Sun Mote Copse Shaking nations.

With Sugar back in the fold, Towhee hadn't left the copse in days, returning to her regularly scheduled patrols. During those long hours when she circled the territory, she tended to get lost in her thoughts. Today was no exception. Thick, wet snowflakes drifted around her face as she plodded along, her orange gaze a little glassy as she caught herself wondering once more, Whose blood? What had happened to Sugar during those two weeks she'd been gone?

Deciding to go check on the little girl who'd looked after her so well during her own trials and tribulations, the mercenary sought out a fresh scent trail and tracked it. When she found Sugar asleep beneath an evergreen (and a tumble of snow), she opted not to wake her. Towhee watched her sleep a moment, a spindrift of silver escaping her as she heaved a sigh.

Towhee turned and began walking, aimlessly at first, before deciding to seek out the pack's Sovereign. As she prepared to track down @Wraen now, she caught herself reflecting on her recent conversation with Hydra. Absently, she dropped her muzzle and brushed it through the clumps of snow, trying to tease out a trail.

Wraen had scouted the surrounding areas of the copse from morning to afternoon. She had chased a hare, found tracks left by smaller predators and even attempted to fish out rodents from underneath the cover of snow. But the grand total was that she had had plenty of activity, but not much gain. More than once her thoughts returned to the coast, hoping that they might be lucky a second time and find just as a bountiful prize. But ever since Sugar Glider had disappeared (and returned), Wraen was not sure, if taking a big group far away from the pack was such a good idea. Not yet anyway. 

When Towhee finally tracked down Wraen, the Sovereign had found a comfy hollow, where she had dug a bed in the snow and was fast asleep. With little food to nourish her body, her stamina had decreased.

When she came across Wraen tucked into a cozy hollow, fast asleep, Towhee hesitated. She didn't want to interrupt the Sovereign's nap time any more than she had Sugar's, though in between deciding to look for Wraen and actually finding her, the mercenary had come up with a pressing question she really wanted to ask. Actually, it was more like an offer she wanted to make. She licked her lips and deliberated for a few seconds before deciding to go ahead and rouse the leader. Maybe once everything was said and done, she could go back to her well-deserved rest, with Towhee happy to pick up the slack.

"Hey, Wraen?" Towhee said softly, she thought. In reality, she was speaking at a regular volume, plenty loud enough to stir someone from slumber. "Wraen?" She pawed a little closer and, as she did so, she noticed how absolutely exhausted the Sovereign looked, even while asleep.

Towhee's voice was like a nasty alarm-clock. Wraen shuddered, her eyes snapped open and she stared in her cousin's eyes directly. It took a while (few blinks and a huge yawn) for her to fully comprehend that nothing serious was going on and that the deaf she-wolf had no idea, how loud she had spoken. 

"Yup?" Wraen asked, pulling herself up to a sitting position and lifting her muzzle up to stretch her stiff neck and back, finishing the exercise with a shake of her fur and another yawn. The Sovereign was all attention, though she was still wrapped in that mellow fuzzy feeling people have, when they are tired and have not slept enough.

She had a split second to regret her decision before Wraen's eyes opened. She looked absolutely jarred and Towhee felt even worse. She should've left the Sovereign to her rest, found her again later... but it was done now and the mercenary decided to cut straight to the chase so as not to waste the woman's time.

"Sorry to wake you," Towhee apologized. "You look wiped. I was hoping I could help with that." She paused, giving the sleepy Wraen a moment to process that, before proceeding. "I wanted to offer myself as a potential leader, if you think you could use the help. Or perhaps I could take another spot on your council." She knew there was room for another honoree. "Leading is one of my strengths and I want to give back to you and this pack. It's entirely your call," of course, "I just wanted to put the offer out there," Towhee finished with a wave of her tail.

Towhee's offer did not come as a surprise to Wraen. Her cousin was an ambitious wolf with a leadership experience, one could not keep her in the subordinate ranks for long. Sooner or later she would strive for more. Yet... the Sovereign was in no haste to say "yes" right away. Something deterred her and she wanted to find out "why" first. 

"When your sister founded this pack on of the ideas of letting people leave easily, if they wished to do so. While I have been true to it and find it right, I have been in no hurry to fill the rank of my second in command," she spoke. "Because this person would be an exception to that rule. I would like to have someone by my side that I could rely on, trust and to whom this pack meant as much as it does for me," she explained. "More importantly, who wanted to contribute not just for a while or until a better opportunity comes their way."

"So, tell me first - what are your long-term plans, Towhee?" she had been a leader before and had created her own pack as well. One of the reasons, why Wraen had not offered any spot on the council for the Redhawk girl, was the ambiguity of her future.

The Sovereign's face gave away nothing as she took in Towhee's offer. The mercenary shifted her weight, still feeling regret for waking Wraen for this. It would be much more ideal for the leader to be fully awake for this particular conversation. Towhee bit back a sigh but gave herself a solid inward kick.

