The woman might have been getting on in years, but she seemed to be having no problem keeping them well fed. A nod was given to them both as he went by. Next, a nod went to Leotie as well as Darrah. As the list continued, he was then met with Speiden who carried her power duo in clutch, his vague grin growing slightly wider. They seemed to be doing well, too. Of course, this wasn’t the alpha’s first rodeo either. He had full confidence in her abilities. After all, she’d raised his friend just fine. Finally came Aponi, the most reclusive mother. He’d yet to really have a look at her daughter, but he was surprised to find that the girl was black as coal. A brow raised, but he shook it off. His head bobbed in a nod to her as well, before he finally went to settle next to Sahalie.