Blackfoot Forest ROLE CALL · River seeks the deep

Made some presumptions in this post, if there are problems let me know. =)

There was an absence, keenly felt, within the pack, and Leto was much displeased. Jinx's scent no longer permeated the very earth on which they walked, and had faded into ambiguity, buried beneath layers of dead leaves and the first slushy snow of the season. Bon Dye was without its empress, and Leto waited to see who would seek to rise in the Kesuk wolf's stead. She herself had eyes on the throne, but she did not wish to declare them too soon, lest Jinx return from an extended hunting excursion and be wrathful at seeing her position usurped. And the niggling doubt in the back of Leto's mind told her that though she was ambitious, she was also young and inexperienced, and that she might not be accepted at the helm of this wolf pack, as a result of her coyote heritage.

Nevertheless she worked to solidify her claim; fresh urine markers on a twice-daily basis around the borders would buttress her authority, and adding to their stockpiles of food would prove that she was a strong provider. For the spiritual aspects of service to Bon Dye, Leto had little use; their strongest proponents, Jinx, Kerberos, and Lecter, all seemed to have fled the lands or at least were too scarce for Leto to place any faith in anymore. A residual of religion was left in her, however, by the dreams that came more frequently and with more intensity as autumn turned into winter, dreams in which fire clashed with ice, and sunlight warred with darkness. These night visions alarmed her at times, but she felt they had a greater significance she had not yet discovered.

These dreams were far from her mind when the call came on the crisp, cold air. Instead she had been in the middle of collecting willow bark, one of the very few medicines she knew, from a tree, a hedge against sicknesses that might befall them in the coming season. The howl's source seemed unlikely--it was the voice of Pied, one of the wolves that Leto recalled from their meeting some time prior. Obedient to the summons of one of the pack members she hoped to lead, Leto made a quick cache of the gathered willow bark and took off at a lope to meet Pied and whomever else might answer the call.

Pied. Hawkeye. Zombie. Vires. Leto padded silently among the group and chose a spot near the center, seating herself primly and lifting her head confidently. She looked around to those assembled. "Jinx seems to have fled, and unless they appear now, I think she must have taken Lecter and Kerberos with her. A fine way to start the winter." This was her commentary; she would save any further surprising news for the group when all who would arrive had done so.