Herbalists' Cache cen

everyone tagged is assumed present or nearby based on IC assumption/knowledge, please feel free to make single posts or repeated replies, just lmk who wants to be added to rounds in ur ooc notes/tag me on discord <3 no posting order & set after pack meeting! everyone not tagged are welcome to join as cameo or participant!

there was to be no immediate visit upon the snow shelter. sun eater ate what was brought, filling his belly with fat and bone-marrow. for thirst, pale drifts to quench. 

first he counted those that had not come, running in mind's eye a count of his clan and their faces. "i think three at the den with her," he said to @Dark Fang, @Meleeys, and @Sulukinak, voice turning to a hiss as pain scintillated through torn shoulder.

forcing himself upward, sun eater turned his unreadable sight upon the snow shelter standing gently distant. @Black Hawk he expected to be there and @Other Shore as well. @Ishmira he had not seen; he did not remember her swift visit to his side. but there was no other place for her to be, and so he put her there in mental arrangement.

a step, and in his heart a dull sense of dread for what truths he might find. he had not yet come to think of star eater as he did her kin.

but sulukinak would not lie.

sun eater did not press the boundaries of the place still standing sacred; he stood there in a line with the lanzadoii and drew a breath. exhale held steam in the cold air. an effort to place words in proper place sounded then, a call roughened by the imposed cold of his tone.

"@Morwenna. did you go to darukaal?"

Her brother spoke the names. Meleys listened. Other Shore and Ishmira, two pale yearlings with little knowing or experience. Black Hawk would be the only true threat to get past, should it be true that not only had Star Eater decide to stand against her mate, but to sway the people of Saatsine, ripping them apart and turning them against one another. For who? For what? In the defense of those she had long ago chose to run from. 

She follows behind Cen, towards the den where new life stirred. For all the others knew, it was the time to collect the pups into warm maws for their journey. Meleys remained watchful.

she had known this was coming.
the moment her husband called, star eater steadied herself, rising from where their children hungrily tore at her teats. she soothed each one, pressing a gentle kiss to their tiny crowns before she stepped away. they whimpered at the loss of warmth, but she did not look back—not yet.
she stepped out into the cold. sun eater stood there, waiting, questioning, weak.
her heart twisted at the sight of him. his wounds—why had they not been tended? hadn’t ishmira…? but no, it seemed she had not. rage flickered through her like a candle’s flame, burning at the edges of her restraint. for all his faults, for all the war he had waged, she had never wished him to suffer like this.
he spoke, and she did as a good wife would. she moved to heal him.
with measured steps, she grabbed the herbs from a small pile she had gathered earlier, dropping them before him with quiet finality. no words of comfort, no softness in her gaze—only duty.
i followed the trail of my sister’s blood, she answered at last, voice steady, unwavering.
i did not breach the heart of darukaal.
her hands worked as she spoke, chewing the herbs, preparing them for the worst of his wounds. she met his gaze only briefly, searching for something—understanding, anger, regret.
i left herbs, and came back to our children.
her meaning was clear. she had not abandoned him, nor their family. whatever war he had started, she had not fought in it. but she had seen the cost.

he was stalwart at the side of his brother. his walk, however, was not one of the confident chieftain. it was the hatchet at his side, carefully crafted. dark fang moved with stalking strides, head lowered amongst squared shoulders.
he came to a pause when he did. eyes watching with devouring curiosity of what went on within the snow shelter. his woman appeared, looking to him with beautiful eyes. dark fang saw easily what sun eater saw in her. but felt nothing, only the heat of loyalty for his brother that would drive him to cut down anyone.
he resisted the urge to snap at her when she came too close. herbs in paw, looking to tend to his wounds. now, she want to heal you. dark fang comments, passing eyes to meleys. where had his wife been before? if she could leave to go heal the darukaal woman, she could leave to heal her husband, no?
he grunts. he does not like this woman.
dark fang watches carefully as this unfurls. he is not the smartest man. he is not made for these things. he is meant for fighting. he is meant for hunting the caribou they lived after. he cannot be the one to say if she lies or not.

light eyes fix on the man, morwenna's husband, who dares call her a traitor. but she does not curl her lip, hackles laying flat. there is nothing to fear while morwenna calms the storm. nothing to do until she is given command.

she remains attentive, warming the children against her belly fur. they cry for their mother as she departs, and the white wolf noses them gently in an effort to soothe. muscles remain taut, ready.

