The Sentinels our godless mettle [m]

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quick pack update. set after this thread. no need to reply. no rounds; will archive in three days.

@Blue Willow @Aria @Dante @Eilidh @Osprey @Tachyon @Chaol @Emaleth @Deirdre

when he had taken deirdre back to the den, lasher knew his fellows would be close at hand. he returned to the scene of triumph and of gore, with the blood-splashed tree, bits of the woman's skull embedded in its bark forever. arranging the head almost tenderly alongside the fallen body, lasher called in a weary voice to his wolves. 

it is done. our assailant is dead.

lasher's call filtered through the woods, ragged yet triumphant -- tachyon felt the fur along his spine prickle and his ears and mouth turned towards the swaying cry. the message was clear: the she-wolf was dead. he felt a rush of something strange seize his heart.  a barbaric feeling of protective love and sickening anger. a feeling refugees and prisoners alike who had witnessed great horrific violences knew.  just as quickly it washed away, and wednesday's chapter of terror was closed forever.

The world had moved on, and with it the promise of spring and warmth and life. Eilidh was digging in her garden, tilling the earth to ready it for tiny buds and plants and herbs to take root when her father's howl reached her ears. She paused, afraid of what it might mean, and left the loam where it lay all over the grass, scattered in her heavenly coat, and upturned in the air. She followed her father's scent, stomach roiling with the blood that began building with it, and finally found herself facing her father and the headless woman at his feet. If Eilidh had been a weaker woman, she might have gagged, but instead she swallowed the bile in her throat and studied him, proud king of the sentinels. After a quiet moment, Eilidh stepped toward him, carefully avoiding the gore and blood spilled across the new grass, and inspected his wounds with tender nose and lips.

When Lasher called, Dante felt a familiar prick of something dark dampening the mood.  It was a final vestige of his previous disapproval; Lasher had been proven effective in this, and while Dante still felt he had acted wrongly, the Beta needed to acknowledge the victory.  He needed to move on.

It was not far, and by the time he arrived, only Eilidh was at her father's side.  She was dealing with his wounds, but Dante's attention was quickly stolen by the head lying on the grass before him.  Even for the warrior who had both seen and caused death, it was a ghastly sight.  Looking back at Lasher, he appraised him neutrally.  "So it is done then?"  He assumed that it was, with the agreement from the woman's captain, yet only word from Lasher would make it final.

eilidh, tachyon, and dante heeded -- lasher kissed his daughter with a reassuring whisper before his gaze fell upon the man who had doubted him. while he understood well dante's thoughts, it was the fault of the emotion-rooted taltos that he had been duly hurt by the unsurety posed by the silver beta.

thus he received dante's word coolly; a nod followed, but lasher, drained of all energy and whatever triumph he may have felt, did not speak.

silently tachyon observed the others draw near -- he altered his posture as each approached, a gentle and submissive beat of his tail given as the wolves drew in a small congregation. he noted the grisly skull not far from lasher -- the sightless eyes in particular bothered him and he felt his stomach clench as he stared into wednesday's unseeing sockets. he noted the coldness that emanated from both lasher and dante, and the icy exchange that followed -- tachyon would have withered if such an expression was used in his direction, and unwilling to experience it the pale wolf hung back.

throwing this in super quick if I may <3 sorry out of order

The nod was confirmation enough, though Dante too felt the ice behind his gaze.  Perhaps a while ago it would have bothered him, but presently he was hardened against it.  One of the curses of the man was that when he thought himself right in a situation, nothing could sway him.

Good.  He dipped his muzzle in silent acknowledgement, his own eyes turned down slightly, and then simply held back, waiting for the dismissal.  There was a chasm of sorts opening between alpha and beta and Dante was not positive how to address it.  Nor was he, at the current time, sure he wanted to.

CAMEO

Blue heard the howl, but she didn't go to it. She trusted her mate and her oldest daughter to bring Deirdre back to her. She also did not wish to see the darkness that the sea wolf had wrought. Her gentle semblances did not allow it. She let loose one howl, inquiring of those she cared for and then she grew quiet with her own calm. And she licked Emaleth's head and she waited for word, and for the sight of her other daughters and lover.

Ignoring the gore wasn't easy, but Eilidh managed to keep most thoughts of the darkness away from herself while she focused on her father and his injuries. She accepted his kiss with grace, turning her nose and lips to the blood on his body. Most of it wasn't his, thankfully, but there were still a few scrapes that would need to be dealt with. The medic turned her head toward Dante, feeling the iciness between the friends, and wondered what had transpired to make them so distant. Her gaze fell upon Tachyon as she turned, and with a quick smile, she let him know she felt as awkward as he did between the two leaders.

fading here!

the moment for words soon passed; lasher dismissed those who had gathered with a short nod. when they had begun to file away, the man set a quick pace for himself to the whelping den, to tend deirdre and hope that what had been done could be mended.