Jade Fern Grove home is wherever I'm with you · land claim

JFG is official! Everyone encouraged to seek out Scimitar and participate! Set before the bear attacks on Bazi and kids.

@Bazi @Kaskara @Kieran @Swift @Whittier @Pasha @Morgäna Ambrosé @Ayana @Tryphon

There was no point in putting it off any longer.
 
The last time they had howled together for the sake of a claim, Bazi and he had been on much better terms. Now – they were far from it. Neither had spoken to one another since their last fight when they had tried to track a bear.. and the cinnamon wolf still felt the sting of Bazi’s attack on him within his chest more so than physically.
 
He rounded the children up, his eyes drifting between their four as a brood, and Jorunn, who was as good as their child as well. Nudging each in turn, the male tilted his muzzle back, howling. It was a mixture of messages – a summoning to his pack mates, and a call that these lands were now theirs. Jade Fern Grove had become, and while the family could have continued to look for a home that would appease them all, Scimitar was unwilling to put them in more danger. Their allies, Phoenix Maplewood were nearby, and the land had proven to be plentiful.
 
Home was with family – and so, he called out to his new home, and welcomed Jade Fern Grove as theirs.

Unlike last time, Bazi was too far away from the family to be physically present from the claiming howl. She was following the the sharp turns of the Mudminnow River when the call rang out, and stopped in her tracks to listen. The howl was not unexpected, but the now alpha of some goddamn forest greeted it with a sour face. She had hoped to move on, but where? Bazi could not deny that the Grove was well placed - and it was a rare thing to have neighbours that actually liked you.

So, even though she was mightily unhappy about it, Bazi sang for Jade Fern Grove.

Kieran heard the sound and lifted his muzzle to the sky and joined his voice with his family. Family, it had been a long time since he had used that word. But they were that and more this rag tag bunch of others that had accepted him with open arms. he was excited for what the future might hold. And he had Kaskara, what more could a sad burdened man ask for, than someone to love him despite his flaws.

With her father for the moment while their mother was elsewhere, Allure tipped her muzzle up to beam at her father. She didn’t mind Jade Fern Grove – though she missed the air and scents from Nova Peak desperately. There was something new to explore for the moment, though, and it had become obvious that this was where they would stay.

As her father released a low howl, Allure tipped her own muzzle back and followed suit. Her tiny howl pierced the air a pitch higher than Scimitar’s, but not as forceful or loud. Her own song would hesitate as others joined in – her mother, Kieran.. Warmth spread across her at the excitement of it, and once more, she was crooning a song.. not quite understanding the reasons for it, but enjoying their harmony nonetheless.

oohhh home, let me go home~
home is whenever i'm with youuuu.

love that song.

They had been rounded up and placed together, and Pasha was quite content about the situation. Though surprisingly, he found that his mother was not with them. This thought only lingered with him long enough for the howl to begin, and he was slow to join in. Not because he didn't know what to do, but simply because at first he found himself caught up in what was going on, what it all meant. Plus it offered him the advantage to hear where the others were, to know who was accounted for, even if he did not know them merely by song.

And then at least, Pasha joined in with them, excitement bubbling in his song.

Morgäna would admit she was a bit late for this, but the dark dame slipped in with the others silently before adding her own song to that of the pack. A new beginning, a fresh start..it was high time for one. It would remain to be seen just as to how this would turn out. It was a bunch of misfits being mashed together, the question was; did she belong here and would she get along with them? They were only but a few questions that buzzed through her mind. Such was pushed aside for now, for she had to focus on the here and now strange as it was to the darker aligned women.

The last time he had tried to howl with his pack, a plant had slipped to the back of his throat and caused his melody to splutter into an embarrassing cacophony of gurgles and gargles. This was part of the reason he hesitated to join in. The other part was, like his mother, he had a terribly sour face about the whole thing and wanted nothing to do with it. But, his close proximity to his strong father, and the voices that rose around him, pulled at the heart of the wolf in his breast, and then Swift, too, sang.

Kaskara was not near her brother at the moment when his song rose, but the distance allowed her to hear the songs of the others rise, one by one, into the sky. With a smile that split her maw, Kaskara raced forward, pausing only long enough to lift her muzzle to the sky and howl out her own song. She was thankful for her life, for the love she had found in her family and Kieran, and the new beginning they were embarking on. Even though this wasn't her first choice, Kaskara had been raised to make the most of what they were given, and that's exactly what she planned to do as she lowered her muzzle and raced toward her family.

High on positivity, Ayana strolled around Jade Fern Grove. She was part of it now, she was part of a pack, a family. The female could not wait to meet the others, so she hoped she would meet one of them during her little walk.
The next moment she heard Scimitar's powerful howl, which claimed the land and made the pack official. Adrenaline was rising up inside her, and she could not help but join this special moment with the strongest howl she could offer. It was as if all the negativity and darkness left her body for a moment, and all she felt was pure joy. Joy to be alive, happiness because she was part of this, and no regret at all. She was part of Jade Fern Grove, and she would make sure that this would not come to a bad ending.

