There was no time to do anything but run from certain death. However severe her pain Belle had no desire to follow Archon into this fire. The only thoughts racing through her head were to run for her life. Escape had been near impossible, without Obi she would have been consumed as well. Her paws barely remained beneath her as they left the spewing Volcano behind. The Empress was singed, her breathing was ragged, and she wasn't sure if her children would become orphans as she and Obi fled the volcano without Archon…

The thought made her want to scream again, but the act would do nothing for her smoke afflicted throat. The Empress would try to keep her mind blank through the long journey, but she wondered briefly if anyone already thought her dead. She pushed her horrendous grief from her mind as she dragged her singed form up to wolfpaw lake. She was exhausted and knew keenly that she only half returned to Ashen. The other half consumed by the fires of liquid rock.

Deathbelle tipped her head back and called for the pack. They needed to relocate for now, to protect her most precious pups and all she had left of her dearest Husband. Belle sat as tall as she could and held herself together despite the pain and anger threatening to burst forth. Her children and family needed to come first. This meeting would be quick, no one needed to be exposed to the danger longer than necessary.

Ooc: I'd like to see everyone's 1st post by next wednesday 9/11

Her mother was gone. Her father was gone. Even Obi was gone. The sky clouded over and parted with a threatening growl. The ground shook, but her heart stayed in place. Something was very wrong. Very very wrong. Toxicity tried to steel herself for the incoming shock of whatever was happening. She stayed, rigid and ready until her mother called. Suddenly her paws burst into action, carrying her quickly, easily to Deathbelle's presence. Tox attempted to plow herself into her mother's chest. She could smell the singed fur and burnt flesh, but she ignored it as best as she could. It engraved in her brain against her will and she slowly tore herself back, a storm of her own reflecting in her eyes.

"What... happened?"

Code:

Pestilence's head lifted abruptly at her mother's call. Mom and dad were home! The small pup was so glad they were back - she could smell the change in the wind and far off in the distance she could see fire and ash and looming scary clouds. Surely her parents would know what was going on and what it was they were going to do about it. Pestilence assumed her father would say something about how the event of mother nature was related to their godly births or something, but she would this time be happy to sit for a sermon. She missed them both terribly, and did not like when they left pack lands. "Momma." She said softly as she approached, looking around. Obi was back, but where was Archon? "Where's Dad? Is he checking out that fiery place?" The small pup moved up closer and sat obediently to await news. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Zee followed close behind the pups at Belle's call. With their Alpha gone, the handmaiden and Sirius had been keeping an extra-careful watch on the little ones. Unfortunately they liked to split off from each other and were often too much for one wolf to handle. As soon as Pestilence and Toxicity zoomed past her, she made sure to follow and hoped Sirius had a better eye on the remaining children. The servant stepped up to the meeting place, eyes focused upon Belle's own. She knew her empress better then that, knew there was something she was hiding. "Is everything okay?" Zee asked gently, hoping Deathbelle could see the genuine worry in her own gaze. Something was troubling their Empress and it was something much more then a distant mountain spewing fire. "Speech"

she hadn't seen Hannibal in awhile, and it was all she could muster to stop her more rambuncious kids trying to find him themselves. so when she saw the eruption from afar, she assumed the worst. fuck the dwarf thought immediately, wondering if anyone was unlucky enough to be directly in the blast zone. Godbrand had whooped and cheered, not understanding that it was some grand event that could twist and turn everything everyone knew... she had hushed him before herding the kids to Deathbelle's call. Dutch suspected the meeting was to do... something about this whole thing. she had enough sharpness left in her dulled mind to realize it. the sight of the Ashen empress was enough to make her pause though. Deathbelle looked like she'd been dragged through Hel itself. maybe this was what the Vikings thought; maybe it really was Ragnarok come to fruition. though not a formal member of Ashen, the kids were so she made sure to herd her three to the very back and sit. waiting. listening. that sorta thing. her eyes were downcast, her focus on her children.

