Viper had heard Venom's call for the start of the festival and while she had to admit she wasn't really interested in the celebration and the wedding and all the happy, fluffy stuff, she was looking forward to the tournament afterwards. And she supposed it would be wise of her with her place in the pack to attend the festivities of her pack. Chimera may have had almost all of her attention, but she still had it in her mind to impress Hattori. Viper made her way to Chimera's island, typical of her to have him on her mind. She sought him out and approached quietly though he probably wasn't expecting her to address him considering they usually just gestured to follow somewhere with the point of their nose. But after her mix up with Dalila, she did want to try and communicate better anyway. It seemed to be what Chimera wanted. She took a shallow breath, confidence in her exhale was non-existent but it wasn't the same when she spoke. Maybe she expected, or thought, that Chimera wouldn't reject coming with her. "I am, fighting." Her short gaze peered up a him, she hoped she had his attention, "I want you to watch." Was really all she could muster. An invitation? Maybe, if it didn't seem that way. With or without Chimera, she made her way to the shrine as the multiple wolves started to gather. But she stuck on the outskirts, not really wanting to find herself in conversation with anyone. No surprise. She wasn't social vocally, but she also wasn't very social emotionally either. "Chimera" -- "Viper"

Avantika followed Ulric to the festival. She was afraid. She hadn't met this many new people at once since she had joined the Hallows, and she worried that the butterflies in her stomach would escalate to a full-blown panic. She liked to think that she was past her childhood anxiety, and it was true that she hadn't had a flare-up in a long time, but she could never be sure that her brain wouldn't choose any given moment to turn on her. She'd spent a few moments before they left thinking about what exactly she was worried about, hoping it would help. The past fear of physical violence had mostly faded, at least in her conscious mind. But it had been replaced with a profound desire not to let her family down. The context of this gathering further exacerbated this fear. She was representing both her family and herself. She had to be exemplary. She'd groomed herself well but did not wear her mask. She had debated with herself for a long time on the decision but ultimately decided that she wouldn't need armor here since it was forbidden in the tournament matches and would only obscure her face. It wasn't a particularly decorative piece. Kaata was perched on her usual spot on Avantika's shoulder, mainly for moral support but also because she wasn't going to miss this excitement. She walked just behind Artorias, and, after he made his greetings, she did the same. Dipping her head, she smiled slightly, hopefully looking friendly but still polite. "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty." She'd give another smile and nod to the young children seated around Venom as she walked by, proud of herself for not messing her greeting up, and head to sit beside Tamsyn and the rest of her family. "Avantika to Kaata telepathy" "Kaata to Avantika telepathy" "speech"

Duchess was eager to go to the festival but maybe it was because she was eager to meet Indigo's family. She hadn't seen Sirius while he was in the castle and the only life she knew of Indigo's was his place in The Hallows with her and the rest of his band. Though it didn't really occur to her that they weren't really coming up here to meet his family, obviously there were other festivities going on. The sound of a wedding was exciting to her, she was pretty girly at heart and maybe it made her think of her and Indigo one day. She would never say that out loud though.

She had never been to Boreas before, so her mind was running around as they traveled through the lands to get to Ashen. She still tried to keep herself calm but she probably wasn't really acting herself. Definitely distracted and maybe a little overwhelmed. That was fine though, she figured she would settle once they arrived to Ashen.

Indigo addressed himself to the Queen, or the Empress in this case. Duchess did bow too only as she noticed his own behavior, but the only thing she could offer was a smile. She then would follow Indigo around. She may have grown used to the numbers of The Hallows, but she had never experienced anything like this. And all she wanted to do was stick to Indigo's side. Of course she would have to settle for the others when he went into the tournament.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

Kitsune’s horns were growing big and strong until she felt like she constantly had a weight on her head. She was determined to keep her head held high. She was a fierce, proud girl, quick to grin, and even quicker to get into trouble. But she was also Ashen Royalty, and she would go great lengths to uphold her family's honour.

