It was no secret to the clouded queen of Fenmyre that Chimera had desired an expansion of his kingdom. He had lusted after new lands for some time now. But now, as Fenmyre's numbers grew, and seemed like they would only continue to grow, that desire had become much more of a necessity. The choice to claim the Cedar Falls as theirs made sense to her for many reasons, so when her mate began to lead his crusade to capture the territory, Aliana was behind him 100%. Already Chimera had done a terrific job of driving off any predatory threats, Dalila had scouted out the herbs of the land, Kione had begun mapping the terrain, and Reila had tracked the prey living in the woods. All that remained was for her to ensure all the preparation work had been made to bring the Cedar Falls under Fenmyre's dominion.

Dainty paws crunched through lush grass and fallen leaves as she surveyed the land, aquamarine eyes drinking in her surroundings. The falls were a beautiful and serene location. Wandering down to one of the small falls, Aliana sat herself down by the water's edge. She dipped her paws into the cool mellifluous water, then tipped her head skyward and gave a gentle call for any other Fenmyrian wolves nearby to come secure the land with her. At this point, Fenmyre had essentially claimed the land. All they had to do now was make sure they were prepared to rule over a third territory.

"Aliana Klien"

Cerberus had already been taking patrols around the falls and surveying any of the predators that were lingering about. He didn't really engage with them, but he was noting their patterns or how many he would see in a day. He was smarter than to face a bear fully on his own unless necessary and he'd happily die defending his family of the island. It hadn't come to that yet with the cedar falls, and he knew that would be a group task when the time came.

He came to Aliana's call with a gentle smile on his face when he met her form. Taking a seat beside her his tail thumped a couple times before he looked out at the water. He wasn't sure who else would be here to her call, but it wasn't like he didn't like anyone inside the pack. For now he'd wait for whoever else was around to join them, but he was happy to be here beside Aliana wither way.

"Cerberus"

Morendo knew he wasn't technically allowed off the island by himself, but he was so close to being a year old, was getting much more proficient at fighting, had Mezzo and Forte with him, and he had seen his mother coming out this direction so surely it would be okay. He was near the beaver dams when he heard his mother's howl and that was all the permission he needed to go meet her out by the falls. He had been out here recently with his father and a couple of his brothers to fight bears, but he knew that whatever his mother had in mind would probably be more to his interests. Her activities pretty much always were. When he arrived Cerberus was already there and he gave his half-brother a little nod before he settled in beside his mother, leaning into her side as he dipped his paws into the water beside hers. He gently waved his dark paws through the flowing, cool water, smiling softly as he turned his curious, two-toned gaze toward her.

"Morendo Klien"

The earthed-hued female had been out at the dam when Aliana’s call went up and Athena turned to look in the direction of the falls. She has started patrolling the dam as well as the island and, as she moves toward the Queen’s call, a tall form suddenly catches her attention. Amber eyes turn to find Morendo moving off in the direction of the falls as well and the woman smiles to herself. He isn’t supposed to be off the island by himself and even with his dogs, the tall boy could get in trouble if anyone finds out. The earthen wolf decides to silently track him, following the boy to be certain that nothing bad happens to him. Later, if asked, she will say that she had been escorting the boy out here. She stays downwind of the boy and his dogs, going unnoticed by the trio.

Shortly after Morendo arrives, Athena trots in, giving Cerberus and Aliana a wide smile. Looking to the tall boy, she gently chides says, “Morendo, you left me in the dust! You know we were supposed to stick together.” The words hold no sting and, as she moves toward the water’s edge, she flashes the boy a knowing look. Turning her attention to the falls and everything around them, Athena breathes out, “Wow.” As awe is clearly written on her features.


"Athena Nocturna"

Aliana didn't have to wait long before others of Fenmyre began to arrive to heed her call. Cerberus was the first to show up, greeting the strapping young lad with a proud smile and tip of her head, her own tail wagging to see him so eager to lend his paws to help grow their pack. Her own child arrived next, smiling with an easily recognizable motherly affection as Morendo approached and immediately set to dipping his paws in the stream. Then Athena showed shortly behind Morendo; they'd apparently been having some sort of race to get here that her son had won. They all looked to her, ready to do as she asked. There was an unfamiliar sense of power in that regard, one the former slave woman was still working to overcome. This seemed like as good a place as any to start.

