The Sentinels It leaves you baby

ooc: I will assume that Osprey has heard about Aria's promotion. @Aria 


One would not believe that chewing a bone could be such a mediative activity, but for Osprey - when complicated matters had to be sorted out in her mind - this was the best way to focus.

News had traveled fast among the Donnelaith wolves and even those, who tended to keep to themselves, couldn't miss hearing the most important bits. Such as - a newcomer and a yearling jumping to the top of the hierarchy, when there were so many, who were deserving the honour as well. Osprey, who did not count herself in that group, because she had never had aspirations of that kind, found that her opinion about this choice was tainted with slight jealously and mistrust. She had always thought that in order to become leader's right or left hand, you had to work long and hard and prove your value. And for a newbie to achieve that kind of status so quickly? Either you had to be something exceptional or...

Frankly speaking, she did not care about the other option, because, what rebelled against Lasher's decision the most was the knowledge that Osprey - with her age and experience - would have to bow and crawl on her belly before this kid. Even though her health had prevented her from being useful to the group lately, she knew already that she would not bend her knees before the new beta. Alphas may promote, whoever they wanted, but the respect from the subordinates had to be earned. 

With this resolution, she bit hard, snapping the bone in two halves.

whoop! seems like no one is happy about lil Aria's promotion.

 

To the young wolfess with nothing but ambition and high hopes, the thought that others would not be happy about her promotion was quite alarming. Had she been a part of Porcupine Ridge, it was guaranteed that someone would have been well against this promotion to Beta. But she wore it humbly, she thought, and had no plans to abuse any power she was given. It was now, however, that she realized that she hadn't formally met everyone in the pack. She decided to seek out Osprey, the mate to Dante and one of the packs oldest members (age and membership wise).

Carrying a skinny rabbit (it was all she could find, as usual), Aria sought out the grey wolf, her fur fluffed out slightly as the chilling wind ruffled through her pelt. When she found her, she approached with a respectful smile, dropping the rabbit a few feet away; she was now a higher rank among the pack, but that didn't mean she would be a total ass. She knew of the literal rank hierarchy as well as the social one, and to a woman she'd never really spoken to- she probably was lower on that scale.

"Hello," she murmured, diamond white eyes glinting as the sunlight feel on them through the trees. "We haven't had the pleasure of meeting, formally. I am Aria," she greeted, her head dipping respectfully and happily, tail wagging gently behind her. yes

ooc: Osprey's lack of trust is based purely on the fact that she does not know Aria at all. The same goes for most of the newcomers. It will be okay. 

After almost three months spent with the pack, Osprey still did not like to be taken by surprise. Her response to sudden greetings was not as aggressive as it had been before, but she still froze and let out a low warning growl, when the young wolf approached her. "Speak of the devil..." the elder said quietly, raising to her feet and stretching. 

With this pleasant routine finished with one good shake of her coat, she finally regarded the girl with a curious gaze, before returning the courtesy: "I don't think that we have. I am Osprey, but you probably knew, who I was already?" The first impressions are important and the girl had made a wise move by treating the grumpy she-wolf respectfully. "And roumor has it that you are the king's new right hand? Or is it an ear or an eye?" she humoured in a well-meaning tone.

no offense taken! (: to either of us, lol

The body of the elder seemed a bit tense, and she issued a warning growl to which Aria heeded with obvious respect. She took a step back, regardless of how Osprey behaved afterward. "My apologies," she murmured sincerely, "Didn't mean to frighten you," she gave a smile and a slight wag of her tail, her ears cocked at halfway. But the woman moved on, perhaps it was only instinct. She understood that much. 

She let out a quiet laugh, nodding. "Of course, you're well liked in the pack," she replied, her tail still wagging a bit. "May I?" she asked, motion with her head slightly towards the ground before taking a seat anyway. She assumed it was so, as the grey wolfess spoke again. Aria smiled, amusement sprinkled upon her features. 

