Emberwood as long i'm here, no one can hurt you

bhediya was still perplexed by her interaction with dauntless. she understood him not remembering, but not knowing at all? grayday hadn't neglected to share the story, as was made apparent by easy's recollection of events. maybe their son just wasn't as bright?

it served as a good distraction, but only for a moment. as soon as their conversation ended, her mind roamed back to the body. bhediya sounded several summoning howls, one for @Kavik, another for @Cerulean, and one for @Awol. there was a shorter call sent for their women, an effort to gather them together.

The call made him pause in the middle of his patrol, the sound recognized as coming from Bhediya. He had found no evidence of intruders near any of the borders he had inspected so far, and he wondered if she had maybe discovered something that would cause their peaceful pack problems. Their was something about her howl that set him on edge, his anxious mind throwing out endless possibilities for what could be wrong.

When he arrived, he stopped in front of the other leader, dipping his head stiffly in greeting. Bhediya, is everything okay? he asked. He hoped so; he wasn't ready for more turmoil in his life. He had suffered enough for one lifetime at least.

Running a pack was no easy feat and the responsibilities had swept in like a swollen tide across Ibis, overwhelming her for the better part of the recent fortnight; she had no knowledge of anything aside from the pack's food stores, patrol rotations, and good spots to sneak a nap in between her duties — so when a call from Bhediya rose succinctly to the air Ibis didn't think anything of it. Another summons for her specifically, and one she was thinking to ignore - except she heard further calls, one for each of the leaders, and that brought everything to the forefront. Nobody would convene the entire counsel unless it was important.

Ibis thus made swift work of the now-familiar forestry; leaping across the patches of exposed snow, slipping easily between the trees, and within a few minutes she closed-in on where the sound originated: and there she spied Bhediya — beyond the woman, the towering shape of Kavik. Concern knit her brow and she drew herself with further haste towards the pair, glancing from face to face but saying nothing.

Aspen trees and their past flitting leaves;
were but bare skeletons of the majestic tapestries of nature they were a moon ago. There was no denying the cold graps of winter had caught unto the scarred, and was left with a troubling sneeze here and there. Then, a spasmodic call over all the bare trees, one for each leader in mind, the author the strict yet small black female, Bhediya. Awol grudingly swallowed the gathering phlegm in his mouth and followed the song to its source.

Composed of weakness and slight despair, the chesnut males scoured between the weaving trees, taking the long way round. He was wary without reason, for sure. He had not seen he others in the past few days and felt somewhat culpable at the fact that he wasted his time dabbling in the mountains to concern in affairs that were not his. 

There, his eyesight caught, was the giant and the fae, waitng his arrival in the unforgiving cold. He did not bother excuse himself for his tardiness, simply shared the stern, serious look he had practiced and perfected so well with a few considering nods at his fellow council members.

the council was quick to gather, each leader arriving in due time. bhediya chose to ignore kavik's words until everyone was present. lolita and i..., she began, interuppting herself with a frustrated sigh. her brow was knit tightly together as she searched for the right words. we were scouting in the southern valley, near easthollow and the creek.

there was a body there. the magician stopped to look at each leader's reaction. a young woman, uhm...not dead for very long. there are bodies everywhere, bhediya. get to the point. she'd been, another heavy sigh, assaulted, likely drowned. remembering the scene brought a wrenching pain to her stomach. she stood silent to allow for any responses.

When they had all gathered, silent greetings exchanged, Bhediya began to talk. She wasted no time getting to the point, thankfully. But what she had to say was concerning. She had found a dead wolf in the valley. Still, he wasn't one to jump to conclusions, especially since wolves died from accidents all the time. Worried regardless, he asked: You're sure it wasn't an accident? What if she had merely fallen in and drowned, her body accumulating any other injuries from being thrashed around in the water. He hoped that to be the case, because if not, then they had even more reason to be worried about the lands outside their borders.

Ibis watched the pinched look crease Bhediya's features and it was swiftly mirrored on her own little face, except when the woman began to explain why she had called them together, Ibis gasped and paled. She did not know what to do with such information; the shock was evident enough, the repulsion soon after, and utter mortification. Kavik wanted to make sure she was certain - but Ibis had no reason to doubt what the Magician said.

Her stomach churned; she felt ill, like something was crawling up from the back of her throat.

Bury her -- we -- we should bury her. Whoever they are. How sad it must be to have become so lost, and to leave the world in a violent manner void of love! But Ibis could fix it. She could help them in death, grim as it felt and strange and - outside of her expertise, as so much of life had become lately. Ibis looked among the counsellors and said emphatically, We must do this. If not us, who?

Awol was unfazed at this news;
perhaps it was the case of ceaseless hours of pondering his exsistence, the weakening will to bear the cold, that made him so unmoved towards this news. It was no pack member of theirs — at least that was of some assurance to him. He briefly peeked at the wavering sky as the magician questioned Bhediya's claim. A silent, pitying invocation, whispering nothings on the wind passed his head.

Death, something that came too early to the poor young soul who had succumbed to whomever their supposed assailant was. Death. Should he fear it? It always seemed to visit him for such a short time and leave him before it could grasp his lost soul. 

