Blacktail Deer Plateau Strong enough to hold you through the winter

Finally getting this up! I assume he'd have checked with Lasher/Blue on this. I was vague on their involvement since I'm not sure if you want this set while they are visiting the place or after they return!
Just want to get the ball rolling since I've been slackin ;)

@Lasher @Blue Willow @Pearl @Malachi @Casmir @Eilidh @Osprey @Behati @Regulus

It was time.  They'd explored the place they had chosen and both Dante and Lasher agreed it suited them.  They had scouted the land, taken into account pack proximity and prey bounty, and Lasher had even dubbed it with a name.  Donnelaith.  The word was beautiful as it rolled from the tongue and spoke of a new start with the Mayfair family at the helm, and Dante relegated back to the position he felt best suited for.  

Some members were even likely informed of the perceived change, after he had shared the news with Osprey.  But still no official declaration had been made.  And, before any more progress was had, he knew that the entire pack needed to be brought in.  The leadership wished for this relocation, but it was for them to determine if the benefits were enough should their pack not want to go along.  To Dante, that would likely not be the case.

He felt the butterflies that preceded any statement with such weight, but pushed them aside as he lifted his muzzle to summon their wolves to the center of the plateau.  The pack would meet and discuss this new place, and perhaps some could go and see for themselves what it held.  Hopefully they would see what Dante saw in it - a home that could be theirs and theirs alone.

Behati was sitting in front of Dante within moments of his call, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever. She had rushed to answer with comical speed, screeching to an exaggerated halt within feet of the Plateau's soon-to-be Beta. She had some inkling of what this was about, and although the highlights of the trip north with Casmir had not had anything to do with the territories they had traversed, Behati felt like she was somehow a part of something important.

Pearl heard Dante's call and eagerly rushed to the site. Hopefully they would be discussing the move to the new land, because she was sure it hadn't just been building up in her mind. She arrived soon after Behati, and sat by her, flashing the girl a smile. Pearl hoped they would move before winter came in its full force. She had already built a den here, but she was sure she would find time to dig another in the new land between hunting and exploring. 

Even more so, she wondered about the name of this territory. Would they take the name of the forest or dub it with their own? She was very excited to talk about this with her packmates, and held on to the slightest bit of patience while they arrived.

pearl and behati had arrived when lasher moved onto the scene -- he knew that dante had called them together to speak of the impending move, along with his own ascension to the rank of alpha. trepidation roiled suddenly in his gut, but he kept it from his face and nodded at the pretty wolfesses before taking up a seat before dante.

Cas was pretty sure that the silver alpha was summoning them about he and Behati's findings --  he hadn't really hung with her since they'd been back, and was gunning to do so. moving from his meal of a few berries and a sparrow -- a snack, really -- the boy loped toward the meeting-place, spitting out bones. his father was there and he spared a respectful chin-lick for both the dark druid and dante himself before turning toward the pale Pearl and the bawdy Behati. nodding as his father had toward the former of the two, he approached his friend with a smile, but her scent reached out and lashed unfairly at his nose. 

she smelled of many things, but there was one aroma that stood out, and it was that of Regulus. the boy stopped, his smile freezing on his lips -- she'd been with Regi. Regulus. whatever. Dante hadn't expressed interest in Behati, Malachi was basically a hermit, and Connie was gone. that left him and that stupid gold-eyed bear of a n00b.

and obviously Behati didn't care one whit about Cas' feelings, because she'd gone off with that ass and hadn't even called him to hang out. jealousy threatened to beat down the walls of the Mayfair boy's heart; he walked past Behati and took up a spot toward the back of the clearing, where he trained his eyes on his leader, ignored the gossamer girl, and tried very hard to quell the storm of anger and sadness whirling inside of his soul.

Just a little bit of reaction filler!

Casmir gave Behati some serious stink-eye when he arrived, and didn't even sit with her! The girl's initial reaction was confusion, but it hardened into hurt and anger within moments - as teenage feelings are wont to do. She turned her attention back to Dante, this time with dark eyes and a twisted mouth. If Cas was going to be an ass, she was going to be worse - and everyone knows that the bitch queen ranking sequence goes Downton Abbey's Dowager Countess Crawley > queens > women > queenbabies > standard issue gents > Casmir. Behati shot the side of the boy's face a level 20 'you best bring it look' and remained tight-lipped throughout the first IC round of posts.

