AW bc it's on the borders (:
The girl had given a loud, long howl to her pack-- specifically her highest rank and ex-beta,
@Constantine and
@Osprey-- to let them know of her depature. She'd only be gone a handful of days to visit Pearl, it seemed she might have some sort of information to share with her.
She arrives around midday, her ears perked and posture neutral. She waits a ways off from the border, letting out a long call for
@Pearl.
Hope you don't mind Sebastian popping in here! He will probably exit once Pearl is here or assures him their visit is okay! :3
Sebastian was not a man that liked to fight, he had his mercenary trade recently swapped for his hunter trade. He had the impressive height that to some would make him intimidating at first sight. For fighting he felt like he was too low. Yet, since it was expected in his previous pack to have a mercenary trade he obediently did so. Now he had been alpha of his own pack yet that meant that he had to patrol the borders and put his scent out there. Here he didn't mind doing so, seeing that the fen they lived was very peaceful and there weren't many travelers.
So when a howl sounded he looked up, seeing that he was relatively close he would check it out. Just to be curious. He was met with a white female. The young alpha trotted up to them with his tail held high. She had called for his mate, it was unknown to her that this was the Aria Steady had spoken off. The male couldn't help but to feel protective of her.
"Welcome to Broken Antler Fen. I am Sebastian, the alpha male. What brings you here?," he asked on tone that sounded mixed between trying to be assertive and polite at the same time. He knew she came for Pearl what he could make out from the howl, but he kind of wanted to know why she had come here.
Pearl awoke from her nap, eyes fluttering open as she was greeted by the glaring sun and a familiar howl that rang through the wind. Scrambling to her feet, she eagerly made her way to the borders with a wagging tail and a smiling face. Finding Sebastian there along with her friend, she gave him a quick nudge and a nod to Aria.
"Seb, this is Aria, a good friend. Mind if I catch up with her a while?" she said, giving them both a smile. Pearl was happy to talk with Aria again, and see what all's changed in her old home. She hoped everything was going well.
A man who was not Pearl comes to greet her, and she dips her head politely to him. "My name is Aria January, alpha of Donnelaith. A male from Silvertip Mountain brought word that Pearl had invited me down," she explains calmly, lifting her head only to smile kindly at the male. She liked this pack, just as much as she did last time. Sebastian appeared just as friendly as Pearl.
Speaking of, the white female pads into view, reintroducing her and giving the male a nudge on the shoulder. Her ears perk curiously, but she doesn't gawk. "Pearl," she says happily, her tail wagging with excitement-- she hadn't seen her friend in a while. Her expression does falter though when Pearl mentions catching up-- nothing positive has happened in Donnelaith, as of late.
Sebastian's ears perked up. "Oh that makes a lot of sense," he admitted and quirked up his lips. Then Pearl came into the picture and he gotten a nudge in greeting. He looked between the two and nodded. "Of course. I came to check seeing that I was close. I will go find Odette. Have fun," he decided and gave Pearl a lick over her cheek.
"Nice to briefly meet you Aria. Have a good day!," he spoke and then continued over the border before going into the forest that was a bit further ahead to check if Odette was somewhere in the forest or at their sleeping/meeting spot.
- Sebastian Exit -
Pearl smiled at her mate and called after him, "You too!" before turning back to her old friend, excited to see how she was doing. It had seemed Steady had eventually made it to Donnelaith, of which she was grateful.
"Mind if we walk? Or are you alright with staying here?" she asked, picking up a paw to start walking with her. Aria might just want to rest, considering the journey down here. "So how are you? What's up?"
Aria nods, a rest would be nice but she always enjoyed walking and talking. She begins to walk alongside her friend, shaking her head quickly. "I have a whole mountain of information for you," she says, her lips curving in a frown. "Tell me about you-- is that Sebastian a boy toy of yours?" she asks, a gentle pur playing in her voice, an eyebrow wiggling playfully at her friend. "He's handsome and polite, I approve," she adds, not that it really mattered by now.
Pearl frowns with concern, wondering what was possibly going on. "Well that doesn't sound good," she said, then proceeded to the topic of Sebastian. "Ah yes, one of many," she teased, a sly grin appearing on her maw. Pearl gives a laugh. "No, actually he's my mate. I'm glad you approve, otherwise I might've had to dump him. Not much has gone on, really, but Seb and I took in one of Steady's nieces after an incident at Silvertip. What about Donnelaith? What's this mountian of info?"