"Thank you all for coming so expeditiously," she began, addressing the group as a whole while aquamarine eyes moved between each of their faces. The group that had gathered was a sharp bunch and she was grateful to have all of their collective minds together to put towards the task of planning the logistics behind the pack's expansion. "As you all know, Chimera has desired to expand Fenmyre for some time. He has chosen to take these lands for their obvious benefit toward our hunting grounds and fertile lands for plant life." Aliana glanced around the shady cedar woods, listening to the summer songbirds in the treetops overhead and the mellifluous flowing of the waters. "Our job is to ensure this process goes smoothly for us all. I'd like to take some time to plan out our moves, consider any challenges we might face or ways to overcome any obstacles so we can make this easy for us all. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd like to hear them. This is an open forum discussion." With that, Aliana turned the floor open to the other wolves, the clouded queen listening intently to the input of her fellow pack mates.

"Aliana Klien"

Cerberus too wagged his tail as each Morendo and Athena joined them, smirking a little as Athena called out his brother for bounding off without her. Soon Aliana would start their conversation on why she called them here. He was expecting more meetings and brainstorming with claiming the new territory so he wasn't surprised on the subject. He'd wait until the floor was open before he put his pieces in, he had already been with others on scouting the falls so he had different things to add. "Kione has brought up the abundance of bears in the area. I had suggested that those with lower fighting abilities stay out of the land until we can get our bearings on them." The thought was directly related to his siblings and Chimera's queens, but Cereberus knew there were others in the pack too that hadn't taken up fighting as a main skill. "Valtiel had suggested another community den here," he pointed towards an area on the face of the falls that hosted a small clearing just by the pool under the falls. "And Ruse had the idea of clearing some of the trees around here so we can repurpose those for the den and maybe make a barrier of sorts around it too."

"Cerberus"

Morendo glanced up at Athena as she came to join them, calling him out for leaving her behind, and he quickly picked up on the cover she was giving him. He grinned and chuckled, replying, "Ah, right. I was just too excited to see what mother had going on." That wasn't entirely a lie and his mother hadn't even really questioned what he was doing there when he approached, but at least if he did he had an alibi. His mother moved on quickly now that a good sized group had gathered, bringing up the fact that this was where his father was wanting to expand the pack to. They were there to talk about what obstacles they would face doing this and how to over come them. He nodded with understanding and looked over to Cerberus as his half-brother spoke up first, mentioning some of the other thoughts and ideas that had come up in other scouting missions. "There is definitely plenty of bears," he confirmed with a nod. He had fought one of them off with his father and a couple of his brothers not that long ago. "If we could find something to deter them that would probably be a good idea... I don't know if there's something that they really don't like or not, but if there is we could use that to line the border with it. I like the idea of having a den out here too. It'd be a good shelter in case it starts storming while we're out here away from he island and we need cover."

"Morendo Klien"

Morendo glances up at her as Athena strolls in, the pup quickly catching on to her ploy. A wink is secretly thrown his way as she sits herself near the group and the earthen female casts her eyes around the area, taking in the beautiful scenery. Aliana tells them why they are here and amber eyes turn to the queen. A soft smile is on her lips as she listens to what they all have to say, nodding along with the ideas. Looking to Cerberus, Athena says, “What if we also repurposed some of the wood to make planter boxes? Maybe we could have a small garden of herbs and berries out here? I am sure we can divert some water away to help keep the plants watered and healthy. Hmm. But we would also need to find a way to keep the herbivores away too…” Her voice trails off as she thinks, nodding her approval to the idea about having a communal den out here, adding, “We could stash furs and supplies inside too. So, wolves can wait out the storms.” Amber eyes look around the group, gauging what they think of her ideas.

"Athena Nocturna"

As soon as she'd posed the topic of discussion to the group, Aliana saw the gears beginning to turn in all of their heads. The group that had gathered were some of Fenmyre's best and brightest, and between the four of them, she felt confident that they'd be able to cover the gamut of possible situations and obstacles the pack might face during their expansion. Cerberus spoke first, mentioning the abundance of bears in the cedar forest. Ali gave a hum and nodded; yes, she had heard of the bear population being an issue near the falls. "I agree. Those of us incapable of taking on such predators should not risk our lives unnecessarily." Cerberus also suggested a communal den out in the woods, like the one they had built in the aspen woods to the north. She nodded her head to Cerberus in silent appreciation for his contributions, then glanced back to Morendo and Athena. "What else?"

