Ouroboros Spine Three demon seeds

@Cara @Kaname @Mordecai @Sitri @Tyrande Nightshade @Vectra @Creidne @Mayhem @Viggo
Hi guys! Because this one is a relatively important thread for the pack, this pack rally is mandatory. Characters that don't show up will be removed from the ranks and considered outsiders at the end of the rally. Your characters can react to Ptarmigan and her attitude however you'd like. This round will end on September 12 or whenever everyone makes their posts. Short posts are preferred!

Ptarmigan had been lacking initiative up until now, taking comfort in the presences of Andrus and Viggo and the protection they offered. To a lesser extent, she took comfort in Mordecai as well, though the two were far from friends and might never be. Knowing he knew her family was enough to alter her opinion of him, at least temporarily. Now that Andrus had taken his leave with claims that she was well-seated in her position, Ptarmigan felt more uneasy than ever, and needed to assert her claim.

The howl she sent out was thick with authority. It did not request the presence of the wolves or ask them to come—it demanded it. Ptarmigan was not a natural leader, but she knew how to be a bitch when she had to be, and she left no room in her summons for disobedience. The sharp tone was enough to tell the pack wolves they would either attend or leave. There were no alternatives.

Sitri frowned as the call rang out and though he didn't want too meet her yet, he got to his hefty feet and strode towards the sound. Keeping his head low and his red eyes on the horizon he followed the sound until he came upon the female that was their new queen. He didn't say anything, not wanting to cause any problems he just sat down and looked at her and he waited. Scarred body, red eyes it was enough to make anyone nervous, but he was oblivious to this.

Ptarmigan's call rang out across the territory abruptly that day. Mordecai had known the day would come when she would summon them all to her. He hadn't been far off, this time choosing the lurk in the glades beyond where he had last seen her go. Watching, curiously, if only to study. Though they had now been formally acquainted, their relationship was shaky at best. He felt he had every reason to be leery of her, and was certain she felt the same. But his distance from her kept him from know exactly what it was that she was doing, who she was meeting, and how those meetings were going.

A lot rode on this particular gathering, however.

His arrival was timely, and where he had expected to find new blood riding in ahead of the rest of them, he found none just yet. Just Sitri, waiting patiently. Mordecai came from the back of the meeting, from just beyond Ptarmigan's flank. He regarded the leader cooly, lacking immediate submission. In its place was the lack of hostility however, as their familial ties had changed his opinion of her too. Taking his place by Sitri, the tawny Ostrega awaited the influx of their pack… assuming they would come.

Without a hint of hesitation, Viggo answered Ptarmigan's call. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the dynamic between his Sedona brother and his new leader, but it was their struggle to work out, not his. The pale Ostrega arrived just after Mordecai, and nudged him affectionately before taking a seat next to Ptarmigan. Viggo had been focusing on making sure that the pack was well-secured and devoid of any wishy-washers, but he supposed this would be the true test. Golden eyes watched the crowd gather as he waited for his queen to speak.

The lurking enigma was busying himself amongst the shroud of the spine, he had made no attempt to get to know his fellow pack-mates and had simply been keeping his head down. When the demand echoed through the landscape however, he knew his place and made his way to the already forming crowd. The politics of the pack were lost on him still, but when a summons was made he was bound to listen.

The meeting place was already being filled with the bodies of the unfamiliar. May's approach was halted at a distance, observation. It seemed to be all he did. Sit and watch quietly. He knew nothing of the creatures before him at this moment, the only two from the pack he had any knowledge of weren't around either yet. He stood off, awkwardly, away but not. He was essentially there, so what's the big whoop.

Cara heard the pressing call of the new Alpha as she was preparing to make a meal out of a small hare. She straightened her back with a sigh, letting the hare escape into a burrow in the ground. While she was not so thrilled about seeing Ptarmigan again she could sense the urgency on the female's tone.

