The world was dangerous. Always she had known this. She had known it instinctively as she was expelled from her mother's body into the cold, unforgiving environment. She had known it as she had stalked from the den for the first time. She had trained hard, and she had survived. Now so would Ebony. The ebony-masked regent halted within the wide cleared area of the lake region, and sent out a musical call for all the thegn, all the dreng, all those who had chosen the path of tooth and claw, to join her in fight training. There was unrest in the lands outside their pack, shifting alliances and threatening war. Olympus loomed over Ebony like a stalking mountain lion. Covari's empire building, the restless fury of the displaced Valhallans. Ebony was an island in a sea of turmoil, but that danger could boil over at any moment. They must be ready. OOC: This is going to be a very fast thread - a deadline of three days for initial posts (due 2:00 PM on Thursday July 24st) and then once paired off three days to start the spars. If you miss a deadline there will be IC consequences. Once the spars start the defaults will apply and again there will be IC consequences for slacking off.

A call rang out, and it was clear the giantess was to attend. Picking herself up from the soft, lush grass, she lumbered off in the direction from which the howl had rung out. There was a note of warning in that call, which logically meant either something was amiss, or there was to be a fight. Training then? A dark grin spread across the Viking princess' broad features, and she carried on towards where her regent awaited her. Massive paws struck the terra with a surprising stealth, but that did not change that her mass left marks on the ground where she stepped. The behemoth was ready to shed blood, make the fur fly. Steel cords of muscle rippled beneath a thick pelt of caramel golden hues, broad shoulders pushing aside brambles that threatened to obscure her path.
A clearing made itself known, and within stood the lovely dark queen. A hungry smile slipped onto the face of the behemoth as she strode forward, stopping a little ways to the masked femme's right side. "And what pleasures have you concocted for me on this day, my queen?" Inquisitive melodies would purr, her voice like quiet thunder. Her rump would fall slowly onto the terra, and she would let her banner lay on the ground beside her. Demeanor remained calm, but the taut muscles that coated her like armor belied her suspicion that something was afoot that would result in violence. Not that she was complaining, she lived for a fight.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

There was a chill in the air this morning. Clouds rolled out above and he could almost taste the moisture in the air. Baldur lifted his head to gaze at the sky for just a moment, crystal blue eyes piercing through the heavens but there was no immediate threat of rain. Just the slow rolling march of the clouds. Teasing rain but never making any commitment to it. Even so his patrol shift was about over and it was time to head in. Baldur's ebony paws picked out a familiar trail and then the brute was off. As he neared the densite a call rang out. Katja. Snowy ears flicked forward as he analyzed the call. It was important and for most of the pack though it was not painfully urgent as it might be if there were intruders or a crisis. Stretching lightly and shaking out his coat he headed off to greet the Drottning. As he neared he noticed there was another femme. A massive femme. He slowed in his pace and dipped his head to her in greeting. "Hello miss, I'm Baldur. You're a new face to Ebony." Turning to Katja he dipped his head once again in greeting. "Lady Katja, what do you need?"

Sigmarr was in a mood. A bitter, cold aire that could've frosted the ground on which he walked. His mind had been eating itself, reminding him over and over of his failures in the day and haunting his dreams during the night. It had been the final straw. Sindri was gone now too. What a marvelously useless brother. He couldn't keep mother around. He failed to impress Valeriya enough to bring her back. He couldn't rescue Svet. Now Sindri had been kidnapped. How pathetic? The boy swallowed, fighting back tears as he felt panic rising in his throat. But he wouldn't cry. He was pathetic and useless yes but he was not that week. Fangs bit into the flesh of his left ankle. Hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough to be anything serious. The pain cut through the vice-grip of his anxiety, jarring him enough to allow him to breath. Then he heard the call. Katja. Did she know? What the hell was he going to tell her? He was beginning to feel like his purpose in the pack was to deliver bad news. Sighing he turned around headed to the training. The turnout was disappointing. Katja, Baldur, and some strange femme were there. Words spilled from his maw before he could stop them. "Katja? I ran into Valeriya, she's back in Alacritis but Ebony is, to her, a hellhole. She won't come back. Apparently her family isn't worth enough to weather this storm. And Sindri? she's missing. She's gone I can't find any sign of her." He just wanted to lay down and die at this point. "I.." his voice cracked. "I'm so sorry." "Speech"

The girl would hear the call, and even though fighting was far from her calling she would answer. Her build was suited for such things, even if she did not choose a path of a fighter it did not mean war and danger might not come to Ebony?s doorstep. She worried for danger that may arrive, though she had yet to see a wolf deemed dangerous. But she knew they were out there... Somewhere... A predator stalking unsuspecting prey. The girl would lend her strength to Ebony?s cause, fight for them to the best of her ability, no matter what. So she would arrive, coming among packmates and sitting. She would be a yearling next season... And she was capable of pulling her own weight. It was time to start proving herself as a daughter of Tahlia and Bane. Faded blue eyes would shine, resting on Katja, and waiting for this to begin.