Drooping Willows Interloper

Willow Ridge, an uninvited stranger has been to your communal den! Morg was headed this way anyway so I thought why not? :p

Tag for @Attica because there is nothing Aunty Morg would love more than to meet her niece but AW.

Morganna had left the children with @Wraith in the Grove, intent on seeking out her parents on her own, testing the waters before risking the precious treasures that were her Odin and @Kara. 

While word had come of @Angier's disappearance she couldn't help but brush it off as little more than a temporary displacement, perhaps he had been in the Cedarwood visiting what remained of his family. Surely he would be back by now? But as she drew closer and still no tell-tale scent gave the aging Lyall away her anxiety grew. Scents were thin on the borders, @Nicolò and @Sven strongest among them, although she was pleased to learn that @Enoki, @Adele and @Ravenna also remained, the lack of any sign of Skoll, or Niles was troubling... With Angier's sight all but gone perhaps he was at the den? He would have the answers surely? He always did...

Ordinarily, the Archer would have waited patiently at the borders, but she needed answers and needed them now. Having left on what she felt were reasonable terms, her love and loyalty to her mother never faltering, she imagined this small transgression would be forgiven when she finally came face to face with her parents. 

Knowing her way without the need for a guide, she managed to slip undetected through the waving umbrellas, the familiar trees embracing her dark body as she moved, anxiety only growing as she drew closer and closer with still no sign of Angier. She even dared to check inside the den, her nose brushing past her mother's herbs with familiarity before making her exit. This was all too foreign, too strange. They would know she had been here, it wasn't like she was trying to cover her tracks. Pinning back her ears she headed north, racing to leave her mother's kingdom. She needed answers, but she clearly wouldn't get them in the empty den.

What on earth had happened here?

Sven, in all honesty, did not expect the return of his aunt Morganna. He nearly could not believe his own nose when the scent whispered past it, thinking that perhaps something wistful within him was conjuring the stench. Yet acknowledgement did not make it fade as often happened with dreams, and swiftly he knew the smell to be truepenny. Several emotions leapt into his chest and he could not discern between them, much less had the time. Because she was already inside, and his paws were acting faster than his mind.

Determined, he caught up with her, materializing from the shadows of her right and matching her pace. Something of a scowl twisted his lips and gave the smallest glimpse of his fangs. She had missed the last of his growth, and now his head hovered above hers despite the hunching of his shoulders.

"You don't get to just waltz in and out anymore, Morganna."

Did she really think so little of them that she thought their borders so open? Did she really think herself above every decency? Anger the magnitude of which he had not felt since Hecate's abandonment of @Attica threatened to boil his guts, but he kept it back, waiting for... something.

Morganna's steps slowed but didn't stop as @Sven called out, craning her neck to face the lad with a smile full of warmth but laced with obvious worry. "I couldn' smell Angier, I bought yer cousins ter visit. I thought he might be at the den an I didn' want him bumbling around tryin' ter find me in th' dark," and it was truth enough. "I never liked ter pull mother away from 'is side," because who knew how long they had left? But it was clear now that things were worse than they appeared from the outside. "How long 'as he been gone?"

She didn't expect an answer at all, and he could interpret the he however he liked, for she was equally inquiring as to the whereabouts of Sven's father as well as her own. That Niles had also been displaced could offer some hope that maybe the boy was acting as his father's eyes, but he was still so young and had perhaps taken the loss of Isolde even harder than @Ravenna had. "I woulda waited but th' worry got th' better o' me," she finally answered his call out, and besides, it wasn't as if they had left on bad terms that she was aware of. Family was always welcome, or so it had been before. "Did yer want ter meet them? Odin and Kara?"

Elettra had been quite certain that when she had smelt her eldest daughter's presence her nose was getting the best of her. After all, it had not been as well as it once had been in her younger years. Back then, she could sniff out nearly any herb in the area if it was there to smell and track down many a trespasser or prey - or both. However now Elettra had otherwise decided it was her old mind playing tricks on her, that the scent was merely a memory of her past stirring up. Even when she approached the large rock formation which made up the communal den, she did not think anything of the scent other then it put a smile on her face and led her to remember some good times with Morganna. However when she heard her daughter, silken black ears perked high, a look of concern coming over her features. Morganna? What was she doing here?