Ma looked so serious after scolding him that Godbrand had the decency to bend his head and flatten his ears. he had been half-asleep, thinking the whole event was a dream. a very vivid one. soot and ash covered the air as he stared out from their den, eyes wide. he had dashed outside briefly, cheering for this strange new phenomenon. and that's when Ma hushed him before dragging them away to his aunt's call.

nudging Gimli and Beryl along, he tried to play the role of Obedient Big Brother. help Ma with herding them along, make sure nobody was left behind. that sort of thing. Pops hadn't been seen in what seemed like forever, and Godbrand quickly scanned the rears (for that was all he could see) for Hannibal's albino form. finding no sign of him yet, he'd resist a whine before trailing after Dutch. as she settled them at the back, Godbrand sat with his siblings at her paws.

"Speech"

Harbringr's head jerked up fast and swift as a clod of dirt hit him square over the snout. He could feel the earth shaking and shivering and he swore violently under his breath. This was getting ridiculous! He raced out of his den and turned his eyes to the northeast where is sight met fire and smoke burning somewhere far in the distance. He wouldn't have given it much thought if it weren't for the tremors. Costanza swooped down to land next to him and suddenly his heart sank down into his stomach. Hadn't Deathbelle and Archon headed off in that direction not to long ago? He didn't know much about the trip but just assumed they were off on their honey moon. Panic started to race through his body, his muscles twitching and spasming, eager to run from some perceived foe.

Thankfully his ears heard her call but relief at hearing his dear sisters voice did not drown the dread. Something in her voice… some how he knew that this was bad. Something terrible had happened. He quickly made his way to the source of the call and arrived to the smell of burnt fur and Deathbelle who looked worse for wear. "Belle! What happened to you? What is going on?" He moved forward, reaching out to try and nuzzle her in a effort to offer a little comfort.

After the wedding their parents left for a short trip, they said. Venom begged them not to go, but she hadn’t been able to change anything. Her mother and father left. The royal godlet had been on edge since they disappeared from her view that day, and today she saw and felt the aftermath of the eruption in more ways than one.

She raced after her siblings and Zee, knowing the other two would be along with Sirius. She felt dread in her heart and grit her teeth as white gloved paws propelled her towards her mother’s call. Her father’s voice missing from the chorus. The pups breathing increased as she raced forward, praying to god that her father would be standing there waiting on her with her mother…

Venom froze with her jaw slack as she saw the state of the Empress and the hole where Archon belong. ”Where’s Father?” She whispered, unable to convince her feet to move forward and ask the question aloud to her mother. Her eyes glued to the woman who gave her life, her tongue oddly still.

Calamity was close on Tox's heels. The eruption had her heart beating very, very fast. The fastest it had ever beat before. The staccato beat matched her tripping paws as Cal stumbled on to the scene. She was so focused on arriving that she hadn't really planned what to do when she got there. Breathing hard, the small pup collapsed nearby Venom. It didn't even occur to her to look for their father - he had seemed like a distant figure to her. Deathbelle had felt much more corporeal.

"Wh - ... what's going on?" She panted, still struggling to catch her breath.

Lucretia arrived, heavily winded. She had heard and scene the eruption much closer to its source, deep within the gully. From there, she had more felt the eruption than seen it. The walls of the gully had quaked and threatened to cave in on her and her loyal companion. She cast a worried look over her shoulder for Bourbon. He had been close behind the entire run here - in fact, she'd gotten the distinct impression that he may have been able to overtake her easily.

Anxiety radiated off of her in waves. "Belle," she gasped, stumbling to a halt next to her sister. She smelled strongly of sulfur and ash. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where is Archon?" Where was her husband? Was he hurt? The strength of the pack depended on pillars that could support them all: the Daimyo, Belle, Archon... with one of those supports missing in a crisis, Luce was immediately worried.

