Sunset Valley philosophize in it! chemicalize with it!

Let’s move out, folks! Set one or two days in the future.
Imma just tag everybody @Seabreeze @Alarian @Delight @Korei Julia @Koume @Lily @Khali @Brilliance @Eleuthera @Ibis @Okeanos @Solomon @Mali @Bunyip @Xahi @Séamuss @Drakonis

The decision to leave the boulder had been an easy one — at least, for Olive it had been. She had never been fully committed to the idea of forever upon the boulder, especially not after the cats had come, run rampant, and then died off as quickly as they came. She was relieved when the news had come that there was a territory with potential, ample potential, just a stone’s throw away. She was even more relieved when the entire pack had all agreed and activated quickly in order to vacate the diseased lands. There would be no need for her family to travel alone; not this time. It was a grand thing.

Olive let the rest of the pack travel ahead of she, with their navigators in the lead. She was no longer a scout, which was a reality that sometimes weighed heavily on the lithe she-wolf. She had been a wander at heart, inquisitive by nature, but now her obligations weighed her down more than her curiosities kept her moving. Her mental map of the wilds had long since yielded to survival strategy and keen forward-thinking; but would she exchange her children, or responsibilities, for even an iota’s chance at the scout’s lifestyle again? Not a chance — and especially not when she looked down and saw little Séamus and Ibis by her side, and surely Eleuthera and Okeanos off somewhere nearer to the front, and the entirety of the sanctuary willing to move and change names and essentially leave everything they had come to know. That, to Olive, was what bonded families together.

Since the interaction with their father, Ibis had gone back to being withdrawn. She spoke a little bit more often but she still didn't sing. Most of the time she kept herself close to Okeanos or Mum, or Other Mum, such as right now. The group was on the move again and she wasn't exactly thrilled about it. At first little Ibis had been quite engaged with the concept of an adventure - and even seemed to be regaining some of her charisma and enthusiasm when they initially set out, glad to be rid of the unhappy place with its unhappy people - but children were fickle, and she was tired. The girl kept close to Olive and could be heard occasionally murmuring the oft-repeated phrase, Are we there yet? with growing insistence.

Drakonis trailed behind Olive and the young child, eyes glazed over in a detached fashion as he lost himself in thought. Since coming here he had learned very little of his father, but found more family. He knew of a half sister and he knew somewhere else was a half brother. He wasn't sure if considering Olive a family member was a good thing or not, he wasn't sure if he did, because he hadn't ever considered anyone but his dead mother his mother. Would she be a mom or something else? He sighed and came back just as Ibis asked if they were there yet for what seemed to be the 50th time. While others would have gotten angry or annoyed, Drakonis gave a small laugh  "I think we'd have stopped if we were kid. If you're bored I know a cool game to play?" he suggested. His uncle had called it Eye Spy, it was a good game for training your eyes to locate specific details or small hidden things others would miss.

This was it. They were traveling away now. Not that it bothered him too much, the cats had taken over the Boulder and made it whatever they liked and not a home where he felt comfortable. Thoughts did pour into his mind about how far away he would be from his sister. He knew it would be a good travel to see her but he would do it so that she would never be alone. On top of that he was glad Lily had gotten back safe it felt like weight was lifted from him. 

As he followed the others ,somewhere where in the middle, he was zoned out with all the thoughts running through his mind. A zombie was what he resembled at this point. His paws were moving and occasionally he would blink or his tail would sway but the thoughts robbed him of the sights along the way. What would this new home be like? What would come of him and Lily? Nothing was set in stone for his future and it unnerved him.

As the one who had, you know, found the place, Lily took up near the front, though she would have much rather been further back with Khali and the children. Occasionally, she threw him a smile over her shoulder, but largely kept her fiery eyes trained ahead--into the future. The blackbird had been tasked with leading them into this bright and brave new world, and although she would take a backseat upon arrival at the willows, now was her time to shine.