From the influx of wolves who filled the site around Dante, Malachi numbered himself one of the last to arrive. He drew up in his usual quiet manner, body in respectful submission, and he lowered his head in reserved greeting to the small collection of leaders at their helm. He had but an inkling of what the sudden meeting was about. Though Malachi kept to himself these days, busied away from the hubbub of others through solo hunts and mountain patrols, he hadn't missed the whispers of change that bounced through the air.

Malachi settled askew from the rest, more due to lingering apprehension for pack meetings than anything else. Only one new face stood out to him, brown fur and face set in an awful scowl. He didn't linger his gaze on her long, hardly wishing the fire she to redirect against him. Instead he stretched his neck to give a slight nod to Pearl at the brown girl's side, before he turned restless eyes to search the horizon for more to come. Only one of the Mayfair children had arrived, and he kept his mind alert for their remaining children as he settled his focus on Dante once more.

Being as new as he was Regi was out of the loop on what was going on, in the plans having been set into motion even upon his own arrival and acceptance into the Plateau, so when the Alpha: Dante's call had risen into the air, summoning those of the Plateau to him, keeping in mind Cas' tour he found his way to the Plateau's meeting place easily enough. Naturally, the Frostfur-DiSarinno was not the first to arrive, and he had not expected that he would be the first onto the scene. He recognized Cas, Dante, a male that looked like Cas that Regi was left to assume was the Beta male, Lasher and Behati, though there was an unknown female and male whom he did not have any names to place with their faces. 

Regi had arrived to catch the tail end of faces that Cas and Behati had made with one another, still ignorant to the fact that Cas (also) liked Behati and that he was the underlining cause of their strange looks sent in one another's direction. As quietly as a titan like Regi was able to move he made his way towards a spot that wasn't too far from the rest, but not as far back as Cas had chosen to sit. He spared a glance back at the other youth, brow furrowed in a silent 'are you ok?' look but he didn't think it appropriate to ask it out loud in front of everyone gathered. Whether the other youth saw it or not, Regi didn't know and with a slight shift of his weight settled down upon his haunches and turned his attention to the leaders gathered.

No matter how upset she was or how much she hated that she was ashamed of running away, she wasn't going to miss a pack meeting. She heeded Dante's call and soon found herself in the midst of most of the pack's members, minus her mother (since she didn't know Osprey was back). Blue had told her daughter to go on ahead without her, and while she didn't want to leave her mother in her den, she did as she was told. Whatever had gone on while she had "run away," the tension that filled the air was thick and nearly roiling. It had nothing to do with the meeting, she was sure; it was all the hormones in the air. Behati, that weird girl she met with her mother, was eyeing her brother with barely-concealed anger. Cas kept shooting her furtive and jealous glances. There was a young male she hadn't yet met.

Her gaze moved from the newcomer to Malachi and she smiled, her heart soaring. She walked toward him, probably as awkward as she felt, and wondered if he had even noticed she was gone for the last week. Eilidh smiled at Dante as she passed him, nodded coldly to her father, and kept her gaze set on Malachi as she approached him. He was probably her best friend in this pack, at least he was now that Casmir had decided to ignore her completely. She settled beside her silver friend and bumped his shoulder; again fire raced through her body at the touch, and she didn't have to wonder about that anymore. She knew what it meant, and yet she was still as confused by it as before. The two friends, silver and gold, sat together as the group assembled, waiting to hear what Dante had to say.

Osprey had been sound asleep, when the call for a meeting woke her up. The spot she had found had been very nice - the soft bed of moss and leaves, the old grass towering over her and the late autumn sun peeking through the crowns of the trees - and for a change she had had nice dreams too. So it was a bit of a challenge to get up and going, because - even though she had a fair idea, what this was going to be about - not showing up would be a bad example. 

It was not surprising that she was the last to arrive. She slowed her pace, when she neared the wolves that had gathered and rather than trying to weave through them to get closer to Dante and Lasher, she settled down behind everyone else.

