Tyrian had been thinking. When his father was his age (okay maybe a little bit older, but still. About his age) he'd gone out and made himself a pack. He'd set himself up as king, amass a solid group of rabble rousers and had himself a merry time. Chaos and Ashmedai too had gotten in on it. Hell, enough people in their family had set themselves up in that way that Tyrian thought of it as a family thing which begged the question: what was he going to do?

In the quest for the answer to that question Tyrian now sought out Chaos. His big brother was a really smart guy and sometimes a bit easier to talk to than their dad. He seemed like a good candidate to pepper with questions.

As he rounded a bend in the path that led to the basin's rim, Tyrian called out, "Hey, Chaos? You out here?"

Well, it was time to pull the pack together again soon. Go home, if the scouts said it was inhabitable again. Find another temporary land, if it wasn't. They were wearing out their welcome here, and there were too many other packs crammed into these close quarters for him to feel particularly comfortable staying here any longer than they already had.

He was out on the rim of the basin, staring out over the horizon and thinking hard about Things That Needed Doing. Thinking about sending out scouts, calling a meeting, ranking the now-yearlings, moving the pack. All big things, all things that needed to be done sooner rather than later. Thoughts that were interrupted when a voice called out to him, though it was a welcome interruption.

Chaos turned partway towards the voice belonging to his little brother. "Hey, Tyrian, over here," he called back softly. Of all his siblings, he thought he had more in common with Tyr than any of the others, and not just because of the fangs that they had in common. He wondered again who Tyrian's mother really was... but he shook away the thought that always disconcerted him, particularly since the younger sibling's fur held the same silver banding that had been passed to Chaos from the Saxes... he shook himself for real this time to dispel the thought, and grinned welcomingly at the younger wolf. "What brings you all the way out here?"

Ah, he was heading in the right direction. Tyrian pick up the pace - and succeeded in almost immediately jarring Tashi off his back - and quickly traversed the narrow, uneven path that led up to the top of the basin. With one final leap he was up on the flatland and before him, a short distance away, was a grinning Chaos. Tyrian smirked back at him and frisked over. A scowling Tashi trailed behind him with a small, lightly smoking pipe in one hand.

Tyrian took a deep breath. "Well...you see, I've been thinking. Dad had a pack, right? And you have a pack. Ash has his pirates and Rhyme," he started rambling, "Even though he's not like "one of us" or whatever, had a pack. And I was thinking...since it's kind of a family thing, you know...maybe I should be thinking about what I wanna do, you know?" Inwardly he cringed at the double use of 'you know' and the nerves it hinted at but it was a bit too late to take it back. He was a little nervous about what his brother might say. Anyone else he would scoff at their criticism, but Chaos was one of his idols. A laugh from him or a sign he wasn't taking him seriously would be a serious blow to the yearling's ego.

Almost afraid of stopping and beginning to sound a bit breathless, he pressed on, "So I just wanted to uh," he shrugged, trying to play it off like this potential conversation wasn't really important to him, "Maybe talk to you about what it's like to lead a pack and stuff."

Chaos' brows twitched up in surprise as the gist of his brother's rambling speech began to become clear. Well, well, the apple didn't fall far from the Imperialis tree, did it? Ambition was bred into them all, and he was glad to see his little brother living up to that legacy. He didn't laugh, and even his characteristic grin was tucked away for a more suitably serious expression. One might even call it a thoughtful one. "Huh," he said, very intelligently. "Well, I'm more than happy to answer any questions you have about leading a pack. It's not a bad time for you to start thinking about that sort of thing. Dad's old, I'm getting there, and eventually someone's going to have to take up the family tradition. Not a better time to learn than now when you have family around with the experience you need."

"Huh." That one syllable had Tyrian fighting the urge to bite his bottom lip. Much to his relief, as Chaos spoke it became clear that he was taking his little brother's ramblings seriously. And not just that; though he didn't say it in so many words Chaos was basically approving. That's how he was going to interpret it, anyway. Needless to say, Tyrian was heartened and his relief showed on his face. "That's what I was thinking."

"So..." he began before trailing off as he searched for the right words. "How did you decide what you wanted Legion to be? Like the rules and the...the...personality of the pack? Because I have all kinds of ideas but I don't know how tell which ones will work, you know? Like, who am I to know 1) what works and 2) what others will want to be a part of?"