She trotted to the meeting place, arriving --fashionably late according to her. As she approached she greeted a couple of the already gathered members with a silent nod or in Mordecai and Sitri's case with a gentle prod to their shoulders. Ignoring completely one of the black female's loyal peon stood nearby she padded towards the new Alphess; keeping her head at neutral position but her ears pricked with interest.

"Hello, what's this?", she asked without any challenging tone mixed in her voice. As Beta she thought it was her right and duty to keep up with the pack's activities and meetings.

Kaname's head lifted at the demanding call of the usurper. His fangs bared in a sneer at the tone of it, but he responded nonetheless. The Beta Male arrived soon after his younger, feminine counterpart. He pressed his head briefly on top of Cara's in greeting before he sat down beside her, icy eyes fixed on the dark usurper with a bored expression on his face.

@Vectra @Tyrande Nightshade @Creidne Still need posts from you prior to the end of the meeting unless you're on absence for the entire duration! Thanks for posting, everyone else! This round will end September 16.

Slowly, wolves filed in one after another. A hulking, scarred creature came first. Ptarmigan could only look at him for a short while before she had to direct her gaze elsewhere, mostly because his vacant expression disturbed her. Mordecai came next, and though the Endore watched him carefully as he took a seat near the demonic first arrival, she nodded to him.

A dark-haired male came next, though he lingered on the fringe, and Ptarmigan wasn't interested in forcing him any closer. She grinned broadly when Viggo arrived, and he took his place next to her, which was probably his rightful place anyway. Cara arrived with a question on her lips that the Endore didn't answer for the moment, and then Kaname came last. She noted the way the chocolate male greeted the Beta female, but assumed it was affection. Neither of them had earned her suspicion, but neither had earned her respect, either.

No one else arrived, leaving Ptarmigan with a rather sour opinion if the "mighty" Ouroboros wolves, as Kaname had called them. “Hi,” she greeted, for a moment managing to sound sweet before shattering her own illusion. “Few of you have bothered introducing yourselves to me, so I am doing it for you.”

“I am Ptarmigan,” she began, “your Alpha. Many of you seem to think you can ignore me, but you forget yourselves. I put down your former Alpha and bested your selected champion, so you don't have that choice. You follow me now.” It was probably the most uninspiring speech in the world.

“Winter is on its way, and I am unimpressed. I have seen no demonstration of this pack's supposed fortitude. I have seen no teamwork, and no initiative, except from my own man.” Here she gestured to Viggo, then cast a critical gaze over them all. This would make or break this pack. She, despite her responsibilities, didn't really care either way. “Tell me why you deserve to be here, if you do not care for your leader and do not care to show your worth among your peers.”

Sitri listened to her words that attacked them all like a whiplash and he stared at hre for a moment then quickly averted his eyes. He did not know what to say, but he did know he was a bit upset with what she had said. He was doing his part, he was on the borders everyday, hunting everyday. He wanted to growl in frustration, only because he could not think of the right words.

He did finally speak slowly at first to gather his thoughts I am Sitri. I hunt and patrol the borders everyday, I have hunted by myself and with others. I have worked on filling the caches. Sitri did not sit idle and do nothing. That was all he said in defense of himself.

As others filed in, Mordecai noticed with growing concern just how thin their ranks had become. Of them all, there was only one he didn't recognize, one who lingered at the outskirts of their gathering much in the way he had likened his time in the Spine as well. And while none of them had been outwardly vicious yet, he could feel the tension picking up one by one. Most of all, he felt it from Cara and Kaname. He did not blame them. Instead, he felt a certain weariness come about.

Ptarmigan did not tear them open as much as she could have. She did not snarl and sling spittle at them. Nothing that she said sparked anger in him, but it would certainly ruffle the feathers of those around him. Sitri was the first to speak in, defending himself. His speech was much better than it had been in the past. But he did not linger his gaze on the scarred wolf long. Instead he shifted it to the others in their group, realizing then that there were many more faces gone than he had expected. No Meldresi, no Rahzie. Vectra was absent, and maybe she was gone too. It bothered him, more than the fact that Ptarmigan was thrusting the very decision he had been grappling with for days. Stay or go.