Behati arrived with nigh on hilarious speed, and Dante merely blinked with mild surprise as she seated herself brightly moments after he'd released the summons. His lips turned up into a grin despite the nerves forever plaguing him in such meetings, and he appreciated the small break in tension her amusing enthusiasm brought. The others came in a timely manner too, and before long, almost all were gathered and staring expectantly. He took no notice of looks that might have passed between some (Behati and Casmir in particular). Instead he gave a final, affirming glance at Lasher before beginning to speak his part. He almost began without Osprey, for she knew better than most what this meeting would hold, but that turned out to be unnecessary. She slipped in just as he began.

"As some of you may know, we have been scouting lands in recent times." He felt the best way to go about this was short, sweet, and to the point. "Recently Lasher and I made a trip to the coast, following a route that Casmir and Behati scouted before. And we found a place that, we believe, would make an exceptional home, should we wish to move. A large forest, near the western coast." He looked around, gauging reactions. "My opinion is that we should go. But I would hear yours as well." He held off on the second piece of news for the moment, waiting to see if anyone posed thoughts on the matter. He wondered, as he did so, if perhaps there was a better way of phrasing the announcement he had just delivered. Words, it seemed, were not coming easily today. An unfortunate occurrence for such an important meeting as this one.

lasher returned the nod of his leader. he too wished to hear that which the assembly had to say, but in his heart, he had moved to the great forest already. blue willow was there -- she had bit back with stubborness upon his insistence that they return home -- and fear leapt like chaotic fish within his belly for her solitary stay in the strange land, and gravid as well!

silently he skimmed the gathering, a warm and inviting expression upon his countenance despite the impatient roil of unsurety and trepidation within.

It was not an unexpected announcement for Behati, but the prospect of mass migration was exciting nevertheless. It would take them a couple of days to reach the coast, perhaps more than that if Osprey lagged behind. The idea of being on the move again was so thrilling that she was even able to put Casmir out of mind, and yipped her approval of the news almost as soon as Dante was done speaking. She had no connection to the Plateau, and sea-boardered forest had wow factor - Behati had seen it with her own eyes.

The movement of gold danced in Malachi's peripheral and he flashed his gaze in time to catch her passing her father. Eilidh. The trace of a smile touched his lips without the effort most commanded. With the meeting not yet underway, Malachi turned to greet the child in full. He returned her greeting with an innocent nudge to her neck, oblivious to the chemistry at work in the girl.

While he stayed on the fringe of the Plateau's social life, he hadn't missed the fading scents of both Eilidh and Constantine. The sight of her burned relief in him, but his inquiries into her absence did not surface before Dante commanded attention once more. He turned himself from his friend and locked his focus on his leader,  ears cupped to listen.

The news quilted the whispers he'd heard to completion, and a shiver clawed through his chest at the unfolding plan. A prospect of relocation was enough to bring a weight to his shoulders, but if Dante deemed it necessary to move for the good of the pack, he held no qualm to follow. It was the mention of the coast that made him shift his weight and flash his tongue across his nose. The western coast, the sea and the sirens. Caiaphas.

The chocolate girl's excitement grated with his fear, a cacophony against the resistance that warred within. Though he'd damned himself once by concealing the siren, his words caught again, and he hesitated. Was it worth dredging up a memory he'd rather keep pushing back? But he felt the presence of Eilidh beside him, and remembered Casmir not far off. They were far from what the Sveijarns had been when the sirens had stolen Larus as their own, but he still felt the weight to protect them, and to stay silent now would be another betrayal he did not wish to add to his list. So then he had to step carefully and not incite fear. With the severed head branded in his memory, he strained to keep a steady voice. "The coast isn't safe," he paused with a hesitant breath, "A woman there, she dealt cruelly with the wolves I ran with before coming here, her and her pack." He did not wish to go further, so he stopped. The siren dredged up grizzly tales he'd rather keep for the ears of Dante alone.

Regi watched with some interest as others joined them, filing into the meeting area, naturally positioning them around their leaders: Dante and Lasher, though there was one leader that remained missing. The Frostfur-DiSarinno bear remained silent albeit attentive as Dante spoke about relocating the Plateau to a forest in the western coast. At first, Regi kept to his silence as he contemplated potential questions. He was still new and that hindered his resolve, but only for a moment. He saw no harm in inquiring, not in disagreement, but simply to seek an answer since his question would pertain to one if not potentially two of the trades he was working towards.