Ridgeback followed, trailing some distance as the Lanzadoii wolves made their way toward Morwenna’s den. He did not expect foul play might take place, but felt little trust for the four wolves who led the group. Having promised to protect Morwenna and the children, he figured his best bet was simply to shadow the Chieftan and his entourage, outwardly fulfilling the role he had chosen to take.

Simultaneously, fulfilling his pledge to keep the woman and her children safe. 

He regarded Morwenna calmly, though with a somewhat judicious air as she explained her case. The others watched her, and Dark Fang scoffed. Ridgeback showed no signs of empathy for the woman, as he felt it might be better to remain aloof, still outwardly devoted to the welfare of Saatsine. 

I may pop him in between rounds if he would act or speak, otherwise he’s low on the priority list for engagement in this.

Wasn't going to post Sulukinak since there were so many bodies already, but this can be a low-contact addition; she's more in the background, can be skipped, and can be PP'd by Cen.

They moved together because they had to; she braced her uncle until he felt the desire to rise without aid and stand, and he addressed the woman who was his wife. When she moved toward him with an assumption of grace and care, Sulukinak bristled and looked with her periphery to the muscle that came with them: Dark Fang carried an air of determination, a tension which was shared among those loyal to Sun Eater. If anything were to happen, she could trust this man as well as Meleeys to keep her uncle safe.

The den was cramped by now. Too many adult bodies in one place; but Sulukinak was of narrow build, and with the bulk of them confronting one-another she could snake her way a little deeper, if only for a breath of clean air. The urge to put oneself in to the dirt had never made sense to Sulukinak—she who slept upon open ground, or was at home with the ice of the glacier—but perhaps this was a trait shared only by mothers?

She caught a glimpse of a pale body near the back of the den, her ears pricking and eyes alight, but only for a moment. This was not someone she knew—but the air was sweeter that way, and some part of Sulukinak (perhaps the part that harbored its own maternal fixations) identified that as the nest within which Cen's children slept. Keeping to the curving wall, she turned her attention back to the two leaders of Saatsine.

their storm toward star-woman's whelping den was met with a low growl of warning from the lanzadoii woman. she had not left her queen's side—she could not, when she had made a promise to protect her children. to usher ishmira and the cubs toward safety if needed. 

they would not step closer. black hawk would not allow it. she'd meet the lot of them with teeth and sword, with brute strength and the vengeance roaring through her veins. her cousin demands to speak with star-woman, and hawk nearly takes a step toward him to spit in his one good eye. 

but she does not. star-woman moves easily, and it unnerves her. instead, she places herself in front of the mouth of the den. shielding the whining cubs and ishmira inside. hiding them from all the leering eyes that might wish them harm. 

her cousin was a prideful being, and paired with his terrible temper? she did not know what he wished of his children. whatever scheme he and his group had planned for them would be thwarted. 

she would die defending them, if needed. and what a way to go it would be.

skip w permission! <3 no posting order

he held up a paw to forestall any healing star eater might have given. dark fang offered harsh words, but his wounded brother offered nothing. for a long time he studied the starwoven with whom alone there had been such intimacies of spirit shared.

his expression closed. his spirit closed. heart held in desperate linger, following suit at the last. cen lanzadoii stood cold before morwenna, as he had done once with gheli and another with red leaf. all that had been gathered in word and in sight while he lay bleeding said that the wife of his heart moved submissive before him and lied.

"your sister choose to fight. she was saatsine. mine, to bring teeth if teeth given. the way of chieftain. the way of — jarl," tasting the word that dark fang had brought to him from winsook's mouth. lips tensed. "way of queen?"