“It's of no surprise to me that we lack the fortitude you seek.” She had laid them bare, so he felt he would do the same. “Look around you,” he stated, bringing his gaze to her dark face. “There were nearly twenty of us when Jinx died. We have what now… six? Seven here? Clearly we're more deserving than those who have already abandoned us.” There was not a drop of malice in his tone, but rather bafflement that of what they had become. He felt the grasp of disappointment, not just in himself, but rather in all of them. Had they let themselves be so consumed by grief that it drove them away? Was it out of anger? He shook his head. Too much time was wasted on the possibility of reason.

She expected their loyalty when it deserved to be earned. And Mordecai was very confident that he had more of the Spine's loyalty than she did. “Let the winter cull those who want to take a gamble in the wilderness. We should be using this time to pool our resources and use them.” It went without saying that those who did not contribute would not last, but that was simply the way of the beast. Nature would tear those asunder that did not meet the standard of survival, and he had yet to be apart of a pack that kept the useless at hand.

Viggo sat silent, even as the others spoke. Ptarmigan was first, voicing her concerns about the wolves who remained here. The ego boost on his part was unneeded, but appreciated. Viggo did feel as though he had been doing his part to make sure that the spine was well-guarded. Vectra, currently not present, had been helping him check the borders that day, but the fact that she was not here now made such a thing hardly seem notable. If she was not loyal to Ptarmigan, then her duties meant nothing.

The next one spoke, his words strange to Viggo's ears. It was not somebody who he had seen often, if at all, and they had certainly never had any sort of conversation. Viggo had a feeling that they would not be having many conversations at all. The fact that Sitri spoke of himself in the third person was too much for the Ostrega, and he mentally dismissed the strange beast.

Mordecai, his brother for all intents and purposes, spoke afterward. His speech was slightly longer, and Viggo felt that the message was mixed. First, he insulted the pack (in so many words), and then Mordecai proceeded to say that those who had left were weak. Perhaps he simply wasn't choosing the right words, but Viggo was left wanting when his brother finished.

Viggo did not speak. He simply turned his attention to each wolf as they spoke, taking it all in.

sorry for the delay!

As Cara waited patiently for an answer that wouldn't come, she caught a glimpse of the brown assasin from the corner of her eye. She greeted him back with a wave of her tail, still not pulling her face away from the leader. She had asked a question and demanded an answer, even if Ptarmigan stood higher, they still shared leadership. As Beta, she had every right to inquire about the reason for the meeting.

Instead of answering, the black bitch completely ignored the pale female's words, in fact she went on by introducing herself as the one who whooped the previous Alpha's (aka her) ass. A muffled growl erupted from the girl's chest as she imposed her authority into the members of the pack.

So she hadn't taken her advice after all, she thought as she nibbled on her lip, expecting the pack members to wriggle in discomfort of voice their dismay with her words. But oh! What a surprise, if it wasn't Mordecai the first to speak. And instead of arguing like she had expected him to, he agreed with the bitch. He even gave a lame excuse for their apparent lack of strength.

The yearling immediately turned her head, her eyes narrowing at the male she had once seen as an enemy, then as a friend and now like something in between. "The ones who left were clearly not worth of our time.. Though I wouldn't agree with the lack of fortitude.. " she barked sourly, her head spinning again to glance at Ptarmigan.

Ptarmigan was not giving a first good impression. Her words were condescending and cruel. She favored her loyal bastard (where the hell was the other one?) and downgraded the others. They had been trying their best damnit. Ptarmigan had done nothing so far. She did not lead hunts, issue patrols, anything. It was pathetic. She had better change her attitude before winter. "You have not seen our initiative because you have been resting from your injuries until now. You have not met anyone because you have not sought us out." he hissed coldly. "If you do not think we are fairing well then work with us to make us better."

Nevermind those that left, there was no use in focusing on the past. They needed to move forward. Winter was coming. They needed to hunt frequently, locate food sources. Now that Cara was better he could arrange more hunting trips with her, focus his attention on helping the others. But Ptarmigan had the chance to do the same.

