Silvertip Mountain As the years go by times change

@Krypton if you've got time? Also any others welcome, tagging the newer wolves that FitzDutiful would want to catch up with @Will @Atari Silver @Moon Shadow

FitzDutiful needed to have a talk with Krypton and he had finally found time to wander the pack lands to look for her. After their experience with Spring he wasn't best pleased with her but Zaria had reassured him that she was valuable to their pack. Never before had he been so naive as to assume all wolves knew how it worked here. He needed to reaffirm the connections between his pack members and a pack meeting would do that, but for now he mainly wanted to ensure the newer members of the pack knew how things worked. Deciding to open this up, he lifted his muzzle and howled for them.

He wouldn't turn away older members, he'd probably appreciate the company and reaffirmation of the message he was about to tell them all. He wanted to assign a newer member to each of the older ones as a mentor of sort - like he had with Moon Shadow - but he needed to know that Moon Shadow had appreciated and valued the experience, plus that it hadn't been too harsh upon Steady. Then there was his son to think about. Tomorrow would mark 9 months of age, of him entering the adult ranks and he was wasn't sure if his son would work as a mentor, or even if he would need one himself. He supposed that he was Mason's mentor - as a father, but things had never been quite so simple with the whole Zaria situation that had occurred.

Stifling a sigh, FitzDutiful sat overlooking the lake that ran down into Ravensblood Forest; at the traditional pack meeting spot he waited for those he had called for to come.

Atari was wondering around her new pack territory, getting used to her surroundings. Her ears perked up when she heard a howl from the alpha, she immediately started running towards his howl. She wondered what it was about as she ran, she gave it some thought but soon forgot about it as she went. She ran into the forest but lost track of where she was. She growled at this, flustered. She decided to head forward, hoping it was the right way. It didn't take long until she found a stream. Atari looked at it for a while, seeing a blurred reflection of her. She stopped staring and headed up the stream. She came to find a lake as well as the alpha.

She put her tail as low as possible, out of respect. "I am here alpha" she looked up at him but not in his eyes. Atari took notice that she was the only wolf to arrive, but she had a feeling more was on there way. Her mind wondered back to what this meeting was about. She was tempted to ask the alpha but choose not to. She would wait for him to speak.

Krypton has been in quite a happy mood. She's been at home peacefully, not taking tiring routes to explore the land she was yet to see. She had met one of the new pack members, Will. Quite a nice wolf in her honest opinion, she was happy to show him around. It was a free time for her at the moment, she wasn't on patrols, rather she was sitting down near one of the streams, looking at her reflection.

She enjoyed messing with the water, seeing the ripples and fish swim by. Often she would joust her muzzle into the water but catch nothing. She really didn't wish to hunt if she was not hungry, killing out of boredom was an act of gluttony. If she did not need it she would not take it, that was that to her.

However, her peace was broken when a loud howl echoed through her ears. The howl sounded as if it was from one of her alpha's calling the pack to meet. Quickly the female stood from her spot and started to trot over to where the howl had come from. As she headed towards the path, she quickly remembered how the alpha's were not very pleased with how she had handled the situation of a trespasser. The poor girl had already beaten herself up about it, she felt ashamed to not have done the right thing. It wasn't her fault that she was raised to be peaceful, but she was at fault for letting things fall into place as they did that night. Was it wrong to wish to speak rather than act?

She didn't know, she didn't need to know at the moment. All that mattered was reaching the meeting in time. Her paws were quieter as she moved quickly, although the snow always gave her a few loud crunches from time to time. Her alpha, FitzDutiful quickly came into view, then another wolf did as well. Seeing how the alpha was not aggressive, the female thought that the unknown wolf/wolfess was most likely a new recruit. Breaking to a walk once she approached closely, she quickly lowered her hackles and tail, then bowed her head to her superior.

"Hello Alpha FitzDutiful." Her words were kind, although it was a bit of a mouth full to say that. The female casted no look to the other, now was not the time to greet her yet. Perhaps when the meeting was over she would introduce herself? Well, it did not matter now, the female was waiting for the meeting to start when others would arrive soon.

Any one else is welcome to jump in any time!

FitzDutiful thought of making this into a official pack meeting, but decided against it as he waited for the newcomers to arrive. He wanted to get to know them, not make a big scene with his entire pack. He didn't want to single Krypton out for what had occurred but he hoped she showed otherwise he would have to make a point of seeing her individually and make it explicitly about what had occurred. Atari was the first the show and FitzDutiful gave her a smile, nodded at the respect she gave him and then Krypton showed, seemingly knowing that she wasn't in the best of books at the moment. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, wondering if she had risen too far too fast.