Frustration started to color his words. "I mean the alpha's passion can't be all that's needed to make it work, right?" Surely Tyrian needed to take more than just that into consideration. He had passion in spades but he wasn't going to pin his success on it an it alone.

Chaos lowered himself to lay in an ungainly-looking, lazy sprawl to get comfortable for what was fixing to be a very interesting comversation. "Well," he began, clearly giving the question the weight it deserved, "a lot of it is just experimenting and getting experience, but its more important to know yourself than it is to know what other wolves want. The question is what pack do you want to lead? The rules are going to be from your own morality. The customs and the ranks and everything are going to come from what you are interested in. So yeah, the passion and the drive, that is going to be a large part of what attracts followers. The rest is just experimenting and getting the experience on the job to show you what you aren't satisfied with." He eyed the younger male thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes as a kernel of an idea started itching at his mind. When he had first become alpha it had been by accident, with the pack dropped on him in an emergency and he had struggled to find his footing eithout a guide. What would it have been like to have been able to learn leading an established pack like Imperium with a safety net of mentors there to help him when he wasn't sure of himself?

Chaos got comfortable so Tyrian did too; sprawling out on his belly with front paws crossed and one back foot kicked out behind him. Tashi, who had finally caught up and just started to reach out as though to jump up on Tyrian's hip right as the yearling lay down, made an exasperated noise in the back of his throat and then ambled off trailing angry puffs of smoke. Tyrian was oblivious.

Tyrian's gaze briefly dropped to the ground as he considered Chaos' words. As he thought he drug a claw in circles in the dirt. He wanted the kind of things his dad talked about having with his pack without having his dad's pack. First of all he was his own man, but secondly things were different now. Tyrian didn't remember any natural disasters or food scarcity in his father's stories. It was the kind of stuff his dad had been prepared for but never experienced unless he kept those stories to himself, which was possible since Tyrian had really only been interested in the fun ones.

His gaze returned to Chaos and he stopped scratching circles. "That makes a lot of sense. Guess I got a lot more to think about." He had so many ideas he thought were worth pursuing. "Okay, which do you think is better, challenging or creating? I would think challenging would make the natives mad and they wouldn't wanna work with you, but you challenged for Legion, right?"

Chaos nodded in response to Tyrian's question, continuing to roll around that kernel of an idea. "Yeah, it was Enrico's pack at the time, called Niente. I got really lucky in that a lot of the pack members decided to stick around, including the former alpha. That doesn't happen very often. Usually they'd prefer to pack up and leave - which is great on one hand because having someone in your pack who doesn't really want to be there can be a liability, but also sucks because then you have to build from scratch anyway and potentially have people pissed at you for taking their pack away. Creating a pack from scratch you'd have to build it from the ground up and build a reputation from there, but at least you wouldn't have the baggage of any lingering drama over a challenge. Personally? I think it's best to inherit a pack that already has a solid foundation and a loyal member base. That way you get the best support from the start without as much of the uncertainty and chaos of starting fresh."

Tyrian was quiet for several moments as he considered Chaos' answer. He didn't expect any path worth going to be an easy one, but boy did it seem like there was a heavy trade off for each option. Each was doable and all things considered it didn't sound like any particular one was harder than the other. The only one that had an edge over the rest - the one Chaos said was the best - was also the least attainable. Where the hell was he going to inherit a pack? The only alpha he knew was Chaos and he seemed pretty happy with his lot in life. Maybe if Chaos was older Tyrian could snuggle up to him and prove he was a better heir than Chaos' own kids, and then inherit when he decided to retire. But he wasn't an old cotter yet and Tyrian didn't think himself patient enough to wait and to gamble that Chaos would think him a better heir.

But you know what? It didn't hurt to test the waters. "Hmmm," he finally uttered before side eying his brother cheekily. "You say that like there are alphas just runnin' 'round looking for people to pass their packs to." Tyrian threw in a casual roll of his eyes to emphasis the implausibility of such a thing.

"You'd be surprised," Chaos said with a snort. "Most of the time when packs change paw it's because someone got tired of running things and either passed it off or just plain abandoned it." He shifted a little, then eyed Tyrian with an air so casual as to be obviously contrived. "Well, I mean if you want a pack... why not Legion?" He turned his head to stare down into the valley where the pack was housed, intensely thoughtful inside despite his nonchalant air. "I never really meant to be a leader, you know. Just wanted to be like Dad, and give our family someplace to live. I wasn't Dad's heir and I never expected to be an alpha. If someone like you is interested in herding cats for a living, I might be inclined to help you out." He returned Tyrian's side-eye with a faint, crooked grin and a crooked eyebrow.