She stood proud and tall with her parents and siblings, almost vibrating with the effort of containing her energy. Iki looked poised and brilliant as ever. Every strand of fur was perfectly aligned. Headset sitting prouder than horns upon her brow. Kit knew in her heart of hearts, that she would never be able to put herself together as well as her beautiful sister.

Ike had done something rather astonishingly lately. She had shot up in height, going from the smallest of them, to up there with the bigger. Even now, Kitsune glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, as through expecting her to shrink again at any moment.

Kuroki… seeing her brother now always reminded her of a day she barely knew how to process. She glanced to him, and then away. Kitsune was a murderer, and she hadn’t been able to bring herself to talk to Kuri about that.

Her attention returned to the growing crowd, eyes roving over the wolves that were - for the most part - taller then she was.

"Speech"

The Warlord had been invited to the festival by his Ashen daughter, and he knew he would not let her down. He had been doing enough of that lately in spades. Crossing the border from the Armada to Ashen took the span of a breath, and with the festival being held in the Shrine territory, he could already hear the bustle of wolves arriving.

Glancing once back to the sanctuary of his quieter lands, the Warlord sighed and rolled back his shoulders, lifting his head, and moving on. To the center of activity, and Venom. Sirius, alone, without the touchstone that had always been beside him at such events.

He moved quietly through the crowd, eyes lingering on Tamsyn for a moment, before making his way to the Empress, and ducking his head over her paw and kissing it. A touch of his old humor showing in a smile as he looked up at the younger woman, before stepping back.

As a branch of the empire, Habari was more than welcome to attend the festival and Recluse had made sure to make it clear to the majority of her pack they were welcome to come with her as she went to attend, her children were especially encouraged to meet the extended branches of their family but Medusa and her new acquisition would be left to watch them if they couldn't be bothered to show. But that didn't mean she was releasing her pack to run wild and free and as she watched Izanami seemed to beeline towards a male she didn't recognize Recluse couldn't help but feel suspicion flair up in her. She would only watch for now but perhaps the woman needed to be reminded where she stood, having only recently been reinstated as a full member Recluse certainly wasn't about to let her think she could coast by... or give her allegiance to anyone else. Still, she would not miss her decorum, providing her cousin a respectful dip of her head, a slight bow for her empress, and then she would move off to watch as more attendees filtered in. "Poisons" & Venoms

Image by Hagon

The silly festival was today and Chimera did not plan to attend. The two-faced man didn't enjoy such frivolities. Not only was it a waste of time, but he could barely tolerate the wolves of Ashen on a good day let alone wolves from all over Boreas and Auster. No, it was Chimera's plan to stay on his island, do a bit of work, soak up the solitude. Then Viper showed up. Chimera had been working with the woman to fix her halted, Neanderthal speech. When she came to him and asked if he would come to watch her, she did so fairly well. Good behavior should be rewarded and so Chimera decided to leave his island after all. He would watch Viper fight, then he would go back to his island. There was no way that he was going to whatever wedding had been planned. The dire brute was so disconnected from the rest of his family that he didn't really even know who was getting married. Marriage was a stupid concept anyway. The man's irritability rose as he moved into the throng of wolves, both familiar and foreign. He didn't like having so many strangers on their lands. If anyone got out of line, it would be his teeth that they met. A dark expression on the brute's two-tone features, Chimera scowled from the shadows. The sooner Viper won or lost, the sooner he could go back to his island. "Speech"

