Post #500 and also a leadership discussion! Mostly for Raven and Quixote, but all characters who are IC leadership at the (IC) time of this post may respond (
@Colt?) plus Towhee because Fire respects her. All other tags are for reference.
After helping @Caiaphas dig her new den and the discussion that followed, Ceara had been putting off speaking with @Raven, @Quixote, @Niamh, and @Towhee about how the Plateau would fare during the winter. But as the temperatures continued to drop, she knew she'd have to say something sooner or later (and before someone else did and got all the credit, because she's petty like that). She took the time to hunt down something for both Raven and Quixote and padded towards their usual haunt, hoping to flag down at least one of the pair.
congrats on 500 (ok 514 i'm late) and also,
this is me, coming to this thread kek
in the wake of towhee's stepdown from leadership, caiaphas had wondered who would step up to claim the mantle. beta was not, by nature, a rank the she-wolf imagined herself worthy of, but she imagined other wolves would believe themselves deserving; it was not difficult to imagine that redhawk's gamma would find her rank ascended, leaving an opportunity for leadership for any brave enough to claim it.
caiaphas hadn't sought out ceara intentionally, but had caught the scent of the she-wolf traveling towards what appeared to be the direction of the thicket the redhawk's chief family often resided. finding her curiosity insatiable, caiaphas stole after her. the sylph's gait was neither quiet nor subtle; she expected at length ceara would be alerted to her presence, and would either address or ignore her.
Thank you!
The sound of deliberate footfall behind her caused her ears to swivel as she turned to look for the source. She wasn't hard to find, either. It was Caiaphas.
At first glimpse Ceara thought that the woman was just headed in the same direction that she was — her den was in this direction, after all — but one look at her eyes told her that it was herself that Caiaphas was after.
She slowed to a halt and dropped her meal, and swept her paw towards it. Raven and Quixote could wait, she supposed. She didn't mind sharing with Caiaphas instead. Hey there.
there were times in the sylph's life she wasn't stupid -- and this was one of them. as ceara slowed and turned around caiaphas saw the offering in her muzzle, and made her own calculative deductions. whether or not they were right remained to be seen, but with a sly cant of her eyes she glanced ceara and the assured gift in her jaws, and with one poking motion of her long muzzle queried: "what is your plan then, when you get to them? how do you win them over?"
them of course, meaning quixote and raven -- caiaphas imagined all sorts of discussions might be arranged in that thicket, but most of all, she was curious to hear of ceara's intentions, and whether or not the firebrand's name tossed in the ring would be entertained by leadership.
She had expected a lot of questions, but that wasn't one of them. From what little she knew of Caiaphas, this wasn't out of the ordinary, but it was a little, ah, direct. She took a slow, metered breath and rolled her shoulders.
Raven is, well, she's easy. We have history and good chemistry. I've never done her dirty. Quixote is harder, but I think he has a good head on his shoulders as long as he can focus. We've been through a lot here, right before you came, and he's a little stressed.
Her lip tightened, and her ears flicked to the side for a moment as she continued. Niamh is the hardest. She doesn't like me 'n I don't know why. I think it's because she sees me as a threat. She's pulled rank on me before over shit that didn't matter.
Her gaze trailed across the flat plane of the Plateau before she continued. I lead with facts. I don't think the Plateau is going to offer us enough cover for the winter, at least most of it. Birds are our main source of prey, and they'll be gone before the first snow. It'll be bitterly cold. We'll be hungry.
And if that didn't work?
Well, she had no clue.
as direct as caiaphas was, ceara was forthright; caiaphas' gaze studied the thin line of the firestorm's expression, and the manner in which she doled out transparent answer after answer. directness had suited caiaphas in the past, and she oft favored the reactions she got from it; this scenario being no-such exception.
but the sylph would not have been the savage she-wolf she was if she did not find holes in this plan; her gaze flickered and seemed to tell of her doubt -- not in the temerity the firebrand possessed, but in the fairness of the world; would leadership see eye-to-eye with ceara, or would they mock her for her assertiveness?
"that is usually the reason one doesn't like another. doubt. insecurity; i imagine she envisions you as an usurper." caiaphas liked niamh, and the manner in which the she-wolf approached the world - but caiaphas operated under her own selfish motivations, and did not dance around the subject. "that will not change. i find there are many that always stand in the way of progress. what happens if they say no to you? and what happens if they say yes -- where is it you think is better?"
She shrugged. Probably. I'm not, though. I've never been gunning for her position. I just work.
It was the truth. Ceara thought that one day she might be suited to leadership, but she wouldn't sweat it if that day never came. Being delta gave her enough authority, and this way she didn't have the constant scrutiny that leadership did. She could scout whenever she pleased.
If they don't believe me? One of two things will happen. We'll freeze and starve for a while and they'll decide I was right. Or we'll hole up somewhere, probably near the Thicket, and make it out alright, if not a little miserable. We might have to expand our hunting grounds and become more territorial over neutral lands.