Drakon had been slowly recovering his strength and reworking his tired muscles under the watchful gazes of his masters and he was finally at a place he considered a good medium. His bulk had been regained and he had happily started patrols and lighter work as he made his way back into the fold of the Klein house happily. He'd been stretching his legs and close to the inferno in a quick run outside of the borders, with the knowledge that he would faithfully return he hoped to be allotted the freedoms at least for now.

A call for the empire came and he stopped in his tracks and immediately moved towards it. A good servant was diligent and punctual. His paws were quick but he didnt miss the ashes falling and the sounds in the far off distance. As he crossed back into the border he stopped and looked back. The rolling clouds of smog blocking out the moon and stars was an I'll open if any he had seen before. Though he was not the prophet so he would leave interpretation of it to a higher up. His paws began again and he set himself for the call again. Deathbelle called. He would answer.

As he came to the meeting he slowed to a halt beside the empress since he came from behind, his eyes went to her singed fur and the way she was standing upon her feet. She'd been there already then. Something that would not be overlooked by the Male. " whence this meeting is done my lady I shall fetch you some aloe from lady Lucretia's stores if you wish it." he kept his voice low so as not to startle the children already here. They needn't be privy to the knowledge that the empress was injured right now.

He looked to lucretia before bowing to them both and going to join the ranks of the serving staff. He might of been birthed to nobles but he was aware of his own place. He made no other commentary, their empress would explain to them in due time what was happening and what she needed of the empire right now.

Plague was more than reluctant to leave the den this time. With the skies darkening, earth shaking, and everything rumbling, he didn't feel it was a good idea to leave his only place of comfort. But, Mother had called and he had to answer her. His muscles quivered with his nerves as he bolted to his mother's side, shaking viciously as he attempted to tuck himself in a spot that wouldn't hurt her singed body. "Are you okay, Mother?" He asked quietly, possibly drowned out by the barrage of questions the others asked. Where was his father? Was he alright? The sky was so dark. What was happening? His questions were all voiced by others, and his shivering intensified. Just what was going on!?

The devilish goddess had never been good at comfort, had never been one to offer solace. As the ground tremored and the skies darkened outside the old bear den she had cleaned up - again - Dea found herself suddenly having to play that role. It was an odd thing to hear only Deathbelle's voice call the pack after the marriage announcement not long ago, but Dea supposed it was Death's pack. With a heavy sigh, and a soft kiss to each of her children in an act that somewhat covered comfort, the demonic queen moved forward and out of her den. "Come, children. Let's go see what is happening." She moved quickly, noting the odd rumblings of the earth picking up. There were already quite a few wolves gathered as she came to Wolfpaw Lake.

Once she got to Deathbelle's circle, she kept to the back of the throng, making sure to keep her children close to her as she looked around for Archon. Oh, how she ached to rush into the protection of his chest. It was a rare thing to find her frightened, but this was not the same fear she had for this pack and what it might cost her. This was fear for her children and the future. Not seeing Archon beside Death made her pause, and she leveled the empress with a hard and questioning gaze, though she said nothing. The others had asked for her, hearing the last bit of their questions as she and her pups arrived. Outwardly, she appeared calm, though her dark pink gaze still searched for Archon with some mild confusion showing on her face. Something didn't feel right to her, forcing her to stifle a whimper. "I'm sure everything is alright, little ones." The demon queen said the words quietly to avoid being heard by anyone else and attempted to pull her children closer to her, not wanting to alarm them, but needing them to be close to her in this crisis.

- - "Talking!" Walking. 'Thought!' - -

He approached the meeting and found it all in chaos, everyone was talking, the children were frightened and most of all there was mass confusion. He looked at his sister with pointed eyes than climbed the rock to stand beside her. He hadn’t always agreed with his sister’s ways but he knew grief when he saw it, and would still always love her. Hannibal who he had been so eager to join was absent for the time being and that worried him. Hannibal seemed to have been scarce lately, most likely busy planting the foundation of his pack but the man had to wonder if he had lapsed into another depressive episode. He wouldn’t leave his children behind, he assured himself, but he couldn’t say with any certainty that that was true. Speech, Thought, You

Sirius had been half way between the volcano and Ashen, waiting for Deathbelle to return, and worry about her. He had a bad feeling in his gut, and had seen how somber Death and her mate had been. He didn’t know what they were walking into, but he suspected neither thought it was going to end well.

