Stone Circle What can break me has a name

HERE, HAVE A NOVEL Y'ALL! Got deep in this boy's head for a min LOL and I tried to address everything happening - I'm so sorry if I missed anything!

Kristjan bristled worriedly as Sven chided Swift. Didn't he know the boy at all? Acting like his father wasn't the way to calm things. Was he trying to rile him up? (He would eventually figure out that not everyone factored in another wolf's feelings as much as he did.) But there was hardly a moment to address this.

On the topic at paw: That's not what I meant, Kristjan rejoined softly, turning to Ujurak. I'm saying that one of us shouldn't be above the others. We should lead as a team, as equals to one another... as—

He stalled as Moss reared his objections. Vale, too, did not think it was appropriate that the children should lead. He cast them both a sympathetic look. A part of him wanted to see his siblings — both bloodmates and found-family — lead this pack, but another part of him knew that is was a lot for them to bear right now. Sure, they looked like adults, but the fact that they all thought they could take up the mantle and "learn on the job" was proof enough that none of them were ready.

Unfortunately, Kristjan himself wasn't immune to the delusion. Even he saw a possibility for them to lead together as well, despite his lingering doubts. He noticed Lemmikki's wide-eyed gaze upon him, from which he drew a resolve to stand strong rather than shrink back.

Skáld and Sven remained firm in the belief that the upstarts were not too young for the responsibility. Bjorn as well seemed willing to give them a chance. He felt a surge of hope towards a resolution, until Moss proclaimed to leave if any of them were made leaders.

Astrid, tough-as-nails, called them all cowards. Astrid, Kristjan hissed, horrified. They're not cowards! They're- they're trying to be respectful to us. Because we're heirs. He tongued the word with disgust. Being born here meant they were automatically entitled to the land? Not in his mind. Lands only stayed claimed so long as the group occupying it was strong enough to defend it — and this group was quickly fracturing. Besides, Moss offered to lead... he reminded her with a mutter, glancing towards the wolf. Though why he would offer to lead them and then threaten to leave in the next breath had painted him somewhat disloyal in Kristjan's eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a void at his side where Swift had stood. Swift! He made a knee-jerk motion to follow the boy but felt immediately torn. Nothing was resolved here, and he couldn't leave without knowing the fate of their ranks. Were they about to lose several members because of this? He trapped a whine in his throat as he watched Swift go, before turning to the rest.

Look, we all want to be taken seriously. He took a deep breath, thinking of the sensible things Sven had said. What if we make it so that instead of standing as the heart, spirit, or fate of this pack, our leadership roles represent each of the most important things to maintaining our strength? One of us could be in charge of patrols, one of us the lead caregiver, the lead hunter, he unwittingly looked to the spot where Swift has stood, the lead scout, and the four can lead Kvarsheim. They'll make choices together, for everyone.

Scanning the faces, he quickly went on as his heart bade him. Age wouldn't matter so much, because each role will be supported by everyone else, and no one wolf would need to be the fate of this pack. Plus, if one or more leaders are very young, they can take up mentors, maybe even ask our allies to help us train. Then everyone will see how capable and driven and awesome we are. Our four leaders could take on anything!

He was hopeful, though tinged with desperation — a need to keep them all together. It was hard to imagine that their allies would take them seriously if nothing but children sprouted up as leaders without proper apprenticeship beforehand. (And they needed allies, whether they all liked it or not; none of them were as knowledgeable as some of the adults in Riverclan and Swiftcurrent, and sooner or later Kvarsheim might need their help.) But that didn't mean this wasn't possible.

Kristjan didn't know the way forward, but he wasn't going to stop trying to fix it all and alleviate everyone's anxieties.