Blacktail Deer Plateau a bruise upon the silent moon

@dante. set for tomorrow evening

dante's wrath would be well-warranted, but lasher had received an explanation. a poor one, and one which was riddled with vagueness, but one all the same. it explained finley's sadness that night, her odd behaviour, and fox's vengefulness -- though not her inane and rabid attacks of all who came to the borders. and the more he mused, the more questions were uncovered. peregrine had claimed a stranger attempted to kill wildfire, then took the blame upon himself for what had transpired. 

had one of his own children been attacked by a rogue, lasher would have called the pack and slain the beast then. a stranger had no bearing on the whims of the plateau -- why would peregrine blame himself, if it was a mere twist of fate? and then there was the matter of junior, about whom saena had been quite worried.

it was altogether fathomable that the flighty girl had simply gone on her way, but lasher recalled she had come to pay her goodbyes before the last departure. he fretted for her also, and the weight of his own worries caused great weariness to put its stamp upon his countenance.

he entered the lands and called immediately for his leader, seeing no reason to prolong the inevitable. surely dante, blue willow, and osprey knew he had gone away -- they were intelligent enough to guess where he had taken himself. all but swaying with sudden tiredness, lasher straightened and awaited dante. 

Dante had noticed Lasher's disappearance and his irritation was born as much from worry as the disregard of his wishes. He had asked for time to figure out a course (or I'm assuming he will), and it was time it seemed Lasher could not give for some reason. Not only had he ignored that request (order, more like), but he had chosen to go alone. An action the alpha definitely would not have allowed.

When the beta announced his return, Dante heaved a sigh of relief. Immediately he went to meet him, knowing that repercussions would have to be made but just thankful he sounded unharmed. This was confirmed when he set sights on a tired, but whole, Lasher near the borders.

He stopped, expectant air about him as he awaited an explanation. His expression made it clear that he was not pleased, although far from true anger. He was curious to hear what the beta had found.

in true prompt form, dante arrived, and lasher cast himself down before the silver-eyed male. "forgive me," he said softly, but let his eyes rest upon the other's paws. "i went to see peregrine. he told me to leave and never return, and that i should pass this message unto the other wolves of this pack. a stranger attacked one of their children, and so fox has seen fit to set the borders closed to all who are not redhawk."

then he claimed it was his fault that his child had almost been slain; he deemed us all outsiders. he does not care about saena, nor junior." lasher paused, grief slipping into his tired features. "previously, on a different night, before all of this transpired, i had been beside the lake and spoke with finley. she wept -- finley does not do such things. but she was vague regarding it. perhaps that was the night the babe had been almost killed."

before both of these mentioned occasions, i did go unto redtail rise, to see how saena fared. junior had been there as a subordinate, but had disappeared again." he sighed. "i believe these things are related, but i do not know how." 

falling silent, lasher lay his cheek against the earth, and awaited dante's punishment.

Dante's ears pinned back at the news Lasher delivered, any annoyance he might have felt towards him disappating into the anger that rose once more towards Peregrine. The other alpha had been so angry when Dante requested similar... and just as the order was rescinded, suddenly he was paying them back in kind? Because a random stranger attacked a pup? Did he truly think any of his former family would stoop so low as to harm a child, especially when they had children of their own?

It made no sense. Peregrine's blame of himself was warranted and Dante could understand it. He would feel the same were he in his place, for he had allowed a threat to harm his child through negligence. But to allow Saena to be torn so without a single fucking word of explanation. She was his daughter too, for gods' sake, and it was his own damn fault they had been so estranged. Now it seemed he was done trying.

He hadn't put much credence into Junior and Saena's fear of replacement until now, having passed them off as the insecurities of the young. But this was a far cry from the Peregrine who had looked upon those pups with such doting parentage in the Plateau less than a year ago.

"Then we will heed their wishes." He looked at Lasher, his tone heavy, but wondering if he would recieve argument. "They are not worth it, especially not if they think so little of any who are not their own. Obviously paranoia is now law." The news of Junior was more troubling, for he was now dismissing Redhawk from his thoughts. So long as their savage fear kept clear of the plateau, let them have their isolation.

"I cannot think Junior would have just left, not so soon and not without telling Saena." Even when the rest had thought her gone, Junior had returned to tell her sister of her new pack. There was no way she would bail without reason and explanation. "Something is wrong." He did not necessarily draw a connection between the two issues, but his worry was piqued. Had she stumbled into trouble on one of her frequent wanderings?

dante spoke after some time, and lasher lifted himself slowly to his paws, wondering if the silver-eyed man's wrath would come later. he listened to the man's heavy words, and nodded -- he would not go there again, and neither would any member of his family. despite the bittersweet nature of the last night he had spent in the panther's arms, peregrine was now a vile enemy, for his uncaring dismissal of the family he retained at the plateau, as well as his own daughter's injuries, poisoned lasher against him. "it seems that once fox provided him with children, he decided his first litter was worth nothing to him."

"very wrong," he nodded, in response to dante's final words. "irrationality follows fox; she is birthed from it, and now she has a hold upon peregrine very unlikely to break. i saw it from the beginning." but while he loathed the fireflame, he would not claim that she was solely responsible -- the panther had a great influence in the caldera as her mate and co-leader. he could have stopped the attack upon saena, but did nothing.

lasher fell silent then, jaw tensed with trepidation and worry. 