"Mmm," she sang gently as she thought of the response, "I'd like to say ear," she replied with the same good-natured tone, her eyes shimmering now with their own sort of mischief. The comment was meant to be funny; if Osprey would even find it funny, but it showed a bit of who she thought of herself and what sort of skills she possessed. She was on her toes and always listening- she planned on being a sort of friend maker and spy for Donnelaith, hence the 'ears'. Good skills for someone seeking an adviser trade; it only made sense.

"But yes," she continued, never failing to directly answer a question. "Lasher recently requested me to be Donnelaith's second Beta." 

"An ear - huh? Good thing you are not a nostril," Ōsprey chuffed and laughed at her own joke. At least an ear had a substance. Nostril was just a hole. And who would want to be a hole in the pack? The concept was quite interesting though, but she stopped the train of thought right there and then. She would have enough time to contemplate about it later. 

"So... a beta," Osprey narrowed her eyes to focus her sight better and looked the girl up and down. The information was not very detailed, but it pretty much agreed with what she already knew - the wolf was young and, obviously, good looking. She made a mental note of teasing Dante about this a bit.

"You are a new recruit - that's quite a leap in the hierarchy," she was stating a fact and not accusing. "Yet I don't know much about you - tell me about yourself, if you may?"

A giggle came in reply to Osprey's slight joke. It was a bit childish and girly, confirming the woman's thoughts of her age. She was young, but she always had prided herself on her maturity. It wasn't a crime, however, for others to be suspicious of her. It was a bit strange, she knew this. But she had worked hard for the promotion, and Aria believed that she had earned them fair and square; no one would take that away from her.

The next comment did not come as rude or doubtful, but to the young white girl it came as a bit unnerving. Surely this didn't make her mad, did it? Was this her passive aggressiveness? It couldn't be, Aria gave a soft smile, nodding in vague agreement. But the tone changed, somewhat, and the worry of the girl washed away. She didn't mind talking about herself, it was something she thought she knew a lot about. She dipped her head. 

"Of course," she replied, smiling more fully to the woman. "I came from a pack further north of here. I was trained as a battle medic, and left on my own terms shortly before my first birthday," she began, leaving out minor details that were not extremely important. "I arrived to Donnelaith, was accepted by Lasher, and have worked hard as a contributing pack member ever since. I currently study the trades of an advisor, therapist, and a sitter," she finished. It summed up a lot of her pretty well. Dare she mention Casmir? perhaps that was too far. The older woman probably cared nothing for that, and she wasn't even sure where she stood with the boy. 

Aria's story was not an exceptional one - details changed but the plot remained the same. Osprey furrowed her brow at "working hard" part, almost giving in to challenge the girl about, what exactly she had meant by that and why had the elder never heard about it. But the answer to the last question was pretty clear already (she had not cared to particularly mix with others since her return) and therefore gave her no right doubt beta's abilities and usefulness. 

"What does a battle medic do?" she decided to ask insted, being genuinely interested in the matter. While her birth-pack had never been military-oriented, from the people she had met over the years it seemed that it was not that uncommon. "So - the trades - do you find them equally exciting or there is one that you enjoy the most?" 

While a bit upset she would have to drag the topic back up (in full, rather than summary), Aria respectfully obliged to her request to know what a battle medic was. "You were either both to a ranked family or you weren't- but those who weren't obviously couldn't all be omegas so they were just trained under three known trades- hunting, fighting, and healing. I was labeled as a fighter which means I only practice my battle moves and tactics, but was later moved into the medic bracket as well. So, in battles I was expected to not only fight but make sure the wounded and dead were removed from the field and cared for." It was a long, and perhaps boring, explanation. She'd implied that she was that she was born to a rank technically lower than Omega and was part of a pack so large she was part of an army- practically. 

She gave a gentle shrug. "I learned enough to function on my own for a while," she said, almost in defense of her humble beginnings. She was glad she never had to actually go out onto the field. Her job was unfair (in her eyes) and she felt she was one of the most vulnerable out there; she felt she was worth more than such.