But with traveling came much time to think, and she thought a lot about all the wolves they left behind, both physically and metaphorically. Those who had disappeared without word, like Ulf and. . .oh, Vilkas. She knew she would never forget the northerner, his brute strength but gentle touch. And then there were those who had left for new endeavours: Liri and Kavik, Steele. . .she hoped very much that they were happy.

Finally, the dead. Ioa, Lily's first taste of death, buried underneath the old ground forever. And then Lanawyn Eris Keil. Lily had visited her grave and wept. She was a friend, a sister, and she would miss her for as long as she lived. But she liked to think that the spirits of Lana and Ioa followed them to their new home, even if their bodies didn't. They lived on through the Sanctuary's perseverance.

Lily glanced over at Seabreeze, giving her a soft smile. The woman had stepped up in such a big way over the past moons, and she couldn't be more grateful for it. Then over to Alarian and Delight. She desperately hoped that Ali had finally found his happiness. But Zamael was gone, too, and. . .

There were still so many questions to be answered. Would they find them within the willows?

just as a note/heads up, e mentioned delight will be catching up with the group later, so i'm writing based on that! btw, jennifer, let me know if the assumption with mali isnt okay -- you mentioned someone might need to keep an eye on him <3

The move is a relief — Seabreeze and Olive taking over is a relief — in a way, Delight's absence is a relief, too.
He feels like shit about all of it, of course. With Broken Boulder behind them, all he can think about is Eris — Zamael — Ulf — Lennon. He's never had any difficulty leaving a place behind before. He doesn't now, really; it's as easy as it's always been to turn away from it all, keep walking until it's far behind him. It just feels different this time — and maybe he's a little worried about Delight, too.
Honestly, he doesn't really know what happened — only that Delight is gone, Queenie is gone, and they seem to have missed one out of three. He tries to keep close to @Mali, but he's not really sure what to tell him. Sorry, I think your parents took off and forgot you ? No, probably not. He should probably be more upset — more worried. But Delight is an adult, and he knows the pack is leaving; he'll come back, or he won't. Well, that's the logical train of thought. It becomes his mantra, lest he lose himself in self-loathing over the whole affair — he should know what happened, he should care more, he should be with Delight now. But he just keeps walking, trying to focus on anything else to smother the anxiety in his chest whispering that nothing will ever just be okay.

This whole thing was wrong for a myriad of reasons and the recent changes in the weather suited his dour mood.

This was wrong.  All of it.

These stupid moms and their other annoying kids show up and the whole pack goes to hell.  And they were following them?  Nuh uh.  Not him.  This was dumb.  Extra dumb.  Why were they leaving when his sisters were still gone?  Why weren't they finding them first?  How would they know where to go?  Where had Delight gone?  Why weren't they waiting for him? There were a lot of things that Mali was perfectly content to look past, to explain away in some fantastic way, but even he had his limits and this was pretty much them

Without them around, Mali was tempted to try to sneak away, to escape and go back and do what they really should be doing.  But Alarian was shadowing him pretty closely, and as such there wasn't much that Mali could do but mope and follow along.  He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to have those women bossing him around since as far as he could tell, they were the source of everything bad.  This was just gonna make things worse.

Korei Julia once more, was leaving home. This time, it was on better terms. She still had those she considered family with her, and she stuck close to Alarian. The one that stayed all the way, that she had known the longest. And she kept her gaze forward, worried if she looked back this time she would want to go back. Korei knew they couldn't. "We'll find a good place, right?" She asked to him, turning her gaze on Alarian for a moment.

A small voice at her side and spoke the question that Olive was asking herself, silently. Few others were speaking, seemingly lost in their own thoughts, as was she. There was so much to think about, was their not? Olive felt her duty to lead and care for this group as an ever-present worry, especially now, when they had trusted her — a relative stranger — with their futures. Well, it wasn’t just her [it had been a cumulative decision to seek shelter elsewhere, had it not?] but now that they were on the move, there were so many variables that had the potential to spoil. Within her own mind, Olive whispered prayers to the gods that their travels would be swift and merciful. 

