Swiftcurrent Creek rise to the occasion

One of the last ones to arrive, after the meeting already had started, a female with soft honey colored fur apologized for her tardiness, though it was not her apology that grasped at the shaman's attention but rather her words cutting as they were, and assumptions about Paarthurnax. Granted, the shaman did not know much of anyone very well but he felt the rising need to jump to the desert borne woman's defense. If not her former home then who would take her in? Nefarious highly doubted that any of the other packs would risk taking a heavily pregnant female into their ranks. Especially one that might potentially bring down the wrath of her ex-mate upon them, but in all honestly it didn't seem to matter much to Nefarious. If Shadow had been their enemy before all of this, there was nothing that stated even if Paar would have stayed with him that he wouldn't have attacked. Likely, he was going to attack sooner or later, whether she'd have stayed or not. The shaman let out a soft noise though he kept his thoughts to himself because he held no standing and did not wish to find himself homeless.

The Dark Father stirred as Nefarious' irritation did and the dark bear's presence could largely be felt by the shaman, though Nefarious had already resolved that he would keep his mouth shut.

Nefarious desired to ask what their luck at hunting had to do with battle? Aside from that it might make them weaker, but even so they had no idea how the Bypass' situation was. The Creek might have easily outnumbered them, and they too might have not been doing well with their hunts. Scimitar seemed to have it under control, jumping to Paar's defense, shortly after the woman had finished. This, the shaman bit his tongue to keep himself quiet. It was better that he not stick his nose in a feud between the authority of the pack and one of it's members lest he wished to be dragged down into it as well, which frankly he did not.

Just when things seemed to be going well, and most of the wolves approved of Paarthurnax's presence, though perhaps not her association with Shadow, Falwasi appeared with an honest opinion. Kaskara's initial instinct was to tell her to be quiet, but she held her tongue as Scimitar spoke to her. Kas considered Falwasi a friend and understood her concern for the creek. It was worrisome that they had accepted a pregnant woman into their ranks whose ex-mate might take it upon himself to attack them. And with the failed hunts lately, they weren't the strongest they could be, certainly.

Kaskara noticed Paar's reaction and whined softly, letting her fiery friend know that she hurt for her. Then her gaze snapped back to Falwasi, wondering what she would make of all this. "We defend her with our lives because Paarthurnax is one of ours, Falwasi. She is a creek wolf. I would risk my life for you, if you asked it of me, so I will risk it for her." There was more she wanted to say, but Scimitar's calm tone had chilled her hot temper. As the beta of the creek, she would need to control that fiery temper more readily and without the aide of anyone else. She'd have to only rely on herself to remain calm.

Kas looked out over the others, her two-toned gaze pausing over each wolf in turn, watching for signs of unrest or agitation. They needed to be able to speak their minds, as Falwasi did, without fear of retribution. At Scimitar's final words, Kaskara looked back at him and said, "There is still the option of finding another home, far away from both threats that beckon at our doors. It may not be a popular choice, but it is still our choice to make, as a pack." The last thing she wanted to do was decide for them and have half the wolves refuse to leave or half refuse to stay. Ideally, it would be all or nothing.

Kaede thought that all would remain silent, but it was not to be. When the latecomer voiced her thoughts freely and honestly, Kaede watched closely what followed. Not only would it give insight as to how Scimitar took opposing views, but also because he felt the point a valid one. From a tactical standpoint, they had little to gain and much to lose by taking the pregnant female in. Allowing her to stay was a move of sentiment, one he could respect but he also felt had the right to be challenged. He marked Falwasi as one for future conversation, her answer to his announcement intrigued him.

Scimitar to his credit did not give in to anger or immediately shoot her down harshly. In his and Kaskara's answers though he sensed they would not budge on the point. It seemed membership here lasted beyond the initial joining and leaving as Paarthurnax and Bazi had both been invited (rather adamantly) back.

A part of him wondered if this was for the best, but he held his tongue. His position wasn't near so secure and he had little doubts he'd be out should he lend such a challenge as that.

Didn't Fal see the benefits? Did she want this lady and all her children to be Bypassian?! Having these extra members here was everything. For now the pups could not give much, but one day perhaps they would hunt and fight and heal and gaurd and explore. They would be Creek-born and raised, and probably respected. And Paarthurnax was a healer. Esper's secent fading had not gone unnoticed. If she had truly left, they needed Paar here. There was a great upper hand side to this situation, at least in Star's mind.