When Wraen spoke, she mentioned Wildfire's original vision for the pack. Towhee's brow furrowed a little. She understood why her sister would adopt such an approach, if only to put a fresher perspective on the inevitable: wolves came and went. Most left eventually. Her stomach tightened as she thought of everyone who'd ever left her, for one reason or another. Would treating it lightly make it somehow hurt less?

"Thing is," she began thoughtfully after a few moments of ponderous silence, "I don't have any plans. I don't intend to take a mate or have children." She was still pretty certain she couldn't, though that felt like oversharing at the moment. "So my life is dedicated to my pack. Sure, I didn't choose to come here." Ideally, she would've lived out her days in Asterism Grove. Alas... "But I do choose to stay. And as long as I have a choice in the matter, I won't be going anywhere."

"You can, if you wish so," Wraen replied and clarified, "mate and children that is - we have room." Because there was no one in the pack, who was planning family for the next season. Eljay did not seem a likely candidate, Niamh had full paws with one, rowdy son without wishing to burden herself with another one, and the patriarch and matriarch of Blackthorn family had age visibly over the last few months. She had no mate and that left Towhee with options. 

"We need an army, Towhee," Wraen told her next. "We have been lucky so far - we do not have enemies, we do not have competition here. But these things are not constant in life," she said and thought about Moonspear. There was a mountain between them and the copse, but nothing would stop Hydra and her pack raid far away from home. "If it ever came to conflict, I would not wish us to speak from a position of weakness."

Before Towhee could think of what to say about Wraen's invitation, how much to share with her, the Sovereign moved on to mention an army. The two topics segued in the former Kilonova's mind and she couldn't help but crack a smile and huff a laugh.

"Are you saying I should do my part to breed and raise up an army?" she quipped, then shook her head lightly, orange eyes still bright. "I have no interest in romance and no aspirations to build a family," Towhee clarified. The first part was absolutely the truth, while the latter bit was really out of her hands. "I'm happy with what I have." She thought primarily of Fen, though of course there was room for the likes of Sundance and Dorea there too, as well as those absent from her life now.

Growing a little more serious now, she contemplated what Wraen said. "I still rue the day Raven packed up and left," was her initial response. "I liked it when there was three of us, sister packs, I mean. We felt... untouchable. I miss that. So I think we're on the same page..." But her voice trailed off tellingly before she questioned, "Did you have something specific in mind though? I'm an experienced mercenary: a master guardian and warrior. I'm not a tactician, though I could always become one." What real use was a chronicler anyhow?

Wraen cracked a grin at Towhee's suggestion. If they were to act upon it, then combined efforts of her, her cousin, Niamh and, perhaps, Eljay, if he managed to woo enough laides, they could produce an army. But remembering, how hard it had been to raise 8 puppies (and that job was not yet finished), she put the idea on the shelf. If only life was so easy and straightforward. 

"I am neither of those. Your skills and experience combined with that of Elwood's, Finley's and Niamh's would make a good core for, what we need," Wraen mused. "Bronco and Penn have showed promise in the mercenary trade and I recall you telling me that both Sundance and Dorea were already trained at the grove," she paused, thinking.

"But I would also wish for those children and packmates - me included - who are not mercenaries by nature or calling, trained in the basics of self-defence," she did not wish to lose anyone else to circumstances that could be prevented. "I think that tactics will come along, when we discover, who is good at what," she finished.

"I entrust you to do the job well and in time I will promote you to my second in command," Wraen said. "But do know that I already have a high regard and respect for you. Your voice and advice in making leadership decisions will be of just as great importance. You have the freedom of interrogating and deciding, whether to let a possible joiner in."

"Maybe we could even tweak the ranks we have now and have a separate divison for Sun Mote Copse Watch - what do you think?" Wraen smiled.

Instead of acquiring a third badge underneath her mercenary title, Wraen instead asked Towhee to pass along her skills to the others in the pack. She nodded, happy to continue what she'd already begun. "Happy to," Towhee replied simply, nodding her head and thinking about her various spars of late, including one with Penn just a few days before. Her lips twitched into a smile of intent.

The Sovereign said she would promote Towhee in due time. She nodded again, taking no offense at the delay, particularly not when Wraen made such a point of offering her respects. She dipped her head in appreciation, hoping Wraen knew her feelings were mutual. Towhee was a guardian not only in title but very much by nature too, plus she had countless experience vetting joiners. Towhee knew she would not let Wraen down in this regard.

As for changing the ranks, Towhee offered a slow blink and admitted, "I'm not an expert at hierarchies. Phox came up with the one we used in the grove. I think what we have right now is perfectly suitable, though if you want to change, one of your honorees might be better able to advise you."

"In that case we will let that idea develop and grow on it's own. I put you and Niamh in charge of our aspiring mercenaries," Wraen smiled, glad that Towhee had not felt offended by not being promoted right away and that she saw the benefit of working with the packmates and passing her experience and skills to them. 

"This means, if Bronco is making a tantrum and does not wish to obey orders or any of the kids give trouble, you are free to clip their wings a little," she told. "I understand that discipline and being on the same page is very important," Wraen mused. "How did you train your kids back at Asterism Grove?" she asked next, wishing to know, how to organize and lead such a thing in the firstplace. After all sparring was no story-telling session, was it?