This round will end September 25. No posting order!

They were quick to defend themselves, which Ptarmigan had anticipated, but none of them rose to the “badass” status that Kaname had once spoken of. For her words, they ought to have gone for her throat, but they merely hissed out words with no action to back their attitudes up.

These Spine wolves were weak. She felt they couldn't be driven by any force, even their own extinction, which loomed over all of them like a dark cloud if they refused to cooperate.

The dark-furred beast was the first to speak, identifying himself as Sitri and countering her argument. She met his gaze steadily, her lip curling ever-so-slightly as he finished, but she made no move toward him. It was true she couldn't witness everything, but it was also true in her mind that she was the boss, and they needed to report to her, not just do their own thing.

Mordecai spoke next, and she pinned him with a leery gaze. Whether or not he agreed with her was left ambiguous in his words, but he at least acknowledged the pathetic state of the pack. That was enough to spare him her tongue.

Viggo did not speak, which left space for Cara and Kaname to speak their piece. Cara disagreed with the lack of fortitude, earning nothing but the arching of a brow from the Alpha female. She would scarcely call this handful of wolves capable of fortifying anything, but she didn't say anything until Kaname spoke up.

“Yes,” she responded, “injuries inflicted dishonourably in a fair challenge. You didn't see me ripping her to pieces. I know better than to do undue harm to a useful body. It is the law of challenge and of pack, not that any of you know what that is.” Her cold glare fell on him then, and though she was smaller than most if not all of those gathered, she did her best to appear large. “It was not my fault I was injured, it is your job as pack wolves to come to me then.” That wasn't entirely true either, but she went with it.

“You yourself told me this pack was strong and proud. I don't see it.” She snorted through her nostrils, panning her gaze over all of them, challenging each of them with her stance to disagree with that. “There are few of you. The packs out there each easily double our size. If you think we're fortified with these numbers and with these attitudes, you're a moron.” And with winter coming, it was only a matter of time in her opinion before a larger pack sought to be rid of them.

“It's time for change. It's gonna start with your shitty attitudes.” She glared at all of them. “I am your Alpha, whether or not you like it or agree with it. It's time you all get over it. I can't help you or work with you if you're going to sulk around and glare at me every chance you get.”

Omg Sitri what happened to you! :O


The alpah curled her lip at Sitri and he curled his right back, surprising even himself. He stood up swiftly and stared at her with red eyes, a snarl deep within his throat. You are no queen. You lay the blame at all the other's feet and it is not just us to blame Queen Ptarmigan. You want us to change, then you need to tell us what you want, not insult us and throw abuse at us. You want hunts tell us. You want patrols tell us. We are not mind readers and we do not know what you want. We were strong, we cannot help it that there were traitors that dismantled us from the inside out, and then you come and dismantle us from the outside. Sitri is a loyal beast, but he is also one that you must earn his loyalty, not expect it, just because you killed our queen and injured our second. A fight does not a queen make, not it is duty and loyalty and you are only as good as your subordinates. He tilted his head red eyes gleaming and shook his brown fur his numerous scars showing and glittering in the dancing light.

He stood quietly completely surprised at himself, and not entirely sure where his irritation had come from or what it was borne from, but he was actually ashamed of himself. However, he could not take back what he said, so he would have to stand firm behind it. probably the first and the last time the brute would stand up for himself and it would most likely probably end badly.

Oh snap Sitri. O:

Kaname opened his mouth, about to retail in a series of more scathing, condescending words, but Sitri, Sitri of all people, bet him to it. The Beta listened to the brute words, just as surprised as he was at his actions. When the brute finished, Kaname barked out a laugh, sharp and cold as an icicle.

