Oh boy and there they were.  Karabela felt the sharp sting of nervsousness as she watched the Imperium members file in, half wondering if any of them would recognize her or give her a second glance.  Part of her wanted them to forget, to not bring any attention to it but the other part almost wanted the acknowledgement.  Eyes drew immediately not to the alpha or to any of the other yearlings she'd known as a pup but right to the man she knew as Hati.  The man was not wearing a ram skull as she remembered but a…. a bear skull?  

Raba couldn't pinpoint what she was feeling in the wave of emotions that roiled through her gut at the sight, the memories, the anger and the pride at seeing the bears skull, the bear her mother and brother had felled in her defense, being worn in the open air like the trophy it was.  Of any wolf she knew it was Hati that had the right to wear that skull.  Even though she did not understand the depths of what her mother felt towards the other male she knew that he was important to Dægmar and Raba imagined her mother was smiling wherever she was and urging them on to battle.  The blossoming heat of joy started burning in her chest with the excitement and the adrenaline.  She was so ready for this!

"Raba?"  Shit.  Karabela turned to gaze at Integra as she smiled awkwardly at the other girl who seemed a lot more… tame and submissive than she remembered.  What was up with that?  Would've been nice if she'd kept her mouth shut.  "Oh, hey Integra.  Long time no see!  Hello to everyone else of course.  You're all looking fit and ready to maul some morons.  We can catch up later though, 'kay babe?"  Karabela offered a playful wink at the other girl who only stared back at her dumbfounded.  Thankfully though Bass would address Valentine and the meeting would get back on track.  Shit, she hadn't told Bass she was originally from Imperium had she?  Having been wandering a loner for so long there hadn't been any traces of her former pack on her pelt.  Please, please just let them get through this meeting without any more arguments or outbursts.

"Speech"

Pacing alongside his reunited sister Atreides tried - and failed - to contain the depths of his excitement. Not only had one of his missing sisters been returned to them (though the enslavement had been something of a shock and made him more than a little anxious) but she'd be coming into this battle at his side and that made it that much better. The only thing that could be better than fighting in a war at Integra's side would be if Sirius was there to share it with them, but Valen had left Sirius to guard his kids. He couldn't really blame him, Sirius was a really good choice to guard the borders now, because she wouldn't shirk just because no one was around to see.

The pack stopped, and milled around a moment until they were all gathered. He heard Integra call out Raba's name incredulously, and his gaze snapped around to find their old training-mate. "Hey Raba!" he added enthusiastically, before being interrupted by Bass speaking to Valentine. Oh well, they could catch up with her later. Plus it would be pretty great to fight alongside someone else who'd been trained by Daegmar. Between him and Teggy and Raba, Hellstrom wouldn't stand a chance!

Sparrow watched as others voiced similar questions to hers and she drew a sigh of relief. She was shaking, she realized. She had been brash when speaking up for Quelt against Lillianna, her single growl being drowned out before her words had left the air. She was still too brash, she thought.

Starling told Lillie to learn her place. If she had been a different wolf, she would have sneered at the red woman, but she didn't. This didn't feel like a victory. She wasn't happy with Lillianna's behavior, nor proud of her own, she simply stepped in, fearful that everyone would turn on Quelt and feeling that Quelt was not wrong nor disloyal.

When Aunt Harmony spoke up, that was when Sparrow sighed in relief. An adult, her own aunt, thought similarly to her. She wasn't the odd one out. She wasn't all alone. She wasn't completely wrong... right? She started to feel better, more confident in her prior words. She wasn't bad. She was okay.

Then Lillianna spoke up telling Starling to learn his place. Sparrow wasn't a fighter, but she couldn't hold her hackles completely smooth, couldn't hide the glitter of anger that danced in her eyes or stop her maw from dropping open slightly before clicking shut. She quickly calmed her appearance with a long breath in then out. She turned on Starling, the wolf that stood up for her when Zell insulted her without any second thought. Sparrow watched as Lillianna stalked away and Starling left. An odd feeling welled up in her chest; Distrust? Anger? Pity? This Lillianna, Sparrow thought, must be trouble, and if she would turn on Starling like than and turn tail to go to Finch, was not to be trusted. Lillianna was disloyal and brash, even is she spoke of loyalty and passion, Sparrow felt those things boiled down to more than who would fight who when. She liked to think that she only became rough when someone was being unfairly attacked, like when Zell insulted Lillianna, or just now when everyone wanted to jump on Quelt. Was she wrong? Was Lillianna being, in some sense, the same, or was she always ready to jump? Sparrow wasn't sure, but she knew she didn't like the red girl right now. She felt like she needed to keep an eye on her and watch her every move.

