Ankyra Sound ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR FIRE [mandatory meeting]

This is a mandatory pack gathering, please drop a post in by November 24th. Those who are on absence are excused, but others who do not post will be demoted.

Caiaphas had been surprised when Aktaie first approached her one crisp fall night -- but in retrospect, she supposed the Siren Queen's proposition was not without reason. Aktaie's infirmities had compelled her to willingly rescind her title, thereby passing the helm onto Caiaphas. She stated quite simply her reasonings and after a stint of conversation under the luminescence of the brilliant moon the two parted ways, and Caiaphas was left to assume that if the Matriarch willed it, it would be.

The rest of the pack, however, stood to be notified -- certainly the change in leadership would not be received entirely with warmth or festivities. Caiaphas had been kind to few of her pack members, dismissive of many others -- and this would likely not change. The skeletal waif would never be as diplomatic or compassionate as Aktaie, and she had no intention of changing course now. She would wait until morning to share the uprising, and when morning came it would find her trotting down the barren strand in the direction of Aktaie's many shrines. Once there she would throw back her head and summon her packmates -- so that they would be enlightened of her new status and also given the first of many tasks to ready themselves for winter. Those who did not come she would seek out later, and deal with them in the only way she saw fit: cruelly.

When he thought he had time to train a bit a summon was sound. It kinda bothered him to have to answer it but he found a reason to go. There's bound to be information that he could need and perhaps Tethys would be involved. He got up and calmly followed the direction of the call.

Nishu found Caiaphas around the area which was refered as shrines. He didn't understand their importance nor did he really care for it. It wasn't something he considered important to know. Once he believe he was at a fair distance from the caller he sat down. Maybe this could be the next listening exercise. Hopfully this time he could keep his focus. He closed his eyes and listened. This time he expected Tethys to come distract him again, Surely she would try to but this time for sure he won't lose focus.

He listened carefully but not once did he think it was unusual that it was Caiaphas who called the pack. To him it didn't matter, a call is a call after all.

With the changing of seasons, Tethys found the trees around her were beginning to shed, just like she would at the end of winter. She found herself perched indignantly on the top of one of the caves, the peak of it covered in shady grass and forest. Below her, the mouth of the cavern stretched open. This one was rather small; it was wide enough for only two wolves to enter it, side by side. But the cave's ceiling was made mostly of compact dirt and stone, and so the roots of the trees above let in an intricate mural of light into the hollow. It was one of the many conspicuous places on Ankyra's map, and Tethys had chosen it for her refuge when the weather turned malignant.

Tethys had been working to turn this small cave into a functional altar- just as Caiaphas had done with several other spots. Where the coywolf had turned her shelter, where Larus and Kevlyn were harbored, into a shrine complete with skulls, Tethys had utilized the space slightly differently. Since it was a single chamber, the black wolf had taken special steps to line the entire circular perimeter with stones that range from pale white to a deep blue. Some of them held strains of quartz, copper, or malachite. Standing on her back legs, Tethys could rivet bleached wood and floatsam into the roof of the hollow, or dig out spaces in the floor to make an interlocking pattern of white branches. She was not nearly done, but the wolf had considered her work holy and kept Nishu far away from it. It wasn't hard, for the entrance was quite well hidden.

Standing on top of it now, Tethys was privy to the howl sent up, and with a leap, she skirted off between the trees. Arriving, she could only scent the loyal male and Caiaphas. Why did she summon them when their matriarch was the only one permissible to do it? More curious than startled into anger, the wolf rounded the grotto to join them with her presence.

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Ever since encountering the little fox, Larus had withdrawn from the pack. Or rather, the few members of the Sound which he frequently saw; Caiaphas was away more often anyhow, and Kevlyn was not someone Larus had any urge to know (he still found the thought of a new little brother to be incredibly wrong). But when the howl rose in to the air, the wandering youth halted. He looked through the trees as if to witness the sound itself, thinking plainly, 'Should I go?'

But he was pulled towards the gathering, as he had been when Aktaie had summoned them for a ritual. Maybe this was another ritual? It didn't sound like Aktaie though - it sounded more like -

Larus slipped out from the darkness between the cypress trees, and saw a few wolves upon the beach. Caiaphas. He identified her easily enough, and headed towards the gathering. What was she doing? Where was Aktaie? He didn't ask any questions, but he did hobble up to the nearest body - Nishu, though he'd never met the wolf - and plopped his rear down in the sand. He looked expectantly to his not-mother, but soon grew bored and let his mind drift.

