There'd been too much going on, lately. Alya kept meaning to sit down and think about it, but she'd still yet to properly mourn her sister. It was easier to pretend that she was over it - fake it until you make it and all that. That, and Alya was a bit worried that, when she finally took the time, she'd find that she was not too bothered by Galaxy's death at all -
And that was something she could not accept.
Thus, the dark woman sought to fill her days with anything but thoughts of the family's loss. Vaati had provided a useful and exciting distraction, but she couldn't spend all her time thinking about those developments. Her family still needed her, and she'd found that the Cerberus had a distrubing lack of knowledge about Moonspear's history with the surrounding packs. They knew all the necessary information, of course, but Alya was hoping to find out more about her family's past.
She wandered that day in seach of her father, knowing that his words would paint a much clearer picture than Amekaze's.
Thoughts still played through Charon's mind to go and find the one who had murdered Galaxy; to go to Redhawk Caldera when they were off to get Blackfeather Woods and kill Gannet's brother. He was grieving at the same time, for he'd loved Galaxy immensely. She was so caring and loving, and it was unfair that she'd been robbed from the world, from him. He'd lost her once and found her back, but her cold, dead body was a physical reminder that this time, she wasn't coming back.
While he was wandering the lower slopes of the Moonspear lost in thought, just above forest level, he noticed the scent of the cerberus closing up on him. He halted and turned round to face surprisingly only one of his daughters, then chuffed, hoping to find out which it was as she got closer.
The woman gave a huff of subdued laughter as Charon turned to face her, a peculiar look on his face. It was true that they rarely approached their parents without each other, but in this case, "It's divide and conquer today. It's Lyra's turn to spy on Jar and Vela, and Hydra's busy with... Drogon," Alya explained, not-so-accidentally giving away her own identity. "But I'm free. And I wanted to ask you about something," she went on, reaching his side and giving his cheek a nuzzle of deep affection.
She was a bit worried he wouldn't want to talk about it. It would suck, but she'd just have to ask her mother, in that case. But Alya was a lot like her father, and one of the things that made her feel better about the situation was openly disparaging the Redhawks. Perhaps this experience could be helpful for the both of them.
"Will you tell me about how all this Redhawk treachery began? When did you first realize they were assholes? How long has the pack been around?" she asked, blue eyes imploring. This information might not help her at this time, but she knew that it would be important one day - and Charon might not be there to tell her, then.
He was grateful that Alya indirectly told him it was her by saying Hydra and Lyra were off doing something else. When they were younger they'd often trick him but he found that these days they were usually honest about their identities. Charon nodded as Alya said she wanted to ask him a question, silently giving the go-ahead on that.
A lot of his history made total sense to him and he had never thought of telling his children. But at her question he realised there was so much they didn't know. Maybe they didn't have to know all of it, either, but this was something important. "The former Alphas, Peregrine and Fox, had a daughter, Dhole, who lives in some other pack these days." Suddenly he realised this 'other pack' may be Drageda, as he hadn't realised why they had beef with the Woods before. "She used to be a part of Moonspear and Uncle Floki's mate. Everything was great 'til one day something shit happened to her outside of the pack. Floki was great about it, tried to help her and heal her, and we looked for the shithead who did it, but she was somehow convinced she needed to leave Moonspear for it. She was one of my best friends and she just left like that, forever." It wasn't really the start of the shit hitting the fan, but it was definitely something that'd played a role for Charon personally in distrusting the Redhawks.
"Then there was a famine, not long before your mother got pregnant with you. Almost all the animals were gone because the grass had died." He left out some minor details like the locusts, as it'd only trigger further questions and worry, he imagined. "We found a sheep on the mountainside not far from Moonspear. We were hunting it with the pack, but Peregrine and Fox showed up. Peregrine divebombed the sheep from a ledge and a couple of our wolves nearly died as they were hit by the sheep falling off the side of the mountain. That's when I knew for sure they were absolute shits." He waited to see if there were more questions.
Alya listened intently to her father's story, at once understanding that this Dhole woman had acted inexcusably. She wondered what had happened to her to make her think abandoning Moonspear and uncle Floki was the thing to do, but she figured her father had not specified for a reason and allowed the topic to rest.
The story came quickly after that, and soon enough, ended on a note that left Alya feeling a bit incredulous. That's it? she wanted to ask, but of course, did not. While she was a bit exasperated that there was no better story behind her father's vendetta, she also understood where his hatred stemmed from. It was enough that they'd been annoyances. Alya didn't want them around, either.
But still. That was all?
"Has anything else happened since then?" she pressed, making sure there was nothing but curiosity in her eyes, so that her father would not guess at her true thoughts. "Between the famine and what they've done now?"