Shrike then spoke up and promptly left. Sparrow looked after him, then turned to her father as he began to speak. He said they were to be mercenaries... hired fighters ready to fight whenever. They were also supposed to be a good pack, though, weren't they? And were they getting paid for this? Her father addressed her and her ears flicked back submissively for a second to show respect. He said they would not harm the innocent. Sparrow nodded, stepping towards her father, "Questo è tutto quello che posso chiedere." Sparrow lifted her head in a small smile, "Tu non sei crudele. Per favore ricorda. I do not know of this Sin, but I do know you, Father, and I trust you." She aimed to lick her father's chin, "I am with you." Sparrow flipped between the two languages slowly, but smoothly. She was not going to apologize, but her father had made an attempt to answer her questions without acting like-

Félicien erupted into a babble. She understood he was angry for his pack, but like he said, he wasn't there. Sparrow did not think Sin acted mercilessly. He challenged and he won and it was scary and maybe they needed to fight him, but she didn't think that one act was evil. If another alpha was scared of him, Sparrow wondered if that was Sin's fault or the Alpha's. There were so many sides to the story that Sparrow didn't know, so she put her faith in her father. Turning, Sparrow lowered her voice calmly. She wasn't angry at Félicien, only sad. He spoke of acting like Bass was the enemy, but he was acting like anyone with any doubts was the enemy, "You are saying the same thing Lillianna said, so you know I feel that this is not true. We have questions, we are not acting like my father is the enemy, so please let everyone day their piece freely, then let my father explain. Everyone will feel more at ease if they understand everything, right? My father said we will fight for the sake of our pack, and for the sake of your pack. It's up to you to stand with him, and let all the others fall away." Sparrow offered a small nod, the ones that would fight would fight, and the ones that wouldn't wouldn't. Bass would deal with that.

The small red wolf(?) spoke up, scolding Lillianna. She felt that Félicien had reacted the same way too, but she didn't disagree with what he said when he said he had lost respect for her. He made a lot of sense, Sparrow thought. She wanted to speak to him afterwards, maybe he could offer some insight on how to tame her words into meaning. Everyone else said their piece and then Bass dismissed them. She moved to push briefly into his chest, "Stai al sicuro." she whispered. Bounding back a bit, Sparrow offered a loose, forged smile, "Come to me for healing, Father, though I'm not sure if you'll need it!" She offered a small wink and turned to bound away.

She passed many strange wolves: Valentine, some others, then Aunt Rhythm, then- "Ash?!" She stopped to look at the boy she had gotten to know briefly in Imperium. He kept walking, his eyes glancing at her as he smiled, but didn't break formation. They were all really going to fight... Sparrow took in a shaky breath, swallowing a lump in her throat. If they were going to fight, they would need healers! Jumping a small bit, Sparrow kicked herself into motion.

-Exit Sparrow-

Ashmedai was ready. He was going to show everyone he was ready. He was an adult. He was the epitome of cool and relaxed and... his tail would not stop wagging. His mother had already snapped at it a few times, telling him to tuck it if he couldn't keep it still. He wouldn't tuck it. They traveled and passed over the unfamiliar boundaries and Ash would take it all in with eager eyes. This was a siege, he was an adult, he wouldn't break format- SPARROW?! He hadn't even thought this was Sparrow's pack, though he guessed he should have. He wouldn't break formation, though he would offer her a smile. He would fight for her pack, then she could heal him! This day was getting better and better. At the end of the day, he bet his dad would even give him a strong nudge and tell him how proud he was of him. Then, he would really be happy.

Confident, long strides carried Esti across the border. Ashmedai was outwardly a little too excited. Mindlessly, Esti snapped at his tail, "Tuck it or get it under control. This is a fight, not a play date. Serious, not fun." This was going to be fun. Esti let a lopsided smile tug at her face, her deep blue eyes level with the horizon. She didn't care about Abaven or whatever they wanted. Valentine said it was time to fight and they listened. With or without reason, the opposing pack was going to get demolished. A small female skittered by him and appeared to know Ashmedai. Esti shot him a sharp look. No girls. Even if Rhythm was okay, she was an exception. They didn't need a bunch of tiny healers scampering around.

Turning back to the line, Esti walked beside her son now, her presence driving him to become less excitable. She looked over the pack... yeah, they needed Imperium's help. Her smirk widened slightly, her body growing anxious. She was ready.

Oooh this was going to be good! Einarr would move, stalking after the group of Imperium wolves as they made their way toward Abaven. The promise of war was in the air, and the young man, now two years old, was looking forward to it. While he was hardly a saint himself, he looked forward to getting rid of these problematic wolves for the sake of his leader. Valentine was a man who had definitely earned the tall brute’s respect. So for him Einarr would fight, without any doubt or hesitation. Upon arrival he would see a gathering of Abaven wolves, as well as his fellow Imperium members. Mercy was there -- despite their... Differences... The brute liked her. She had a fire to her. Not that he was interested in her more than a packmate, but still, he had to admit more women like her could do all the packs of Alacritia a lot of good. Eyes would slide to Valentine, waiting for the orders to move out. He was ready to go. "Speech"