With Niamh's help, they could divide and conquer, though Towhee still wanted to supervise everyone's training, especially now that she'd been formally assigned the task. She idly wondered whether her friend would feel bothered by Towhee's eventual promotion. Well, if Niamh had her sights on a leadership rank too, there was more than one open, she was pretty sure. She shrugged inwardly and gave it no more thought.

She nearly missed Wraen's follow-up question, though she blinked herself to a focus and replayed it in her head before answering, "I like to spar with them, one-on-one, to see where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Then I build a personalized training regimen from there. Even if we don't have individually-focused sessions as frequently as I'd like, I always enjoy a good impromptu spar to keep them fresh. That's what I plan to do here: go around picking fights with everyone at complete random," Towhee quipped with a playful smirk.

Wraen had set her mind on a group activity, but after listening to Towhee's preference for an individual approach she found it way better. She recalled the time, when she had given a tracking lesson to the kids and, how some had opted out, because they did not wish to do it. In a one-on-one confrontation it was not that easy to do so. 

"In that case you can train me as well. I am probably better at running and hiding, but having some experience would be beneficial," she said with a smile, but her intent was serious. If it ever came to it, she did not wish to stay in the side-lines. "Not today though - I have been scouting the bog and the sweep all morning and I am a bit stiff and tired," she explained and yawned at the end. 

"Do you have in your circle of friends and acquaintances other healers? Because I think that Sugar Glider needs way more than Eljay can provide her in terms of training," she thought about the girl, who was not so much as a fighter, but would still be valuable asset as a well-trained medic. "There is Raven, of course, but I am not quite sure, how far Frosthawks relocated, when they did."

"And I am not sure, what to do about Eljay. He has been a mess, since Wildfire died and now his son disappeared. Plus, the famine has taken such a heavy toll on him. It is painful to watch," she added.

"More than happy to," Towhee repeated when Wraen requested a training session for herself. The mercenary felt another hit of guilt when the Sovereign asked for a rain check, citing her exhaustion. She made a mental note to wrap up this conversation and let Wraen get back to her nap, even if the leader didn't seem in any particular haste herself.

When the Sovereign brought up Sugar, Towhee's lips pulled into a pensive line. Whose blood? The words always lurked in the back of her mind whenever she thought of the girl now. She realized she should possibly mention it to Wraen, if not Elwood and Finley. But Towhee kept her silence. Maybe just a deer's, she told herself, intuiting somehow that it wasn't the case but shutting down the thought right there.

Her thoughts ended up somewhere else, though it wasn't much better. "There was Rue, in the grove," Towhee said, now frowning in full, "but she was hurt, then she vanished with the others." She shook her head. "I'm not sure where exactly they ended up either. They said they didn't intend to go very far and I meant to send X to find them..." She swallowed thickly, remembering finding the hawk's corpse just last week. She had laid X to rest beside Orca on The Roost; she wouldn't be winging any more messages for Towhee.

Now she felt like she needed to excuse herself from the conversation and go find somewhere to curl up in a ball, probably, but Wraen wasn't done with her yet. Besides, Towhee hadn't really finished her train of thought. After the Sovereign mentioned Eljay again, the former Kilonova (and possibly future Regent) picked up where she'd left off and said, "Maybe if Sugar's up for it, we could locate Raven's pack in the spring and send her there for training. I'm absolutely sure Rave would welcome it. And as for Eljay..." She remembered talking to Finley about this very subject, back in summer, and repeated exactly what she'd said then: "I don't think there's anything anyone else can do, aside from being there and being supportive. The rest is up to him."

She glanced off to the side, suppressing any further comment. She had never had much time for Eljay and truthfully felt like he was a lost cause. He was pretty useless, in Towhee's opinion, though she jotted down a mental note to track him down soon. She had attempted to train him before and it hadn't gone much of anywhere but he could be her pet project. Certainly, he would be among the most difficult to train, yet Towhee wouldn't let her personal feelings about him get in the way, nor let the challenge of it stop her.

"Anyway," she spoke up again after a beat, "I can let you get back to your nap now, if you like, and I'll get right down to that training business."

"Alright," Wraen nodded. Towhee's ideas sounded well and it was so good to know that there was another eager person in the making to share the budern of leadership. She knew already that she looked forward to the day, when she could promote her cousin.

She bit her lip, when Towhee mentioned sending Sugar Glider away, remembering well, how it had ended with Elfie. Wraen did not wish to lose another kid, even though there had been no way she could have predicted or prevented, what would happen to the lively boy, who had gone to Asterism Grove with such high hopes.

Things would get better eventually, she looked forward to spring, even though now it seemed such a long way ahead of them. There were two and half months to survive until then and so much to do. Not today though. She was tired again. "I will find you in the next few days. Then we can spar. Maybe I am good at something," Wraen smiled at Towhee.  

Last one from me. Thanks! I will make a new one for us for training purposes. :)