Redtail Rise He works at Mr. Cacciatore’s down on Sullivan Street

Lilia knew life to be cruel, but cruelty and pain were things she could tolerate. Injustice was not something that sat with her well and so she took some time to calm herself down in the wake of the announcement. 

Nepotism had never tasted so foul. 

She couldn’t know why @Avicus had chosen to deny her the rank that she had earned, only to bestow it upon @Relic who took it willingly in spite of having only weeks prior accepted Lilia in the role of Berserkr. 

She took it to mean that Wealda lacked confidence in her. And that Relic lacked the confidence to challenge her, but would happily sup off his mother’s teat like a little pup and take the rank he hadn’t wanted to begin with. It was a coward’s ascension, which went against the principle of being Berserkr.

She called forth the witnesses who had seen her ascend before- @Redd, @Ancelin, @Masquerade and importantly, Augur as well. The invite was extended as well to @New Snow who might take an interest in submitting her opinion too. She was like a mother to Lilia, who now sought her confidence. 

She called them together to make known her discontent, to defend the role she had rightfully been given by the presiding leader at the time, even if it meant spurning the veto exercised by their Wealda.

ancelin was irritated, enraged. he left off his hunt for relic, still seeing the value in adding no tension to the already fraught ranks. and so he hunted. he stalked. he killed things along the border, but no bloodshed assuaged the hunger in him.
when lilia called, ancelin came, stiff-legged and possessive. he growled, flagging his plume high as emblematic of his support for her; he pushed his body against her own and licked through her guard hairs before turning to face the others.
smouldering; silent; his support was clear. ancelin waited for the others to throw in their lot.

She had thought that Wolverine had come to lead, through the show of Mountain Boulder, who had acted out the scene with her before their cubs in a playful tussle that had plenty of meaning. New Snow understood; New Snow had felt pride. So it was strange to hear the call of Red Woman, elevating another. But New Snow presumed it had occurred in a way that most did; another rank scuffle.

It was not uncommon, and so New Snow was unbothered by it. While she worried after Wolverine, who was as a daughter to her, New Snow knew she was as strong as she was fierce. And if she were truly hurting, Wolverine would come to say hello. For her own part, New Snow did not range far from her cubs; with the tensions what they were, New Snow knew how sometimes the young could get involved in unfortunate ways.

And she and Red Woman raised their brood near enough to one another where it felt unwise to wander far, now.

She heard the call of her daughter. New Snow listened, ears pricked, and noted that the call was not so far from the rendezvous. She waited for Mountain Boulders return from his hunt to heed it, keeping their cubs between them. But as they came closer, New Snow had the sense that something was awry. She sniffed, and looked around for danger, peering to Mountain Boulder before then looking to Wolverine with her soft eyes, hardened only by the umbrella of their maternal edge, which Wolverine herself too stood beneath.

New Snow loosed a grumble that seemed to ask, what is wrong?

it was a confusing time.

augur showed with new snow; he brushed her flank with his and glanced around at the two young wolves.

sun jaw had not come.

he snorted and pawed at the earth restlessly, shaking out his ruff; he looked to wolverine and found her eyes fro a briefest moment.

he must challenge.

I think it's just us. Relic, Redd and Masque are staying out of it. The kids are welcome to pop in of course if they would like to!

She grumbled and bared her teeth when Ancelin came to her side, charged by the voltage of his overflowing energy. Her nerves vibrated on a dissonant chord and while she didn't shake or tremble, she felt the urge to grab something and break it into pieces with her teeth. They shared a moment together while he preened her fur as it lifted from her skin. She felt her confidence rise, though she looked about wildly nonetheless. 

She might have burned like an out-of-control wildfire had it been just the two of them to address Relic- but when New Snow and Augur came, some of her ire was tempered. It flickered still, fighting like flames in a drizzle of summer rain, threatening to become a fathomless deluge of heat and light at any moment should she destabilize. The Ulfr and his mate were cool, hard earth, and like two marvellous pieces of clay pottery, they seemed capable of not only weathering the heat of her malcontent, growing stronger by it, even. 

New Snow seemed confused; Lilia tilted her chin and exhaled through clenched teeth to indicate a bid for the rank of Berserkr once more, if necessary- but that her patience was limited. Augur, too, seemed restless. She caught his glance and at last, she frowned and pursed her lips together.

There was a chance Relic was out of earshot. "If he doeth not come," She breathed, "I will find him." She said. She couldn't help but feel sour that he had not run, hasty to meet her summons- she'd been looking forward to the chance to fight, and could think of few opponents more worthy than him. Still, she had to accept the fact that perhaps just now wasn't the time. 