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Kevlyn's training continued daily, and the boy soaked much of the knowledge up like a sponge. Having recently hit his two month mark, he had officially spent almost half his life in Ankyra Sound. It wasn't unusual, then, that the Ostrega was slipping more easily into Greek and using it more frequently. Spyridon's lessons helped immensely. Surely without him, the gunmetal boy would have been hopelessly lost, forever out of touch with his pack mates. He was integrating and, unsurprisingly, hadn't thought of his real family in almost a week.

When Caiaphas' voice rung out over the lands, Kevlyn knew better than to disobey. In fact, he was learning that disobeying any woman's call was not only unwise, but forbidden. The consorts made certain he knew his place in the pack and, young though he may be, Kevlyn was learning quickly. He sped from the den he was kept in to the meeting place as quickly as his legs could take him—he was no longer clumsy, but was still a small pup yet to hit his growth spurt, so it took some time—and arrived silently.

Seating himself away from the females, Kevlyn respectfully tilted his snout toward the ground and tipped his ears forward. He cast Larus a sidelong glance, but having spent little time with the older male, Kevlyn didn't bother trying to get in touch any more than that. He was oddly obedient for his age, anyway, and seemed to sense that Caiaphas wouldn't tolerate mischief among the boys even if he'd wanted to cause it.

A call was made, and so a call would be answered. The salted male broke away from his task of collecting shelled food and began to head in the direction of the call. It was not Aktaie's call, and he likely would not have recognized it, even if it was. She had been quiet, hidden away, and he had not spoken with her since first arriving in Ankyra Sound. Yet, he did not question her absence, just as Spyridon would not question anything that the women said or did. They were free to do as they pleased, and he was to obey their commands—simple as that.

Spyro arrived to find several others gathered. He knew they had names, but they were spoken in foreign tongues that he found difficult to pronounce. Taking a seat by the young pupil, Kevlyn, Spyro gave him a small nod and smile of approval before turning his attention to the lady in charge. She was seen often by him, although they had exchanged few (if any) words, and Spyro awaited whatever announcement she was to give.

Eos had not been aware of the existence of an Aktaie, or that she had been the original leader of Ankyra Sound. The naiad had been greeted at the borders by Caiaphas, and had been accepted into the ranks by the same yellow-eyed waif. For all intents and purposes, Aktaie was not their rightful Alpha in the first place. The call that had sounded over the pack lands brought Eos’ ears to rise atop her narrow skull, and she canted her muzzle in the direction of the sound. It would not be a far walk to where the meeting was to be held. With lengthy strides, Eos began to saunter quickly in the direction of her leader’s call. Her sea-water eyes trailing here and there throughout her journey. The Scylla girl had spent her short time within Ankyra Sound gathering an assortment of herbs. Being founded so close to the ocean waters, it had provided her with an abundant resource for plant life from the sea. Already, she had accumulated seaweed of various types, serving various purposes, and had moved on to an assortment of moss. With the winter months upon them, Eos was certain that she would need all she could get. Once having arrived where the others had gathered, the naiad cast her gaze carefully on the unfamiliar wolves who had gathered to hear Caiaphas speak. Feeling nervous and flustered, the willowy figure dipped her skull to the yellow-eyed Alpha and took her place among the others, finding her seat next to a dark-furred male with wild green eyes. She did not regard the inky man with any sort of greeting, but fixed her eyes on Caiaphas intently, waiting.

moving this along by posting a day early -- latecomers are still welcome to post! there is no post order when it comes to replies -- reply at your convenience

Caiaphas was pleased to see Aktaie's followers arrive promptly, though with sharp irony she noted that few, if any, would take the news well. Her gaze fell first to Nishu -- who seemed asleep -- but before she could jostle him the black wraith she knew as Tethys arrived. Quickly after came the pups, their grave-furred caretaker Spyridon, and the fresh-faced recruit Eos.

The congregation was small, and Caiaphas ruefully admitted that two of the more seasoned followers were grievously absent. Solemnly she turned to face each of them, pressing forth into the cold air a succinct summation of her recent ascension. "Aktaie, our honorable Matriarch, has passed the mantle to me so that she may devote her time to more pressing matters -- our vigil to the Mother Sea and Mother Moon. Should you have questions or doubts to the validity of this statement, you may find her. That is all."

Only one other arrived after him, a sister, though Spyridon kept his eyes averted from her. He had been taught long ago that avoiding them was easier than trying to fend off their temptations. There was no doubt that he had been tempted as a child, but those thoughts and feelings had been squashed long before they had formed into anything significant. He was nothing more than breeding stock, protection, and a teacher to the spawn. It was his place, as it had always been and always would be.

