Whitebark Stream The river will be your eyes and ears.
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Pack Activity 
As Artyom and his family are withdrawing from the game for the time being, I wanted to conclude their WBS chapter. While we haven't worked out the finer details, they will be relocating off map and we wanted to open this up to offer the option of having your characters follow or be separated by the flood. Thanks for sticking with us (sorry if I missed anyone) for all this time. Also if anyone wants to take over as leader and relocate, please feel free! <3

@Dawn @Kaori @Germanicus @Taikon @Meadow @Surya @Storm @Frost @Kiyoshi @Toshi @Chai @Daylily @Eights

When the rains came, they did not cease for long. Downpour after downpour, each heavier than before, battered Whitebark's territory with unrelenting force. Thunder rumbled often and the sun, darkened by angered cloud, failed to shed much light on them.

Artyom worried, of course. He ventured beyond their claim numerous times to search for higher ground should the need to rendezvous arise, but the flatlands seemed to stretch on for miles in the only safe direction he could look.

"Find us to the East," came his rallying cry when at last the banks could not support an increasing volume, and began to overflow. "Hurry!"

He ushered his mate and cubs ahead while he trailed at the rear, sure to keep their tails in view but eyes searching frantically for straggling pack-mates. Artyom encouraged those he found to stay close, to stay alert, and take care of each other.

When they found shelter at last, the gilded ranger took some time to rest with his mate. He confided in her and they discussed their concerns, their reluctance to go back anytime soon. In recent months, Whitebark had not treated them kindly, and he couldn't shake the feeling that the territory had dealt them such poor luck to encourage its wolves to move on. The overflowing river came as its final warning.

But where could they go? To Legion, maybe? Artyom frowned at the consideration, sure that the sharp Arbiter would not receive him well. To the mountains, perhaps, where Reiko and her family lived? He and Dawn spent long days at their rendezvous trying to make a decision, calling and waiting out the storms in the hope that any stray companions would catch up to them sooner rather than later.

"We will keep going this way," he shared with their friends, with their cubs, and looked to Dawn in search of her quiet, never-ending support. He offered a small, watery smile to her and lifted his chin, pointed his ivory snout in the direction where he hoped far greater things were waiting for them.
an hour of wolves and shattered shields
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<33333333333!!

find us to the east.

the torrent had been hard and swift, driving the wolves of whitebark from their homeland quickly. germanicus had been loathe to leave, seeking a moderately higher ground only a short while before descending back to the foaming mess that had once been their home. he paced through floodwaters where he was able, swimming from ridge to ridge while he called out for those of whitebark not collected by artyom.

in the days that passed, the eaglebound traveled in the direction that the man had indicated, but never did he locate the pale leader, nor the family that called him father, nor his mate. discouraged, the soldier had found the remainder of their trail washed by downpour, and returned back to whitebark immediately.

he lingered now in the flatlands nearby, still swamped with the stream's offering, but ankle-deep in this place, and germanicus called again for those who might be near. despite his aloof mien, the man worried for the cubs that might not have made it through this calamity. and as his voice was carried off, the waterlogged centurion wondered if @Ico might hear — or @Célnes.

this time, if no one came, germanicus would not remain. 
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She came back temporary. Hearing faint rumors on her cousins, and other from the Déorwine family. Though, despite her inkling toward the inevitable, the elken woman still held a rather surprised look. The land she temporary laid to was now destroyed by a torrent of water, the rivers overflowing, and the land sunken. 

Unfortunate, she thought.

The wolves would have moved. Célnes made the correct decision wisking the two away from here, though couldn't help but shake her head at the misfortune, and only hoped the High Elk would help them so. Perhaps being unblessed was their downfall of this land, but there was hope they remained alive. She could understand the misfortunate of nature, as her own was destroyed by fire, and now the curse of water.

Then she heard the call of someone familiar, whome she met before disappearing near the mountains, "Germanicus?"
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Ooc — Mai
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This post will mark Chai's exit from the game, at least for now.

