The Sentinels corrupt

AW.. but maybe @Aria?

He was restless as the sun began to drift to the horizon edge, his bright eyes scanning out toward the direction of the ocean. He could not see it from here, but the lingering taste of sea salt was certainly in the air, and for a moment, the young male felt a pang of regret for Blacktail Deer Plateau’s emptiness. Life had somehow felt simpler there – a time when both of his parents had been alive, and when the pack’s nature had not been questioned.
 
He had kept to himself for the past day, seeking solace with his thoughts as he considered his future. He longed for the wisdom of Lasher, and at one point, considered visiting the gravesite of his father.. but somehow, now believing his father would have held nothing but disappointment or contempt for his actions, the swarthy Mayfair could not.
 
Instead, he sat in silence, watching the sun sink further down as the sky glowed purple and orange.

yes yes yes pls

While Constantine sat and contemplated all his past actions, Aria walked and contemplated all her future actions. What would she do next? what would the pack think? how would they react? Maybe it'd go worse than her gentle nudge towards self-defense-- because apparently being able to defend themselves mocked Lasher's death-- if only. Deirdre spoke to her like she was the child, and like she'd just taken a shit on her father's grave... as if. 

The whole pack wasn't against her, if anything they were mostly support-- but it didn't feel like it. To Aria, the whole pack hated her and loathed that she was the alpha. She was too progressive, trying to grow away from one thing and branch to multiple things. This pack no longer felt like home.

As she walked she came across Constantine, one of the only wolves in Donnelaith that seemed to back up her actions. She gave a huge sigh of relief when she saw him, making her way towards him quickly-- letting out a low chuff to alert him of her arrival. She sat beside him, had he not shooed her away, and gave him a gentle nudge to the cheek after seeing his state. "Donnelaith is not the pack I joined in December," she murmurs softly to him, wondering if he was thinking about the same thing.

He felt her presence before he saw her – though his muzzle would tip back to catch view of her pale fur. There were many white-furred she-wolves within Donnelaith – but Aria held herself very differently from Tansea, or even Deirdre. She was a proud creature, regal, certainly.. but somehow, he could not help but believe there was something frail about her. Uncertain.
 
He would keep these thoughts to himself – the two had not talked much since he escorted Rowan from the lands, and their quick trip to the Bay. She crept up to his side, and he welcomed her with a tip of his snout, his own muzzle lifting then to touch her gingerly upon her cheek.
 
Her words seemed to draw upon his own thoughts, and he released a soft sigh, his ears cupping back to his skull. “Nor is it the pack I remember,” he returned quietly. Even when Lasher had been alive only months before, something had changed – and he could not consider it being only from Aria’s new ruling. “There was never a time I can recall that my father felt the art of self defense or battle were something unwelcomed in to his home. He was a peaceful man, but he believed all skills should be honed, from what I recall. He even encouraged me when I was younger to spar with Dante.” And so he was left to question now – had Lasher changed during his time away.. or was Deirdre becoming confused with her version of Donnelaith, and what the pack had stood for during its prosperous times.

As he spoke, a question arose from the settled confusion and ached to be set free-- but she held her tongue, afraid that it would not be the right decision, or moment, even. She nods along with him instead, thinking back to the Dante that she had once known-- what she'd considered his prime. Although he had been a strong ruler once, her image of Dante was that of a wise advisor, his strength in other areas. "I sparred with Dante as well," she murmurs, though not by Lasher's suggestion. "And your father was an excellent warrior when need be," she adds. Though he didn't train specifically to be one, she'd seem him fight. He was fearless and courageous, two skills that not every wolf had. 

She thought briefly to the moment that the white woman had attacked Donnelaith, with her bear-like friend. How hard all of Donnelaith fought, and how few of those wolves remained. Each in their turn had retired to the back of the pack, or disappeared from the borders-- it was how the world worked.

"I know I've asked you this before..." she murmurs, her voice somewhat quieter than before. "And I know it didn't go well but... what do you think we need to do?" Aria asks, white gaze shifting towards him with what would be a mixture of stress, depression, and flat out defeat.

She reiterated his words, only further confusing him – Deirdre clearly had been raised very differently then him, and in that moment, the dark wolf would have given anything to have his father at his side right now – to direct him, to guide him.. hell, to make him understand.
 
