Seaside Moors Momma's in the beauty parlor, Daddy's in the baseball pool.

@Wintersbane <3

"YOU!" Raleska roared, coming upon Wintersbane with her hackles alight and face contorted into an expression of both anguish and fury. Who did he think he was, joining their pack and then spitting into the face of their leaders? Raleska had visions of Vercingetorix -- how she had insisted he should not be allowed into Rusalka's claim. And now, months later and a hundred miles away a new Vercingetorix had begun clawing his way to the top.

Raleska didn't bother to get to know this Wintersbane, or see his side of the story. All she saw was an upstart, come to bring destruction to her home -- a home that was already fragile and crumbling. "What kind of leader takes from his people?" Raleska hissed, wishing she was brave enough to attack Wintersbane, when she knew in truth her wrath was but a fuse without outlet. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" And worse -- why had everyone just stood by and let this happen?

fury storms to him in corporeal form; hackles bristled and yellow gaze burning thousand suns. polar gaze meets hers own calmly, having expected rage. usurping was never going to have gone over smoothly. seas were not always smooth; they were rough and choppy. merciless. what kind of leader doesn’t even acquaint himself with his newest recruits? whiskey steeped in coiling smoke rasps from scarred throat. though initial challenge was driven by instinct and what he hopes to secure for himself in his future. family. stability.

the fact that aningan was only seen for the first time during the challenge; nothing more than a phantom with a name who was supposed to be the alpha was a justification wintersbane holds to in the herenow.

expecting anyone else to agree, when he’s usurped their phantom king, was foolish.

you have every right to be mad at me, wintersbane allows. i won’t deny you your anger. but he regrets nothing. too much life lived in regret was no life at all. he stands at the precipice of the eye; a lighthouse seeking to guide the way. he will have to work thrice as hard to prove himself especially as a leader, especially now. the hale tundrian, however, has never backed down from a challenge.

despite what you or anyone else may think, i do not seek to destroy rusalka.

Wintersbane remained cool in the face of Raleska's wrath; for that, she felt her fury falter and lose its confidence. No! He was wrong! He had come into their home and spat in their faces, by attacking the very sovereign that had granted him safe harbor! Raleska shook those fleeting thoughts of uncertainty from her mind and redoubled the hardness of her glare.

Of course she had every right to be mad at him. Her tail lashed as if saying fucking duh! It took her a moment to catch Wintersbane's first reply was a clap-back aimed at Aningan, and when she realized it her ears flew forward in insult. "It doesn't matter what you mean - it matters what you do. How are you a better leader than Aningan? How can you possibly be good for Rusalka? You aren't one of us -- you have no idea what we've been through." Her words came through as a heated hiss, sharp as glass as they were forced through a throat tight with rage. "Did you hurt him?"

i know. the tundrian agrees, at least with the ‘not words but actions’ part of her speech. it’s about my actions and not my words, as you’ve said. i can tell you how i plan to be a better leader but they won’t mean anything until i prove it to you. and he will, or he’ll try. maybe one day, he’ll be usurped. the nature of life was mercurial and wintersbane has long since came to accept it. come what may, he’ll be ready. i understand what it takes to lead, and i know that earning the trust of all of you won’t be easy. in hindsight, nothing in his life was easy or had came free.

he was not a golden child handed things on a silver platter.

if you’re worried about my abilities, then lead beside me. perhaps he doesn’t belong there yet, but he would; and if she wanted to check and balance him what better way to do it as his equal?

his ego, probably, but little else. i know i must look and seem the part but i’m not a monster.

Wintersbane's reaction to the spitting fury before him was laudable, really -- Raleska was unused to such a calm temperament in the face of wrath. She studied him uneasily, suspicion writ across every inch of her countenance.

And that offer, contingent on her accepting Wintersbane's rule.. Her eyes widened, but not out of interest. Raleska's brow upticked, a ruffle of hackles stirring along her nape. Was that how he thought he could win her over -- and, moreover, did he believe her loyalty to Aningan so flimsy that she would thieve from the polar wolf the mantle only he was worthy of upholding?