The rain was relentless. It hit her fur like dozens of tiny pellets, making her skin sting. She squinted her eyes against the raindrops, shaking out her coat. With ears laid back and head low, she looked around dismally. The territory was in shambles. It seemed to be crumbling apart, the earth eroded away by the flooding waters. A fitting match it seemed, for the sorry state the psyche of the pack had been in. Despite laying low and rarely socializing, Chai knew of how much they had lost. This was the sign that it was time to leave.

Heeding Artyom's call, she fled the heart of the territory to join him and his family. Maybe there, be he and Dawn's side, she could re-kindle the spark of a connection she felt with both adults. It would do her spirits no good to go it alone. She would only succumb to her depression again. They were hurting....all of them. If she could be of any use now, it would be by offering her silent support by sheer presence alone. They would get through this.

 
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Fear had plunged into his bones as the river continued to swell. As quickly as he had found a home, it had been wiped from existence, starting with Aphrodite. He had gone out on a limb, following her to something that looked like it could have been a better life. Something with meaning. Juniper had kept him strong. But she had faded and shrank as the rain continued to fall day after day. Taikon knew that the river would not stop. He knew that Artyom and Dawn would have the wisdom to move their young family away from this forsaken place.
But they ventured east, toward no place that could be home. They melted away into the Taiga, and Taikon did not follow. Juniper had once asked, why do people leave? She had asked as if begging him to stay. But his little scrub was leaving him, and he knew it unlikely he would ever see her vibrant face again. That face had disappeared with the rise of The Saints and the healer's death.
Whitebark Stream was broken. Though Taikon could hear the howls of his prior pack mates in the distance as he ventured around the old territories, there was nothing more holding him there. The rug had been ripped from under him once more, this time by the combined turmoil of regional threat and Mother Nature. He thought for a moment of allowing the water from the river to take him, but this seemed pointless.
Taikon moved west, homeless and more bitter than ever.
relatively thin from illness (Apr 13, 2020)
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he isn’t near germanicus but he’s on the way :)

Cenric followed his sister’s trail, perhaps without her knowledge. Of all the places she could’ve wandered to, he wasn’t expecting her to come back here.

Whitebark stream looked just as he imagined it; a watery wasteland. A shame really, but it was inevitable. A smart wolf would’ve evacuated the land and and not come back. Why did his sister return?

She wasn’t the only one here. A call went out to everyone in the area. His sister would go to it, so he would too.
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an hour of wolves and shattered shields
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the eaglebound paced in a tight circle, worried, frustrated by the lack of responses. he had just begun to enter a marching exercise when célnes appeared in her odd, wraithlike way. "you did not go far," the soldier remarked, stopping to approach her familiarity.

he spared no contemplation of what she had done outside the land; germanicus narrowed his hushflower gaze as he remembered his warning to this woman and her lack of loyalty to leadership. "artyom has gone, and you are no follower, célnes," he insinuated, gesturing toward the soaked land before his stare of promise returned to her own. it could be her decision, and not that of any else.
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"It was like a calling to the wind." Perhaps the High Elk gave a breeze of warning to this, and granted her passage back to Whitebark. Rumors of her family being around, she re-traced, but instead finding them, Célnes found the remains of Whitebark Stream, "this is unfortunate," she remarked.

"I am not," she never felt like one. She remembered the trouble her uncle gave when he tried to order Cenric and herself around, "there is still plans to travel west," and her initial goal remained, "perhaps you and others, can join."

[Image: daypp44-35fafcf4-5681-4f2b-ade7-060f2833...UH7g592rRs]
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He trudged through the mud and muck, straight towards the man who had called upon all who lingered.

Only he and Célnes showed up.

As always, he arrived late into the conversation. He doesn’t like what he hears, but manages to hide the disapproval.

You want him to join us? Cenric gave the whitebark wolf a look over. Accepting an outsider into their circle didn’t seem like the best course of action right now.