Alya was quick to ask if anything else happened since then. If it was anyone else he might've thought they didn't think this was enough, but he didn't expect anything of the sort from Alya, since his three oldest daughters perfectly aligned with his own thoughts most of the time. Charon huffed and said, "I'd think almost killing some of us was enough — but beside that, they've always been rude and horrible, be it on their borders or outside of their territory. They're idiots, they do stuff randomly and don't think before they act, so you never know what idiot thing any Redhawk's gonna do next." That made them a terrible neighbour in Charon's eyes. He also vividly remembered Dhole leaving — he doubted he'd ever forget the struggle they had at the borders and how he had tried to physically stop her from leaving before she grasped free and ran away... His best friend. Anyway, he looked at Alya and said, "For all the shit they accuse Blackfeather Woods of, they've got equal amounts of shit done."
He looked at Alya and then said, "I was thinking that when they go to war, we should go into their territory to look for that little shit brother of the guy we're holding that killed Galaxy. He seems like the cowardly type who'd stay and huddle in the territory, and all of their warriors will be gone." Charon didn't think they would be able to take revenge or any of the sort -- he didn't consider any of the potential consequences, really. He just wanted revenge for his baby girl's death.
Alya nodded at her father's huffy tone, knowing better than to try and defend herself. If she just let the conversation move on, it would be quickly forgotten.
He went on to mention Blackfeather, which was another topic she wanted to ask him about, but was brought up short when Charon told her of her idea. Privately, she doubted the coward would even be at Redhawk. It would be foolish to go in and spread their scents around while the Redhawks had reinforcements on hand as well. But Alya couldn't deny the appeal of going into the Caldera to murder their daughters.
"I think we need to wipe out all the Redhawks," said Alya, her voice soft. "But Daddy - we need to wait until their reinforcements are gone. As soon after their battle with Blackfeather as we can, so that they're still licking their wounds." Her gaze was serious and intent. "We have leverage. One of their daughters is within our borders. If we hit them while they're weak..." she trailed off, not quite sure how he'd react to this suggestion.
Charon was surprised by the way that Alya spoke suddenly. He had not often seen her be so cold and ruthless as she spoke now, although he didn't see it as a bad thing. Sometimes you just had to stick up for your own, and the Redhawk wolves were a nuisance that had been a risk and a threat for a long time now. Too long, perhaps.
He didn't follow her logic when she said that they should wait 'til their reinforcements were gone; that was exactly why he thought it would be better to go in while they were over at Blackfeather Woods. Take out the wolves that were left behind, and then take out the rest as they returned. "If we go during their attacks on Blackfeather we can take out the weak ones first," he shared. Then, surprised: "A daughter..?" He knew they still had Gannet but that was definitely not a 'daughter'... Who was she on about?
Alya carefully hid her exasperation. She adored her father, but he was getting a bit long in the tooth. It wouldn't be too much longer before he started answering her questions with riddles like Amekaze.
"But then they'll return to the territory and smell us, and Drageda will still be there to help them attack us," said Alya, keeping her expression open and guileless so that Charon would not think she was patronizing him or something like that. She loved him, and she wanted to be just like him - but she didn't agree with his plan. "Their weaker members might be dead, but they'll have their allies with them. I'd rather take on all of Redhawk at once than try to face them and whatever friends they have with them." But her expression was doubtful, now. Maybe it would be better to kill as many as they could when they had the chance? If they held Liffey, would that keep the Redhawks from attacking?
"I'm talking about Liffey, dad. The girl who was mysterious absent when Ax was murdered. I bet she's glad her brother got away," said Alya. "She's never liked Hydra, Lyra, and me - for no reason, even after we saved her from that wolverine, and her boyfriend from Vaati."
Alya said all this with calm indifference, but inwardly, her gut burned with a hot mixture of glee and distaste.
Charon hadn't even considered Drageda'd still be around just after the war and that they would find them there. He'd actually pretty much forgotten all about Drageda as a whole. Charon thought it too risky to take on Redhawk head-on, but on the other hand Moonspear had never been bigger than they were now, and they did still have Gannet presently. Maybe they should use their advantages. Luckily his daughters, like his mate, were better tacticians than he had ever been. Charon just wanted everyone that had ever wronged him in any way to suffer a painful death.
"Hm," he mumbled curtly with a frown on his face while he considered things. When Alya mentioned Liffey he realised he had completely forgotten about that. Now that it was mentioned he remembered that Liffey was Redhawk; he remembered smelling it on her coat that one time they met before she joined the pack to be with Rannoch. He didn't remember not seeing her when Galaxy died, but then, so much had happened then...