She turned then towards the sloped end of the Plateau. But just over there is an island of some sorts. It's not really an island, but it's surrounded by two rivers. One side of the isle is bordered by an enormous forest. It stretches, as far as I could tell, from the mountains down south to the coast up north. It's a bit of a hike for us now, but. We could live there, or we could use it as additional hunting grounds.
Maybe just a cameo if you decide you decide to go off on a tangent in this thread instead of as had originally been noted, up to you! :P
In the distance, an ink black figure wound through the grasses, his destination obvious to those who knew his routine or the thicket where his family now called home base. Quixote had probably spotted them talking, but continued on without any real acknowledgement, likely to avoid interrupting a conversation that didn't involve him. After all, he was quite a distance away and wasn't keen on yelling just to say hi either. He'd just continue on his routine unless otherwise interrupted.
sorry for the wait! Here’s a cabbage phone post. My phas muse up and abandoned me >:(
there were many things Caiaphas wished to see done by her hand; as she listened under the detailed words Ceara freely shared with her, a dark sense of purpose seemed to work into her gaze.
the siren made a mental note to forge into the territories Ceara mentioned; she had yet to explore much beyond the plateau’s western perimeter. duty and an overzealous sense of restless protectiveness had kept Caiaphas’ usual predilection for travel at bay.
their time was cut short by the shaded form of Quixote ahead - Caiaphas remarked after his distant appearance with a subtle cant of her head. she turned to the firebrand then and in a low voice spoke:
“it is a shame your talents will not be actualized here- however hard you work.”
Caiaphas did not linger long after; with a flick of her tail the fox-faced theta made her leave.
Her eyes follow Caiaphas' to Quixote, and the matron's pointed remark causes her heart to hammer in her chest. What did that mean? Her brows twisted and her mouth fell open, but Caiaphas had already begun to leave.
As if those words meant something to her, she padded towards @Quixote with newfound determination, and called to him with a gentle chuff from some distance away. Hey there,
she starts, Got a minute?
He had pretty much put seeing them out of his mind and was looking forward to playing with the kids after his patrol. But apparently, he was gonna be a little bit delayed -- at Ceara's call, he paused then turned to face her, dipping his head politely. Yeah. What's up?
Ugh, now came the being responsible and articulate part, which she didn't always seem to be good at. I've been thinking lately,
she says hesitantly, like, you know how it's flat up here? I used to live somewhere similar, and the winter winds were brutal. Cold. I worry about what's going to happen when winter comes and the birds all leave and it's just gross and windy and wet and cold.
Fuck.
He does listen, patiently. It seemed kind of sensible to ask, except for the fact that it made him wonder if she thought that the alpha pair was oblivious. He started off ruefully, Ah yes, when the birds are gone, people will actually hunt together to take down the deer and caribou like an actual pack, horrors.
Still a sour point for him. But honestly, they were the only pack out here. There wasn't going to be any lack of food if people would actually pay attention to something larger than snack size.
Anyway, moving on to the next point. It was possible some of his irritation slipped through as he talked, but it was more in relation to just not liking the plateau to start with and now feeling like nothing was as good, not at Ceara. Hate to break it to you, but it's gonna be windy, wet, and cold everywhere, Raven I have already discussed this. No place is perfect. Head across to the island, you're trapped there when the ice thins and you can't cross the rivers. The thicket would possibly be hard to hunt larger prey in. Let's just cross off some of the swampier areas outright, along with the mountain where Orca died. Tindome abandoned their forest for whatever reason, so probably not a good idea there, Raven thinks the forest just south of us might be in danger of avalanches from the other mountain...
The list could just keep going, Where does that leave us? Is it worth that effort to move again when we could be walking into somewhere worse?
If the worst we have to deal with is some wind, why do we take the risk? This place wasn't our choice,
meaning himself and Raven, but unless things actually get unreasonably bad, I don't think there's many good options without moving back towards Blackfeather.
And that option was pretty much off the list, even if he personally wondered if that pack had changed at all under their new leadership. He'd find out eventually (probably) that they had not.
She listened carefully, but she couldn't help but think the irritation was at her. His sarcasm cut her to the bone; it'd been hard enough to gather the courage to do it in the first place, and now she was being ridiculed for it. It didn't matter that she'd spent weeks carefully articulating where they could move to if he wouldn't hear her out. Okay, thanks,
was all she said, sliding the prey she'd gathered towards him before she shrugged her shoulders and made to leave.
Caiaphas was right, she just didn't think she'd have to learn so soon.
Yet again, Quixote was left wondering. Their conversations seemed to keep ending somewhat abruptly, and he wasn't exactly wise to why that was. He just never saw whatever the hell it was Raven saw in her. To him, Ceara was just some awkward packmate, one that had unclear motives and just seemed to exist on the edge of his own personal bubble. She was one that seemed to often walk away.
Honestly, he'd been expecting some sort of fight on it. Hell, to a point he wanted one, to prove that this place was a bad choice like some sort of distant snark at Towhee or X or whichever was more at fault. But no. She shrugged, she left. He frowned. Okay. I.. Guess.
Was that really it? What was he missing? Ugh.
Whatever, assuming she really did head off, he sighed, picked up what had been delivered, and headed back on his route. He hated people sometimes. They didn't make sense.