Neverwinter Forest left us worried and down

Quick shit to pass some info here. @Mal.

 

Vallkyrie was, as simply put, worried. When she had first joined the ranks, she and @Simmik had literally been the only females within the ranks. Mal had explained he and the boys as a rag-tag gang of sorts, sticking together where family had failed them. Now they were seemingly gone, nearly all which had been founding members just a month ago... and why? Kyr frowned, whimpered even. Had they decided to leave because of the lack of safety in the Wilderness? Had they been stolen away, or worse, from the attackers? 

It had been too little of time for Kyr to notice @Atausiq having been whisked away by a woman (and an ally no less!) but it was two others which plagued her mind now - @Kratos and @Zephyr. Their scents were faint, she had not seen or heard them in passing by. She was not close to them, no, but they were key members which had been attacked once before. She couldnt have imagined they just flat out left without warning. That would be, well, horribly inconsiderate given all what trouble was happening at the time. 

Lifting her head to the late afternoon skies, she calls out to @Mal desperately, pacing along the outskirts of the territory with angst.

He wasn't sure why it was that Kratos and Zephyr hadn't returned. It had been foolish of Zephyr to storm off, but at least with the two together he figured they were probably safe. But where had they gone now? The few days had turned into a week.. More now.

And of Atausiq, it was more of a case of wrong time, wrong place -- as in Mal had been across the territory when Hua had called for him in the past, and hadn't been outside far enough to find the trail where the two met. He was going to find him later in the day. The scents he'd found weren't exactly super stale, so he hadn't gotten worried yet.

But Vallkyrie's howl? That did concern him, so he hurried on over that way. So she appeared quickly before him. His ears pricked forward, looking around for whatever it was, What's up?

Mal arrived quickly and it of course did not surprise her. Mal always seemed on the move, always at attention and prompt. Did he ever sleep? Did she, for that matter? 

Kratos and Zephyr... do you know where they are? After having been aattacked once Kyr only assumed  the worst. Surely they wouldnt have just Left wwithout warning after all the pack had done to try and tend to them? Then again, Vallkyrie did not know the history which the pair had with Mal and a little incident of 'not being able to keep it in your shaft' so to speak.

A slight shake of his head, Not at this point. Zeph got all bent out of shape over a new joiner, hell if I know why, and stormed off. Kratos followed. I was sure that they'd come slinking on back after a few days of whatever tantrum it was, but they haven't. Mal wasn't sure what to make of the whole thing. I don't know if it was because it was Cupid or not, but he called a pup a 'thing' and then just walked out. Didn't exactly leave an explanation, but they're together at least. Okay, the fact the thread had been backdated certainly made the timeline kinda weird but whatever.

As far as Zeph was concerned, Mal had figured it was totally unrelated. Something about Cupid had set them off as far as he could gather. And the only thing that had been wrong about the one time Mal and Zephyr getting together (at Zeph's insistence, mind) was that Mal had ended up being relegated to 'Dirty Little Secret' and he hated that. If Zeph had been so concerned about Kratos freaking out, maybe that was an issue with Kratos, but whatever, that was something Zeph would have to deal with if it ever came out. Mal was going to keep his word, even if he hated it, even if he'd done nothing actually wrong -- but he sure as hell wasn't going to agree to anything like it again in the future.

Mal, with a shake of his skull, went onto explain that Zephyr had gotten upset about a new member joining (Mal didn't know why) and that Kratos in turn followed. Since then, they had not been seen. With this information Vallkyrie eased, physically even as a deep sigh exhaled and her body slumped even. He told the name of the wolf whom joined - Cupid and what Zephyr thought of the child. And he does realize he is still a pup too, right? It was a rhetorical question more or less mumbled under her lips. 

Shifting her weight as Mal ffinishes, she huffs. Well, if they both left on their own accord without thinking it through, then they can do just that - be on their own. I understand their opinions being valued, but it is not their decision who joins the ranks and who doesnt. Especially without explanation and especially without rank to hold such authority. I thought they might have been attacked. She speaks, revealing her worry.

Well, at least she wasn't panicking and demanding a search -- that was the main thing he was kind of concerned about, and Mal had to make sure the whole pack was protected, not just a couple who ran off together and might realize they were being silly and return under their own power. Yeah. If Zephyr was off on his own, I'd be way more concerned. I doubt Kratos will leave him alone for long after what happened, though. Or at least if he was smart, he wouldn't.