"You should listen to him, 'Queen' Ptarmigan. He knows much more about loyalty than all of us." His enunciation of the royal title was sarcastic at best. "And we were strong and proud. Under Jinx and even the brief days under Cara we were strong. Strong leaders make strong packs. You should use the state of your pack as feedback to how well your leadership skills are. I may not like you Ptarmigan, but I won't start respecting you until I see you are worthy of my respect." This was the type of tone that got you kicked out of packs, demoted with injuries to drag with you, but he didn't care if any of that happened. That be damned; he could not, would not sit about as his pack was dragged to ruin by this wench.

I love you guys. Also I may have forgotten how @Viggo was actually situated so if I just broke physics and Mordecai phased through him, whoops. >_>

He was not surprised with their reactions in the long run of things, but Sitri certainly did surprise him. His outburst startled Mordecai, who pushed away from his pack mate as though he had been burned by a hot coal. The anger that radiated from the scarred canine was infectious though, as Kaname's voice shortly joined Sitri's afterward. Mordecai stepped over Viggo, bristling at the words that he was hearing out of them all and pushed towards the edge of the gathering. Their gathering had turned into a fiasco and if it weren't for the lack of cornering of Ptarmigan, Mordecai would have called it a witch hunt.

It was perhaps then that he realized how painfully torn they all were; disappointment in himself rolled very forward into his thoughts. He too had been cross with Ptarmigan, and perhaps he found that he was still. But his disappointment and anger stretched further than that, and he looked at their meager numbers once more. “A pack is more than its leadership,” he tried to counter, not so much on Ptarmigan's behalf as it was a statement of the obvious. “All of us are to blame for this. And if you are so resistant to who's leading, then what has stopped you from doing what you can to ready the others?” Though the question seemed directed to them all, but his eyes had settled on Kaname and Cara. Did they simply expect blind loyalty from all of them in lieu of the deceased or Ptarmigan?

Every single hair along the female's back rose slowly as if they were being attracted by a magnet over her neck. She struggled to keep her urge to speak back at the senseless female as she began to insult the pack and brag about not only killing Jinx but about taking her throne.She was spitting venom right into her eyes, leaving her pale orbs to sizzle with rage and fury.

Insults ad snarky remarks broiled in her stomach, filling her mouth with a bitter taste that would soon turn sweet as the usually-laid-back brute spoke his mind. Despite having a particular difficulty to articulate, Sitri managed to give Ptarmigan a very well deserved lecture to put the bitch in her place.

The young Queen would've liked to cogratulate the man, his jagged speech was no longer a set back. Tyrande had done a good job teaching the man, she'd be proud there was no doubt. But agai before she could give her praise to the scarred brute, Kaname stole the words out of her lips, spitting fire at Ptarmigan whilst awknoledging Sitri's smart words.

Couldn't have said it better, she thought smugly as she whipped her tail over her back.

I would have loved to have this turn into a coup and was hoping it would, buuut now it'll conflict with the Sitri thread. For that reason, Ptarm can no longer be formally challenged or killed in this thread unless whoever challenges her ultimately loses, since it'd break continuity in a bad way if there was any other outcome. :( Next round ends September 28 or when everyone participating as of now has posted, no post order.

Naturally, the lot of them suddenly banded together, drawing a long and bored sigh from the female. It was no secret she was universally disliked in the pack, despite having done almost nothing to get such backlash, at least in her mind. She had killed their dying Alpha, admittedly sparing her a great deal of pain; she had overthrown a yearling who had been in the position scarcely a week, hardly someone anyone would remember; and she had been, within reason, relatively polite since then. Cold and distant, but polite enough. Their words were unwarranted in her mind.

“That's enough,” she snarled loudly over their voices, raising her hackles and her tail. “I'm not putting up with any more of your attitude. Stop being such babies and accept the truth for what it is. I'm not blindly insulting you, I'm telling you exactly as it is, so deal with it.” It was, after all, the truth. None of them had come to speak with her willingly. None of them had come to greet her or introduce themselves or ask what needed doing. They were seven, maybe eight wolves strong, which was scarcely a force to be reckoned with. It was barely enough wolves to hunt comfortably.

