Askan was the sort of guy that once he got a bee in his bonnet he had to do the thing right there and then. It wasn't all that often that he came up with clever schemes to get his fellow pack mates up and off their arses so he just had to put it into action. The sooner the better. His plan began with rummaging through the stores till he found two long sheets of fabric, one blue and the other red. Stuffing them into a makeshift wicker basket he hurried his way through the castle and made his way to the open space of the fields. The sun shone high in the sky but there was a bitter chill to the wind, the sort that slipped beneath his coat and brought a shiver down his spine. Not that he paid it much mind as he pulled out his sheets of fabric and began to rip them into strips to form make shift collars. Blue for one team and red for the other. Once he'd made enough he dropped them off into two neat piles and tipped his head skyward, letting all Hallow wolves hear what he had to say. That he was hosting a melee with all invited, adults and pups alike. A red team vs the blue team affair with the losing team on cleaning and sweeping duty for a week!

Shrugging on his red collar, Askan hunkered down and waited, wondering who'd show up.

This place was far different to the Springs and the Falls. While snow still fell, it didn’t stick nearly as persistently and allowed the girl an opportunity to go looking for plants that might otherwise have been inaccessible. Of course, moving this far meant they were all quite different to what she was used to as well, so she never quite progressed to picking anything, lest it cause her harm.

A deep sigh was answered by a summoning howl and the girls tail waved a staccato beat, a face splitting grin taking hold as she lengthened her stride to run to where she had been summoned. As the first one there, she supposed she might get to choose her team, and while the red was quite pretty, she quickly realised you would need two teams to make the game work. Besides, she wanted to test herself against grown ups too so she grabbed a blue strip with a cheeky grin and Pandora weaved it around her right foreleg, tying it off with a satisfied nod.

Daphne squared her legs and faced off against the older wolf, dipping her head with ears turned back despite the smile on her face. She could do this, and she was here to prove anyone wrong that thought otherwise.

"speech".

have a little faith in me

Indigo really was trying to improve himself and his outlook. Losing his best friend like he had left a lasting mark that wouldn’t swiftly heal. He wanted to keep his mind off everything, about the move, about Rue, about how far away Aslatiel was from him now. He patrolled, he tried to decipher and identify the different plants that grew in these parts of the land. Still he was missing something. He’d made no real friends in the Hallows. He’d watched out for the pups but it wasn’t the same. They were too honest. His grandmother was too serious and Askan was.. Well Askan. Still Indigo didn’t hesitate to answer the call the dark cloud uttered.

His massive formed loped through the plains, his mohawk bounces lazily though it seemed less like a mohawk and more like a full mane with every day that passed. He slowed as he approached the other wolves gathered. Indigo lowered his head in greeting as he slowly picked up what was being laid down. One red, and one blue. Indy closed his eyes and reached forward, coming up with another red bandana. He attached it as best he could, and was impressed by how well it matched the red markings that adorned his fur.

When Avantika heard the summoning howl, she had immediately asked Kaata, "Should I go?" The little hawk had swooped down from where she was soaring, high in the sky--they'd discovered that there was either a very high limit to how far their mental communication could travel or no limit at all--and alighted on her shoulder, taking care to make sure she didn't dig her talons in hard enough to hurt. She had let out a low, throaty chuckle. "Of course we should go." And that was how Avantika was now trotting directly towards a fight, an awfully small hawk perched on her shoulder. Of course, it wasn't a real fight. At least she hoped so. But it still seemed like it. Just practice, she reminded herself. Just practice. Once she got there, before her were two wolves, both wearing red, another young girl, who had donned blue, and two neat piles of strips of blue and red material. She stared at the piles for a moment. If no one else joined, joining the red team would be sure to earn her victory. But was it really victory then? Plus, the teams were probably supposed to be even. If she picked red, it would be announcing her motives for all to see. The fact that that was even an option shocked her. She wasn't a bad person, right? Maybe she was just greedy, like--like her parents. She hastily snatched up a loop of blue and dropped it over her neck before she could think any more. Hopefully, no one noticed her hesitation. "Avantika to Kaata telepathy" "Kaata to Avantika telepathy" "speech"

Artorias had been busying himself exploring and familiarizing himself with his new home when the call from Askan came out. While the adults worked to prepare the castle for the pack to reside in, he had decided to learn every pace of the castle and the plains surrounding it. When morning had come, the pup donned his leather armor and grabbed his wooden sword before beginning his routine patrols with Resin, then set off to learn the lay of the land with Corbin flying overhead to keep an eye on the boy. Auster, as he had heard his parents call these lands, was very different from Boreas. Where their old home had begun to grow incredibly cold and gather an accumulation of snow, these lands still felt mild, with an occasional chill in the air and sprinklings of flurries and frost that had dissipated by noon. He still hadn't decided if he liked their new home yet or not, but he also didn't exactly have a choice in the matter either. This was their home now, and he was going to make the best of it and continue working to be as great a warrior as his mothers.