He turned to his sister. What does he have to offer?
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Artyom and his family were leaving. Of course they were leaving, was the bitter whisper that remained only a fledgling burn in her chest before she swallowed it. The silver and coppered girl trailed the flooding lands, steering clear of it’s atrocities before coming upon Germanicus who had called. Her cheeks would flush at the memory of him standing over her, willing her to her paws after her deep faint.

Broken goods, her heart whispered again, and she chuffed quietly. There was a murmering—the dark soldier was being questioned harshly be a man next to a she-wolf, wondering what made Germanicus fit to follow them. Delicate lashes allowed her eyes to widen in light surprise, her eyes trailing to the direction of the leaving wolves. She belonged nowhere—she could not follow Artyom away from the valleys of the only true home she knew, nor would she be accepted among a place that questioned even the most steadfast soldier within their previous ranks.

Her amber eyes slid away, lithe form melting away from the lands of the stream, the silver bullet knew not what her next step was, but she had time to determine it. And so Meadow vanished into the foliage, quieting the darker thoughts her mind sang to her. It had simply not meant to be.
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célnes spoke, and for once germanicus listened, fully and openly. there was nothing here for him. he would not follow artyom, not while ico remained in the nearby valley. his skills were best put to use by more rigorous work. for a moment, the centurion contemplated how he had once told the boy of his boredom. had the river-god volturnus heard him?

no time to answer, for the tall man who célnes called sibling stepped toward them, handsome features scanning over germanicus with a dismissal. it rankled the greystone deeply, but he only cut his eyes toward the elk-woman. "i follow you, not your witless brother." he would be beholden to none of this odd smokewood family, save for the she-wolf herself.
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"Come now brother," she gave him a knowing smile, "we do not know these lands as well as him." Cenric said his displeasure, but she only glazed over it without a worry to his opinion. He should know her well enough there was always reason behind her decisions, despite how the Deorwine's may not like so. Logic, over their beliefs.

"It is safer to travel in numbers, I am glad you are joining us, Germanicus." A polite smile, despite the tense action between the two, "I hope anyone else you know, will follow us as well."

[Image: daypp44-35fafcf4-5681-4f2b-ade7-060f2833...UH7g592rRs]
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Cenric’s response to the man, Germanicus as he’d soon find out, was an half-hearted chuckle. He was very confident with decision wasn’t he? At best it was amusing, at worst it was an annoyance. His belief was a small problem that would be fixed in due time.

I suppose you’re right. But he’d prefer a different guide. Oh well, this wasn’t the hill he’d die on today. Cenric would tolerate the man’s presence.

Once his sister was finished speaking, Cenric began to walk back from where he’d came. Shall we depart?
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germanicus was not so desperate as to fight for a place in célnes' band. good then, that she should chide her brother and offer a more respectful word to the soldier. in this at least she had earned him as a blade. he stepped to her side, opposite the man, and turned his gaze toward her magma-stare. "to where are we going?" 

she need only give him a destination, and germanicus would find a path for them. there were years of months in his training: tracking, trapping, and traipsing. the red-gray centurion bid himself in service to célnes that moment, and awaited her word for their direction.
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She knew her brother wouldn't object too strongly, as he wasn't the type to. There was very few things he truly argued for, and if memory serves, he would resort to other means to get what he wants. The Deorwine looked at her siblings with a pleasant smile, but between the two, it read; do not touch him.

"The mountains, away from the flooding." Célnes had scouted just a bit to that area, and seemed the most appropriate to escape the weather.

[Image: daypp44-35fafcf4-5681-4f2b-ade7-060f2833...UH7g592rRs]
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fading; lmk if not okay <3

she directed, and germanicus set off at once. he picked a fairweather trail through the flooded lands for the brother and sister, fanning out ahead of them as the ground solidified and he was able to find the thin ruts traveled by others.

onward and onward, headed for the inexorable stone teeth.