Blackfoot Forest ROLE CALL · River seeks the deep

Hawkeye's words dd not impress Leto. She pulled the rank card, but Leto could only snort softly. Jinx's favor meant nothing now. They were an entirely new entity, this small pack gathered in Blackfoot Forest. "Next in line is not how things work. We are not a kingdom, where hierarchy is determined by the Queen. We are a pack, where rank is determined by size, by determination, by intimidation, and by bloodshed if need be." The half-coy hadn't wished to coax the other into a fight, but she could not give up leadership to Hawkeye by a charade of inheritance. As if Jinx had any intention of leaving her pack to this female she'd barely known! Neither had the bear-queen meant for it to fall to Leto, or Zombie, or any other. The premise of Hawkeye's argument was just wrong.

And her further words were selfish. I have walked the borders. I would protect you all. It was quite a show of selfishness, really, veiled in a generous tone. Leto saw nothing in her words to inspire the pack to greatness, to rally them for the coming winter, and to prepare them for the hard but rewarding work that the season would bring. "That's all you have to say, Hawkeye? You'll protect us?" Leto's tail lashed back and forth, cat-like, with her irritation. Her emerald gaze cast about the assembled pack members with an expression that conveyed her disbelief that they would all buy into this.

"I do not want an Alpha to protect me. I want an Alpha who will lead: who will see each of my packmates' potential and help to draw it out, to form a cohesive family out of a group of strangers. An Alpha who will negotiate with our neighbors, as I have already begun, and wage battle on those who would take what is ours. A leader who would teach others how to protect themselves, and build a sustainable pack that won't crumble if something should happen to their leader." Leto gave them all a pointed look, for perhaps Jinx had been the same sort of self-centered leader that Hawkeye would be. Hawkeye no doubt felt that she'd make a great mother figure or big sister figure for the pack, and they'd all be one big happy family. Nevermind that they'd soon be overrun by stronger packs.

"We seem to be at a stalemate, Hawkeye," Leto pointed out. The name was something of an ugly one, and no matter how she said it, Leto couldn't seem to make herself sound pleasant. One by one the others had either stood by Hawkeye or refused to take a side--Zombie had been the closest to lending support to Leto, by denouncing the argument that Jinx's ranks meant anything now, but even she was neutral. "I would sooner not fight with you, for this pack needs as many able-bodies members as it can get, and neither of us needs to be wounded or driven away. But I cannot subsist here as a mere subordinate when my vision of greatness for us all burns so brightly and yet I cannot make it come true." Leto fell silent, reflecting that she had nearly forgotten her own misgivings, and her halfbloodedness seemed thankfully to be a non-issue. Her words were the truth: she could see a vision of their glory whenever she closed her eyes, but if Hawkeye would seek to lead Leto felt they would never achieve it.

Leto lifted her chin slightly, and stood up, making clear her upright carriage and confident posture, tail brushing the top of her back. Softly, her words meant for Hawkeye and not so much for the group as a whole, Leto asked again, "Will you accept my leadership?"