Following the callow the experienced Hallows warrior, Artorias came across the makeshift arena, where Askan and Indy were already there, along with Daphne and Avantika. Corbin circled the air overhead, head snapping to and fro as he surveyed the wolves from above. Artorias made his way over to the group, taking note of the colored cloth collars around each of the wolves there, clearly marking them on two opposing sides. He didn't know what was going on, but if Askan was organizing it, it had to be something to do with battle. The two adults were on the red team while his siblings were on the blue team. Art's first instincts were to join them—until he realized this would be the perfect opportunity to get some payback on Daphne and see if he can swipe a win against her. It would also allow him to get to see what Rudy had taught Avantika firsthand.

Making eye contact with his sisters, Artorias grabbed a red collar and slipped it on, the crimson a stark contrast against his black and blue fur and marking him as an opponent to them both. He shot a playful smirk at Daphne, teasing her with a quick, "Ready for round two, Daph?" before taking his place opposite the two girls, an eager fire burning in his amber eyes. He was so ready for this!

"Speech" | Thoughts | "Corbin"

This glancing life is like a morning star

It didn't take long for Shilah to wander out of Hallows territory to check out the lands that bordered their new home. He'd dug himself a temporary den to sleep in and then immediately set out. There were a number of fascinating territory that he couldn't wait to tell the others about, in particular was a strange garden full of odd and interesting plants that he was sure they could find uses for. Today he was on his way back from Fossil Ridge when he heard Askan's call. Curious what the other man was wanting, Shilah headed toward the source of the call and arrived to a small gathering of the warriors and pups. With a nod to Askan, Shilah settled down to await instructions. He had noticed the red cloth around Askan's neck and his curiosity was piqued. What was with the basket of red and blue cloth?

Rudy was in high spirits.  The boy had found countless great hiding spots for a nosy pup who enjoyed spying on others.  This place was amazing.   He also hadn’t told every single friend or sibling yet that he’d caught a rabbit all by himself yesterday!  Hearing the howl from Askan had the boy twist midstride to run straight towards the call.  It was hard to be happier than he had been a moment ago, but now his energy had spiked a notch higher at least. Once Rudy got close into the cluster he looked between the wolves and the strips of cloths.  Hmm.  Daphne and Tika against Askan, Indigo and, Art.  On one hand, Rudy wanted to work with his brother in a fight with numerous wolves but right now the only ones Art would be going against were Daphne and Tika.  Tika was still a total novice to fighting.  Rudy wasn’t sure how much time Daphne put into fighting but it would bound to be less than Art. Daphne and Tika would need help.  Rudy headed to the pile and slipped on a blue strip about his neck. Making his way to his two sisters and taking a seat for himself, his chest puffed out.  “Sorry Art looks like you’ll have to lose this round.” A smug grin cast to his brother.  The brother who sat with what was sure to be far more skilled opponents.  That didn’t matter as Rudy had no plans of losing.  A quick tail wag greeting and smile to Askan and Indigo.  No plan of losing sounded grand but he had enough common sense to see the odds were bad to attack without a plan. Rudy looked to his sister-by-blood and sister-by-adoption after taking a moment for fast scheming, “So,” lowering his voice too soft enough the words meant only for his sisters, “We are going to need a plan if this is how it shapes up.  If we each team up on just one of them it will be in their favor.  Either of you fought any of them?  I think two of us need to focus on one target, and the other is in charge of defending the two.  Not so much attacking as just making sure no other wolf butts in.”  This was what Rudy did of course.  Tactical planning? No, not that.  He ran on inspiration and spoke up his inspired thoughts as he had them, selling them to the best of his ability.  His plan could be horrible of course but it was better than no plan at all.  “Unless either of you has a better plan?” Fair to offer that chance, maybe they’d already been thinking on it? "Rudyard"