Suddenly, Caiaphas spoke, though Spyro did not understand the words she said. The fact that she spoke in the common tongue was unsettling, if only because Aktaie was not present and this was clearly an important gathering of some sort. Spyro's brow furrowed in confusion, and he whispered into Kevlyn's ear. “Τι είπε;”

o ship ur right PHAS U MESSED UP!!

After the deliverance of what Caiaphas could only assume would be unsettling news, she watched each wolf hawkishly for a reaction. In some way, she was disproportionately insecure about the potential uprising that could occur -- she knew few wolves better than she knew Aktaie, and other than the pups, Caiaphas had spent little time with her peers.

But as the guardian beside Kevlyn exposed distress, Caiaphas realized her mistake -- and somewhat abash by it, quickly issued explanation. Aktaie παραιτήθηκε από την ηγεσία , και μου έχει διορίσει στη θέση της ."

She couldn't say she was surprised to hear Aktaie's removal from the leading spot- the female hadn't been the most involved in the community. It wasn't to say that the matriarch would lose her standing and respect among the Nereides; perhaps, far from it. It showed wisdom and good humor for the priestess to let Caiaphas take over the politics of the group while she could focus more on whatever Aktaie liked to do. Tethys was looking forward in participating in the rituals.

Her eyes locked onto Kevlyn, watching the scrap of fur shrink in next to his comrade. When did they get another pup? The raven female glanced briefly over at their new alphess, wondering what devilish plans the female had cooked up, as Tethys knew she was capable of doing. But for now, Tethys' job would be to sort out Nishu's final knight training, and then get that bored-looking lump onto his feet and an active, subservient member of the pack. Words were exchanged, first in common, and then in the Greek tongue, but the ebony wolf had already turned and cast a meaningful glance at Nishu. She hoped he was ready for what was to come.

Nishu could hear the steps of the other wolves but he couldn't tell which step belonged to who. Instead he tried counting the number of wolves who came. One, Two, Three, Four?, no maybe three, wait maybe that was five. If he counted Caiaphas then there must be four others. He opened his eyes and looked around and counted to see if he was right. The total was six not counting himself. Another failure, a mistake like that could cost someone their life if it was serious. He was definitely going to need to work on his hearing but he knew that was easier say than done.

So Caiaphas was now the new Alpha. The only difference now is that instead of being able to order the males she can now order the females around too. In other words, nothing changed to his eyes. He happen to notice Tethys glancing at him. He couldn't help but ask himself what she could be thinking. He had a little hope of maybe she was thinking of a test that will allow him to prove himself as a Knight once and for all. Then afterwards maybe he could leave without any problems, He felt like the longer he stayed the more dangerous it was around here.

There was little in the way of displeasure -- no wave of discontent riffled the group -- and as time progressed Caiaphas felt more confident in the limelight. Her gaze fell to Tethys, who said nothing in disagreement -- and then swept to Nishu Inte, who, true to the role of males in the group, had said nothing.

"I will call a ritual in the next few days for the Winter's coming." She finished, though no translation was offered to Spyridon this time. She figured Kevlyn needed to practice his Greek -- and she also knew before the week was over she would approach the dark male and test his loyalty.

For now, she quit the group -- leaving the rest to make their own assumptions.

Had some mild Kevlyn inspiration to post here.

One other arrived, a rangy woman with a fiery autumn coat. She caught the young Ostrega's eye given her pelt stood out among the muted coats of their comrades, but Kevlyn could only spend a moment admiring it (and being reminded painfully of his father) before Caiaphas spoke. Politics, like a lot of other things in the pack, were a mostly female affair and didn't concern him, so it was easy to turn a deaf ear on the proceedings. Spyridon muttered to him shortly after Caiaphas finished speaking, and though he was still a little young to understand embarrassment, he was saved the shame of admitting he wasn't listening when Caiaphas repeated in Greek.

Upon realizing he might be called upon again, Kevlyn turned his fullest attention upon the newly proclaimed Alpha, not noticing the way that some of the wolves glanced at him and Larus. He knew with certainty that this was not his birth pack but, having spent the better part of his life with these wolves, it was certainly unusual to be looked at like a stranger; he would have been confused if he'd noticed.

Caiaphas concluded the meeting in English and, assuming correctly this time that she would not translate, he murmured a quiet and still shaky, "τελετουργίας σύντομα" for Spyridon.

Her departure was met with no attempt to stop her progress -- in fact, so unhindered was she, she nearly paused and looked behind her to ensure her followers still existed. Quickly, she suppressed this urge -- though one uncannily long ear flicked back to eavesdrop any remarks made during her leave.

None came -- she heard the rushed speech of Kevlyn -- but no scorn or disbelief followed. Content then to entirely leave the disciples, Caiaphas struck towards the grotto to commit to a deep night's sleep.