If they come back I'll ask what the was up with that, but if they demand Cupid be booted out for them to return, that's not happening. He was still gunshy about admitting Caerus was his kid, but it wasn't like it would take a genius to connect the dots -- it just felt too weird for him to say easily right now. So, he moved on. Right now I don't know if we could send anyone to search either... The only one we've got who was really interested in fighting stuff is Atausiq and Kratos was supposed to train him. I caught Ying the other day and asked if she'd be able to help instead. But he hadn't been able to find Atausiq since.

Vallkyrie listened to her leader's words, offering a nod about Kratos keeping pretty close to Zephyr's side in order to protect him. The pair were safer together, that was certain especially in knowing Kratos was quite the fighter, enough so that Mal was going to use him to train the rest of the possible guardians within the pack. Still not knowing Mal had a child of his within the ranks (who knows if he would ever tell her until she saw the "thing"!) she would nod once more in understanding he wasnt going to kick a member out just because another didnt like her/him. In fact, Kyr could have objected even letting Kratos and Zephyr return, at least not without repercussion. It wasnt like they had only been here a month or so. They had been with Mal, as far as Kyr understood, for quite some time, holding rank and a pull amongst the pack. And they just dropped it all over a spat. It wasnt the kind of members Kyr could imagine Kyr would have wanted within her ranks. Then again, she came from a much more strict upbringing. But with that strictness came a great respect, honor and dignity for your pack. 

Mentioning the lack of guardians amongst the group, she clicks her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She knew she was a huntress, along with Belharra (whom also could make for a scout or bard), Clover and unknowingly Aibreann. But what of the rest of them? What positions are we lacking in the ranks besides guardians? Of course they had the Junshi to help protect them in times of need - for wars or to search for someone gone missing but it didnt seem like they had much on a home front. But what else was missing?

He actually found it a little weird that she didn't ask. Whatever, he could put it off a bit longer. Give himself time to figure out what to say, maybe talk to Cupid again about everything.

I think that's the main one. We actually have a couple of healers now. And we got people that can hunt, got people that can scout. If we get people who can handle defending the territory while the rest of us do our other jobs, then it'll feel more comfortable I think. I just don't know why it is that we haven't had any other than Kratos really to start with. Just seems like a weird chance. But how else could it be explained? Maybe they just all were magnetized to Moonspear or something -- surely there had to be more friendly fighters that'd be turned off by their standoffish behavior and go next door to this forest instead.

Those whom dont have a profession can make for useful sitters to the pups, too. She adds on after Mal finishes. But having guardians and making the sitters capable of protecting the children, were quite important. After all, being a hunter, a scout, and an herbalist often requires straying outside of the pack territory in order to find food, herbs and gain recruits and information. She might even reach out to @Belharra to see if she would be more willing to stay "indoors" for the time being. She knew her friend loved to explore but also knew she was quite the singer, storyteller and survivalist. If any child needed looking after whilst the majority of the pack were out, she would be Vallkyrie's first choice, hands paws down. 

I can always teach the basics on defenses, if anyone is interested but I'm not warrior. At my birth pack, we were required to learn the basics on all skills. She took a moment to sit down, realizing that she had been standing at attention, on high alert due to her concern over their runaway packmates. At six months old when we got into adolescence, after the pups were weaned, learned to talk well and had finished just enjoying life as a puppy, we were all given lessons from those in that trade. We were taught the basics on defenses, how to mend minor cuts and ailments, how to keep low and stalk for prey, how to read the skies for bad weather and of the God of Old, of course. Gods which she believed and yet, did not preach. To her they were as normal as everything else, only brought up when the moment arrived, not to school. At a year, most are taken in as apprentices. Though it wasnt required if they still weren't certain. Vallkyrie had of course dispersed.

He did give her a bit of a look, There's all of one, I think we're good on that for the short term. You sure you're not really wanting just gobs of puppies to play with or something? he teased. They'd just have to see what happened with others... Assuming they all existed, basically. Hua hadn't come back yet, Miriam hadn't said anything, Aibreann hadn't gone into heat yet. So yeah, one.

