Moonsong Glacier allegations

Pack meeting time owo @Leith @Fjall @Towhee Jr @Fallen Sun @Sulukinak

They arrived and they rested, and they shared what meat they'd brought from the hunt with the rest of the pack. Their leaders' absence rang loud, but it was not until the next morning, after the departure of Tulugak, that Dutch felt ready to face it.

He set out on foot to find the warrior girl, and when she stood before him, he explained that there would be a pack meeting before tipping his head back to call the wolves of Moonsong together.

His heart felt heavy, and his stomach cramped with suppressed emotion while he waited to see who would gather.

oblivious, sulukinak moved closely with dutch and was unaware of any absence. she did not speak much on the way; it was easier and more comfortable to walk in dutch's steps as they journeyed through the snow, as if they were in the everdark.

the girl perched upon a high vantage point to watch the others, and that was when dutch called for moonsong to gather. his song stood alone as it crossed the glacier, and sulukinak descended her spot to slink to him after, watchful and curious.

she is sought and explained in ptero that there was a meeting by dutch.

towhee does not think it strange. at least, not at first. she sets off with ghost soaring overhead.

her pace slows as she comes upon the meeting place and ghost settles upon the junction betwixt her shoulders; his favored perch. her gaze touches upon dutch and the other woman that she does not know. oblivious to drama that had occurred, jr only notes that the alpha pair are notably missing from this meeting.

-what is going on?- she demands in ptero, brow furrowing as her gaze bores down onto dutch; unapologetic.

While he hadn’t been officially included in the pack, he had remained where he had been put to rest, and roamed the neutral territories beyond the Glacier so that he could stock up the caches. How many times would he need to do this before he had repaid his debt? He didn’t know- nor had he asked. But no one had complained, and having a task to perform made him feel comfortable.

Some had left to hunt; he stayed behind, assuming that the invitation did not likely extend to the loner who was simply existing like a quiet, but beneficial parasite. When the panther man returned, however, he summoned those who remained- and Leith appeared, whether or not he was intended to be a part of the meeting.

Fallen Sun bounded up the way, sniffing and finally laying eyes upon the other members of moonpack. Silver Shadow barked a call to meet, one he was happy to partake in. 

Even if, yet again, his lack of being able to speak or... know the words being spoken was a burden. 

He sat near the others, offering a friendly grin and a tail wag to announce his presence in lieu of words.

Gonna go ahead and get started. Fjall, if you still want to jump in, feel free to say he arrived with the others!

Although the panther did not want to explain any of this twice, he saw the wisdom in priming Silenthunter before the others arrived. He would not be able to pay as close attention to her otherwise, and he might not notice if she was confused.

"Cloudwoman and Kaluktuk have departed from us," he said aloud for Sulukinak's benefit, signing along in ptero as best as he could. "They left without word after the hunt. Their trail led north. I did not follow far. Now we will ask moonwoman what she would have us do — as we are not much of a moon village without a moondaughter among us."

And then the others began to arrive, and the panther breathed out as soft sigh.

"It is good to see your face, Leith," he said to the other man, feeling a spike of relief he hadn't quite accepted. But this, he realized, was the only wolf here he could have a real, normal conversation with, at this point.

And then Fallen Sun arrived! Relief shifted to warm gladness, and he looked between the few gathered here and stepped in close, so that the others might as well. They sat together, then, in a circle of near equals. Dutch, however, was the eldest — and in possession of an irrepressible urge to set things and people into order.

"We did not capture the evil one on our hunt," he said to them, sharing news he had not yet shared with Towhee. His ptero was just a little clunky with so many eyes watching, but he did his best. "We must keep a sharp eye on our borders. You will know him by his dark fur, and by the wound our seal hunter friend left on his back. If you see this man, do not approach him yourself. He is known to summon a bear to his aide. The last one marked me here, and helped him to escape."

He indicated the slashes on his hip.

"I gather us here also to tell you that our cloudwoman has gone away with Kaluktuk. She did not say if or when she would return. She did not say where she was going. She did not say she was going at all. Still, their steps led me north until it was prudent I turn back."

His gaze passed wearily between their faces, a spike of despair going through him as he wondered how much, if any, the red man had understood.

"We will ask moonwoman what should be done," he said to them. "If she will send more sunshine people, or if we will go to join them."

With this, the floor was open. His burnished gaze implored each wolf to speak their mind.

Once Dutch began to speak, Leith realized that he was definitely an outsider. He looked from one wolf to the next, but noticed that Ariadne was not present with a light quirk of his lips. Her leg cast wouldn't have to be on for much longer, and so he anticipated the trip to meet the medicine woman who would remove it, and possibly tell him more about the amazing contraption. He figured, at first, that she would simply take a bit longer to make it to the meeting because it hindered her movement. 

He waited, trying not to eye the silent guardian and her hawk the whole time. He'd forgotten all about the young wolf and her avian friend- hangovers did that- and now the memory came back like a dream. The bird's feathers were beautiful, and its eyes fierce and glittering. How curious and wonderful it was to see one so close- and so calm, considering the fact that it was perched on the shoulders of a wolf!

He was greeted, but he wouldn't have had time to wipe some of the bewilderment from his features. He cracked a grin, and responded with a stiff "Heyyyyyyyyy," which was about as casual as he was able to sound. 

Leith startled when Dutch spoke, and perked his ears to listen. Supposedly there was an evil wolf somewhere- and whoever had been in the hunting party with Dutch, it seemed as though they had failed. He could hear the disdain in Dutch's voice and...Movements? Alongside his talking, the wolf motioned almost wildly with his paws, and body. Leith's brow furrowed in confusion, and he looked from one wolf to the next to gauge their reactions as well. His movements looked like gestures, and seemed to compliment what he was saying. Leith's ears flicked back at the mention of a bear being involved- summoned, it seemed, by the evil wolf. It all sounded a bit extraordinary- but gauging by the scars on Dutch's hide...Very real. 

He then mentioned that two wolves were gone as well- Leith didn't recognize either of the names, though if Dutch had gone searching, they must have been important. He mentioned Moonwoman, and Leith's ears pricked; that was the one who was going to take Ariadne's cast off, wasn't it? 

He seemed to open the floor to all involved, so he swallowed hard. "So where's, uh- where's Ariadne?" He asked. She was the pack's leader- wouldn't she know what to do in the case of these missing wolves?

sulukinak listened.

she knew that the red woman had fled the women's circle, but had not expected her to be gone when they'd returned to the glacier. to think it was her own words that had undone someone like that did not make sense to her, and so her mind did not tread there.

one of those gathered asked after ariadne and sulukinak, frowning, shot them a look but stayed quiet. there were too many people gathered even now, although it was different from the plains hunters, she was still uncomfortable.

had she known that her question, which was meant without judgement, would be taken as such an insult she probably would have asked it anyway. the girl had been isolated too long to know what was considered rude or taboo, and had only spoken openly, as she was welcome to do; however, there were consequences sulukinak did not yet see.

Moving this along. I will close it on the 12th of Feb.

No one yet had much to say, but Dutch felt sure he would entertain more conversation than this on the matter in the future. Perhaps it just needed some time to settle in.

"Ariadne is our cloudwoman," he said to Leith, who was the only one to speak up. Perhaps that was to be expected, with their current lineup. Looking around, he thought it a sad little gathering. Few seemed eager to stand beside him. "That is all," he said, the conclusion lacklustre. "Go in peace."

And if any decided to go the same way as Ariadne — Dutch felt he could not exactly blame them.