Both replies from Scimitar and Kaskara surprised the hunter. They did not scold her, or cut her off, or shoot her down for her overtly cutting words towards Paarthurnax. Falwasi glanced at the duo-colored wolfess before speaking again; she sat hunched, with her eyes dropped to her paws. Would she be the reason for the pack's relocation? Falwasi knew many of the wolves would be reluctant to move. Dovev, Star, Galileo... But the mountain wolf felt more and more confined every time an event within Swiftcurrent Creek occurred. The looming shadows of their neighbouring packs only seemed to grow, to feed off the Creek like a tiger stalking their prey.

"What good can a healer do for 12 dead wolves?," she asked again, reverting her gaze to the siblings once again. Her voice different to before; it was still loud, but quieter. Softer. Almost, but only almost, like a plea for help. No, she did not agree. No, she did not see the benefits. If Paarthurnax had come to a pack that were as good as dead because she wanted to protect her children from the upraising in the Bypass, she made a bad choice. Once Shadow got through them, he would no doubt take the desert wolf back with him.

During the short span of time Galileo turned down his head, piercing coldness in the form of Falwasi's voice ringed through the small clearing. The sudden rise of the wolf's tone of voice made the male raise his head once more, his eyes lingering between Scimitar and the pregnant female who seemed to be shuffling uncomfortably under Falwasi's accusing gaze.

Not having known what exactly had gone on, he turned his amber eyes to Bazi hoping to read off her expression as the leader and new Beta took turns to defend Shadow's former mate. However, Bazi's face could not be read.

The aspiring Counselor cursed himself for not having been paying attention. Like Kaskara had just finished to mention, every pack member was expected to be there for the pack -- but Galileo; he was not there. He might've been sitting in the meeting with his eyes poised on the agouti Alpha's figure but his mind was too far gone.

He needed to get his act straight, but he could never do it while breathing in the Creek's air.

The sand and willow chiseled man watched his brother, and his words struck heart. With the dawning understanding of the situation, Saber listened most importantly to the Sunspire history reference. More to speak upon to Rain. Then, the words on the wolfess, Paar. The judgement that his brother had passed on her was not one of 'she is taking up resources for herself', it was 'she is one of us'. And with that, the FrostFur eradicated his own swift judgement of the new girl. She was a Creek, and with new determination stirring within him, he backed up his brother, fully.

"I support this decision with fullness."

With softened glacials on the exotica femalia, Paar, a smile sent itself to her from his lips. Then he turned to his brother.

"I will put the majority of my time tracking the borders, incase another Bypass dares to try their luck. And for filling caches, I will ensure that is a top second, Scimitar. "

Kieran shifted and stood to his paws and stared at all of them, he chose to speak to Falwasi and Scimitar in his own quiet but honest way. "Plain an' simple lassy is dat babies are de future. withoyt dem we are bereft. so shud we not chucker our best ter protect dem? even if they chucker not cum from a wolfess or wolf dat we agree wi'. aye shadow 'as betrayed us in many ways, but she 'as not. an' she 'as cum back an' 'as been accepted so therefore dat makes 'er wan av us wan av our own. we protect our own. so therefore yea oi agree we protect our own an' i'll lay me life down for any wan av yer jist as oi 'ill for 'er an' 'er laddies." With one last look and then he grew quiet he bowed his head and backed up. He had spoke his piece and he saw all the sides. He saw Falwasi's and he saw Scimitars, and frankly he was a softie underneath all that bluster and babies always got him.

“Let’s not be so quick to assume Noctisardor Bypass is any stronger than we are,” he spoke, his tone quiet now, though not loud enough to reach everyone. Falwasi’s downtrodden spirits was something he had yet to see in the graceful warrior, and his eyes strayed upon her in mild worry. She held many good points – and the lack of food was certainly a concern, as was the simple fact they did not know much about their potential rival pack. But they had Paartthurnax, and she could certainly offer the Creek insight to those that had been there during her time.. and the numbers of them.

Giving a small nod – it would seem the general consensus was to not turn away the crimson female, and with this, he stood. It would do no good to continue to fester – either Paarthurnax or Falwasi would be put on the spot, and he would not have it. “So let us not sit idle. Patrol the borders and let’s try to stock the caches. Even with the Bypass wolves, we have a soon to-be mother who will need the nourishment if we expect healthy puppies to be born."

His eyes drifted to those before him, before finalizing this with a nod -- dismissed. The meeting had come to an end, and the cinnamon male was sure he would stumble upon Falwasi soon enough – and perhaps seek to find out what truly ailed her, or what he could do to convince her otherwise.

Taking his own words to heart, the large Frostfur tipped his muzzle, giving his sister a gentle nudge to her cheek before making his way to the borders – if he was lucky, on the way, he would find small game he could hunt on his own.

Scimitar's quiet voice reached the elegant female's ears, and she assumed it had also to a few of the wolves surrounding her. She took a large breath, closing her eyes as she did so to calm herself. It was an assertion — they were stronger than the Creek. For now, at least.