Deciding to start now he motioned for both of them to relax before settling in more comfortably into his spot. He wanted to put his new members at ease and start the bonds of family that were so important to him. "Welcome, both of you," he said, his voice warm and hopefully welcoming. "A long time ago, Silvertip Mountain took in a wolf who had next to no knowledge of our language. A wolf who had no knowledge of borders and how things worked in the valley we live in. Ever since then, I have taken it upon myself to try and get to know our new members and make sure they understand how things work here. For one of our new members I assigned them a mentor, but it can't always work like that when we get a lot of new wolves in a short space of time. So I summoned you here to let you know some of the fundamentals of our pack and why we work the way we do. Firstly, it'd be nice to know a little something about your histories - about whether you've been part of packs before and what beliefs you hold most important to you." If they had a reason for holding something important, he wanted to know it. If it was important to them, then it was important to him and maybe it was something the pack as a whole should learn.

He would wait for both of them to speak something before continuing on.

The alpha had motioned to relax, which Atari was already but she moved around to make herself more relaxed. Another wolf had joined the meeting, upon noticing the wolfs arrival Atari gave a nod accompanied with a smile but Atari didn't know if she seen the nod or not, she didn't know why she had bothered doing that. Atari is flushed with embarrassment. She quickly looks away. She didn't understand how she could be so awkward. She brushed it off, knowing it was her personality. The thought counts, she thinks. Atari shakes her head and internally laughs, not at what she had thought but at herself. Atari stops internally laughing, she realizes that she's been a lone wolf for to long. She is thankful she found this pack, but she had wondered what would have happened to her if she hadn't found her pack. Atari refrained the last sentence. If she hadn't found this pack. It wasn't yet hers, she'd have to be here for a while before she'd deem herself apart of this pack.

Atari extremely zoned out, caught up in her thoughts, almost didn't hear the alpha speak, but luckily she heard him. She looks back up at him, and listens.

After he was done talking Atari had to think, again. She wouldn't go into deep thought this time, just minimal thinking. The alpha wants to know the wolves histories. Atari's ears lay back and her eyes look away from the alpha, I don't have much history to talk about, Atari thinks. She lies to herself but she knows she has history. Her history isn't a sad one, at least not in her eyes, but more of a maddening one, at least in her eyes. Every time she thinks about it she gets mad and storms off. She doesn't want to do that, not hear not now, but she can't disobey an alpha. Atari takes a deep breath and speaks "I was born in Canada, without a pack, as far as I know. I was aband-" Atari cuts off mid sentence to suppress a growl. She continues after she's sure she wont growl "excuse me, sorry. I was abandon by my mother at only five weeks and roamed those woods for four days until my caretaker found me" She pauses for a moment, remembering the one who raised her. "My caretaker wasn't in a pack, she left the one she was in, so I've never been in one before, sorry and I believe loyalty is the most important thing to me" She was glad story time was over for her. Atari looks back up at the alpha, she hoped she didn't make him mad, for not looking at him while telling her story.

Krypton was focused on the alpha, her ears pricked forward but her tail and hackles low. Seeing FitzDutiful's action for the two to relax, the tawny woman did so, letting her breathing become normal, along with her body. She knew very well that she wasn't in the best terms, but maybe she could explain to him. Hearing her superior speak warmly and ask about their beliefs and history, Krypton was about to speak first, but was beaten to it by her lower ranked subordinate. The female felt a little irked that a wolf ranked lower would speak first, but it was something out of her control.

The first female let out her story, being abandoned fairly quickly and never being apart of a true pack. That was saddening to hear towards the big woman, family was family, always. She noticed how the female had cut her speech of, something must've triggered her to do so. Looking at her with concerned eyes, she noted how the female seemed a bit- angry. Perhaps something else happened in her past? Well, that was apart of matters later. She at least spoke of knowing loyalty was a good virtue to her. Nice pick.

Hearing how she had ended it, Krypton decided to go next. "I was born into a family pack, the Metris Ridge pack in British Columbia. After losing a battle for the title of alpha between my sister, I was chased out of my home. For the next year of my life, I was a lone wolf, wandering the lands in search of a group. However, I was too skittish to join. I was very cautious with others, mostly since I had fears from past events, including the loss of my brother." It was a mouthful, but she was not finished, she would just need to state her beliefs. She was getting a little choked up with speaking about her passed brother, it was a very sad tragedy to her entire family. "However, I was lucky to encounter Zaria to join Silvertip. The biggest things I believe in is understanding others, showing the highest respect to others, and being peaceful. I know I already showed that I'm not one to fight..." The female felt ashamed of herself to act the way she was. If she could not fight, what kind of wolf was she? She wouldn't be a wolf, she would be a coward.

The tall wolf shifted uncomfortably in her paws, she worried about the responce of FitzDutiful. Would he accept her still for who she was, even if it meant being a coward?