The moment felt anti-climactic. It felt as though the urgency had passed. She had to wonder about how she might react if he showed up in an hour, drifting in from having heard just the bare whisper of her voice from kilometers away. The tempest of her ambition would have to keep its strength if she hoped to defeat him, so she sat, trying not to glower, and leaned lightly into Ancelin's shoulder, seeking some condolence for her disappointment.

<3

anti-climactic; yes. ancelin growled in frustration. "i'll help you." how dare relic treat him like fuck all and then take the position out from under lilia? hadn't they lived together, after all?
that thought did infuriate him further; not for the first time did ancelin think about how he'd missed out on the birthright of the rise due to his own actions, and maybe that was why he and lilia would never be chosen. the boy lashed out inside himself; he wanted even, crazily, to snap at augur.
he rumbled and in imitation of the man and his mate, instead stood poised alongside the one they silently called wolverine.
to lilia he belonged, with all his anger, his derangements, his obsession. if she was not supported in her claim, then ancelin no longer supported redtail.

New Snow watched the faces around her, and soon enough she got the gist. Licking her chops, New Snow shook the tension out from her furs and sent dirt and dust flying. Now knowing her own cubs weren’t in imminent danger, New Snow drew nearer to Wolverine to exchange scents with her.

Indeed, no scent of the one that had been elevated; New Snow looked to Mountain Boulder and huffed her discontent, and saw and heard from him his answer. 

Yes, he must challenge; New Snow turned to look to Wolverine, knowing she understood. 

And the one with her, her partner? New Snow saw the way he stood beside her, and her eyes were alight as they swung toward Wolverine with approval. New Snow did not know his heart, but she saw in him a strong spirit. 

He was her family, then, as Wolverine was her daughter; New Snow drifted nearer to him to bump her own hip against his, rumbling contentedly. She crooned a note of congratulations, moving back to Mountain Boulder and their daughters. 

Perhaps they would go to search now, but she could not go with them. If they wished to linger for a time, New Snow would permit them—she slid into a playbow, and snapped impishly at the two tiny bodies with them who were quick to dive beneath their father for protection!

the boy. the berserkr.

wolverine.

augur did not like any of it.

he stepped forward to brush breath against the young she-wolf's own.

he accepted what she had done.

and he too believed the role must be won in victory. she had done this, though he remained fond of sun jaw.

a rumble, to soothe the small gathering.

When she registered the curiosity of New Snow's gaze, she didn't pull away from Ancelin but smiled, proudly. Let them see, she thought- so they might know that she and Ancelin had claimed each other. It was a small piece of good news in a time of instability. At least amid the two pairs of wolves, things seemed to be growing stronger. She appreciated New Snow's gesture, which made her feel as though her relationship with Ancelin was welcome and treasured. 

Relic could wait; she knew that those who were present had acknowledged her once as Berserkr- and that they would again, as soon as the circumstances would permit. New Snow turned her attention to her two children, and Lilia nuzzled Ancelin's shoulder before she moved forward. 

They could enjoy a moment of peace- and perhaps a bit of play as well. Like Augur, Lilia had learned to embrace a softer side of herself- the side that enjoyed and interacted with the family she sought so dearly to protect.

ancelin felt settled then. somehow being open with lilia had dissuaded him from giving into their — well, his — initial want.
and he looked to new snow now, offering a more level expression than perhaps he had. there was motherhood in her, something ancelin deeply craved despite the fact he would not admit it.
a bounce; a boof; he fell into a playbow that invited one or all of them to chase him up the slopes toward the burned place, focused upon lilia in particular.

new snow dispelled the tension.

augur accepted the mateship of the young wolves.

they were not too youthful to know their own minds, but skin tooth had not yet proven himself as a man to his intended mate.

and spring would draw them from all around. skin tooth would be tested. perhaps in the end he would not be the choice of wolverine after all.

this was only instinctual curiosity for the man, who nipped playfully at his little pups, rousing them to leap and prance toward their mother as skin tooth romped away.

<3

She still felt slightly deflated by Relic's absence, but she couldn't dwell on it. Something else had been gained, in the moment of tenderness she had shared with Ancelin for the first time in front of other wolves. They had chosen each other, and perhaps only the two of them would know the dark secret they shared, the lust and bond that knit them together as a pair of similar beings. Both capable of being seduced by great darkness, while remaining light-hearted all the same. 

When Ancelin bounded away, she went after him. Today would not be the day to risk bloodshed and upheaval- but she knew now that she had announced her will, and that Ancelin would not shy away from her touch in front of others. For one day, that would be enough.