After going to The Hallows, Balthier was definitely excited to come to Ashen for the festival. After living nearly his whole life in Abaven, his mind was open to his adventuring needs even while the lands were frozen and not really pleasant to move across. Still, he was amazed at all the lands himself and his family traveled through on their way to Auster. When they arrived at the festival, Balthier glanced over the numerous wolves and tried to catch on to the many scents of packs that had gathered. It was a bit overwhelming to his nose, but the rest of him was high spirited and eager to put himself into the middle. He wasn't very outspoken, but a part of him craved the company of others. He didn't like being alone, and he had such a hard time actually getting out there in Abaven. He somehow wondered if his mother had anything to do with it, like the wolves of Abaven had been avoiding him and his family because they weren't whole or something. He wouldn't voice the opinions, and they were pretty far fetched, but it was how he felt if only silently. He looked to Poem after taking in his surroundings. She gestured with a paw towards Venom, the Empress and he would wait his turn to introduce himself. When he made it before her, he let off a little bow as he had noticed a number of others doing. "Balthier Destruction, miss. It's nice to meet you." Balthier was polite and noble by nature, his father at least raised him very well. He didn't want to hold up the others behind him, or the Empress, so after he introduced himself and released his bow, he gave her another small nod and would move on into the crowds of others. Walk "Talk"

Lilith followed after her father, the girl couldn’t be left at home alone again. After Ulric’s return she had practically been his little shadow. She wore her leopard fur cape, but it was wrapped around her neck more like a scarf as they traveled up fromAuster to make their appearance at the festival they were invited to attend. Her ruby red eyes took in the mass of wolves that were gathered, it was a much larger gathering than she had ever seen before. Lilith would have felt rather overwhelmed had she not been glued to her father’s shoulder. Beyond the closeness her expression was rather neutral, she didn’t let on that way at least how nervous she was. Ulric would realize it easily with how close she was, physical touch wasn’t her favorite but she needed it now in the face of this adversity.

They were given the go ahead to disperse, and Lil looked from Ulric back towards where Ezra was following after Artorias. She gave Ulric a quick look of uncertainty and when he nodded everyone off she carefully picked her way behind her brother. She spent a lot of time as Ulric’s shadow and she shifted to Ezra carefully, her shoulder against his hip as they walked.

Poem led the gaggle of children towards the festival Abaven was generously invited to. It reminded her a little of the firefly festival she had attended as a small child herself. She wanted her children to get out and experience the excitement such a gathering could provide. After giving them a run down on their rules and expectations Poem brought the young wolves the relatively short walk to the more southerly lands. Shae shot off like a rocket first thing, but Balthier stuck a little closer, she encouraged him to go introduce himself to the Empress and her entourage. Poem couldn’t deny how impressive the woman looked with her well groomed and perfect looking children.

That wasn’t the life that Poem had ever wanted to live, rules decorum, it was all too much for a simple woman like her. The Destruction felt like she had made herself the perfect life. She had an adoring husband, loving children, and an incredible family that always stood together when life became difficult. An unfortunately common occurrence within Abaven’s borders. She grinned at Balthier and followed after him to offer her own nod of her head, but she was whisked away before any real introductions were made. Not that the ruling couple would have remembered her by name if she had uttered it.

Life was hard for the aging once Empress. All of her efforts had been in raising her two children, the last of her children, to adulthood. They were all she had left, all of her older offspring had long abandoned her, but not without good reason that the woman tried not to think about too heavily. She was the only reason she didn’t have a relationship with them anymore, because her own desires had gotten in the way. Deathbelle lived with the shame everyday, but tried her hardest to do better for Sorcerer and Voodoo. They deserved every ounce of effort she could manage for them, especially in the face of Belle’s own mistakes and the lack of their father.

She regretted giving them his last name. At the time she had expected Magnus to reappear, to be there for the birth and help her with the children they made. He never returned. She was left, again and again. After so much loss Belle felt like a shell of her former self. She still held herself with the decorum of an Empress, and she hadn’t allowed her body to deteriorate to reflect the rotten soul beneath.