Her not-so-little boy spoke in agreement to Cerberus, confirming that there were indeed a number of bears to contend with. His suggestion of some sort of deterrent was a good idea, but for the life of her, Aliana couldn't imagine what would be potent enough to keep fully grown bears away. Perhaps Siren would know more about plants bears tended to avoid. They could cultivate some here in the woods for protection. Morendo and Athena both agreed that the communal den was a good idea. "It sounds like a communal den is something we're all in favor for. Once we finish claiming the land, we'll have to start construction on it as soon as possible," said the clouded queen. "Planter boxes would make cultivating some of the land's native herbs and plants easier. Perhaps building them near the river as a sort of natural irrigation system?"

With their ideas agreed upon by the group, Aliana rose to her dainty paws once more and gave a decisive nod of her head. "It sounds like we're all in agreement for the communal den. Once we've driven the last of the bears out and it's safe, we can begin construction right away. Cerberus, I'll leave you and Athena to scope out the location of where we should build it." The two fighters would be spending most of the time in the woods around the falls; they'd know the best place to build a den when they were done. "All right, we've still got a lot of work to do, so let's get to it! Morendo, sweetheart, will you come lend me a paw gathering up some supplies and bundling them in preparation for moving to the den when it's built?" Ali smiled sweetly up to her strapping son, half wanting to steal his time away for selfish mother-son bonding, and half using it as an excuse to get her brave yet headstrong son out of fighting any more apex predators. A mother would always worry about her children, especially when they were throwing themselves into dangerous situations like they yearned for the grave.

"Aliana Klien"

Cerberus as intent as ever looked to each wolf as they brought up their own thoughts and ideas and then to Aliana as she gave her own feedback and opinions. "I like the idea of planter boxes." He spoke in regards to Athena's idea. He too didn't know of a better way to deter bears other than fighting them which wasn't the safest of ideas or it was risky in case one happened to wander in after they thought everything was under control. It was the same on the island or Aspen, just that rare occasion when a predator managed to make it to shore and sneak in. They would probably end up having more patrolers in the main land borders of the pack.

Nodding carefully at Aliana suggesting he and Athena work together to find an appropriate place for the communal den he didn't take many steps away from where they were sitting, just pointing out to the face of the falls that made almost a natural wall in front of the pool at the bottom. "We can expand a little more fencing or logs to help make that a little more secluded and safe. We can take another trip out here together though and scout around some to see if there are any other places we can plant herbs or other uses for the land."

"Cerberus"

Morendo probably would have agreed with whatever his mother suggested and he didn’t know much about growing herbs, but the planter boxes sounded like a good idea to him. It couldn’t possibly be a bad idea to have a place to grow some of the herbs that they would need. The communal den had been something they all agreed on as well and then his mother assigned finding the location for it to Cerberus and Athena. He was asked to help her with gathering the supplies they would need for building and to bundle them up and he nodded without hesitation. "Of course, Momma.” He was always willing to help her with whatever she needed. Cerberus didn’t waste any time in pointing out a possible spot where they could build the den they were talking about, talking to Athena about how they could secure it and about coming back out to look some more. He left the task to them and once his mother was ready to go back he’d escort her to the island so they could get to work as well.

"Morendo Klien"

They all share their ideas and Athena nods happily to Aliana when the clouded Queen leaves her and Cerberus the task of finding a good spot for the communal den. When Cerberus adds that he likes the idea of planter boxes, Athena offers him a warm smile as an idea forms in her mind. She nods in support of his idea of fencing and coming back out to scout the area again. As Aliana and Morendo start back to the island, the shorter, earthen-hued Athena moves up to the tall heir and flashes him a smile.

Amber eyes scan the area around the falls as she says, “You know… we could always take a trip up to Boreas in the spring and bring back some herbs for the planter boxes. I can show you a couple cool places while we are up there.” Cerberus has always seemed interested in her knowledge of the lands since they first met, her nomadic lifestyle had been foreign and exotic to him. Since then, Athena has wanted to introduce him slowly to the beautiful lands beyond the island and this seems like a golden one.


"Athena Nocturna"