Aria pulled him from this thought, and as he recalls her frustration at the meeting, and the recent events that had now placed them both here, he gives a shake of his muzzle. “Rowan snuck away in the middle of the night before we even began heading to Silver Creek. I don’t know where she went – I trailed her until she started skirting around Donnelaith and then I gave up on her. She clearly didn’t want my help.” He paused then, his fiery eyes drifting over to her pale form. “So I made the mistake of going to the Creek to inform Casmir of what happened here – but apparently he already knew, and he basically spat in my face. Did you know that Rowan even told him and Deirdre before she bothered to tell me or @Eilidh?” He snorted then, his shoulders feeling heavy in that moment. He felt bad for what has transpired, -- the thought that she truly was carrying his future siblings bothered him. But she had given him no reason to trust her, and so he placed that trust solely upon Aria in that moment.
 
“I don’t know what to do now. Deirdre lives and breathes this forest. She wants nothing more than to step in to leadership one day.” Whether he believed she was ready or not was a moot point – he thought her naïve, but that did not make him believe she would be a poor leader. “I want you to know I will support her in anything she chooses – it’s not  that I don’t support you, or think you’re leading us astray… But she’s all I have left, Aria, and her happiness means everything.” He didn’t know what to expect from her in that regard – but he wanted to be honest. He would not push Deirdre’s dream away for anyone – not when the past months had been so dreary for them all. “But you and I – I think we hold the same opinion on a lot of matters. I just wish I knew what I will do with myself come the day Deirdre’s dream becomes a reality..” He wasn’t sure Donnelaith would be able to house him anymore. Or even if it should.

Constantine talks about Rowan, and brief guilt floods her head. Maybe it wasn't that big a deal, but Casmir seemed to think so-- and Casmir's opinion means a lot to her. Constantine still seemed to agree with her, and his story only further confuses her. She preaches so loudly about wanting to be surrounded by family but... she had pushed one away-- all for the sake of pride? she could only assume. 

A gentle shrug is allowed from her slumped shoulders, unable to give him any answers to his predicament. "Partially my fault, he came after you had left-- demanding to see Rowan as well as all of you," she tells him, pearly gaze clouded, stuck to the ground. All of you meant clearly the Mayfair clan, she didn't feel the need to elaborate.

Her ears lower slightly as he speaks, but her face doesn't change. She is not surprised by what he says-- not even disappointed. It was a family thing-- stick by one another through thick and thin. The facts were clear, she was not family, and whatever family she had left was no longer here by her side. The Mayfair's stuck together, and she could never really chastise them for that. Sort of ironic though, how she had chased off Rowan... but that was another story.

"When Deirdre is of age, I am leaving Donnelaith," she says, her voice unwavering and icy eyes raising towards him. "It is not the pack I knew when I joined, and I am not the right fit to lead it. It belongs to Mayfairs, and I am not a Mayfair." With a flick of her ears and a quick purse of her lips, she speaks again. "I want you to be my beta-- as long as I'm here. I may have let Lasher down-- whatever visions of a sanctuary he had I broke-- but together you and Deirdre will do wonderful things." It was not her original question to ask Constantine, but it was one that was more fair to him. Mayfairs stuck together.

He had known Casmir had heard the tale from Aria – his twin had said so, though the other Mayfair also had plenty else to say. “Well, he’s made it very clear that he doesn’t consider me family anymore,” he noted, feeling the hollowness in his voice slip in to an ache in his throat. The hurt stemmed more from his brother’s willingness to abolish their relationship entirely based on the fact they had fought – apparently, Casmir believed Constantine’s deeds to be worthy enough of being disowned.
 
It hardened him in a sense – only seeming to reiterate to him that he did not belong here. Deirdre had spoken as such, indirectly and without knowing such at the meeting. It was only when Aria wilted further at his words that he felt a sense of dread – that every relationship he had mended or built was beginning to crumble.
 
And then she spoke of leaving. His own ears fell to his skull, and with his pumpkin eyes cast upon her, the dark wolf tentatively nudged toward her cheek, taking in the scent of what he felt was his only friend right now – Eilidh, Deirdre.. he loved them dearly. But Deirdre had already not accepted him for who he was, and Eilidh could not be burdened with him now. Not when her own world had fallen apart.
 