The girls tail wagged a little when Osprey asked of her favorite, and she smiled brightly. "I think they all go well together," she told her, eyes shining as she thought of all three. "I'd really count the three as one but, I have always had a love for pups," she told her, a bit bashfully. She really was too young to have a family of her own, and she knew that, but she was extremely jealous of every litter she saw. This too was unfair; why didn't she have a mate and children of her own? 

Osprey's family hadn't been one you would call "blue bloods", though she had to admit that Aether's ancestors were made of a more sophisticated and royal matter than those of March Owl's. But it had never mattered in her birth-pack. You earned your title by proving your worth. Your work spoke of greater volumes than your background. So she could not quite understand, why Aria seemed uneasy, when speaking about this bit of her early life. 


"And you have fared really well," Osprey decided that praising the girl about the long way she had come to be, where she was now, would make her feel a little better. When she admitted her love for the puppies, the elder's ears lifted up and she smiled. There weren't many young wolves her age that would think about the prospect of having kids of their own. So busy and full with their own lives. "Well - you have all the chances to have them - a high rank, favored and trusted by the leaders. You have good looks from what I can tell - surely you will charm many men one day... or perhaps you already have?" Osprey teased gently. She didn't know much about the trends of "perfect girls" nowadays, but she was pretty sure that a warrior, a nurse and a blonde in one person had always been considered sexy.

The tail of the young girl wagged a bit at the praise. It was gentle and there wasn't a whole lot of meaning into it, but it was nice to hear that someone else found her to be a useful asset to the pack; it lifted her spirits. She dipped her head humbly as Osprey continued a bit, but when she came to the topic of mates the girl felt her whole body grow warm. Did she know? 

She raised her head a bit and gave an embarrassed smile. By now Lasher's scent would have washed clear from her, but did Casmir's linger? Did it really even matter? Probably not, but somehow it didn't help the nerves of the pretty, young thing. "Oh.. Oh no.. not... not many," she stammered out, pink probably showing through the light of her fur. "I hope one day though," she added, a bit calmer. She smiled to the woman her tail wagging. 

"It may not be my place to ask," she commented then, trying to pull the subject from herself, "But have you and Dante thought of having a family?" she tilted her head a little, smiling as her tail thumped slowly against the ground.

""Not many" doesn't mean "none" - so, am I right in guessing that there is a special someone already among the ranks?" Osprey mused out loud on purpose, testing the waters and observing Aria's facial features. For some reason she had become uneasy again - either she had stepped on a sensitive subject again or the girl was one of those, who did not like to disclose her private matters with virtually a stranger. The elder was oblivious of the drama going on about the love-triangle and the only thing that bothered her was the possibility that Aria being younger, stronger and more beautiful might catch Dante's eye. "And you certainly will," Osprey said as a common courtesy required, though the sudden surge of jealously was not that easy to get rid off. 

It really was not her place, but Osprey didn't want to be rude by saying so. Denying the matter entirely - that would not be very fair either. Because sooner or later everyone would find it out anyway. "There has been a thought - yes - but time will show, what happens. I am past my prime already."

The white girl blushed a little further, and shifted slightly in her spot. "Just one," she leaked out, giving a smile of affection as she thought of the Mayfair child. "It's a bit complicated though," she continued with some bitterness, shrugging a bit. "I'm not sure how far it will go." It was all she could say without pouring the entire story on the unsuspecting elder, who was unaware of the entirety of the drama that was occurring between the youths. Maybe she wanted to know, Aria wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to share unless she was asked.

Osprey mentioned that a family was a possibility between the two and, although she didn't seem too eager to share Aria didn't push it further. "I wish you luck then," she murmured, dipping her head. The thought of more pups made her jealous again, but she was also quite excited at it.

"Building relationships is never easy. Keeping one is an even harder task," Osprey agreed, thinking about all the friends and family members she had gained and lost during her life. Sadly the number of those, who were lost, was higher. Then again she could not complain about her current status - there weren't many close friends, but the most important ones were here. That probably mattered the most. 

"Luck will definitely come in handy," she returned, wagging her tail and then yawning. "On the subject of your former home - what were the traditions and customs in your birth-pack? Because it's not that common to have wolves being raised and trained for battle. My husband is one of them, but it's an exception not a rule."