He waited his turn as Malachi (though he did not have a name to place to the older male's face) raised a concern: something about a cruel wolf and pack that was (or could be) lurking in the coast. It sort of fell in line with his own inquiry. “I guess this is sort of in lieu of what he mentioned,” Regi gestured to Malachi slightly sheepishly, feeling guilty that he did not know his name. “but what of neighboring packs? Are there wolves that wardens should be initially weary of getting visits from? Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to send outriders out to them so there are no misunderstandings or territorial disputes over established hunting grounds or anything.” He didn't mean to step on toes, or inquire out of his place as the lowest ranking — though he kept his body posture respectful of his position as such — he half expected to be reprimanded all the same. 

His uncles wouldn't have taken kindly to his inquiry, even though he was really only looking to perform his trades to the best of his abilities and he felt this required vigilance, knowledge, and sometimes questions to be asked. "Unless you already have done that, of course." He added humbly a few moments later.

Pearl nodded in agreement with Behati's outburst, though she wondered about the looks passing between the sugared girl and Casmir. She would talk to her later. She too had no roots in this place and was looking forward to living by the coast. She still hadn't gone yet, for no reason other than seeing it fro the first time with friends. Although Malachi's comment worried her, she was sure one of her leaders had dealings with this woman and her pack. They could take that pack in a fight, maybe. Pearl was known to be kind of a crappy fighter. The new guy didn't seem to trust that Dante and Lasher hadn't made sure of surrounding areas, and earned a highly questioning look from her. She wasn't going to voice her full opinion yet, but she agreed that they should move, and soon.

there was a distinct and obvious roil of tension betwixt casmir and behati, though the two youngsters had returned to the plateau in quite a friendly manner. lasher watched this with a perturbed countenance, but disallowed himself to dwell. eilidh's arrived, but turned a dark expression unto her father and sat alongside malachi. the beta's brow knit, but he could not ponder the meaning of it now, not when their singular focus this day must be the coastal move. yet he was keenly aware that now both of his remaining children were angered, and felt the sting of it at his back. with gaps in the arriving parties where constantine and his stubborn willow should have been, lasher's senses were heightened.

a brief flicker of offense reared in his gut at the careful words spoken by the usually stoic malachi. these were taken up by regulus, and taltos told himself that there was need for caution, that they did not question because they mistrusted him.

"i have walked the beach from the edges of the land we wish to claim, to the place known as ankyra sound." he knew not what malachi spoke of, but a small voice in his mind suggested that there was a tie between the cruel woman and the sea-witch upon the beach, and perhaps there a bond between that priestess and the amazonian grouping with which junior had once run.

"there is no pack upon the coast currently. dante can attest that there are also no scents of packwolves in the thick forest, and none upon the fringes of the territory. i also scouted the flatlands above, and the sands there. it is unclaimed, ripe for the taking, if we move quickly."

"i did speak to a lone wolfess who joined me in the field as i explored -- she and her lover intend to settle upon the coast also, though she said they had not decided where to claim land. she did not seem a threat, but rather naive. she also spoke of alliances, should they settle. this i leave for another day."

his eyes traveled warmly to regulus, then to malachi -- he nodded at the two males, encouraging them to respond if they wished.

blah blah malachi talked and then regulus, that stupid ass who Cas pretty much hated now. then his dad answered, and then the boy remembered the look that Eilidh had given their father before flouncing off to go sit with that Malachi dude. he turned, trying to catch her eye as if to ask 'wtf is wrong with you? she didn't even have a reason to be mad, not like him. he scoffed under his breath and faced front, catching the tail end of his father's spiel.

Eilidh was angry with her father, it was true, but all thoughts of that flew from her mind as soon as Malachi returned her greeting, his nose touching her neck in a friendly and welcoming manner. She smiled at him, her emerald eyes sparkling in the sunlight, then turned toward Dante and her father, waiting to hear their announcement. Eilidh had a feeling this was coming; why else send Casmir and Behati on a scouting trip if not for the purposes of moving somewhere else? It was true that the ivory princess had been born here, but her heart wasn't set on a single territory; as long as she was with her family, she was home.

Malachi mentioned a wolf who may live on the coast. Her ears fell back as she whined her concern, turning her attention to her father who mentioned that there were no packs on the coast, not anymore. Did that mean the coast was cursed? Or did that simply mean they were free to claim it now? Eilidh listened to her family debate the relative merits of this new place and wondered what it was like there. For now she was silent, though, since she didn't have anything to add to the conversation.