Whit really didn't understand the politics of pack life at all.  He knew why they had left Nova Peak - it had caught on fire.  He didn't want to live in an inferno, so moving was totally cool with him.  He didn't know why they had stopped in the Forest, but he had grown quickly to love it.  So again, totally cool.  The conflict the relocation had driven between his parents was lost on him, and he wouldn't have understood it had he been aware at all.  That was not so cool, but given his ignorance of the matter, it was cool.  The urgency his elders had for getting the borders marked and secured was something he didn't quite grasp.  Peeing on the borders was fun though, so whatever, that's cool too.

And now this - howling together to let everyone in the area know this place was theirs - Whittier didn't see why it was important to do or what it meant to be doing it.  Howling was fun, and howling was easy.  So, he like the rest, lifted his muzzle and lent his little voice to the song, calling out as loud as his lungs would allow.  If it meant this place was theirs and he'd never have to run or be parted from his loved ones again, then this - maybe more than anything else - was totally, super cool.

Now when's dinner?

Since his conversation with Kaskara, the boy had gone in to a state of contemplation that drove a wedge between himself and the others - or rather, created a greater divide. He stayed within the perimeter of what would be their new home, lingered in their company in the barest sense, and tried his best to make up his mind. A part of Tryphon had already come to the conclusion that he could not leave the Nova wolves (or the Jade Fern wolves, which they had yet to become, for him). He was still filled with the fear of losing these beings, even though the young man wasn't close to any particular individual; he wasn't a strong member of the pack, or even a well liked one.

When the voice of Scimitar lifted upon the wind, it made Tryphon freeze and listen. His mind reeled with the possibilities that the future would hold, both inside and outside of the pack. As each wolf raised their voice to match their leader, scattered like stars across the verdant forest, Tryphon was caught in a moment of awe. None of them knew what lay in store - this could all end in ruin, the way the Nova lands had been destroyed; they could die within hours of this formation and leave nothing behind; or worse, but Tryphon could not fathom anything worse than their demise. To be left on his own again - different from a self imposed isolation - made him feel an acute sting in his chest.

One of the last voices to pop up was one he did recognize, or he thought he did. He thought he heard Kaskara's song drifting around nearby - and this reminded him of the possible role he had within the pack. He could have a future here if only he worked for it; Tryphon listened as the howls began to die down, and in a panic, raised his own voice --

And he felt a sting in his head as the sound of his deep song rose from his throat. With a wince and a stagger, the young man seemed to recoil as if struck by something, but there was nothing around him but the green of the trees. His voice caught in his throat in that instant, and as he licked his lips, as he composed himself, confusion reigned. The voice that came from him hadn't been his - it was familiar, and that familiarity struck a chord. It brought images of the mountains to his mind, as if searing their silhouette in to his memory.

Was it another episode? Another moment of lost time, struggling to overtake him? He wouldn't let that happen - no, Tryphon had made his choice. He tried to stay composed. Lifting his head again, the song that poured out of him was decidedly different: I am here, we are here, this is home.

The mountains had been left behind, of no importance now.

Scimitar had rounded him and the other children up. The claiming of a pack was a new process to him, but exciting in and of it's own. Jorunn had been observant, watching how the leaders of the pack, alongside the other adults worked to claim the pack and make Jade Fern Grove official. He wasn't sure that this gathering meant that the Grove was in business but his suspicions were proven correct when Scimitar's head tipped back into a howl. The pack by the sea ...the one he'd been born into had already been long since found before Jorunn's birth and thus he struggled to contain his fascination with the whole thing. The fire was tragic, yes, and he missed Nova Peak but he had grown fond of Jade Fern Grove during their time spent here; and though he did not speak it, in truth, the fire hadn't scared him nearly as bad as the bear had ...though perhaps Jorunn's sense of danger was askew since that incident. He knew that it was dangerous, inherently, without knowing how he knew as they fled the smoke, ash and flame but it had not left him damaged. There was nothing in the world that terrified the fearless Jorunn than bears, though this was a logical fear ...one that someday Jorunn vowed to conquer.

Other voices joined in, the other children adding their own howls before Jorunn tipped his head back and added his own to the chorus of voices that rose into the sky. He was hit with the strange sensation that he was apart of something much bigger than himself in that moment, and he relished in it before his mind began to wander to what happened next?

They were small in their numbers -- but as each wolf's voice rose to the skies to meet with his, a surge of old pride pushing through him as they had in older days. Despite their size in numbers, their voices were numerous and loud -- and none could mistake the claim they laid on the lands before them.

His song would fade, and then within moments, as another of his pack mates would call out, Scimitar would echo his sentiment once more with him. His voice intertwined with them all, and as his children's voices would pause, the cinnamon wolf would allow his own howl to dwindle to a croon, and a loving nudge would be given to all five of them.

They would thrive here.