Then the Alpha spoke again, ordering her pack mates and herself to keep an eye on the borders and stock the caches for Paarthurnax, for the sake of her children. Falwasi wished it could be so black and white, but alas it was not. Sure, patrolling could be organised easily. Hunts could hopefully be taken more seriously and strenuously, but the Bypass... Shadow and his Bypass were not of their manipulation. Should the sterling male chose to attack... Swiftcurrent Creek was a bed of roses.

Falwasi would not argue further; she knew better than to. She had voiced her opinion, and her pack mates had voiced theirs. For all she knew, the latter of them agreed, if not wanted, Paarthurnax to stay. The deer would just have to accept it, and move on. No matter what, she would protect the Creek, or die trying.

Then Scimitar left, nudging his sister's cheek as he made his way towards the borders. Falwasi's copper eyes trailed over the burly male for a few moments before he disappeared, then parted herself towards Wapun Meadow. She knew he was doing what he thought best for Swiftcurrent Creek, and she admired him for it. It took a lot of strength to not make decisions for your own selfish greed.

The mountain wolf splashed through the bitterly cold creek, ignoring the other wolves should they cast any glances towards her as the water sprayed her underside and relaxed her from any tension she had felt during the meeting. Tonight she would bed down under the stars, like she had so many times during her odyssey to Teekon Wilds.

Star strained to hear something Scimitar said quietly, but with her ears perked forward she just barely caught it. Star didn't beleive such a new pack could be very strong. The ranks of the Creek were very strong right now, full with good healthy wolves. In the next part Star focused on stock the caches. The white huntress was a soon to be Gamekeeper. This was her job. With that, she began to head off as the pack departed. As she walked home, she checked the air for prey scents. They would need food if Paarthurnax was going to stay for the Winter.

Other members of the pack weren't entirely pleased with the decision to let Paarthurnax stay. Bazi had not even considered that there would be any objections. She remained a tight-lipped until Scimitar's closing remarks, gaze fixed in some invisible point of interest in the middle distance, away from the staring eyes of her pack mates.

Their treatment of their returned healer made Bazi a lot angry, and a little nervous (weak and healing as she was, the returned Alpha would be utterly depending on the pack well into the winter). Paarthurnax was not some bitch that Scimitar had offered a safe haven for the winter - this was a member of their family, and she would not have departed the Creek had it not been for Bazi's decision to boot the pups' father. The guilt frothed in her gut, but she said nothing additional in Paarthurnax's defense - the Frostfur siblings had that covered, backed by Kieran.

Nefarious felt his brow rise at the woman who continued to speak out in protest against Paar's presence, unimpressed with how she spoke back to Scimitar who was the authority of the pack. As true as it was to say that the subordinates did not always agree with the leaders, nevertheless, it was the leaders who made the decisions at the end of the day. Nefarious did not know the circumstances in which Paar had left Shadow, fled from the Bypass but only assumed that there was a validated reason for it, and the shaman did not think it was fair for the woman who spoke out to attack like that, letting her displeasure known when, Nefarious assumed Paar might have been feeling vulnerable as it was. He didn't know and did not pretend to know and so he simply imagined how he might have felt in that situation. He wasn't overly crazy about how the woman presumed that they would all die, because it showed how little faith in their abilities she had, assuming that they would all be torn to pieces. Nefarious was not such a pessimist but then again he also happened to dabble in things that most didn't believe in and knew that his “magicks” would do his bidding. He could easily curse the bypass, leave gruesome talismans with poisons at their borders. There was plenty that he could do, if given the freedom to exercise his voodoo practices.

Scimitar handled it well enough, though, and as he'd been for mostly the entire meeting Nefarious was silent. He was still new to voice any sort of valid opinion, though he had a desire to tell Paar that they would keep her and her young safe. Though he did not know the woman all that well, he liked her for whatever his opinion was worth, and he did not wish her to feel alone, or targeted by wolves that were supposed to be her pack mates at that. “Don't worry Paar, we'll keep you and your babes safe,” The shaman murmured to her, unsure if his word meant much of anything but figured that he'd put it out there, regardless, before he headed off towards the borders of the Creek, having decided for that the time being he would put his medic trade on hold in favor of warden. It was what was more pressing, what the Creek had more of a need of and so he would do what was necessary to prove his worth to them.

Kieran turned abruptly and headed off towards the borders and some hunting. He would do his best to make sure no one died, and if anyone had too well he'd fit that bill. He also wanted to fit the caches with more meat and hope that they could find enough game to make sure that this Paarthunax and her pups had some warm food in their bellies.