He allowed Lasher to put the fears that arose to rest, surprised that they would question this but not bothered by it. He had absolutely no desire to go to a place where their presence would be at all unwelcome and did not want to earn ire with their neighbors.

"The nearest pack resides on a mountain." He finished, ear flicking lazily as a small itch took it. Sending someone to speak with them wouldn't be a bad idea, and he sent a brief glance Eilidh's way. If she was still looking for a chance to take on a task, maybe that was the one she should be given. He could accompany her or send another as well, just in case she wasn't met amicably.

"We shall have to introduce ourselves, but it is not near enough to be worrying." They shouldn't bother them and likely wouldn't compete in harder months.

A new voice rose from among the throng, youthful and unfamiliar, and Malachi turned. But when his gaze met the boy he froze momentarily, eyes wide as a vague sense of familiarity clicked his memory to Tyrr. His breath caught and Malachi darted his eyes away, yet he didn't need a second glance to tell him this youth was not the northman of Duskfire Glacier. Tyrr would have been his age by now, but this boy still held the look of a yearling. Still, the recognition had caught him off guard, and Malachi did not lift his gaze to him again. Rather, he returned a steady eye to Dante and Lasher, though he remained perturbed.

Lasher was quick to diffuse the fear of backlash Malachi had half expected when he'd lifted his concern, and confusion replaced his uncertainty. There had been at least two packs living on the shore short of a year ago, but Lasher and Dante both spoke as if the land held the scent of no creature but the sea. The siren couldn't be gone, as much as he wished it to be true. She was a deceiver, a wraith with a serpentine tongue. Lasher assured him of no packwolves nearby; whether the siren still haunted the shores was a different matter left unspoken, and a paranoia Malachi chose to keep to himself.

So when Lasher turned his gaze upon him, Malachi tipped his muzzle in deference to the nod the Beta passed his way. No other words could convince him the shores were safe, and he had no other words to give. It would be easy to run, to perhaps sojourn to a place that was far from these Wilds, but he felt a tie to the family here he could not bear to break. He would follow, for nothing but the sake of the pack, and Malachi let the bow of his head speak to this.

Regulus and Malachi both voiced concerns, but before Behati could get a word in - she and Casmir had been in charge of scouting the beach, after all - Lasher assuaged their concerns with the eloquent brevity he was known for. For the safety of the pack, it was for the best that Dante and Lasher had gone to confirm the childrens' findings, but Behati couldn't help but pout when her chance at glory was taken away. Her attention disconnected from the main group and crept to Casmir, but he was staring stonily at his father. Behati huffed, and locked her eyes on spot just over Lasher's shoulder - she would not look away until the pack was dismissed.

Osprey lied down and crossed her forepaws, listening, how two others - who she did not recognize - voiced out their concern for the safety of the new place. She had been to the coast at least on two - three occasions, but the only pack that had lived there at the time had been Stavanger bay. Now they had relocated. And she had never had bad encounters there - then again she had hung out with only one guy at that time. 

As the time in the meeting passed on, she realized that she did not care much about, what others thought about the whole idea of moving and regardless of their decisions - what mattered to her the most - was following Dante. Where would he go, she would too.

Regi's questioning wasn't truly a matter of trust, or even the lack thereof. He trusted Dante, Lasher, and Blue Willow. His concerns were simply because as a warden and outrider these were, typically, the first concerns that arose to his mind; and as considering he was aiming for those as his “main” trades he felt that such knowledge was required for him to know. He was fiercely loyal by nature but that didn't make him a blind sheep. He wanted to know what was going on in and around the pack or else there was no sense in him taking on the warden and outrider trade. “Thank you.” He responded to Lasher and Dante as they worked to assuage his concerns.

He did not think them incapable leaders, and he hoped his questioning didn't portray as such. With his only concerns put to rest he remained silent with his eyes trained on their Alpha and Beta Male, awaiting whatever it was that came next.

Quick post!

Eilidh watched the exchange between Malachi and the new yearling, and then the one between Malachi and Dante and her father. There was some confusion as to whether the coast was inhabited or not, though in her opinion Casmir would've reported it if there had been a pack nearby. Perhaps they were moving far enough away on the coast so they wouldn't interfere with another pack. Whatever happened now would be up to the fates to decide; she knew her father and Dante wouldn't move them into harm's way.