Mordecai was the only one who seemed to see reason, and that was lucky. “Call me a shitty leader all you like, but none of you have done anything to prove yourselves better except take offence to my existence and blame your problems on me.” But before she could go on to explain that, she caught the flash of white as the smug Cara lifted her tail, and immediately she was moving toward the Beta with fire in her eyes. Whatever possessed the female to show any sign of dominance was about to end, here and now.

Without a word she snapped at the other's snout and growled, flinging her own tail skyward to remind the pale female that she was the head bitch.

At least in light of things, this thread has some awesome foreshadowing out of Sitri at least! :3

In spite of their bickering, it seemed his words may have fallen on deaf ears. He received no rebuke from Kaname or Cara, but then again they were more interested in disemboweling Ptarmigan verbally. What did catch his attention however was the raise of defiance out of Cara. That did not go unanswered and Mordecai watched silently as the scene unfolded and Ptarmigan's dark form slid forward to put her back in her place. He tensed and rightly so, distinctly aware of the hair-trigger finger that rested on the poorly composed situation their gathering was.

But the tawny Ostrega made no move to defuse the situation, only observed.

Chels tell me if this mini-challenge is alright, if not I'll change it :P

As it was recurrent for the ex-Queen, her fun didn't lasted less than a second before the bitch came to spoil her fun. She had taken Cara's tail flick as a war declaration, as if Sitri's words hadn't been trigggering enough. The pale yearling wrinkled the bridge of her muzzle as the dark coated female jerked her face towards her, snapping her jaws an inch away from the yearling precious face.

Though the warning bite had been avoided, and Cara had the chance to keep up her shitty attitude or move forht, she decided to stay put, a little purr-like growl still emerging from the depths of her throat. If she decided to snap at her again, the yearling would be waiting with her own maw wide open.

I'm gonna post again out of turn to respond to Cara. Mini-challenge is totally fine as long as she eventually submits just to keep things making sense. I would have liked it to be official but other things happened too quickly. >_>

Although it might have seemed like a personal feud, Ptarmigan's behaviour toward Cara was nothing more than natural instinct, at least on her side of things. The Beta refused to relent, and that was cause enough in the Endore's mind for her continued aggression. The pale female's muzzle wrinkled and, at that sign, the Alpha lunged again.

She wasn't a fool, though, at least not all the time. She aimed not to grab the other wolf's muzzle, but to grab the side of her neck, so that she could shove her to the ground and stand dominantly over her. It was the classic Alpha roll, a move that only lead wolves who considered themselves gravely disrespected tended to employ. It was time, she thought to herself, to cut the pompous yearling down from her incredibly high, incredibly undeserved horse.

Kaname's eyes focused on the flash of white from his side. Just as he caught notice of it, Ptarmigan rebuked, striding up to the white yearling and snapping at her muzzle. Cara snarled in return warranting her to be pushed down by Ptarmigan. Kaname had stepped back at this point, watching the two females' skirmish with cold eyes. He could not intervene, but let Cara and Ptarmigan duke it out.

Dang. I thought the next round didn't start until today/tomorrow.

Viggo held himself steady, even with the commotion, but it was clear that his muscles tensed beneath his pale agouti coat. Viggo flashed a cursory glance to Mordecai, but seeing as his kin was not intervening, he saw no reason to do so himself. Instead, he let his focus remain on Kaname, the one that Viggo thought was most likely to do anything rash. Cara would be put in her place one way or another, Viggo was sure of it.

we should end this soon :B [size=xx-small]just saying[/size]

Again, her closest friend stood back, watching as the two females stared each other down; and though Cara didn't expect him --or wanted him-- to swoop in and confront Ptarmigan himself, she would've liked a little back up.

Before she could protest or even glance back at the chocolate male, the bitch lunged for her side grasping the thick skin of her neck between her teeth. The young female yapped sharply mostly in surprise but also in pain. Then as she realized that Ptarmigan had her firmly clutched between her maw, the girl lowered herself -- not rolling to the ground but not holding her body in a challenging manner.