"you seen. come back with blood. smell of glacier. you choose fool sister over lanzadoii children. you leave them. put self in danger. but i think you do more than this." sulukinak had not lied. she had not left his side, and even now did not, though to keep herself around such an assemblage was a strain for the shadow, he knew.

lanzadoii faced those who would not be.

he did not glance toward meleys nor his brother; he spoke what had been carried, his trust in them a reassuring simmer beneath the hurting irritation. "darukaal go to winsook. claim i make war. ask warriors. winsook come to saatsine and you tell them i make war. refuse heal for saatsine. you play game, morwenna," came the heavy voice of a man wronged. "you lie." it was an effort to remain rooted, not to advance, to snap. to escalate. his children lay beyond and the traitors among them had already broken the peace of their birth. "gjalla was never stay here. not after. i let her for you. for you. blackfell leave. same reason. " he did not address his at last-glimpsed cousin, who he had surely sent away. "you not tell to me blackfell have kin in darukaal. he with us, in peace-meeting. remember? saatsine fight saatsine. now glacier may come here?"

there were great energies to be cost, but sun eater did not waver. "speak again, wife. i will listen to explain from you."

his heart galloped a flat field of open pain.

"give explain why you tell winsook i go mad because i not take sister challenge."

morwenna was still, composed in the way of a woman who had no choice but to be. she had made her bed beside a man whose blood stained the land, whose name carried weight and consequence. she had known this when she had taken his name, when she had borne his children, when she had returned to him instead of staying at the glacier.
she is my sister first, husband.
there was no trembling in her voice, no hesitation. it was the truth, though she had not thought she would have to say it aloud. but it did not mean she did not love him, that she did not love their children, that she did not wish to see the saatsine thrive beneath them.
but he had nearly killed her sister. and he spoke now as if it was right.
calmly, she let him inspect the herbs, stepping closer with the soft brush of her tail. ishmira was tasked to heal you, she murmured, but it seemed she had not. it was not her fault, perhaps, but it was something. and it gave her pause—how many wolves would let him suffer? how many turned away, unwilling to lay their paws upon a man who could not stop himself from drawing blood?
his voice was sharp, accusing. his words tore through her, lashing against old wounds. her breath was steady, but inside, something cracked.
you tried to kill my sister. you know how i love her.
it hurt. and yet i came back.
i did not stay at the glacier.
she could have. she had every reason to. but she had returned to their den, to their children, to him.
our children are here, right there— she flicked her ears toward the den, toward the lives they had made together. and i will not leave them.
her voice did not rise. it did not break. her fury was the quiet kind, restrained and slow-burning, the way snow melted in the warmth of spring.
i did not know the kaan was his cousin. this was the truth, at least. but it did not matter, did it? he would believe what he wanted.
he spoke of war, of betrayal, of lies. he accused her of choosing her sister over their children, but had he not chosen his own pride first? had he not set them all down this path with his insatiable hunger for blood and retribution?
her ears flicked. she exhaled slowly. and then—
not even days after your children were born, you want violence.
her silver eyes searched his face, seeking something—anything—that might make sense of this.
is it never enough?
there was something fragile beneath her words, something quiet and aching. she had chosen him, but had he ever truly chosen her?

dark fang watches morwenna speak. her words slice through the air, but they don’t reach him. she lies! her words don’t match her actions. he stands stiff beside sun eater, eyes cold, narrow. his jaw clenches, his muscles tight.
betrayal stings his blood.
he does not know this woman and yet he burns in the face of her. he feels greatly for his brother; that he has been duped so viciously by a woman let into his heart.
his head lifts from where it'd been lowered, and he feels the bristling of his fur as brown connects like electricity with the cold blacks of his brother. he sees fit to interject, once, fanatic eyes raking harsh over morwenna. violence, he exhales, is to let cubs see the strength of the sire. his breath quivers, visible as it plumes from nostrils and mouth.
challenge to chieftain must go answered. sister does not matter. dark fang's ears twitch, head tilting in a quick jolt. it is way. i defy chieftain one day and i expect his teeth to meet.
hypothetical truth. the way of all people, not just lanzadoii. what does she not understand?
does the mind think itself so important that she be exempt?
she speaks and he hears only excuses and no answers. dark fang looks once to sun eater, feels the bubbling of agitation under his own skin. she avoid. he spits in his ear.