Whispers of the leadership addition shifted through the forest and though Cicero cared for them little he did care for the name that came attached. Kove was a wolf that he had always held in high regard and had often spoke with, but not recently. Not since returning from Sheogorath. Considering time of year it must've been long since he had simply been Cicero. Now it was months since then and yet still he and Kove had not spoken much personally.
And so that day Cicero sought out the new listener, not to congratulate him with his new title but simply to catch up with an old friend.
Cicero was glad to find Kove that day; it felt like forever since they had met. Cicero had little idea of what was going on in Kove's life since Nemesis had left. Perhaps his life had calmed down since then, had stayed under the radar, but Cicero could not know for sure considering the gaps his memory missed. "Good day," Cicero said to Kove as their paths crossed.
"Hm..." The question was down to earth, perhaps, but Cicero did not interpret it that way. "Cicero is not so sure, these days." He looked at Kove with a grimace on his face. "War is brewing. Many acts were committed that will never be forgotten, nor forgiven." He sounded almost nostalgic as he said it, even though all of these things were things that he wished had never happened. But Cicero had always been practical with the past: it was in the past, and all one could do was move forward. So he tried not to dwell on the wrongs that he -- that the beast -- had committed, however hard. Yet they still impacted present and future, and therefore he mentioned them, for they might mean an untimely end at some point or other.
Cicero nodded slowly as Kove spoke, although he did not think it a bad thing if they would be able to somehow wipe all that happened from the minds of those they had angered. Cicero would not weep for anything lost of his own mind should it ever be wipe; he'd not remember, anyway. He already missed a lot of patches of his memory, as was.
Yet he did not linger on it longer. Kove asked him what he would do when war came. Cicero did not even know what he was still doing here — though if he would dig further he would find that the pups meant something to him — what with Damien's scent vanished from the territories and war coming for them. He licked his lips and then said: "Cicero's best chance is to lead them to the weeping meadow to expose them to the poisons. It would work the best for the pack's sake, too." He did not sound like he cared whether he lived or died — but he knew that there were things here that needed to be protected, for the brotherhood, for the handful of wolves that he cared for in some degree. He did not ask any question back; Kove, he imagined, would just fight, for he was more blessed with his physique than Cicero, who was happy to survive each winter as was, without war.
It was strange to think of Kove as an old wolf, yet in a way, it made sense. Kove had always been there. Cicero remembered that he was there growing up, and he was still here now.. At some point, he was bound to get old, of course. Cicero smiled weakly as Kove revealed these thoughts and suggested he may join Cicero; should the occasion arise, of course.
He hummed a thoughtful hmm-mm while he considered it further, silently welcoming Kove to fight by his side. He knew that Kove knew Cicero appreciated the elder; he didn't need to confirm this with words.
"Do you think Blackfeather will defeat the intruders?" Cicero asked Kove after a silence, curious what Kove thought of the matter. It was nice, this, in a way; to speak with Kove about this. He trusted Kove's words above those of the others presently in the pack, for some hated him and would lie to him and some were simply not that bright. Kove, however, both did not hate Cicero, was truthful (historically proven, anyway) and had a good head on his shoulders. What did he think would be the future of Blackfeather Woods?
feel free to conclude this with your next post, Kuro, i'm trying to wrap up Cicero's threads so won't post again <3