Krypton looked ready to speak, but Atari started speaking first. The pecking order didn't bother him when it came to meetings like this, even the official pack meetings he had no stipulation as to who went first. The one time the rank order was firmly upheld was when the feast came after a kill, FitzDutiful didn't notice Krypton's irritation at being beaten to the punch. Instead he focused solely on Atari for the moment she was speaking, understanding the anger at such a thing happening. "The mother of my children, Mason and June, also left while they were young. I understand too well the pain that brings." The anger, the hurt and the frustration. It still welled up from time to time.

Moving onto Krypton he gave her as much attention as he had given Atari. More loss and heartache there, a common theme from all walks of life though the battle for alpha intrigued him. Here one left to start their own pack - he wondered if an alpha battle might be common place in his future and hoped not. She finished by explaining the respect to others, whereas Atari had chosen loyalty. Both were important to him.

"I, too, believe in respecting others and not fighting without cause. In this valley there are a lot of wolf packs. I have known the alphas of at least two other packs and have had to content with warding off lone wolves that want what is ours as well as wild cats that wished to kill us or our young. It made me learn there is a time and a place for defending what is ours and being peaceful. " He paused for a moment, wondering how best to explain what he expected. "I do not expect everyone is our pack to be a fighter, it wouldn't make for a well rounded pack, but we all need to learn how to defend our territory. A wolf that does not respect our borders is a threat to our life, they can take our food and kill our young. They can bring more and more into our lands and take from us what is ours." Another small pause. "There are some packs around here that will kill you as soon as talk to you when you step one foot over their borders." His mind went to his previous home of Redhawk Caldera and Kero's Sawtooth Spire, or wherever they were now. "But we give them a chance to leave. Mistakes can happen, but one that does not listen ... then sometimes there is nothing else we can do to protect those we care about and the family we all are part of together."

He looked at them both, letting them speak and hoping they understood how important it was.

Fitz with two females oh my! I couldn't help myself haha

Zaria had missed the howl Fitz send out for the newer members. She had been quite focussed on patrolling the borders. She heard a faint howl but didn't think much of it. As she was walking more to the heart of their territory she decided that she wanted to find Fitz. It didn't take long before she heard his beautiful voice talk. Zaria was quite smitten with him lately, even more so than before. The slender female caught the group from the corner of her eye. She let out a soft hum when she saw her mate but the tone abruptly stopped when she saw Krypton and ... Another Female.

Zaria rushed forward making half of a sliding as a stop because of the snow. Her hackles were raised, her tail was up and her teeth were fully bared. Quite an aggressive growl came from her throat, snapping her bared teeth. She stood before Fitz telling the two females to back off, seeing that this was all quite a relaxed setting Zaria's sudden aggression might have come as a shock. The alpha female moved back to Fitz's side, her green eyes on the two females ready to jump forward again if they as much moved a toe in Fitz' direction. He was hers. Zaria's heat was arriving soon and without her knowing it the rising hormones gave her quite some aggression issues.

Sorry had to change, what I wrote didn't make much since. Had a long day. Wasn't focused.

After Atari was finished speaking the wolf next to her started to tell her story. Atari listened in, the females story was sad, she was kicked out of her own pack. She had lost everything, including her brother. Her brother must have meant a lot to her or else she wouldn't have said anything about him, probably. The females beliefs were good ones but she wasn't much of a fighter. That makes two of us, Atari thinks. When the females back story was done the alpha spoke, he said that he too had lost someone. We had all lost something, this is truly a cruel world. It was sad to know that people abandon others for self gain, but Atari didn't know the full story of the alpha's history so it was only an assumption. She sympathized with him. Atari was about to speak but a wolf rushed in. It was the alpha female. Zaria. She was growling, her hackles raised and her tail up. Atari thought she had done something wrong, but she didn't have time to think.

She quickly put her head down and her tail between her legs, she shortened her height as well. Atari slowly backed away giving the alpha female some space, a lot of it.  Atari had no idea what to do. It was probably best not to do anything. She was clueless as of why the alpha was so aggressive but she went and sat by her mate. This gave Atari a clue as of why she was hostile. She put her head down, even further than it already was to the ground, her nose almost touching the ground.

Krypton stayed quiet, listening to FitzDutiful's words. He was right, there were many packs around the valley who would not think twice about attacking a trespasser. The female looked down at her paws in shame, she knew she made the wrong choice and would have to be firmer with her execution of actions. She tossed a look at the unknown female, giving her kind eyes and a simple nod of the head, filled with thanks to her understanding behavior (of what she had seen).

However, the peaceful thoughts were cut short when Zaria charged, teeth bared, growls emitting from her lips. Instinctively, the burly woman jumped back several places, fear of the sharp teeth her superior held onto. Seeing the posture of the alphess, Krypton knew she was being protective of her mate, one who she loved and held dear to her. Krypton couldn't blame Zaria, it was instinct, especially with two other females. Perhaps she was going into heat soon?