Tyrian frowned at this new bit of information. That was nothing like the dramatic tales of challenge and vengeance he'd grown up acting out with his friends, but even though it was disappointing it made sense. Everyday life was boring so why wouldn't this one facet of life be like that sometimes? His consideration of that statement was kicked away and forgotten entirely when Chaos' next statement registered. "Would you really?" he asked quietly, unsure if Chaos was serious or if it was a nasty older brother prank. Chaos wouldn't, would he? Surely not. And if he was serious, man, this would change everything.

"I..." He was briefly tongue-tied as he struggled with his emotions, but then the floodgates opened. "You're serious? I can do it, I know I can! With you and dad here we can be unstoppable. Won't be a pack in Boreas that will know what to do with us. They'll be so jealous of what we can do - and scared of us too, I bet!" He had so many ideas. He couldn't promise easy living but he thought he could get a system in place that would enable the Legion wolves to live comfortably if they all worked together. With hard work and unity they could weather whatever mess the volcano threw at them next.

He lifted his chin and added with a cheeky grin, "And I'll make a damn good king!"

Tyrian seemed stunned, as well he should. It was an awful lot to drop on a yearling. Like 'hey by the way, here's a pack for you to lead' with no warning. "Not kidding," he assured him with an equally quiet tone. "All I ever wanted was a place for our family to be together. I'd prefer to be a member of the pack, not it's leader. I'd be proud to help you lead instead."

He chuckled at the rush of excited words - Tyrian was still young, though certainly old enough to be an alpha - and grinned at the boy. "You have a lot of great wolves to base a pack around, and you're resourceful. I have no doubt we'll be right back at the top where we belong. You'll be a far better king than I ever was, that's for sure. So!" He leaned forward. "A big thing is going to be for me to call the pack together and tell everyone that you're the new alpha, but first you're going to want to have a good idea of what direction you're going to take us so everyone knows whether or not it's something they want to be involved in. I'm pretty excited to see where you take us, myself."

A frown settled over Tyrian's features as Chaos spoke. He wasn't suddenly crushed with doubt or fear, just suddenly feeling the weight of what his brother was giving him. He was going to be a king. It was going to happen and it was going to happen a lot sooner than he had anticipated. Truth be told he didn't feel quite prepared enough, but he supposed that was life in a nutshell. He would adapt, he would learn, and he would share what he learned with whose who mattered so they all would prosper. With the wisdom his father and brother had to offer on the subject Tyrian had no doubt he would find success. It was just a lot to accept at once.

He nodded slowly and then took a deep breath. "I have an idea." At the start of their conversation he'd been undecided about what he wanted to do, but the sudden shift from hypothetical pack to pack had changed things. With the need to have a plan looming over him Tyrian had suddenly found his choices to be less difficult than he'd thought at first blush. "It's just a matter of deciding whether or not its a sustainable one and whether or not...the pack will accept it because it is different. There was that guy that kept prey animals in pens, right? I've been thinking about doing something similar. Not keeping them in pens but keeping really close tabs on them so hunting's not so hit and miss."

"There are wolves that follow herds passively wherever they go, but I'm not talking about that either. I want to try something in between following and penning." Tashi liked to tell tales about the cowboys he'd grown up with. How they herded their livestock, picked which ones bred and which ones were culled. How they shaped the herd to their needs. That appealed to him. If done well the pack would never want for food and they would have all kinds of animal products to trade.

In indecision Tyrian worked his jaw for a second, but the feeling passed as his resolved strengthened. He nodded to himself then said to Chaos, "I think I have enough of an idea formed to present it to the pack."

Chaos pricked up his ears interestedly as Tyr began laying out his idea for what he wanted to base the pack around. Of course, the casual mention of 'that guy who kept prey animals in pens' made him feel... not guilty, precisely. He was too confident in his own decision there to feel guilty for maiming the Adravendi male and leaving him to die. But, in retrospect, if Tyrian was planning a pack around livestock maybe it would have been easier if they still had the guy around to interrogate. Chaos blinked thoughtfully, trying to follow what Tyr was describing. "Like, herding them? I admit it was really convenient to have a guaranteed supply of food and hides, and it gave us something to trade. Probably would have been even better for trading if we'd crafted something out of the hides," he admitted, shrugging. "It seems like a pretty solid thing to base a pack on."