Aria smiles at the gentle teasing, but frowns once again when the pale girl asks again about Donnelaith. "I'm glad you've taken in a child-- I'm sure you make a great adopted mother," she says, a grin playing at her lips-- but only barely.
"Lasher has passed," she says quietly, ears flicking. "I am now the solo leader of Donnelaith-- Dante and Osprey both stepped down," she breathes out, stealing a quick glance at Pearl to see her reaction before continuing. "And, before he passed, he knocked up a newly accepted member-- so I'm still trying to decide what to do with her." There was more, but this all seemed the most important.
Hearing that Lasher had passed was a lick a kick in the head all by itself. Surely the druid of many lovers would have found a way to survive one way or another, but yet even she knew that even the most mysterious things can be touched by death. Pearl blinked a few times at the ground, eyebrows furrowed, when Aria said she was the only leader. "Wow." she breathed out. The girl was still very young, and to be leading a pack alone? She knew Aria was capable, but it was worrying all the same.
Then even more hit when she was told that Lasher couldn't keep it in his pants. "What the hell Lasher," she hissed, more annoyed with him than anything. Wise druids of the forests were appaerently not so wise sometimes. She knew that Lasher and Aria had something, so that must've been a tough blow to take. "Anything else?" she asked with an alarmed expression and a raised eyebrow. Had it all gone to hell in a handbasket?
Aria sighs, shrugging. "I've been speaking with Constantine-- the other Mayfair sibling?" she adds the last part just in case, although she's pretty sure Pearl knows who Constantine is. "He came back shortly after Casmir left. He thinks that the pack has too many healers-- mostly Lasher's doing-- and not enough wolves to actually protect the pack... which... I agree with," she adds the last part slowly, mostly because she's not really sure how that's really relative to Pearl, and realizes she's begun to ramble about her own problems-- as usual.
"Osprey's children were born about two months ago. A boy and two girls," she shares, her tail wagging happily. "They're sweethearts," she adds happily, then her expression falters. "Though, I haven't seen much of Dante, lately."
Pearl nods, foggily remembering him. He was decent, if she remembered him at all correctly. She listened patiently, trying not to smile as this was a very Aria thing of her to do. The girl went on to talk about Osprey's kids, which turned the conversation away from the damp laundry that was Lasher. That absolute walnut.
Her expression lightens, happy that the pack has some legitimate rays of sunshine to brighten the future. Maybe even Constantine would be a good match for the young leader, but that was just fanstastical speculation. "That's wonderful! Though, don't worry too much about Dante, he's not really the type to hang around to tightly to the group. I don't know. It sounds like you have a good friend in Constantine, though." she said with a hopeful smile.
It's true, Dante had been much like Osprey, who tended to stay at the back of the pack and contribute silently-- which was never an issue. Maybe he was just hanging back more, staying with his children-- she couldn't really blame him for that. "You're right," she says with a smile, looking again to her friend at her next comment. "I hope so, yeah, it still feels like the pack is so empty. It's nice to have wolves to be around," she adds, tail wagging. Eilidh was distant as always, and although Deirdre was aging and becoming more of a friend to Aria-- it wasn't the same as having Pearl and Casmir there all the time.
"Deirdre is growing up quickly," she adds with a smile, a bit of sadness in her voice. "She's becoming the healer her mother was." She pauses. "Emaleth has disappeared, though."
Pearl hummed in agreement, thinking the same. Donnelaith often felt empty, even with Aria there, which is perhaps why she left so readily. Not that she regretted her decision, but occasionally she missed the salty air and the dull roar of the ocean. And Aria, of course. Her ears perked, wondering what on earth had befallen Blue Willow. It wasn't much of a surprise, but even still it was unexpected.
"I don't know what's going on with that pack, but I swear it sounds like it's cursed," she stated blatantly, staring into the distance with a flick of her tail. In a way it felt like everything had happened after she had left, but she was a leader of her own pack now, and there wasn't much she could do to help.
Aria smiles dully at her friends comment, shrugging. "It's all the 'magick'," she says, pronouncing magic somewhat strangley-- for she's never actually believed in it. The word is something she's heard Deirdre use often, but never quite understood it. "Donnelaith is a pack built from the Mayfairs. All of their weird ways transfer to the entire pack. I think, anyway," she says, shrugging. She pauses, biting her lip. "Deirdre wants to lead Donnelaith," she says quietly, her ears flicking backwards.
