Stavanger Bay reach for the light

yeah, there's no real posting order anyway as it's a meeting :-) thanks for the quick replies guys <33 Charon's thoughts in no way reflect my own! <3

Charon hadn't really expected anyone to speak against him. He had expected Thistle Cloud to just nod and smile a watery, sad smile that signified how badly it was time for her to step down from her position. He'd expected Atreyu to go along with her because he always went along with whatever Thistle picked (and while Charon disagreed that her decisions had been sound lately, he admired and appreciated Atreyu's loyalty for it). The yearling's tail twitched in irritation as they spoke against him, feeling that it was totally unfair that he got all this shit.

The yearling was torn between snippily asking them what they thought the pack should do or just telling them that things were as he'd said and there was no arguing. However, before he needed to make a decision on it, Thistle Cloud asked Atreyu to gather what wolves they had left and told Charon to carry the herbs with her. Atreyu spluttered some protests, but Charon felt that the battle was fought with convincing his adoptive mother that this was for the best.

"I'll help carry our stocks when the time comes. We need to find the best territory first," he told Thistle Cloud. "Amekaze and her wolves will probably come over this way soon, and then we can move." He decided to leave out Amekaze's penchant for mountains, because it would only complicate the matter further.

The words 'I'm sorry' lay on the tip of Charon's tongue, but he couldn't say them. He wasn't sorry, so saying he was would only be a lie to make his wolves feel a bit better. He didn't want to make them feel better because of a fabricated lie; he wanted to make them feel better by making them see that he was right all along.

Thistle Cloud turned around and departed then, probably angry at... well, he wasn't sure what. He didn't really get why she picked this specific time to become sassy and decide she had an opinion. What he didn't get most of all was that she seemed to understand that this was best for the pack and yet she was still pissed off at him for it. Wasn't this what she wanted, too? Charon contemplated storming off after his adoptive mother, but then he decided against it, as it would be kind of weird for Atreyu and Flóki. So instead he decided to stay. With Flóki by his side, he felt strong to argue against any misgivings his wolves might have. He was their leader, and so it was his responsibility to lead them and to be strong and make the best decisions for everyone, even if they didn't know it.

"Look, I know how you feel about the Bay," Charon said as he looked at Atreyu, his voice a little less announcement-y now. "But it wouldn't be fair to expect Ame and her wolves to settle into this half-broken territory just because we're attached to it. That'd be like them asking us to come over to their mountain. That's why I decided it'd be better to find a new territory where we can all live. Y'know... Start on even grounds and all?" He hoped that Atreyu would understand that, at least. If only there were better oceanside places to live, Charon thought wistfully; he would pick one if he could, since he had grown up in the Bay and it hurt him as much as Atreyu to leave it behind. But he needed to be strong and think logically, for himself as well as his wolves, and not let his feelings meddle in too much.