“My father would not have put you in your position if he hadn’t thought you deserved it. I do not know if we let Lasher down – I don’t know. But I do know that even after everything.. I do not regret the decision for asking Rowan to leave. I don’t think she can be trusted.” He paused then, pulling back as he studied her, conflicted at her offer for the position of Beta. “Deirdre has a vision for this place – I do not know if it matches my father’s, but I believe it was how he raised her. When she’s of age to take over.. let’s leave together. We’ll claim lands somewhere not too far from here – if she needs us, we can be there.. But it can be a place where we both belong.” He never would have considered a day he would have broke away from his family in order to be himself – but here he stood, awaiting the answer of a pretty girl, who he believed felt exactly as conflicted and lost he did.

Rowan was her biggest mistake-- she felt, at least. It was reassuring to find someone who believed whole-heartedly in that decision-- even if they too weren't sure if it was right. A small smile escapes onto her dulled features, but it falls once more as she finishes her plan. Constantine had tried to comfort her, it seemed, his cold nose pressing against her cheek, but his shock drew him further away, causing her heart to flinch in fear. This was always where it went south-- always where she had to back out of her plans because whoever she told thought they were ridiculous. 

It was weird, then, when the dark boy gave words of encouragement, rather than scolding her. He agreed-- and offered to go with... go together. It was the first time in a long time she'd heard exactly what she'd wanted to hear, and her spirits soared, leaving her tail to tap a handful of times against the earth. "Really?" she says quietly. "You mean that?" she asks, a bit of childish hope slipping from her tongue. Without waiting for an answer, fearful he'd change his mind, she rushes towards him, burying her face in his shoulder briefly, relief still flooding through her entire body. "We will stay close," she murmurs, almost as a reminder to herself. Donnelaith will not go without another Mayfair too far off.

There was a myriad of emotions that ran through him in that moment – excitement that he had finally taken a step toward the course of his life since his father’s death, and nervousness – fear that his words would further hurt Deirdre or Eilidh, and that they would mistake his reason as simply leaving them behind.
 
But Aria’s elation encouraged him, and his own tail waved through the air with a hint of contentment – the first in many tiring days, and as she embraced him, the male tipped his muzzle down to bury his own nose in the softness of her fur, knowing in that moment that he could make his sister’s see that neither of them were going far. They would always be within reach. “We can scout out territories soon – inform Deirdre of our intentions. She might be hurt – but I think it will be best for everyone.”

"I think it will be okay," Aria says softly. She too knows that leaving behind Deirdre would be a struggle on it's own-- but surely they would understand that they would never go too far. They would never truly desert the pack. She pulls away, finding the males gaze for a few heartbeats and studying the orange of his eyes. "There's a plateau southeast of here..." she says quietly, remembering the lake fondly. "I think it would be a good place-- if you want to look at it with me. We could head down that way." Her offer hangs for a moment, part of her hoping the plateau had not been claimed. Perhaps it could be her home-- not just a place to go when things got rough. But a new homes-- to start a new life, a new family, even. "Should we tell her before we scout?" she then asks, hoping to clarify. 

Aria mentions a plateau, and he offers a nod in agreement – he held no preference to where they settled, spare that it would not be too far from their family. Aria might not have considered herself a Mayfair, but he knew the Mayfair’s considered her just as much as one of them – much like they did with Dante and Osprey.
 
“We can take a look. But let’s find Deirdre first – I want to be up front with her. Assure her.” He tipped his muzzle slightly, studying Aria as he felt worry about the next news they would give his pale sister – would she push him away as Casmir had done? He could not imagine so – she didn’t have a malicious bone in her entire body. But that did not mean she would understand – nor did it mean she would not be hurt, which would he knew would be worse than any other reaction the two could receive.

She nods thoughtfully, tail flicking. "Okay..." she murmurs, glancing up at him with concern. She can see his own worries spread across his face, and --feeling rather reassured herself-- is pained to see him like this again. Swiftly, she touches her nose to his jawline. "She will understand," she murmurs softly against his fur. "We will make sure she understands." 

Want to start a new thread or summon Deirdre to this one? Good with either or!

“Let’s go,” he murmurs, giving her a nod before giving one last nudge to her cheek. With that, the Mayfair rises, shaking his dark pelt before he begins to lope forward, his nose now tipping up to see if he could catch Deirdre’s scent. He was uncertain where she would be, but the girl was not usually far from Donnelaith, and so he began to lead the way.

for simplicity sake i can start a new one :o

She nods, standing with him and moving close beside him. They would find her. She would understand. It would all be okay.