The hairs along her spine began to stand on end as she came to slowly move toward the den's opening.  Her muscles were tense, weary of the fact that her daughter was within the pack territory, knowing fully well that she and the Leader of Willow Ridge did not get along well in the least bit. Perhaps she had been invited? The only one left that she would think would try to do so would have been Sven or Ravenna, who would have otherwise been likely to choose Morganna over their own Leader's judgement, Nicolo more so, given the fact that Elettra would not have at all mind the personal visit. When she finally came, of course, she could see the tension in Sven's display, the grimace over his features. Silvery eyes finally flash to Morganna's direction and she could not help the smile which crept over her features. She was as beautiful as ever, her daughter... though the seriousness of the situation was an obvious mood killer. "Morganna...?" Her eyes shifted between them. "What exactly is going on here?"

sorry sorry sorry i thought i did this ;~;

He expected, at the least, sarcasm. Not necessarily an aggressive lack of manners or daring taunt, but something with an edge to it. Instead, he got a reply so thickly coated in sugar in honey that it made him want to gag. His silver eyes continued to be wary as they searched her, clearly distrusting this Morganna that was being portrayed.

"There's more than Nonna and Angier here to call for, worried or not you could show this pack some respect for once."

Did she deserve his acid? The child in him shook his head vigorously no, that no matter what had happened this was still his favorite Aunt, the one who'd made the difference, always coming to check on him and spend time on him when no one else but his father would. The Sven that was practically an adult, however, could not restore his faith. Angier and Niles missing, their pathetic numbers, the general disconnect of the pack, all of it could be laid at her feet. She'd had every opportunity to hold the Ridge together, had gone to such lengths to secure her place, only to throw it, and them, all away. It was a cardinal rule, etched into his heart ever since he'd discovered Piety in the Cedarwoods:

Those who left could never be welcomed back as they were before. It was the ultimate crime.

So stuck on this, he nearly didn't tack on a response about her surely fatherless children and the offer to meet them. Thoughts of Attica told him, maybe they wouldn't be so bad. Sven did not want to find that out, however, did not want to get attached to yet more wolves that could not be relied upon. If he was to respond, however, Elettra was too quick. His eyes flickered to the woman's face in time to see the smile; ah yes, it seemed how would be the only one to see a problem here. Used to being alone in such matters, he merely hardened his shell.

"She just helped herself into here. If she had any respect for us, she would've knocked. Says she was too worried about Angier. He's gone, him and Niles left together. Wherever they went, I'm sure he's taking good care of his dad."

What a duo though, a mute and a blind man.

"I don't want to see your whelps. I need to get back to Attica."

Morganna dared to snort in derision as Sven suggested there were others worthy of respect besides her parents and siblings. "Like the respect Nicolo showed when he threatened my children? Or th' respect he showed when Angier found Isolde?" she didn't need to speak the Puh-lease for it to be evident. Adele was always in his corner, also absent when her family needed her most, and then who did that leave? @Enoki who was no doubt dutifully doing her job making sure the rest of them were fed? And her nephew and siblings. Yes she would spit in Nicolo's face if she could. No matter how much distance between them he would always be lower than the worms that lived beneath the dirt. "I don' have years ter wait fer someone ter answer my call." 

She paused on his comment about Attica, there was no sign nor scent of Hecate either, so did that mean the girl was left parentless? A flash of anger would be evident in her eyes, a pointed look of we need to talk thrown at her nephew before a familiar voice spoke her name and she couldn't help the childish wag her tail took up. Moving closer to greet her mother, she pressed her muzzle under the elder Archer's chin. "I'm sorry I was jus' so worried when I couldn' smell Angier..." or Niles, or Skoll. "I thought he might'av been at the den with yer. I've bought my children ter visit," and surely her mother should know why she did not care to loudly announce such a thing at the borders. While certainly she did not travel alone it was her distrust of her uncle that had caused her to leave. "@Greer and @Celandine came down ter let yer know... wasn't the message passed on?"

Elettra stood still in her placement, not yet taking the moment to embrace her daughter as she listened to Sven's words about her barging in, claiming she was far too worried about having not smelt Angier in the area, nor any of her brothers, savor Greer of course who had left with her. Sven's speaking of not having a willingness to see his cousins had her ears perking. Morganna's children? They were near? Morganna then quickly confirmed this  with her own words, moving closely to lick at her mother's chin to which Elettra moves into in response. She ignored her child's question however, taking a step back to address the situation more clearly. "Morganna." Her words were a quick snap, holding the same tone which it had when the girl was a child, getting caught doing something she should have not done and what was more, something she already knew damn right and well she should not have done it. "Sven is right," She pauses long enough to side glance at her grandson, gauging any expression in his features. "Does land beyond the south hold no respect on pack borders?" She pauses again as though awaiting her daughter's response, though it is a rhetorical question and she continues, be it cutting Morganna off mid-sentence or not. "You are family, Morganna. I love you, we both love you, but you are aware that the other leader in these lands does not take kindly to you and although I am fully aware you do not give a rat's ass on his views, I would expect that you would keep rules in mind if you are to not try to break us further by starting a feud." The speaking of the word 'further' was not spoken lightly, a reminder that she had shattered this pack's moral for leaving, given the fact that most of the pack savor a two or three, wanted Morganna here - wanted her leadership and guidance. Sven's acidity, if anything, should have been a clear sign that some were still obviously sore on the subject.