Just as swift [and just as merciful] was Drakonis, sweeping in the engage the young Ibis and suggesting a traveller’s game, allowing the sylph alone with her worries once again. The missing presence of delight and his two children was palpable, especially with most of the group traveling in front of her, but they could not have waited any longer to leave — lest they risk the lives of their most vulnerable, the children. and Olive would do anything but put her children at risk, and those other children that had been left behind.

"Oh, Lily has already found one. The Hushed Willows, to the west."  Olive responded to the inquiry that was posed to Alarian, in case they group had activated so quickly that the news of their destination had failed to trickle down to her less nuclear packmates. A glance was passed towards the two, and then to Mali who was not far off. She was thankful for Alarian, keeping Mali company, but the women knew she could do a better job extending the proverbial olive branch towards the cherub, who had just lost nearly all his blood relatives. It broke her heart, it truly did, so the woman pushed forward and pulled up alongside Mali — but she couldn’t find anything to say that didn’t appear to be filling an awkward silence, so Olive chose to say nothing, and hoped her presence might be some comfort for the young child.  

A stranger that wasn't mama one, or mama two, or her brother, spoke up and that made Ibis' ears spin. She shot them a sharp look as if hearing their voice was absolutely not okay, and almost shouted at him that he was being rude — but the travelling had taken a lot out of her, and she took his recommendation to play a game as something much harsher than it was meant to be. She didn't accept that invitation; instead she glared at Drakonis and then turned to address her mother again, only to find that Olive was talking to someone else. The nerve.

With a huff, Ibis made quite a show of stepping out from Olive's shadow and then took off running down the path, to wherever Okeanos was hiking along. She squished up against him, draping her chin over his shoulder in a quick hug, before pulling away and continuing her march at a sluggish pace. The rest of the pack could go wherever they wanted, and she'd follow, but she made sure to be as slow as possible.

He was walking along sourly minding his own business when then one of those stupid mothers showed up.  No, she was not comfort.  Not anything close.  She was a witch he had no interest in dealing with, one of those that had brought all the problems with them and continued to ruin what had been a good life as far as he was aware.  Hadn't he been clear enough he wanted nothing to do with them back at the Sanctuary any of the times they crossed paths?  His nose crinkled, and though he didn't bare his fangs, he was tempted, instead opting for a pause in his stride and a quick sprint to elsewhere in the train to keep himself at a distance from the dumb pups and their parents.  Mali's not so subtle statement of 'go the hell away, or I will.'

Korei's question caught her ears, and she was about to answer when Olive did so for her. She shot a look of warmth toward the pretty woman before blinking back at Korei, smiling. "It's beautiful, Korei," she insisted, the autumn sunlight glinting in her eyes. "You'll love it; we all will."

Well, hopefully. They had been dealt a rough hand, lately. The change of venue might be nice, but it also could be an added stressor on top of everything else they'd had to deal with. Well, and that was the shitty part about journeys. If Lily could wag her tail and transport them there right now, she would. Not for her sake, but for her world-weary companions'.

Khali smiled at Lily each time he saw her look back at him. His heart knew nothing more than that he had feelings for her. It made sense because every time he was around her he felt so different. At Korei’s question a smile came upon his face that didn’t leave. Of course Lily had found an amazing place, good things always attract good things. That was his only thought.

The journey ahead he was sure would be long but worth a new home with a new start for everyone away from the pests. It would also give them a better future for not only themselves but pups that hadn’t even been thought of yet. Just thinking about pups made him feel a bit giddy. Little ones always had a soft spot in his heart.

Closing and archiving! Thanks guys!

Mali did not accept her invitation of company, instead choosing to run off and walk with the train elsewhere. Olive tried to bite back her disappointment and did not let it show upon her visage, but she felt the hurt so strongly because she simply did not understand. She could not understand, could she? To be abandoned by one’s family must be the worst thing that could possibly happen to someone [the fact that she had too done this to Dakarai went unrealized] and, as a child, dealing with emotions was difficult. With the move and everything, it might seem near impossible — but to think that the child blamed her for his misfortune, well… she just didn’t think about it like that. 

Lily confirmed for Korei what she knew to be true, and Olive returned her smile, reassured that with good people like these ones behind her, there was no way they could loose.