"She is too young, of course, but she is Lasher's daughter. She has a right to claim the throne-- no?" It's somewhat retorical, but it bothers her nonetheless. She worked hard-- and possibly fucked her way up the heirarchy-- but does that not count for anything? Deirdre had no true leadership qualities, she just made friends with everyone she saw. Granted, she was still a pup.
Pearl pondered this for a moment before replying. "Makes sense," she comments, waiting for her go on. Apparently the pup wanted to lead, but geez, she was still a pup, and probably didn't know much, since the useless paper towel king had to go and die before he could most likely give any sort of real leadership advice, or fix any of the mess he left everything in.
"Well, she does have the right to the metaphorical throne, but not for a while. Eventually, though. Maybe you could help her out, give her some leadership lessons. See if she still wants to after seeing all the responsibility. I'm not saying you should scare her out of it by any means, but...it may be for the best she see all that it requires before coming to leadership." she paused and took a breath. "If anything does go south, you're always welcome here, for advice or a supportive pack."
"I'm just hoping she'd be content waiting until I at least-- died, or something," she mutters, shrugging. "I mean I was beta at barely a year-- it's hypocritical of me to deny her a leadership position based on age and experience," she adds, tail swishing behind her. She glances to Pearl, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Thank you, Pearl, it means a lot," she says, her gaze falling forward away.
She snorted before speaking, thinking it ridiculous that Deirdre would be that patient. Not that she really knew her that well, since she hadn't interacted that much with the pups before she left. It was a rough assumption, but a safe one to make.
"Yeah, just a bit," she said, glad Aria recognized that. Otherwise she would've pointed it out immediately. She glanced back at the snowy girl, smiling back. "It's no problem, really the least I can do. It seems like you have quite a mess to deal with. Speaking of messes, have you seen Cas recently?" she asked, eyebrow arched. Hopefully it was resolved, but knowing the two of them, it most likely was not.
The girl rolls her eyes, but is smiling. "We moved on," she tells the other, tail waving. "I don't know what he's done since then-- but we both agreed friends is better. He's at Silver Creek now," she adds ears perking. The thought of Casmir moving on did hurt to think about, but it was fine. She was fine. She wasn't sure she had time for a mate now anyway.
-- on mobile, sorry for dumb formatting --
Pearl happily wagged her tail at that, glad that Aria and Cas were finally somewhat over. Not that He had been a bad influence, persay, but in a way he was. At least he had moved on, she hoped. But Silver Creek, that was a pack she hadn't heard of before. "Are they a new pack around here?" she asked, curious to their location.
Aria nods. "Yeah, directly west of Broken Antler, actually," she says, motioning with her head towards where the Creek was. "I only visited once to tell Casmir of his fathers passing-- another girl intercepted me but... I never got her name," she adds, trying to pin down more information for her friend.
She humphed in reply to the information, wondering if Ambrosia would mind another trip when she got back. She might just go with her, actually. An adventure sounded fun.
"I'll have to send someone over there sometime to check it out. Thanks for that though," she said, pondering it over. "How's the rest of the pack been doing?"
"They've been fine," Aria answers slowly, honestly not sure about the entirety of the pack. "A lot of them are still healing from Lasher's passing," she adds sadly, ears flicking. With a final sigh of uncertainty, the girl nudges her friend's shoulder. "Pearl, could I ask you something?"
Pearl looked over at her friend with concern. "Yeah, of course, go ahead," she said, wondering what Aria needed to ask her. She hoped she could help with whatever it was, and it sounded serious by her tone. The pale woman would do her best, if that was even enough.
just realized my timeline is wonky. oh well. aria'll just travel down in the middle of her conversation with constantine. it happens.
"Do you think Rowan should be chased out?" she asks quietly.
"Not even because they're not mine because... well, that's dumb I'm really not that territorial. But--" she pauses, taking in a breath.
"I'm afraid. If I let the Mayfair blood rule Donnelaith over me-- even after Lasher's death-- that no one will truly see me as the alpha," she admits, glancing at Pearl.
"I'll be a placeholder. For Constantine or Eilidh, if they ever decide they want to lead, or Deirdre, when she matures enough." Her ears fall backwards.
"Donnelaith belongs to the Mayfairs, but I don't want to be a removable piece of their claim. If I let these pups stay for the sole reasoning that they are Lashers, does that not just enforce the idea that he is still in power? that I am just holding his place until one of his children can take my place?"