"Now," Her voice ran deep with demand, as Morganna was no longer in the lands she had claimed as her own, but in her mother's territory - in the Queen's kingdom. Her pale eyes cast upon the pale young wolf.  "You are a strong male within this pack, are you not? Wouldn't you be so kind as to help your grandmother with guiding Morganna to the border?" She spoke with question, yes, though the tone of her voice left little room for actual decision or argument. Elettra had every intention of seeing these pups and she wanted to see them like RIGHT NOW, though keeping it together was a must. Besides, perhaps by the time Sven reached the borders with them he would change his mind about wanting to see his kin or not.

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

She didn't get it, replying as though he'd been specifically suggesting Nicolo, and the more she talked to more pissed off he became. Yet while this acidity she suddenly showed was more familiar than the sugar and honey she'd just slathered on moments before, that too dug deep under his skin. The sweet and innocent act didn't work, so now she addressed him like this? When he was younger, he'd always admired Morganna's ability to pull this side of herself out, the no-shits-given side that threw shade at anyone and everyone. Now, he saw things more clearly, and what little trust he'd still held stored for her disintegrated completely.

'I don't have years ter wait fer someone ter answer my call,' she snidely remarked, and the fur at his nape bristled. What about him? Why couldn't she have howled for Sven? As if walking to the borders in a decent amount of time was beyond his bailiwick. As if there was still something special and privileged about her even after she'd left them in the dust. In his eyes, she had forfeited any and all rank with the Ridge wolves.

"At least Nicolo's still here," he growled under breath, but she had already moved on to Elettra, only souring the boy's mood further. Then his grandmother's voice clapped through the air, and in a swift few moments, she became his personal hero.

That they both still loved her was debatable, but he wouldn't dare voice such doubt aloud. After all, there was a kernel of truth to it whether the boy wanted to admit it or not, and that really was the problem. He didn't want to still care about Morganna, but it was evident he did just by how quickly she was able to irritate him. If he didn't care, it wouldn't matter so much.

Each word further that Elettra spoke resonated deeply with Sven, and his pale eyes remained locked on Morganna to gauge her reaction. To see if any of it got through her thick skull or mattered at all. It felt to him that she was so hellbent on whatever bad blood was between herself and their uncle that it didn't matter who was caught in the middle. She'd trample on them just to get to him, and to Sven that was pretty fucked up. He was relieved to know that his grandmother saw it too.

When his nonna turned her words to him, he did not hesitate to give a solemn nod of his head. Damn right, he was a strong male in this pack, one that could be relied upon. It meant the world to him to hear her say it aloud, and he stepped forward to do exactly as instructed of him. Given that it was mother now calling the shots, he doubted that Morganna would give any argument.

Had she not been so caught up in greeting her mother she would have snorted at @Sven's remarks about Nicolo still being there and shot back her own and you chose him, but such squabbling would have to be saved for another time. After all, anyone that didn't come with her had done so by choice (all spare her mother and younger siblings who had Angier to think of). Even Skoll had chosen Nicolo in the end and she wasn't quite sure she could ever forgive him for that.

To her mother's reprimand, she folded her ears and lowered her shoulder like a chastised child should, her low held tail taking up an apologetic wave as a low whine betrayed just how genuinely worried she had been, @Elettra's avoidance of the issue only bringing bile to the back of her throat. She dared to laugh at her mother's question about the sovereignty of pack borders elsewhere and dared to squeeze in an "Apparently not," with the hint of a smirk. There was much to catch up on between them, but first there was the issue of her placement to address. At mention of a fued her brows began to arch, wondering just what had transpired in her absence. Wasn't being gone enough? 

Elettra's attention turned to Sven, rectifying whatever wounds her words may have caused, and not for the first time she had to be reminded that he wasn't some motherless pup tucked away on the edge of the territory anymore. Hell, after the winter he'd be old enough to start seeding bastards of his own, and wouldn't that be enough to put every mother in the Lore on edge? As if his father wasn't bad enough. But was Sven really the type? Even she couldn't be sure.

Obligingly, she continued on the path she had been taking, not too far now to reach the northern border, then just a bit further into the Grove... Quickly her thoughts were pulled back to the threat of a feud, "What a waste o' energy fightin' would be with winter 'round th' corner an' us far in th' north? There's at least three packs between us now, if yer can call one of 'em a pack at all..." she freely shared the intel. "We're a day north o' the spring on a big rock that rises out of th' tundra like it's own little mountain. There's no trees out there at all." It truly was just like another planet when compared to these familiar grounds, and she wanted them to know how to find her if they had to.