... And he had to admit, listening to Alya's story, that it wasn't the whole truth, considering the girls hadn't exactly warmed up to Liffey themselves. But only now did the realisation hit him that they'd never gotten past that point, when he had expected that by now, they were all friends and whatnot. It was a delicate situation, and Charon wasn't really sure what he should say about it. He wondered suddenly if Liffey was maybe not as invested in Moonspear as he thought, but she'd seemed so genuine and he really didn't want to dislike her. He definitely wasn't going to share any of these thoughts with Alya, though.
"Huh, I didn't know," he said in regards to Liffey, deciding to gloss over the fact he thought his daughters could maybe try a little bit harder to befriend Liffey themselves. He was still pretty much thinking this problem would go away if he ignored it a bit longer. "But you're right. We could also go and demand this Titmouse character handed over, but if they say he no longer resides there we won't know if they're being lying assholes or speak the truth, so it boils down to the same." Charon really did want to get rid of the Redhawk pests, but he still felt the risks were quite great at the moment, too, which left him hesitant. It was good to muse over this, though.
Then he thought of something else: "Or, when they can't give us the culprit, we can demand some other form of justification. That eliminates the risk of them lying to us, because it will not matter whether they speak the truth so long as we get something in return." A thing such as one of their children as a thrall, he considered, but there were definitely other options too. Something for Galaxy's death.
Alya held back her frustration at Charon's lack of response. Did he not see that there was a parasitic cuckoo among them? They had their retribution, if her father was so intent on that. If he would settle for less than Titmouse, then the answer was right before him. We should kill her and paint our borders with her blood, she wanted to snap. Her mangled body should be left on the Caldera's stoop. There is your retribution.
But she read in Charon's eyes that this advice would not be welcome. Another piece of The Great White chipped away in her heart. The wolf before her was quickly becoming just that - a wolf. Twice he'd (seemed to have) chosen Liffey over his own daughters - when she'd first been offered a place within the pack, and now again, when he allowed Galaxy to go on unavenged. But she could not be angry with him for failing to be all that she had believed, desired. The dark girl let out a little breath, her expression falling into hurt, disappointment, and tired acceptance.
She hoped, for his sake, that Liffey did not catch wind of Charon's plans. And, while she was within their ranks, Alya could not contemplate launching an attack on the Caldera in any capacity.
"What about the Blackfeather wolves?" she asked, unable to keep the tinge of saddness from her voice. "I was afraid of them for a long time, but now, I'm not so sure. Are they dangerous?"
Alya remained silent and Charon's ears perked forth at her lack of response. "What do you think?" he asked candidly, feeling that she must have some thoughts on the matter. Either she had to fully agree with him, which he doubted since she thought that they should go to Redhawk Caldera to kill them all, or she was thinking while he was talking and wasn't sharing whatever was on her mind. But he wanted to know, valuing Alya's advice just as he did Hydra's -- even if he asked for it less often.
As for her thoughts on the Blackfeather wolves, he scoffed when she said that she was afraid of them for a long time. Charon knew their borders weren't exactly pretty, but before Vaati, he had never had bad experience with them. "I've never had problems with them. Potema has been my friend since we were both mere pups, and she's lived there her whole life. Vaati's attack is the first thing they've ever done against any of us -- and Rannoch wasn't even a part of our pack at the time, so it wasn't even really against us at all." He took a brief pause before tacking on: "As a matter of fact, if Vaati hadn't scolded about you girls at the Blackfeather borders when I visited Potema about the matter, I wouldn't even think too poorly of whatever happened now. Who knew what triggered it, even." Yeah, he didn't appreciate anyone painting blood on his doorstep, especially to one of Eshe's kids, but really, things like that were forgotten easily. Insults against his blood, however, no so much.
"Redhawk is a bigger threat to me than Blackfeather Woods. Always has been." His frown turned grim as he considered the options. They couldn't get away with this — his children would not be safe. But to team up with Blackfeather Woods..? He didn't think it would be wise, for while they were not a threat to him they were chaotic and unreliable, all but Potema. The fact Potema didn't even care for them anymore showed that enough.
Part of her didn't want to keep at this whole Liffey thing, but he'd asked, so Alya didn't feel bad in saying, "I think we need to think of a way to keep Liffey and Rannoch out of it first." Another part of her took great satisfaction in saying so - she knew that, when the pair did show their colors, she would remember this conversation. She hoped her father would as well, and that it would sting him. "And I think it would be better to kill her before she can make trouble for us. She's useless. Wraen and Terance assimilated just fine, but she's been deadweight since she's joined."
