The territory had swelled and reached its limit far quicker then he had dreamed possible, and now the boy found himself worrying about supporting his pack. It was time to choose another territory, but more then that he had to be more cautious now with recruiting wolves and he had to let them know of the limits this territory had. The land he had chosen was encircled by a river and contained a good sized lake to their right, further below that was Sea's plain which partially a wasteland a beach and the sea, after moving to take Sea's Plain there just weren't any more productive lands to take, that would have to be their limit.



He would scout out the Tall Grass Plains and found that it was flush with food, there was the lake to the side of it that offered fresh water just as it did to the Weeping Willows. Satisfied he would sit on his hunches and let loose a call to the wolves of his pack, he wanted to share the news that they would claim this territory. He wanted Sib, and Twig's opinion's also on what they thought, even if there wasn't much chose in the matter because of the lands they had settled on.

She wasn't far when his call rang out. Her crown would lift, surprise flitting across her features as the distance of his call. He wasn't within the forest, which she found odd. She knew the pack had grown far faster than expected, but she didn't realized that he had gone to claim new lands. Russet limbs would lift her, bringing her into an easy lope as she sought him out. It would take several minutes but she would reach his side, flashing him a smile as she looked around the plains. Tall grasses surrounded them, but the scent of prey was plentiful. Her tail would wag gently at her hocks, her attention finally settling on him. "Adding on already?" She would laugh softly before taking seat beside him, tail curling around her as she settled in to wait for the rest of the pack to show up. Several families had joined, which contributed greatly to their numbers, and not that she minded pups or families, she wasn't sure how well they would contribute to their defenses. She knew all to well how easy it was to have a pack ripped from her grasp. A mental note was made to speak to Cru about this last. She had a few ideas that she wanted to share with him, but she doubted there was time before the rest of the pack began to show. Speech,

Not long after his call Sib would find her way to his side, having moved from his first territory and into this potential number two. Even as she reached him she seemed to realise what he was doing and voiced her thoughts immediately, he would laugh softly and give her a sheepish smile. ?Got me? he would admit, but his humour would fade after a moment. ?Actually i'm quite worried about room, do you think I made a mistake choosing Weeping Woods? With the stream that encircles the top part of our lands and the lake on the bottom only leaves this land to claim. Sea's plain is a wasteland and then there's the sea...? he would continue on, and it was easy to see what he was implying. After stretching out to this land that would be their limit, there would be nowhere else to go from there and already there first land was full. How many more wolves could they take on? ?I wanted your opinion on this territory and how it might sustain us, also I wanted to talk to you about the rules we will have to set up because of the limited space? he would continue to explain. "Speech"

It was as though he read her thoughts. His concerns were mirror some of her own but he also expressed something more serious. Room. They really didn't have anywhere else to expand, they were cornered against the ocean with no room to expand past the plains. She would think for a moment, mulling over what he had said before she spoke. "We'll make it work. The forest offers protection, but you are right that we can't expand past here. I think these plains will be able to support everyone we have so far, and maybe more, depending how prey fluctuates." Words fell from her lips only loud enough for his ears should anyone decide to approach at that moment. "As for rules, we will have to strictly enforce them, we can't afford to have freeloaders with so limited space. And we already have several families, we need to consider how we are going to defend ourselves if necessary. Mothers aren't going to leave their young for battle, and only some fathers are made for fighting." Her look was entirely serious. They couldn't just run a pack filled with nothing but kids, mothers and useless fathers. They needed warriors, and good ones. She refused to command a pack that couldn't even defend itself. "We could always call a meeting for all warriors, train them to fight, and also call the mothers and everyone else to teach them to defend themselves." It irked her to know that there were wolves out there who did absolutely nothing for their pack other than occupy space, she would not allow it. Speech,

He would put forth all of his worried and Sib would respond. With each word he would find himself smiling depsite his concerns, she was making it more and obvious with each day that he was not doing this alone. She was there to help him, someone he could lean on and he knew he had done right making her his second. She spoke of making it work and he found himself nodding, that if she said it was so he believed her, they could make this work. She spoke then of fighting and he would let out a soft sigh, he was doing all he could to build friendships with the packs around them and already Abaven, Neflem, Glaciem and Ebony where growing alliances with Solstice. But she was right of course, they had potential enemies they may not be able to speak down. ?I do agree... although I dont like it. I've asked Ahmose today to call our warrior together and asses and train as required? he admitted. He wanted to build something beautiful here, a place people could call home but in order to do that they had to have a means of defending themselves. But Sib wanted to take it a step further, she wanted everyone to know at least some rudimentary skills in defending themselves and his brows furrowed in worry. ?I was going to build an elite force as well, made up of our best, perhaps these once chosen could give training to all the wolves?? he offered, but he still wasn't certain that it was so dire as to ask even the mothers to train. He found his eyes searching Sibs and wondering. Covari was no more, and they had barely a few of them within his pack, would they really have to take such precautions? ?But yes, for space we will potentially have to boot out any that do not provide for the whole? he sighed again and hoped they worked something out eventually, a system that worked for the pack well still making it a decent place to live. "Speech"