"We should bury her," Awol agreed briefly with the somewhat skaken archdruid. He touched her shoulder simply to ease her senses. "How did you know for sure that she was drowned on purpose?" The bard's amber mirrors shifted into slits as he stiffly replied to the woman's news. 

the magician quickly began to feel overwhelmed, her heart hammering against her chest. to keep herself from falling over, bhediya sat back on her haunches and allowed her head to hang while listening to awol's question. we..., she took a moment to ground herself before continuing, gaze fixed on kavik, it wasn't an accident. we could smell.. it on her. 

then, back to awol, only her front half was in the water. it could have been an accident, but — silence — it's easier to believe that someone was trying to cover their tracks. it wasn't impossible to believe that the girl had slipped and fallen into the water, but there was no ice around when they'd arrived. even if there had been, the water was shallow enough that any adult wolf should have been able to climb back out.

i think that her body is still there, bhediya sighed, then turning to look at ibis. i can take you.

He nodded somberly, not needing her to explain any further. He was having some trouble processing all of this, his own tragedy coming to mind at any mention of death. His mind kept assaulting him with memories of the day his family died, and he was having to work extra hard to remain in the here and now with the council. 

She offered to lead Ibis to where they had found the body, and he wanted to excuse himself from the situation; the part of him that still remembered what old Kavik was like vehemently disagreed with that thought, though. He closed his eyes briefly, searching for the strength to be the leader he knew he should be, drawing in a deep breath before finally looking to the magician once more. I'll go too; you'll need help, he offered, his voice surprisingly devoid of the struggle going on inside him right then.

Conversation lulled in her ears; Ibis didn't know what it was, and wouldn't ask. While the others discussed everything the girl felt herself withering inside herself, withdrawing, and pulled away from the gathering for some air. Sarah had been right. They would need mercenaries to keep themselves safe if someone meant them harm... Was she equipped to handle this?

Her heart broke as she thought of this person - whoever they had been, whatever they had experienced in life, they did not deserve such a violent end. If someone from the Emberwood had discovered them hours before, perhaps they would be alive now, safe. That dawned a new thought: what if the culprit was among them? A heinous consideration; Ibis denied it immediately and took a breath.

When she had composed herself and finally looked to the counsel, she saw each of her dear friends worrying, and knew she had to be present for this. So in silence she rejoined them after a few moments of doubt, but didn't speak.

Awol made no comment as the archdruid, drew away from this disturbing realization. To see his leader and friend so taken abck by the turn of violence... it made his ire quickly rise again and taint his senses like consuming the fatal belladona on a scalding summer day. He averted his sight to his paws, the ashen crown praying that this sadness woul pass over soon.

It was no doubt that the pack was going to be under more watchful eye now, no member of theirs was going to be attacked and brought down to a miserable fate. if something like that ever happened to his council members... Sarah, Kukulkan... 

He would be sure to make them pay their rightful price and send them along the paths of whatever hell they belong. That was another question. Why? Did this victim commit a crime, reason maybe? Love gone too far? The possibilites were, in fact, endless. There was even a reality where his sisters had located him and had decided to quench thir thirst of revenge little by little by drowning the land malice and blood...

"We need to protect the pack. Make sure everyone is accounted for, ake sure out borders remain uncrossed. And we should notify the packs in the area to do the same," he contemplated outloud, quietly at the bginning, but his words became sticking acid on his tongue, and his anger feuled his volume. He quickly shot a look at Ibis when she returned. He had once inquired her about how she was meant to organize that pack, and with her thoughtful reply had made himself seem like a tyrant in his mind. But now was not the time for that.

If they had any chance of keeping their family safe, or anyone safe, order was needed to preserve their lives.

talking about the body was obviously taking a toll on ibis. bhediya didn't want to further the damage, so she decided to move on with the conversation. she was grateful for awol's input, adding on, lost creek and the hollow have both been notified already. you should visit courtfall, maybe the pack in the southern half of the range, too. they hadn't spent much time at diaspora, but maegi lived there; the scout needed to know that her friend knew to be safe.

she continued, until the assailant is caught, or the murders seem to stop, i'm proposing a curfew. bhediya looked between the members of the council, trying to interpret their immediate reactions. our women should travel in pairs, if leaving the territory is necessary.

He watched Ibis with concern as she stepped away without saying anything. He wanted to check on her but decided she probably wanted some space. The news was worrying and meant that they would need to be really careful, and was sure that would weigh heavily on her mind. 

When she came back to the group, he gave her a reassuring nod and then gave Awol his attention. He agreed with the bard. I'll increase my patrols and offer lessons to anyone who wants to learn some defensive moves, Kavik offered. Both would help ensure that the danger wouldn't affect them here. And it would hopefully ease some of Ibis' worry.

He was glad to hear that Bhediya had already informed some of the neighboring packs. When she suggest some travel to the mountains to inform the packs there as well, he added: I can go with whoever makes the journey. As for the curfew and the women traveling in pairs, he was in complete agreement. I think that's a good idea, he offered with a nod. Hopefully with these measures in place, none of their packmates would meet the same awful end.

They each had a plan already playing out in their heads, and Ibis couldn't fathom how they had gone from 'there is a dead body on our land' to 'here is what we do' so quickly. Bhediya proposed a curfew, Kavik offered to train people in case they become targets - targets! As if murderers running rampant across the land is the norm. They were each horrified by the discovery and she was certain of that, but they also knew precisely what to enact, how to keep everyone safe. Everything was decided and Ibis need not have bothered opening her mouth.

Yet she found her voice in the next instance, and weak as it sounded, shy and useless against the confident timbre of her companions, she would not let them leave without her contribution.

Kavik, stay. You can train everyone from home. Bhediya can find someone else to accompany her. Her voice was hard-edged, with no room for compromise, and before anyone could argue with her she turned to leave them - to head deeper in the woods. But she didn't get far before adding, The rest is fine. Curfews will be in place, those that can will patrol. Stay safe, everyone. And in silence she left them.