Again, she was sure to say this without rancor. Alya had been practicing at speaking as clinically as possible.
"I've met Vaati," she added, wondering what her father would think of this. "Whatever his problem with Rannoch was - and whatever he said about us to you - he seemed plenty willing to play nice." He had been plenty willing to do other things as well, but she felt, somehow, that it would not be appropriate to mention this to her father. What she did with her body was a secret she shared only with her sisters - and the lucky men that she met along the way.
Charon was glad that Alya opened up about her thoughts. He didn't want to keep Rannoch and Liffey out of any of it, really, because somehow he felt that it would prove whether they were loyal. Maybe they should tell them false plans that could help them somehow if they'd run off to tell Redhawk, he thought. Then they would know to root out the traitors and use it for their plans. Charon wanted badly to believe that Liffey and Rannoch wouldn't betray him, for Rannoch was Eshe's child still. But then again, Eshe was dead and what had she really been to him all along but some vague relative that complimented him round every corner? Now Charon began to wonder if maybe she hadn't been a sincere friend at all, but he was quickly distracted by Alya, a thing he needed because he didn't want to consider Eshe being a part of this all.
Alya's next suggestion to kill Liffey made Charon frown deeper, but the reality of things was slowly beginning to seep through. They could use Liffey in some way, just as they could use Gannet. And he couldn't deny the truth of what she said — Osprey's children seemed so much better incorporated in the pack. "Maybe we should tell them a plan. A fake one, in case it goes wrong and they get away. If they choose to be traitors, we will kill them on the spot and dump their bodies at Redhawk Caldera's borders. They can be emotional about things, so we'll know if they are going to betray us by their faces. They are either with us or against us, I don't tolerate any inbetween-shit. If they love Redhawk fucking Caldera so much, they should've stayed there to start with." His tone of voice was cold, because he thought that it didn't matter either way: either they were wolves standing in his way and needed to die, or they were loyal and would prove it so. There was only win-win in this situation as far as he could tell. He studied Alya's face, wondering if he would find anything there, even though they had taken a lot from their mother in the regard of emotions.
He added: "I don't want disloyal wolves in this pack. If there are things we cannot tell them, they do not belong in this pack. I will not tolerate such betrayal." The more Charon spoke, the angrier he felt himself become — had he really been this blind? If his daughter thought they could not be trusted and would sway at the first signs of violence towards Redhawk Caldera, then he somehow must have missed that. They had taken in Rannoch when he was wounded, and for what? They had received nothing in return so far, while Liffey had promised to return the favour twofold. Nothing.
Charon's head snapped up when Alya said she had met Vaati, an angry expression on his face that had been building up throughout talking about impending betrayal. He still did not trust Vaati, though mostly because Potema, his own mother, had coldly said that she cared nothing for him. "Is that so," he said, his voice still cold and face still scrunched into an angry mess, though his head still thick with thoughts of all the wolves in his pack, suddenly finding himself wondering which he could trust and not. He thought to ask whether he had a plan for Blackfeather's survival, but he changed his mind, for he cared little about 'alliances' and didn't really want to think too much into it. He wondered if there was anything Rannoch'd done to trigger Vaati's attack, then, though considering their one meeting Vaati had seemed pretty hair-triggery and Rannoch seemed like the kind of weak-spined blob that might pull in such a creature's anger. He didn't feel like speculating any further on it, as it didn't matter much. He then realised, considering his daughter's solid opinion on things, maybe: "Have you seen or heard anything to prove Liffey's betrayal? Or Rannoch's?" Not because he did not believe her, but because he wanted to have something to throw in their face when they were confronted. "Anything we can throw in their face? I will speak with Hydra and Ame about this so that we have a plan ready for when Drageda is back to their homes."
This was a plan Alya could get behind. She was glad her father was finally considering the danger they posed to the pack, and wholeheartedly agreed that giving them a false plan was a good thing to do. She didn't want to kill Liffey in cold blood, after all, but she also didn't want to risk her doing something that would require avenging. Her death would be more of a mercy than anything - Alya didn't believe Liffey was able to survive on her own merit.
"That sounds like a workable plan to me," Alya agreed with a nod. "But, Hydra would be the one to get ideas off of. She's got that sort of mind." Alya herself was far more short-sighted, relying on gut and instinct more than the considerable power of her mind. Her thoughts were better spent on boys and devising new ways to toy with the emotions of her enemies. With nothing more to say on Vaati, Alya's mind was focused wholly on the situation at hand. Unfortunately, she didn't have anything solid on Liffey. She considered lying for a moment, but knew it would be more detrimental to her father's plans than helpful to her own.