When the volcano erupted, he wasted precious moments looking for his Mistress, before realising she had slipped past him in her mad dash home, and had turned and made his way back to Ashen as quickly as his titan legs could carry him. The Warlord tore into the meeting to see those he cared about already there. He brushed past Zee with a protective nudge of his shoulder before grabbing Venom in his mouth as the little girl questioned her mother, and gently deposited her onto his broad shoulder. "Stay with me, little Serpent" he whispered possessively. Wherever they where going, he suspected they would be doing some walking. With one pup already set for a ride, he would be prepared to grab the rest, knowing they could fit on his broad shoulders. First, he stopped beside Zee, growling softly to his mate so she would know he was barely holding it together. Intense eyes would settle on Deathbelle. From all the years she had known him she would know he was fighting the urge to grab her, Zee and the children and get them to safety. The rest of the world be damned.

He was only just keeping himself from doing so, his respect for Deathbelle greater than his possessive, terrible fear for their safety, at least for the moment. Regardless, Zee, Deathbelle and her children would not be leaving his sight Lucky for him, Deathbelle trusted his wife with the safety of her children, and he knew keeping these wolves together shouldn’t be too difficult. He was not losing anyone he cared about today.

"Speech"

At first he thought that another stampede was upon them, but the quaking of the earth was too much for that. Bourbon thanked whatever gods that Luce was able to keep her head and the two of them made quick retreat from the gully. Once they were seas level they realized how terrible it actually was. Soot and ash and destruction were going to be raining down upon them.

He raced after Lucretia, careful to keep himself at his subordinate position behind her. As they approached the packlands he could hear Deathbelle’s call for assembly. The pair appeared before the Empress, who looked much worse for wear. He pinned his ears but remained silent as he unconsciously pressed himself lightly to his Mistress’s side.

Hela's fark paws moved with urgency through their land, her pink eyes were serious as she tried to wide the distance between her and the exploding mountain. She was no fool to sit there and watch as the ashes and fire rocks to come to her. She needed to get out of there at any cost but she couldn't leave her family like this, yes she may be a selfish cunt but the family was family still. Thought she would save only those who called themselves her direct relatives. Those out of the blood circle weren't as relevant upon the Klein's eyes. She found herself among those of her pack, watching Belle in silence, and then the rest. And in apparent calmness, she sat next to Pesto. She hopped her sister wasn't going to take much precious time. "Speak"

Lilac gaze fell to Toxicity first. The Empress held tightly to her child for as long as she could. The rest of the pack hopefully falling in line after her. Her heartache wasn’t new, she’d been here before. Flashbacks of Seer’s ‘death’ interrupted briefly the much more fresh and horrible wound of Archon being torn away from her. She grit her teeth and held herself strong, she had to be for the pups. She could attend to her own grief after everyone was safe. Still, her heart beast fast and heavy as Tox looked up to her mother. Archon’s green eye stared back at her.

She tried to hide her pained lookas her daughter spoke, and she made to avoid the answer by looking up to Pestilence as she greeted her mother and wondered where their father was. The girl was much less in tune with the underlying tension than her sister. Zee was close behind, a mild relief in the chaos and pain. However the words she spoke were only another weight upon her. ”Zee,” she said with more desperation in her voice than she meant there to be. She saw the woman everyday, she took care of her, and besides the obvious trauma of her appearance the Servant likely knew very well the hidden horror.