This would be her first time laying eyes on her grandchildren, not that she had any right to call them that. Deathbelle followed at Recluse’s hip, this was the first time the once Empress would look upon the Empire that had slipped through her paws. Venom took her place with pride, and she ran the packs like she belonged at the helm, as she very well did. Deathbelle was quiet, she lowered her head, her nose almost touching the ground in a repentant bow but said nothing as she lifted her features to gaze at the beautiful children that Venom created. She felt another stake driven deep into what was left of her heart, but smiled proudly at the legacy that remained.

Belle detached herself from the crowd around the royal family, and was careful to avoid Sirius as she made her way to the section claimed by Habari wolves. She tried not to let how troubled she was reveal itself, she was here for her young one’s experience, not her own pleasure because the situation felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Nerves burned in Void’s belly as he walked behind Poem, leading his siblings towards the life changing event he was about to undertake. He never thought he would second guess himself but as they approached the festival every step was a question if this was really truly what he wanted. The crowds were massive, and he didn’t even have eyes upon him yet. His chest tightened as blue and lavender gaze searched the faces around him, his stride hesitant as he followed the crowd to the arrangement of the royal family. Void didn’t get much chance to look at the gathered wolves before his eyes fell on Plague and everything else fell away.

Abaven wolves moved past him, the crowd continued to grow and pass by the ruling family of Ashen. Void was frozen there, for the moment invisible in the crowd of wolves. Plague was picture perfect, regal and handsome while settled with his family. A ridiculous grin appeared on his maw as he finally reclaimed his thoughts. The tall man paced forward, eyes on Plague as he tried not to dwell on the sudden rush of thoughts. How should he greet them? He couldn’t even remember ever seeing Plague’s family and he couldn’t act with confidence. Void would do anything for Plague though, and set his sights on that endless forest gaze. He lifted his head proudly and stepped forward before Plague, and his Empress sister.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself but also holding himself back as he resisted racing forward and embracing the one he loved. ”Plague,” he offered softly with a lowered bow of his head. Trying his very best to act like he had been taught proper manners.

Plague waited anxiously as he watched the other packs begin to file in, giving the various wolves that came to greet his family small nods, but he was too throughly distracted as he waited on his betrothed to appear. He did spare a slightly surprised, but longing glance toward his mother when she arrived. He hadn't seen her in ages, not since before he separated himself from the family to focus on his training. Seeing her now was enough of a distraction to keep him from seeing Void's initial approach, but when he shifted his emerald gaze away from the bowing Deathbelle, his gaze landed on the man he had been dying to see.

A wide, joyous grin pulled across his features to match Void's own as the Destruction man paced forward. Plague could read it all over Void's expression and posture that the amount of wolves around them was already overwhelming to his sweet man and it took all of his self control to not sweep Void away to their den then and there to hide him away from the world. He chuckled as Void went through the usual decorum of approaching him and his sister, giving them a formal bow with picture perfect manners. Plague threw all of that to the wind, getting up to close the small distance between them. He nuzzled his cheek against Void's with a small sigh of relief, leaning into the touch he had been craving since they last saw each other. "Void," he rumbled happily in return, turning his head a bit to leave an affectionate kiss on his fiancé's cheek.

Suddenly he remembered that his family was all around him and this was not only their first time meeting Void but also the first time they would see him being affectionate with his man. Nerves crept up his spine, but he stood resolute, turning to face Venom as well with his side against Void's, giving his sister a shy smile. He tried not to look at his other family members just yet, not wanting to think about their eyes on them. Venom's opinion was the only one that mattered to him - well, her's and Ike's perhaps. "Venom, this is Void," he said to introduce them, as if that fact wasn't already exceedingly obvious. He gave them a moment to greet one another before he gently nosed Void's neck and told him, "Come on, lets go sit over here." He led his lover away from the bulk of the crowd, finding a space still near the majority of his family, but out of the main hustle and bustle of the group. He settled on his haunches and leaned his side into Void's, peering adoringly up at the speckled man beside him and letting the rest of the wolves around them fall away.

