Blackfoot Forest ROLE CALL · River seeks the deep

It's been five days, so I'm going to go ahead and get on with this. Others are welcome to join in the fun belatedly if they like, though if you don't hop in soon, we're going to assume you're no longer a part of the pack (both IC and OOC). :)

Pied only turned away from the bird's strange gaze when the first wolf came in response to her call. "Hey," she replied to Hawkeye's greeting, her voice weary. "I'm glad you're here." She nodded and sighed simultaneously in reply to her companion's observation. "Let's hope there's more where you came from," she quipped weakly, managing a small but mostly mirthless smile.

Another pair arrived within seconds of one another. They were the two wolves Pied had met most recently. "Zombie," she said to acknowledge the first, then, "Hi, Vires," when the dark female appeared right behind the second arrival. "Thanks for coming. I'm glad you're both here," she said earnestly.

A few more minutes passed and Pied felt a fresh wave of hopelessness. The four of them could scarcely call themselves a pack. Was there no one else left? Even as Pied fought back the lump forming in her throat, another she-wolf approached the group. She walked with confidence and Pied dipped her muzzle without thinking about it. Her mismatched eyes followed the wolf—Leto, she thought, from the pack meeting—and remained impassive as she seated herself in the center of the group.

Leto's remark took the last remaining wind out of Pied's sails. Her shoulders slumped momentarily and she felt the cool tingle of Mag's presence. A second later, she sat up straight, squared her shoulders, and looked each of the four in the face. Hawkeye, Zombie, Vires and Leto, she thought, feeling a fierce sense of loyalty as she mentally enunciated each name.

"We need to figure out where to go from here," Pied said, looking primarily at Leto, though her eyes skipped over Zombie and Vires to rest on Hawkeye. "I'd like to make a decision as a group. My thought is that we can either stay here and sort of start over as a pack... or maybe agree to go together to another pack." Of course, Pied couldn't make them do it as a group, though she sorely hoped they would all stick together, come what may. "What do you ladies think?" she asked, since it was notable to her that it was five females left standing.