She barely noticed Dutch and her children slip in, but she appreciated not having the question repeated to her again. Harbringr was suddenly there, along with his concerns and a gentle touch. She leaned into him, ”Hari, I…” She started softly as Calamity was rushing up to them in bliss before Lucretia’s voice reached her. ”Where is Archon?” The Empress visibly winced as she barely held herself together by the seams.

She didn’t notice Drakon’s approach, but the servant wasn’t one to boast about his presence. His words were comforting, but she dismissed him for now with the flick of an ear. Unconsciously she wrapped an arm around Plague as he inquired after her, but she didn’t have time to answer him either. The pack filed in quickly and even if they were missing a few faces she had to get the bulk of the pack to safety.

Amethyst gaze only just caught Dea’s gaze, but the Empress didn’t have the emotional energy to worry about how she would react. Her children were a part of Archon though, and Belle only wished to bring them closer to her. She leaned into Rosemary as he stood beside her, Deathbelle yearned for Hannibal’s presence. Hopefully he was with their missing members, she would send Thistle to search for him and his daughters. Then they could all congregate further west.

They couldn’t wait much longer, and as she saw Sirius grab Venom and place her on his back she looked to Hela as she arrived. This would have to be it for now. She cleared her throat, suppressing her sorrow and rage to address the disaster at hand. ”The Volcano is erupting. It looks like it’s going to be heavily blowing this way. We have to move west so that we might keep our young safe.” She looked to the other two mothers in the group. ”I think it best we make a swift move to the Redwater rocks. Split into three groups, one to get the pups there, one to bring food and supplies, and a third smaller one,” This time Deathbelle looked to Lucretia. ”To bring the herbs and supplies we need.” Hopefully Luce and her dog would be enough to accomplish that.

”Sirius, take leadership of the group with the children, Dutch, Dea.” She called out to them, standing away from the middle of the Klein circle. ”Zee, and whoever would volunteer to help them get to the Redwater Rocks. Rosemary, take those who remain and gather what food you can and follow us there, make sure you tell anyone not here where to go if you see them.” Now the question was, did she distract the children and Dea with thoughts of Archon’s demise, or did she wait until they settled in relative safety? ”I’ll make sure everyone is to their tasks and then I’ll follow up behind Sirius’s group.” She opened the floor for anyone to speak, the answers to questions would come when they were all safe. ”All your questions will be answered when we get there.” There was an exhaustion in her voice she couldn’t hide or abate until the work was done.

Zee could see the pain in her empress' eyes and the way she'd dodged the many questions thrown towards her. Her lips pursed and her eyes fell to the ground as she listened. There weren't many things that could be troubling Deathbelle this badly, and combined with the absence of Archon it didn't take Zee long to catch on. The pain in Belle's voice as she called her servants name made Zee's heart clench hard and she took in a calming breath. Her empress would need her, she needed to be strong for her benefit. She thought back to Archon and how he was the reason for Zee's placement in Ashen, and how she didn't have the chance to show him how appreciative she truly was. Her job was to help Sirius deliver the children safely and she nodded to show she understood. Toxicity clung to her mother and the other siblings stood curious in the front of the crowd. Zee stepped forward towards her Empress, moving to scoop the small child away from her mother so that they could begin to lead the little ones to safety. At the same time, she'd press her nose against her Empress' neck if she'd let her in a silent and subtle gesture that Zee was there for her. "Come now, little masters."She murmured, gesturing her head towards the direction of redwater rocks so they knew which direction they were headed. Finally, she looked back to Sirius, Dutch and Dea to be sure they were ready to head out. "Speech"

Pestilence did not miss that her mother did not answer the questions asked of her. Her frown deepened as more and more wolves stepped up to inquire about her dad, and did not receive an answer. She slowly felt worry begin to build in her chest and when her mother spoke of them having to move, the paralyzing fear was enough to keep her from fighting back against the decision. Zee called to them and Pestilence obeyed quietly, her small tail hanging low between her legs. "I want dad." She whispered to the handmaiden, tucking in close to her leg. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."