He acknowledged Lasher's opinion and met it with agreement, though silent. He couldn't imagine forgetting a child so easily as Peregrine had relinquished his first litter, for that was how he saw it now. True the man had not sent them away... But neither had he asked them to join him, or sought them out personally. Not during their stay in the plateau at least. He had allowed them to feel worthless, cast aside. And now he had severed the bond for good. Dante doubted the father would ever see Saena again, and he was now one hundred percent in her court.

For one with no children, his judgements were harsh. Yet still he felt them justified.

"They can do us no harm, so long as they do not let their violence bleed far beyond their borders." It was sometimes a short jump from being ruled by instinct to being overcome by it, and he prayed this would not be the case. Mars protect them if it was, if Peregrine or Fox determined they were an active threat despite the distance. At one time he had thought it impossible, but now he was not so assured.

"And if they do not, we will meet them as they would meet us." A growl was suppressed behind these... violence still rode in his blood despite the years stamping it out. One thing from his youth he still carried... Family first. Whatever family you may choose to claim, a threat to blood was a threat to be eliminated. He might no longer wish to take a life, the stains of too many already burdened upon his soul, but he would not balk in protecting his own.

dante had not yet announced his punishment for taltos -- was there to be one? unsure of his apprehension, the beta shook aside the thoughts and gathered himself, giving the cold gaze of the other wolf a firm nod. he would not approach the caldera again, and bare his teeth in service of the plateau if fox sought to overstep her boundaries. peregrine had no factor in this; he had removed himself from sanity, in lasher's mind, and therefore was demoted as a beast of no note.

"what shall we do if saena is unable to return home for some time?" the ecru man asked after a moment. a runner would be needed -- but what would the message be? and lasher found he trusted no wolf. would the creatures of the rise, and the beasts saena had presumably left in command, be prevailed upon not to stage a coup in her absence?

The problem hadn't been at the forefront of the alpha's thoughts - the idea of Saena's rank was a new one - but once presented, it was one that begged asking. Would her new claim hold, or would those she gathered turn if no word was heard? Or even despite word?

"Doubtless a message will need sent. We can ask Saena what she wishes said. I don't want to cause any alarm or issues for her." It was her perrogative now how things were handled when it came to her own pack. "Hopefully she will be fit soon." For her own sake.

He wasn't sure who would deliver such a message, and wouldn't be opposed to going himself. But he also wasn't against allowing Saena to choose, so long as the chosen agreed and was not needed here. She would know who would be best recieved. "We shall have to speak with her about it."

He had pushed back his slight feelings of betrayal at the beta's dismissal of his request, but though they lay dormant, they were not entirely forgotten. Now he sighed, resigned. "I am going to allow this to go, this time, since fortunately nothing was harmed and honestly, I need you right now Lasher. But please, next time, talk to me? I like to think of myself as somewhat reasonable and at least mildly approachable." There was a slight note of hurt in his tone, willingly shown. He had worried heavily, and the beta was a trusted friend. He was doubly upset by the fact that Lasher had felt the need to go behind his back rather than explain his reasonings for wishing to go. He would not force the issue this time, but he needed wolves at his side that he could trust. And it was trust that Lasher had broken.

lasher nodded again. the years were settling upon him -- he did not think that a trek of that magnitude would be so kind to him in succession, but if dante wished it he would depart immediately. yet the silver-eyed male did not speak of it -- he addressed the dread roiling in the beta's belly, and taltos straightened beneath his quietly firm words, sensing the hurt behind them.

"indeed you are, and again i am sorry." he was hardpressed to prove himself to dante again, to assuage the hurt there. he had not wished for the alpha to worry, but perhaps it was ineveitable, given the circumstances. silently, he moved his gaze to dante's face, and then to the loam between their paws, awaiting his leader's command or dismissal.

There was really nothing more to be done here, not for a time at least. He did believe that this time, Lasher would remain apart, as he showed no desire to do elsewise. He could only hope that next time, he would be approached first.

Though miffed, he could hardly remain angry at Lasher in any real capacity. So as he rose to leave, he softened again. "I'm glad you are alright. And I'm sorry. I know that couldn't have been an easy trip." He did not know of Lasher and Peregrine's reunion only a short time before, but he did know tjay there was likely some vestige of affection still there. The way the Beta spoke now, though, that seemed to have shattered. Dante did not regret this for Peregrine's sake, but he did for Lasher's. The man deserved better than that, and the entire situation was displeasing.

"If you have anything else you wish to talk about, I'll be at the borders. Just in case." He still halfway expected one of Saena's bunch to pop up, or one of the Caldera even, as a return for the frequent visitors they had seen in recent times. Now was no time to leave things to chance.

wrap up w one more post from you? <3

lasher nodded. dante would need time in which to recover his thoughts. while the trek to the caldera had been wrought with emotion, his duty was unto the plateau, and he would process his own musings at a later date. "i will do a patrol." he answered, gathering himself to his paws and shaking out his dark ruff.

eyes lingered upon dante's for a moment; he wished to comfort the silvery male, but did not wish to act disrespectfully of their mutual situation.

He'd been preparing to leave when Lasher proffered that he would go, and Dante stepped back with a nod. He would give him the patrol, and would instead perhaps take a hunt. He did not notice the lingering look, and not being one to often seek the comfort of touch, departed without. He was not adverse, but nor did he actively engage except in very rare circumstance.

Perhaps he would catch something for Saena and Blue Willow, and take it by to check up. The act would make him feel better, doubtless, and they would probably appreciate the fresh prey. With that goal now in mind, he quickened, trotting to disappear in the shadows of the trees.