As she stayed where she was, backed up, she let her ears fall, along with her hackles and tail to show her submission. Krypton was at least happy that the other woman decided to step back as well. She knew her place and understood how it worked around here. Deciding to say nothing, the female kept her trap shut to avoid any words shouted in her ears or teeth ripping her flesh.

Zaria came in, almost charging in and snarled at the two females in front of him. With shock and a look of almost disgrace sent towards Zaria he turned his attention back to the two females who were both submitting to their alpha female. "Thank you for coming Atari, Krypton. You might want to go now." He dismissed them and waited for both of them to leave before turning to Zaria.

"Hello to you too." His voice held a scant amount of sarcasm as he eyed her over, not entirely sure that she wasn't going to attack him too. What the hell was going through her head that she would react so? He didn't even consider that her time was coming upon them for they had never experienced it together and Raissa's had been different. All he knew was that she had acted irrationally right now. Females.

Zaria was pleased to see that both females didn't put up any challenge. It was maybe a good thing because Zaria might have responded even heavier to them now with all the hormones ranging. She stayed close to Fitz not even hearing that he was dismissing them. Once he greeted her she sat up gracefully, very keen on having the other females leave. Zaria looked extremely smitten with herself that the females were gone and out of Fitz's sight.

She bared her teeth a bit when she realized that Fitz's greeting wasn't entirely loving. She gave him a little nip, which he probably wouldn't even feel, to then snuggle against him. She moved her nose through his fur and her tail was softly wagging. "I missed you," she stated. Zaria never missed anyone really. She might miss Fitz when he would be away for a longer period of time, but not so quickly after seeing him only hours ago, if not one hour ago. "You're mine," she stated, which was a comment towards the two females he was with.

This is my last post sorry its so short I got caught up in other stuff sorry again. I will be gone for two days Sorry

Atari waited for something to happen, it didn't take long before the alpha spoke. He wanted Atari and the other wolf to leave. Atari silently agreed.  She backed away from the meeting, still in a submission form just to be safe. Atari was glad to leave seeing how the alpha female wasn't to keen on us being there. Atari stood finally stood normally once she got out of sight. She wanted to get as far away from that place as possible but she wanted to meet the wolf. The wolfs name was Krypton but Atari didn't want to be there on the off chance the alpha female goes crazy. There would be another chance to meet her for now Atari just focused going back to the place she originally was.

Last from me as well

Krypton kept her position of being submissive, but heard FitzDutiful's words of thanks for meeting here. The woman nodded her head and decided to disperse from the area to go most likely wander around aimlessly like how she had done for most of her time. She saw the other woman, Atari wasn't it? She was starting to move out as well, the burly woman decided to give both alphas a deep bow of the head before dismissing herself quietly.

Silently, the woman mumbled words in her head, along the lines of "what a possessive woman" and "that went well". She decided to head towards the borders and do a quick check, being sure to be ready for anything that may occur at any time. Her hackles let themselves rise, along with her tail and ears. Her fur stood on edge, making the woman seem even larger than what she was. Bluffing was a thing she was good at.

sorry I've gone so long unexcused. I was having problems with school and my home life. Sorry! Hope I can make up for all the time I missed.

Moon shadow heard the howl as she was hunting by herself and located it to the official pack meeting spot. She ran as fast as she could and had soon come upon FitzDutiful and three other wolves who he was talking to. She waited patiently until the other two wolves had gone before coming towards her two alphas."I'm sorry I was late FitzDutiful. What can I help you with?" being as polite and respectful as she could. She wonder of all the things he could want from her.

Zaria tried to justify the situation with some logical he could not refuse. As you are mine. yet he didn't stop her spending time with other males. What has gotten into Zaria lately? They didn't have this possessive relationship and yet here it was. Was it him, did he manage to cause this sort of behaviour in his mates?

Moon Shadow appeared, apologising and FitzDutiful turned to talk with her; It's okay, Moon Shadow. He cast a wary glance at Zaria before continuing, I was just ensuring everyone knows why we must take care with protecting our pack, but now I must go. Talk to you soon. With that, FitzDutiful left, casting a smile at them both before he disappeared.

Zaria let out a pleased hum that instantly changed into a growl when another girl joined them. Zaria was keep on attacking her but Fitz gave him a glance. She held back, pleased with the fact that Fitz was seeing her as his too. She did glare at the female for interrupting. Since Fitz was leaving Zaria followed him. She was very keen on staying close to him and she wanted to spend some time with her mate. The slender female trotted next to Fitz and walked away with him before she was getting more agitated and would attack the female.

- Zaria Exits -