The woman asked again of her home, and although this time she was not as reluctant, the girl still felt a bit uneasy. Obliging to her requests regardless, Aria shrugged. "Around six months wolves were sorted into different groups based on build and ambition- larger to warriors, smaller to healers, the quick to hunters. Obviously some were placed in multiple groups, but they were a rare difference," the girl explained. She was in that group, but it was partially do to her smart mouth. Training was extremely tedious and others were punished for making simple mistakes. "You don't do actual training until you're about nine months, the rest is like easy tactics and... booksmarts I guess," she added with another shrug.

"The pack got into quite a few battles- same rival pack- while I was there, but until you're a year and a half you don't see any of the action. Quite excessive training, but they were quite serious about their ranks," Aria continued, watching the woman as she spoke. "I'm not sure if that answered your question..." she finally said, giving an embarrassed smile. "I just mean.. it was a military pack, I guess. We were in a war with another pack for over a decade, leaders switched a few times during it- they did what they needed to."

"It still seems to me that being at a war for over a decade is a waste of good lives. I mean... I don't want to undermine the neccessity to learn, how to defend yourself and fight, yet... doing it so for the prospect of dying in a battle-field?" Osprey wondered, whether there could have been a different way to resolve a conflict. More often than not the fights were about resources. And if two packs could not settle their differences for more than ten years, then perhaps one of them could have packed their things and left. Being on the move was never easy, but at least it would spare lives. 

"But I won't judge matters, which do not concern me. Forgive me," she cast a quick, friendly glance at Aria and got up to her feet. "I feel thirsty - care to walk with me and find a stream to drink from? There was one just around here. Definitely," she closed her eyes a bit, drawing the map of Donnelaith in her mind, looking for directions and, when it was clear, she beckoned the girl to follow. "Since you told about yourself so much - you may ask anything you want to know about me? Or, if I am not an exciting subject enough, anything you would like to know."

"It seemed it was mostly a cold war," Aria replied, shrugging. "There were battles, but from the stories it seemed the packs did more standing and planning than acting.. I believe I left towards the end of it. I do not know what has become of either," she informed the women then, although did appear to agree that it was a waste of lives. How many were lost over the decade- she didn't want to know.

The white girl dipped her head in a nod, standing and beginning after her as she went. "I could go for a drink," she agreed, smiling kindly. When asked if she wanted to know anything, Aria gave a thoughtful hum before answering her. "What about you?" she asked, "Where did you come from before Donnelaith?"

"I come from a place that is similiar to this - Flightless Falcons. It was located more inlands, but the ocean was just mere miles away," Osprey began telling about her home, opening the drawers of her mind that contained the old and dusty files of her birth-place. The pages were yellow and dog-eared, but the writing was still clear. And here and there one would find faded photos - random snapshots from her life. "By the time I was born, our family was quite big - I have many siblings, nephews and nieces," she was unaware that last year a fire had destroyed the place, taking lives of many of her family members.

"My mom - March Owl - was a very tough wolf. No-nonesense person. Skilled hunter and fighter and she had a vast knowledge about bird species. She could walk in the forest and tell apart all of the birds apart," Osprey had often wondered, what it had been like to walk in her mother's shoes - it was never just birdsongs to her. Each one told a different tale. "She put emphasis on us learning, how to survive on our own. My father - Aether - was more of a scholar type. A good and wise leader. He told us stories about Greeks and Romans, as well about the stars - my love for the lorekeeping is because of him."

She sighed, thinking about both of her parents and, how she missed them, even now, when so much time had passed.

I am SO sorry! I did not know it was my turn on this thread and totally forgot about it.

Aria listened as they went, her head tilting and tail swinging from side to side. The older woman was interesting, for sure, but the white Beta couldn't decide how such an interesting wolf was so distant from the pack. "Greeks?" the girl then questioned, watching her curiously. "Romans? Are those wolves?" she asked. Aria did not know much of history or tradition, and such was apparent when any sort of holiday rolled around. To her, the Greeks and Romans were simply packs. 

ooc: Don't worry about this at all. At times I am not a fast poster either, so I assume it is only fair that the people, who I post with, prioritize their threads depending on the activity. 