"Nothing solid," she admitted with a frown. "It's just gut intuition, and little things she says and does - or doesn't say and do. And Rannoch - I don't know. There are times I feel he's with us, but whatever Liffey thinks is the belief he will echo. And we are out for Redhawk blood."
She paused for a moment, her mind going elsewhere. "Daddy - can I ask you something? Will you promise not to be mad?" She batted her lashes at him and pressed close against his side. She'd lost the ability to do this without a slightly flirtatious look on her face, but the gesture was made with the most innocent of intentions.
Charon nodded when Alya suggested asking Hydra for ideas. "I'll talk to your sister and mother soon," he said as ideas were starting to form in his head. There was a lot to hash out as of yet, but he didn't feel his plan could really go wrong; either they would prove their loyalty by following along with a fake plan that was still harmful enough to the Caldera, or they'd be pointed out as traitors. He hoped that the former would happen and that they'd laugh about all of these suspicions in a year or so. He had really liked Eshe and her children by default, just like Osprey's, but Alya was right. Were they getting everything back they should? He could present the fake plan to harm Redhawk under the pretense of paying back for taking care of Rannoch all this time. It made sense to him.
She had no real evidence that he could toss in their faces should it all go south, but he supposed that Rannoch and Liffey could've somehow pulled their weight more, given more loyalty so far. Anyway, he would tell Hydra and Ame about Alya's suspicions and add his own thoughts to it, and they would see from there. He wasn't the best at coming up with rational plans, often acting on impulse, but they would know better.
Charon was caught off-guard by Alya's next question. "Of course," he said, finding it pretty hard to think of anything that she could ever say or do that would make him mad. "What is it?" Charon waited neutrally, wondering if there was anything Alya'd done that she wanted to come clean about. He couldn't resist his little princess's looks -- to him, as a father, it wasn't in the least flirty, but only proof that his girl was still just that, a little girl -- and waited what she'd tell.
Alya was comforted when Charon reacted with his usual paternal adoration, rather than bristling suspicion as she sometimes feared. If there was one thing that was scarier than her mirror sister possibly dying, it was the idea that her father might one day look upon her with scorn.
Which was why he breath hitched a tiny bit when she asked, "Will you still love Hydra, Lyra, and me when we go to claim our own mountain?" she asked softly. There was no part of her apprehension that was an act. This was Alya, laid bare, wanting to know that she would still be Daddy's little girl when she was all grown up.
When would that be, anyway? When would she and her sisters be old enough to strike out on their own? Could it be that they already were? Was childhood over? Did the war hold them captive, or did they hold themselves?
Alya wasn't sure who she was underneath all her masks. At times, she wondered if she was Alya at all.
The question came as a surprise to him. Charon hadn't given much thought to his girls ever leaving. He remembered catching word about their ideas vaguely but had somehow always assumed they'd stay until he and Ame were dead. He hadn't really considered much that Ame's demise would likely come before his own, had never thought about how much older she was than he. But then, Charon'd never been one to think of the future very much. He lived very muchly in the now.
So he didn't instantly know what to say when she asked the question, except: "Of course, I'll always love you." A reality where his pride and love for the trio would fade wasn't one that Charon thought feasible, ever; he loved them all far too much for that. Even if they'd leave, well... As long as the timing was right, he supposed. "But I hope you'll be there to see more siblings grow up before that time comes." He smiled warmly at Alya and nuzzled her cheek to emphasise that he would always love her, no matter what. His love was unconditional, but he still hoped that they'd be around to help raise future generations of Moonspear pups before it was their time to strike out on their own.
Alya accepted her father's nuzzle with an eager, upturned face, glad to have something like his blessing on the matter. Mostly, she was glad to know that he would not be too terribly angry, and that his love would always be secure.
"I'll always love you, too, Daddy," she said happily, tail wagging. "But you and mom had better get to making more puppies A-S-A-P if you want us to wait," the dark woman teased. It occured to her to ask how exactly one achieved such things, but somehow, it didn't seem like the right moment. "I need to go switch off with Lyra," she instead excused, giving her father a kiss on the cheek before turning to depart. "Good talk!" she called over her shoulder.
Charon couldn't help but chuckle when Alya said that they'd need baby siblings soon if they wanted the girls to stay. "Don't worry, they're planned," he shared with a grin; it was only a matter of waiting for Ame to go into heat, but he was certain that there'd be more pups this spring.
"See ya!" he called out with a smile and he watched as Alya darted off, energetic as always. Charon watched her for a moment longer before he turned towards the forest and started making his way to the borders for a quick patrol.