Blacktail Deer Plateau of star & sea

For a while, all Aningan could do was stand there and watch. He listened to the words shouted, the arguments made—he witnessed the advances, the posturing, the aggression. Every inch moved, every syllable spoken—he was there to catch it all, silent, jaw clenched. Each time someone moved he tensed, preparing, but lacking any true reaction beyond that. Wide eyes stared after the lot of them, unblinking until finally, he could take it no longer. Everything since he left the glacier, all that was built-up over time, suddenly came to the forefront of his mind. Every challenge, every little act of aggression and in-fighting—he couldn’t take it anymore.

A vibration—low, soft and simmering—

A growl—growing, rough and crackling—

A snarl—loud enough to echo off their neighbouring mountainside, coupled by a raised tail and erect ears, a bear carved from snow come to life at last.

“Taima! All of you!” came his shouts, gruff and garbled. “When does it stop? When does all of the fighting stop?!” Atop stiffened limbs he made his approach, drawing nearer to the source of it all—his seconds and the sisters. “We’re always fighting—everyone’s always fighting! Isn’t this why no one would let Caiaphas come back? Her fighting?” When she fought, when she created enemies, she was deemed a villain and cast out. But everyone else, old and new, could continue to fight—one another, no less—and there was nothing to be done. And Aningan was tired of it, could hold it in no longer; all he wanted was to protect his family, to have a family—but all anyone ever wanted to do was fight and challenge one another.

“You’re either part of the family and stop this now, or you can leave,” he snapped, glare drifting from one wolf to the next. “And if you leave now, never come back.” All he wanted was some peace, for his family to be safe. And if achieving that meant losing friends, then he would bite the bullet and take it in stride.

just chucking in a response. feel free to skip over me unless Raleska is directly acknowledged. <3

All her life, Raleska had lived under the unlifting thumb of violence. When Raleska and Rosalyn had turned Caiaphas away, she had hoped for a bright future for Rusalka. The witch, the chaos-mage, the most disruptive force in their lives — she had been ousted from Rusalka, and yet, calamity thrived. 

It was then Raleska realized that her mother was not the sole source of discord in their lives. That violence and chaos lived on in all of their hearts — every last one of them. 

In silence Raleska swept her gaze across the gathering. Like Nieve she felt sorry for the sisters — and like Aningan, her heart was divided between what was just and true, and what was family. Her hackles raised as the voices continued to climb higher, as tensions ran tighter — in the end she stood next to Aningan in agreement, each of the congregation given the hard bite of her miserable and exhausted stare.

next round starts feb 8th or once everyone posts!

rosalyn's words fell on deaf ears, but huā's did not. she loathed to hear the pain in her voice. how did sister ying feel? surely she wouldn't side with these brutes.

mei heard rushed, angry footsteps behind her. whirling around, she faced the pale woman & braced herself for impact with hackles raised, doubting she would heed huā's plea. a red doppleganger of rosalyn came after huā now, but there was nothing she could do to help her. a snarl cracked through the air like thunder, & it was not her assailant, but aningan. that got her attention, though it was divided between he & the beta. his protest to their violence surprised her, & while she did not know who this caiaphas was, she smelled hypocrisy. he was not the only one, as a rusalkan girl stood beside the alpha in agreement.

but would the pirate wives heed him?

The accusations continued to be thrown at the Zeta, irregardless of their source. Ying's face twisted into a scornful frown as she listened silently to Rosalyn's words, then Hua's. Was she to become their marytr?

The primary cause for upset seemed to have been the challenge directed toward Nieve. She did not understand this because to her knowledge, Reyes had not been punished. He had performed two challenges within days of joining and yet, postured without reprimand.

Was scolding reserved only for those deemed "outsiders"? 

The frequent trips outside of the territory were also questioned. Ying knew that Hua should have been the focus of this allegation, as she'd been the sister to leave most often. She remained silent, though; unlike her sister, she was not willing to shift blame to escape her own judgement.

Hua and Mei would have known better than anyone else that leading a pack was the least of her interests. Why would her sister  imply so, and in a moment such as this? She knew that it would not be a choice easily forgiven, nor forgotten.

Aningan was last to step up, his voice booming over the hillside. Ying lowered her gaze to the ground and flattened her ears back atop her head, suddenly ashamed at having been involved in the fiasco. She realized two things in that moment: the first, that Rusalka wasn't the family she'd hoped it would be; the second, that the Jiangs weren't, either.

Her body was heavy with the weight of defeat. Shoulders slumped, eyes half-lidded; without a word, the sylph slipped off to find a seperate path and make her own exit.

it was the way of rusalka, all of this was. it had been the way since the beginning, and would be after erzulie died.
it was aningan who had brought them a lasting peace, and it was only due to the deference the harlot had for his rank, and softness for the boy himself, that quelled her ire momentarily.
raleska and the bear broke into their midst; erzulie cast a careful eye over the girl but said nothing. if raleska would not handle by force what demanded fang, then the betas would.
huā's remark had been damning; the suffering of ying was clear. her sisters had deferred to her until the last; it seemed they would allow her to become sacrifice for their own ill-deeds.
it provoked a mirthless smirk in erzulie that she kept carefully veiled, though rosalyn might see the slight ebb of tension in her body. 
the alternative to what the pair had done today was that rusalka would suddenly be bereft amid the season of children when the sisterly trio decided it was warm enough to abandon the pack that had given them succor.
better to leave now, to carve an existence from the icy waters alone, as rusalka had done. as they had all done.
a gentle lift of her lip toward reyes. erzulie would not punish her son, for in her eyes he had only obeyed the edict of their kind. pride shimmered in her heart, but for now the boy must heed aningan, must show the pallid tower that his authority here was understood. furthermore, aningan must believe that rosalyn and erzulie would bind their children to the hierarchy set. 
ying departed then; the harlot watched her go with a sense of satisfaction blossoming cold in her heart. whatever they had sought to build had been destroyed here this day, so she desired. a shame, for of them all, ying had been her favorite. 
she stepped forward then, her body's angles conducive to aningan's status, but she had only defended rusalka. was that not why she had been elevated?
in her own mind she had branded mei worthy of dispatch and torment; if she were to see the girl again, her shrieks here upon the plateau would pale in comparison to what erzulie intended to wreak. 
for now, silence, waiting upon the word of their sovereign.