Raleska scoffed, blowing an affronted sigh between her nostrils. "You don't know anything about leading if your first motion is to steal from us and thrust discord into our home." Oh, she was getting madder by the second -- and the very idea that he thought he could win her over with some trinket of leadership? As if she had not been capable of climbing to such heights without him! Did he not know Raleska had lived under the thumb of more capable leaders for years now, and for more reasons than one -- she had no interest in ruling. Particularly not when it came at the cost of betraying her family. "You think I would betray my family for a title?" Cue more flaring of her nostrils, and hardening of her gaze. "I don't know where you come from, but this is Rusalka -- we do not thrust fangs into the backs of our kin for trifles like leadership or royalty." Not now, not ever. "You beat Aningan, and that is the only thing that keeps me from driving my fangs into you myself. But do not think for one moment you have a single ally in this pack." Raleska bared her fangs proudly. "You are a monster, to me. An infiltrator, an invader of my home and my peace."

Raleska truly felt torn. On the one hand, she wished to uphold the honor and rules of her pack -- and yet, on the other, her loyalty was bound deeply to Aningan, Rosalyn, and Erzulie. Not this man.

for what little it seems to be worth, he admires her loyalty; but too many years of seeing it wither away, carved by the sea of time has made him skeptical of it. wolves will only serve to disappoint. in the end, loyalty means little. loyalty to the wrong wolf could cost lives. you keep saying steal, wintersbane capitalizes upon it. i stole nothing. i demanded nothing. i issued a challenge. no one said he had to accept; but he did. and i won. and that was as simple as it was. in that regard, there was nothing stopping someone else from challenging him in return. nothing from stopping anyone from sparring him and if they won casting him out to the cold.

i made a choice. he made a choice. we fought like men …and i said nothing of betrayal. you are worried about me ruining your home, your peace. why? i only want peace for myself. i want to have a family. maybe he could’ve done it without clawing his way to the top rung but he knew the laws of nature: top got priority breeding; the fact that he felt like he was unworthy of the alpha’s time was another matter all together. i’m giving you the option to make sure i lead rusalka into prosperity, which i plan to do anyway. if she wasn’t going to accept it …then why complain?

don’t complain and belittle me. if you don’t like it: change it. you have that power. it’s not betrayal if it’s fair. he snaps, a crack fissuring in his otherwise calm facade. has anyone even bothered to recruit? the cubs almost outnumber the adults. and wintersbane knew how fickle subordinates could be — he’s been fickle himself but also saw first hand how the tides could turn. there’s trouble brewing in the wilds. how long do you think before rusalka is drawn into it? from the whispers he’s picked up on his travels, not long he thinks.

oh my god im so sorry for her

Why. Was. He. So. Goddamned. Rational? Why couldn't he spit in her face or insult her, so he could make it easy? Why couldn't he act like an arrogant asshole so Raleska didn't feel a single ounce of guilt when she ripped into him?

The tides of her confidence were again retreating, buckling under Wintersbane's continued unruffled demeanor -- right up until the whole fought like men comment. Raleska didn't bother hiding the roll of her eyes in response.

Ah, but now the tides were turning again as a little bit of the fire Raleska hoped to see in Wintersbane simmered and roared to life. Yes, speak down to her -- yes, tell her how it has to be -- poor little stupid Raleska, bogged down by her womanly brain. Thank god Wintersbane was here to see them all to salvation, these poor little lost wimmenfolk.

Her fur bristled. "You don't understand." Raleska's teeth gritted. "We don't want to recruit. We don't want fair -- whatever that misguided notion is. There's no such thing as fair. There is only what is, and what that is, is that a total outsider has come into our quiet lives and turned it upside down, all because of what he wants!" An edging in her voice of sea-glass and bitterness: "You didn't stop to think once about what we want, did you? About how we've shaped our lives, away from it all -- away from people like you. You're the trouble brewing. You're the storm on the horizon we've been watching. And the funny thing about men like you, is that they come and they go. Raleska's bitter laugh filled the air as she thought of all the men like Wintersbane that had come and went. Rosencrantz. Vercingetorix. Firefly. How funny it was every one of them had this egotistical notion that Rusalka was something to be fixed! How funny it was that if they were not dead (and many of them were), they were somewhere else. Not here. Not where it mattered. " You'll be nothing but a memory in two months time, and we will keep on as we've been keeping on. Rusalka will prevail, but you will be dust on the wind -- another stranger passing through who gets broken by the storm."

don't beeee. i love her. <3

so, what? you’re content to watch your numbers wither away to nothing? wintersbane snorts. who will keep this pack afloat? keep food in your bellies when you don’t have the hunters to fill it? to protect the borders when you don’t have the warriors to defend it? it makes no sense to wintersbane, truthfully. there are worse men then me out there. and it was the truth; he was the spawn of one such men. sure, his challenge was selfish. he wouldn’t contest that — he’d already admitted to it; but he also knows he’s not entirely bad at the leadership thing ( or so he thinks anyway, that could be argued ).