He would smile despite everything and so would she. He took her advice and mulled it over before responding. She would laugh softly at first. "You don't to like it." She would tease him lightly before returning to the serious topic at hand. "I trust your judgement, though I would like to see this Ahmose in action." Perhaps she was paranoid, unable to remove the little voice at the back of her mind that screamed for preparation. He talked of an elite force, one that would be composed of their best warriors. She made a mental note to test this warriors before allowing them to be call themselves elite. "That would be good." She would nod in agreement, it made sense for the best to train the rest of the pack. He seemed hesitant about making sure everyone could at least defend themselves so her expression would soft. There was no doubt that he was already feeling the pressures of leading a pack and having others depend on him, there was no need to overwhelm him. "Warriors will take priority in training until their are more than capable. After, we can focus on making sure everyone else can at least defend themselves." She would smile gently, trying to soothe his worries and not overwhelm him. There was no doubt in her mind that they would have to keep track of numbers and kick some wolves out. She would nod, she had no problem being the one to do it. "We will also, unfortunately, have to keep track of those who wish to start families..." She would allow the sentence to dangle, he would understand, they would have to approve each litter or else they would be overwhelmed with pups. Speech,

He realised then that Sib of course had never met Ahmose, with that boy as his only Tier Two rank he knew he aught to get the two to know each other. Sib also was a great fighter, she had a strength in her that he wasn't sure he himself could beat and perhaps if those two got together they could plan together also. ?You should, i'll have to introduce you two today or tomorrow? he admitted then, today.. tomorrow.. god, whenever he had time, anyway. She nodded then in agreement at her idea and he smiled, that would make it easier if there a bunch of wolves training the rest. If it was say just him, Sib and Ahmose doing the training he would never have time for all his other duties and nor would the rest. He let out a breath, he had never expected there to be quite so much to do and most of it needed him to see to it and it normally needed to be done immediately.



The boy would sigh and step forward, until he could lean his head against Sib's check. ?You wont believe how grateful I am to have you helping me? he would murmur gently, overwhelmed suddenly with the thought that he could not do this without her.



Sib would give him some leeway and talk about training the warriors first and then using them to train the rest. ?Yes, I can go with this idea? he agreed, liking it more then the test. Next Sib would speak of children within the pack, yet another concern with the limited space they had. ?Yes.. yes your right, of course...? he said, glad that at least one of them could consider all that needed to be done, both the good things with the bad.

"Speech"

He would offer to introduce them and she would nod, wanting to meet the man that would be training their warriors. Idly she entertained the idea of sparring with this man, just to test him and see how determined he was to win. His movements caught her attention and soon he was leaning against her, pressing his crown against her cheek. She would lean into him, allow the embrace to deepen. His soft words tugged at her heart with unexpected force. She had never thought he would depend on her so much, or feel that he needed her in such a way. For a moment she was speechless, unsure of what to say. She was caught off guard by his words and his actions and was at a loss for words. But he would move on, seeming to list this idea better than her first. But as soon as she spoke of children, he seemed unsure again. It seemed that she would be making the difficult decisions here. "Of course everyone would be free to choose their own mate, but I think litters will have to be approved. I'm sure there will be those who don't check with us before hand, so we will have to deal with that when it happens." She would try not to sound cold harder, but it was the truth. They couldn't afford to sacrifice the entire pack over one family, a family that didn't even exist, but for now she wouldn't worry about it. Speech,

There was a great deal to consider and between the two od them they seemed to be ticking them off one by one. Sib of course had the more realistic approach and considered things he might not have on his own. They worked out what they would do with the warriors and both Monarchs seemed to come to a decision there. With that done they would move on to Cru's main concern where she had mentioned something he had not considered ? children. Even with his hesitancy she would go on, further labelling the problems it might cause and he would find himself agreeing and nodding. ?Alright Sibelle, looks like there's more to do here then I thought. At least I've already asked Ahmose to sort out training, lets finish marking this territory and perhaps we should call a meeting, both introducing this territory and explaining our problems with space? he would conclude.



This said he would once again lead forward but this time rather then just touching his cheek to hers he would rub his head against the fur there in a sweet gesture of gratitude. ?Together? he whispered, more to himself then her before he pulled away and with a smile would start to head towards the border, time to put their monarch scent about this place.

"Speech"