Aria's interest in her father's ancestry reminded Osprey of her own awe, when she had first heard about them from Aether. She had absorbed every single tale, fable and legend he had told her and always pestered him to tell more. Until one day, probably tired of his kid's persistance, he had suggested that perhaps Osprey should invent stories of her own. Little did he know then that it would turn out to be his daughter's life-long passion. 

"I assume so - I can't say I have met them personally, but I trust my father's word. And he was one of them after all," she shrugged, wondering the same way Aria did, whether there were true Greek and Roman packs located somewhere still or they had scattered and perished as the wheels of time turned. And that those gods, demi-gods, mythological beasts, heroes and hauntingly beautiful queens just lived in the stories that had been left behind. 

"But they must have been quite an interesting bunch and led exciting lives. If you believe that most of their tales are true, then... for instance, the head god Zeus had numerous illegitimate children and I have always wondered, how his constantly adulterous lifestyle went together with ensuring good morals within the pack," given a choice, Osprey would still root for the more traditional way of life. One mate for life.

<3

The girl listened with interest, her ears perking right away. "No way!" she exclaimed, her tail wagging. Not that she really understood what a Greek or Roman really was, but the way Osprey talked about it just sounded so cool. Aria tilted her head as she went, frowning. "Was?" she asked, her curiosity pursueing the topic further. "Do you mean they don't exist anymore? Do you know what happened to them?" the white girl asked, her age showing with each question she asked.

As a young pup, Aria had been taught little about religion. The only thing she had been introduced to was the healing instructors beliefs- which were primal and made little sense to those who worshiped Gods. The snowy yearling believed in and worshipped nature. When she prayed, she prayed for help from the world around her, rather than anything specifically. Trees and leaves and flowers each had a tiny soul, and Aria respected each equally. So, to her, Zues was extremely foreign. 

"Head God," she repeated quietly, wrapping the concept around her mind. She knew about worshpping Gods, but no one had really ever talked to her about it- she was intrigued by the idea that one was better than the other... they were Gods after all, right? 

"That's interesting," Aria replied, slowly losing herself in her thoughts. "So he just slept around?" she asked curiously, looking to Osprey. Then, in a childish manner, she asked "What if we were the illegitimate children of a God?" 

The thought was exciting, but it's not like she really knew what that meant.

"I can't say for sure that they don't exist," Osprey replied, "I would rather like to think that they are still here just different. I doubt you can keep a multi-god religion going for centuries." Though the statement itself might be faulty -  from her occasional adventures around the wilds, she had met quite a few people that worshipped the most bizarre things. There had once even been a viking pack not far from there - their belief system being old. So... perhaps there were still packs that paid tributes to Athena, sacrificed for Zeus, believed in the underworld led by Hades and so on. 

"Well, there were a lot of gods and goddesses alongside him and their lives... let's say were quite passion- and pleasure-oriented," her father was probably rolling around in his grave now, hearing his daughter presenting his ancestor's legacy this way. "We might as well be - there is a different religion that states that the god is around you and in everything. Each of us have the godly particle called soul."

I'm so sorry this has gone on so long. It's so far down my thread log I always forget about it! Last for me. feel free to respond or archive

Aria nodded along as Osprey spoke, her tail waving behind her as she thought on the subject with genuine interest. Osprey seemed to know a lot, but it made sense considering she was a bit older than she was. The pale girl tilted her head and the woman's next comment, a smile pushing it's way onto her face. That was what she believed, to a certain extent anyway. She'd never heard the word soul though, at least not in this context, and she felt a bit more at ease now that she could place a word with a feeling. 

"Thank you Osprey," she replied, smiling happily. "I learned a lot- you know a lot," she told the other woman. Aria dipped her head, tail still wagging. "I'm going to head out to patrol the borders," she then informed her, and stood. "It was a pleasure meeting you," she added, smiling still. Her head dipped again, and she departed without another word.