Old habits died hard, even ones she had, before now, thought already dead.  She'd tossed her crown aside and vowed never to pick it up again, sure that a captain's pride had been her downfall all these times before.  But now she felt the old blood thrumming as they challenged and it was intoxicating.  She couldn't deny that a part of her that had been missing, torn away, hidden beneath, was now breathing fresh air and clawing to the surface.  

It made her loathe to stop, even when Aningan and Raleska stood and demanded it.  For a split second, she had the instinctual thought - challenge - but then Erzulie relented.

That wasn't her place.  Rusalka was not hers, and so long as her family remained a part of its backbone, she was content.  She shoved the feeling that curled up back down, away and beneath once more.  Then Rosalyn too dipped her head to Aningan, but the gaze she turned on the sisters was cold and righteous.

They did not deserve quarter, so she hadn't given it.  Now they knew where things stood, and that was the goal here.  Her words still stood.  If she caught a whiff of disloyalty, or a whisper that they sought her wife's place (or her own), she would not hesitated. And next time, there would be no posturing.

The pathetic little bastard from the other day who had challenged her and sorely lost leapt towards her, all up in her face. She stumbled back again, but found her footing, letting out a snarl and baring her pearl fangs. They could no longer expect loyalty from her, they had already severed her from the group in her eyes. If she had her empire behind her now, she wouldn't have held back from releasing the kraken on them. But she was not yet an emperor, and nor was her army nearby. Huā was reckless and hard-headed, but she knew this was no place to bare her teeth. Not at this disadvantage. 

Now comes Aninan's snarl, ripping out across the place. Suddenly the young man was scolding them, each and every one of them. Referring to a name she did not know, but it seemed he was referring to some sort of hypocrisy taking place here. For a moment she believed he would save the sisters, but instead he tells the people- all of them- that they ought to cut it out or leave and never return. 

To her the answer had become clear in the past several minutes. 

These people did not want them, did not like them, and were unwilling to help them adjust to the culture. They were hypocrites who got angry at the sisters for utilizing the challenge system. They saw the actions of each individual as the combined actions of all. They scorned them for taking trips to the beach (god forbid Mei practice her religion in its realm!) And generally they were a bunch of assholes. 

Just as she's prepared to make a leave of her own, Ying takes off without a word. Wow... that was weird. Her gaze trails after nuvujak, shocked and confused. Where was that girl going? Had she done something wrong? Their sister had said not a word, and it had Huā perplexed. She was oblivious to how she had made the girl feel; in her mind she had only been pointing out an error in the Rusalkan's judgements- not pushing the load of fault onto the cloudy girl. 

She looks Aningan in the eye. It was not a challenge. Aningan, forgive me. I not stay here. These people, she paused, giving a cold stare to the more viscous of the circle- Reyes, Rosalyn- finally settling on Erzulie with an icy glint. Turning her focus back to Aningan- These people are backwards. They not understand their own cruelty. I thank you for giving us home, but we must find new one. She dips her head to him respectfully- this time her bow was heartfelt. A leader who deserved respect did not have to demand it. 

美，我们应该去。这个人我受不了。 She calls gently to her sister, turning her head with soft eyes upon the priestess. There was an unspoken message there too- we must find Ying. Hoping her sister followed, she took one last look around Rusalka- burning their ugly ass faces into her mind- before taking off, making sure her stance was not one of defeat. They would see how well she and her people could do without the barbaric pirates. 
  

exit huā, assuming no one stops her.

The nape of his neck bristled as he crowded up close to Hua, leaving a gap enough so that they did not touch, but his hot breath plumed all the same. There was a hardened look to his eyes; as he stared down the girl he wanted nothing more than to push the challenge, to reach out and grab her, to shake the sense back in to her head. He was so focused upon his target that he did not see anyone else. However, when Aningan's voice boomed around them the boy froze and his ears flickered slightly, his eyes glassy as if he were coming back to himself - and finally he took a step back.

The boy-king's words hit his ears but Reyes didn't truly listen. He could not shake the desire to give chase as one sister slipped away in silence, his lips parting just enough for the tips of his canines to gleam before being hidden again; a scowl. He took another step back when the woman began to speak and tensed as she shifted in to a bow - half expecting a more abrasive action, eager and desirous of a proper fight as the sisters were ousted, but she was speaking directly to their alpha instead.

As Hua turned to leave Reyes finally looked away from her. He looked to his mothers: Rosalyn first, Erzulie next, and then to his sister where she lurked - and when his attention shifted finally to Aningan his gaze was hard again, focused. Whatever ire he held for these girls was levied against the young alpha.

It looked as if Reyes was about to say something - or maybe even boldly lunge in to the bear's path and let his aggression fuel yet another challenge, here in front of all of them, but he drops his gaze at the last moment and slinks in the opposite direction of the sisters, letting the shadows shroud his body.