her words dig into him like barbs; stinging. he’s impressed and he can’t help but respect her even as she yells at him ( rightfully so ); but she doesn’t realize that her words only push him to want to prove her wrong. prove that he isn’t like the other men before. then you’ve known some shitty men, he remarks. but you’re right. you know nothing about me. i’m not like them. and your little tirade only makes me want to prove you wrong. he gives voice to his thoughts; because he is the nightingale queen’s son and stubborn as the icestone their ancestry is carved from.

<3 i love WB and thank u so much for the muse boost

So what, you're content to watch your numbers wither away to nothing? Who will keep this pack afloat? Keep food in your bellies when you don't have the hunters to fill it?

Every question was a slap to the face, a pointed spear thrust further and further into Raleska's slipping composure. She'd had very little to start with, and now she felt herself wanting to prove to him he was just an idiot, an egotistical man who had no idea what he was talking about. "You misunderstand," Raleska countered, heat dripping off of her terse words. "We did all of this before you came along. We're not starving vagrants looking for a handout. We've managed to make a living here JUST FINE! WE FOUGHT DRAGEDA -- YOU -- YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO WE ARE!"

Shouting -- she was shouting -- but she was so FUCKING MAD! "You act like we're a pack that needs saving! But we don't need you!" And then she realized he had said she'd met some shitty men -- um, yeah, DUH!! When the entire gender was shitty, did that really leave her many options?? Every fuckin' man left. Every single one. Only the women stayed -- okay, one exception, and that was Aningan. But he wasn't a shitty man, and how dare Wintersbane insinuate that! "My little tirade?" Raleska scoffed, feeling the wind beneath her sails pick up. "Do you have any idea how insulting you are?"

he meets her fury with cool opposition once more. they fought drageda? was he meant to be impressed by that? good for them. yeah? i fought a dragedian too. he was speaking of his own sister; thinking as he often did that it was too bad he didn’t kill her. regardless, molly was as good as dead to him. he was the last of his siblings to remain ( or to come back ). her following words hit him too close to home, the exact same words wylla’d used on him. he takes a deep breath; shoulders steeling. oh, plenty insulting i know. it’s not like you haven’t been screaming it at me. from the way he was taking it: his entire existence was an insult to her. he couldn’t help but wonder what it was she was really mad about: that he challenged or that he won.

surely, if he’d have lost no one would’ve cared aside from maybe chasing him out.

it could’ve been anyone’s spar, in reality; though wintersbane likes to think his mastery in fighting gave him something of an edge.

i am rusalkian. i became one of you when erzulie accepted me into the ranks; and as i said before, no one and nothing forced aningan to accept my challenge. he could’ve told me no but he didn't.

i understand your anger. i hear what you’re saying to me, but i won’t apologize for challenging or winning. if i prove to be like all the other shitty men… someone’s more than welcome to challenge me and put me at the bottom of the ranks. wintersbane takes another deep breath, polar gaze unrelenting.

"No -- not a single one, the entire fuckin' pack." Raleska spat, feeling a mounting sense of helpless rage. He was just taking everything she was throwing at him and throwing it back - meanwhile, he was ladling on this thick ass smug male charm that made her want to throw the gravy platter in his face.

She was running out of things to say, running out of ways she could possibly make him understand. He didn't want to understand. She didn't want to understand his side, either. Maybe she was being extremely ungenerous, maybe she was in the wrong -- but in that moment, Raleska just couldn't.

Now his gaze seemed like it bore into her, unflinching. She didn't like it. Like a cat scuttling away from a scalding pot of hissing water, Raleska began to ebb. "Fuck this." She didn't have the energy anymore -- he wasn't worth the energy anymore. All the same she found herself hating how she kind of, sort of, thought it was admirable he stuck to his guns. No! Fuck this, fuck him! Raleska gave Wintersbane one last scathing look, and unless he said anything else, she was about to leave.

She would see what Rosalyn and Erzulie thought about this. Maybe they could regroup and point a triad formation of mutiny against Wintersbane... Or maybe, her two surrogate mothers would be okay with this -- a thought that was helplessly bewildering to the girl who had learned from the earliest age to violently reject any sort of change to the status quo.