But we need you to be doing other things -- like at some point we have to make sure Simmik and Matty are ready so we can take on the deer here. And when Ying does send someone here, it might be with the message to send one of our wolves with one of hers to search for the ones who attacked everyone. Which maybe seemed like an odd tangent, so he explained, They probably know my scent, otherwise I'd go. So it'd be you or Simmik who'd probably be the best option if you're up to it. We'll see what they say when they show up, though, or at least, so goes the assumptions.

I'm talking about in general. She would huff out a snort. There might just be one now. But later? Who knew. It left her with wondering who the pup belonged to anyone. He mentioned Cupid, whom she had yet to meet. Was Cupid the pup or the mother of the pup? Why did Zephyr seem to dislike it so much? Obviously Mal was leaving out some details here... To be continued. 

Mal went onto explain that she was needed elsewhere, which was true. Doing her normal duties of hunting had taken up much of her time already, but thankfully with the addition of @Clover and some others adding to the caches, Vallkyrie was able to split up her time scouting out around the borders or their territory too. Still, making room for training fighters would be difficult. Mal said Ying had a means of bringing a member of her militia here to help, which was quite a relief. 

Whenbhe continued on it was with mention tthat while one of Junshi was here training their possible fighters and guardians, one of Neverwinter's own would be matched with another member of Junshi to go scouting for those attackers. If Simmik is going to train as a fighter, she needs to stay here training. She mentioned on behalf of the arctic woman. Which then, of course, left her, out of Mal's two original options at least.  Having only two go out looking seemed risky, especially if they were to get caught but Kyr figured this mission was to find them, not fight them and report the location back. Still, there was always that risk.... If one of Junshi is going on the hunt and one scout of ours, perhaps Moonspear would be willing to sacrifice the use of a member? If a warrior of Junshi was coming and she, the scout, then maybe @Hydra could allow either another warrior or perhaps a healer or hers, should anything go array?

Not too much else to say about the pups right now. Partially because he wasn't thinking of what else should be said.

He nodded, Yeah, but depends on what the timeframe is. If it's just self defense and this scouting thing wasn't going to be for farther out, might work. But then again, might not, we'll see. There was a lot up in the air, but a lot would be clarified all at once.

I don't know. If we're having a pretty quick turnaround here, I don't know if there's time to coordinate them. It's up to Ying on that one. Get too many just looking for info, that might be suspicious too. He shrugged. If he had been able to go, solo might have been best -- be able to locate those who were suspicious, get back, and not have to worry about attracting too much attention. However, there was that whole not wanting to die thing. Suggested a few other things too.. Fake names, pretend you're from a forming pack that doesn't exist, stuff like that. We'll see what they confirm when they show up.

Mal wasnt sure what the entire plan was when it came to hunting down these wolves who had been attacking the nearby packs. Vallkyrie could only be left to assume it was because the plans were being figured out per Ying. She had dubbed herself as Junshi, after all, whom were the protectors of the northern reaches here so Kyr would be left to wait it out the same as Mal. It was true that, well, with the turn over rate as it were, Neverwinter couldn't afford to have too many of their members off wondering god knows where and for how long. Vallkyrie didnt like the uncertainty but it seemed she would be forced with it for awhile anyhow. 

Vallkyrie nodded with a deep sigh,  being left without words for the time being. At least if anything she got the latest news despite the fact that Zephyr and Kratos were now both gone and to their own accord no less. Well thanks... She meant on behalf of the info, now that she had calmed down from her initial panic. I guess I'll get back to it then? She had stopped her scouting around when the worry had plagued her and now that it wasnt... She paused for a moment to see if Mal had anything more for her before she headed off.

It would have been nice if they were able to do more planning -- maybe a few meets before they had to deal with anything. However, two was gonna have to be the limit: the one he already had and the one that would happen when the guy showed up to train them. Maybe they could dig up a few extra faces along the way... But hey, long term plans.

He nodded. Yeah, feel free. But also feel free to come find me if you think of anything else. I think we'll be ready by the time stuff starts moving again. Or at least so he guessed. He hoped. I'm gonna go hunt up some grub, so just gimme a shout if something comes up. If not, they'd certainly run into each other again. Or at least he sure hoped that they'd cross paths again! After all, they were in the same pack.