Plague | Viridis | Procella

Cosette had been excited about the idea of attending a festival. It was something she had never experienced before and it sounded like it would be a fun experience. Plus, it would give her an excuse to take some time away from her mother. That alone would have been enough to make her go. Spending every night on a bed of sharp rocks would have been preferable to spending every day with Adhira, but she still couldn’t bring herself to sever that tie completely. As miserable as she was around the woman and her constant criticism and judgement, that simple fact that she was even paying any attention to the tiny purple girl seemed like a miracle. A twisted, conflicting miracle.

Despite her excitement, seeing all the new faces made her anxious, and spending the long journey travelling with the rest of the girls that Indigo had collected that she still had not properly met had been awkward. Her short legs were tired from the long trip, but she wouldn’t complain. One of the other girls needed a ride more than her, and she didn’t want to seem so useless. Besides, if Indigo’s band was going to travel much, she would need to get used to moving at a pace set by others. She mirrored the bows of others when it was her groups turn to greet their host, but when it came time to find a place to sit, the girl held herself at a bit of a distance from the rest. She was close to the group of purple wolves, but she perched at the edge, as if ready to flee at the first sign that she was unwelcome.

"Speech" || Thoughts

Spark of the Ademre Spark was far from home, that much was pretty obvious. Only a season out from her first full year of life the girl was showing something of wanderlust... and a deep desire to learn more about her own people and culture, as such when the call went out for the festival she would not turn up her nose at an opportunity to visit the northern continent, aware her uncle was supposed to be up here somewhere as well. Though she wasn't certain she could hold out hope he'd be here today. The young girl would approach the gathering, her paws tapping out her nervous energy. Silver eyes alighting on several wolves that caught her eye, specifically a younger pup with spiraling horns rising from her forehead... but there was no sign of her uncle and with Spark having little to no understanding of the decorum expected by the barbarians she offered only slight nods as she moved through the group, her face solidly unmoving and only her paws tapping out her feelings of a friendly greeting, likely to wolves who could not read her signs. "Speech"

Art by Fox!

Faith wasn't really sure she was all to happy about all the activity taking place in the shrine... right outside her actual door. Still, she knew she had some duty to at least be there for the expansion of her family, one of her uncles, an abraxas still would be getting married and she had no intentions of letting herself be kept back from being present or if possible learning further rites she had yet to actually observe. But she wasn't exactly eager to mingle. So while she was present she would linger near the den she shared with her family, watching the procession of wolves with narrowed eyes, the light pulsing of her markings probably not exactly doing much to hide her from curious gazes. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Mojito was returning "home" for the first time since he'd fled to the Armada, he honestly wouldn't have been here if Naiche hadn't encouraged him to enter the tournament he probably wouldn't have showed his face at all, as it stood he wasn't exactly comfortable stepping paw back in Ashen... not when he knew he wasn't wanted there. Still, he wasn't about to let his cousins chase him away with his tail tucked between his legs, he followed his warlord into the pack lands, offering half-hearted bows and nods to his cousins before settling himself near the warlord, his whole posture and expression daring anyone to say anything about him being there, he was in the mood to bite someone's nose off if they tried. Speech

Holy Heck, thanks Kat!

Emile hadn't necessarily wanted to go with his father to the festival but he knew at least on one level that he had to stop moping around, get out, maybe even meet new wolves, who knew maybe it would be good for him. But as they made the trip up to the northern continent Emile allowed himself to drift further and further behind, his gaze shifted from his father and Artorias to his siblings and finally watched his own paws as he didn't even try to keep up, feeling more than a little alone even among wolves he'd known his whole life. He was regretting agreeing to go before they even got there. He filled in behind the rest of the pack, head down and offering polite nods as the rest of them did but as they all filled off Emile instead beelined for the back of the gathered group, not really in the mood to socialize but also not wishing to drag down his family by hanging around them, instead choosing to just melt into the group and hope no one noticed him... or missed him. "Speech"

Art by EffraSorbus