Bones of our Ancestors

Sparrow watched as others voiced similar questions to hers and she drew a sigh of relief. She was shaking, she realized. She had been brash when speaking up for Quelt against Lillianna, her single growl being drowned out before her words had left the air. She was still too brash, she thought.

Starling told Lillie to learn her place. If she had been a different wolf, she would have sneered at the red woman, but she didn't. This didn't feel like a victory. She wasn't happy with Lillianna's behavior, nor proud of her own, she simply stepped in, fearful that everyone would turn on Quelt and feeling that Quelt was not wrong nor disloyal.

When Aunt Harmony spoke up, that was when Sparrow sighed in relief. An adult, her own aunt, thought similarly to her. She wasn't the odd one out. She wasn't all alone. She wasn't completely wrong... right? She started to feel better, more confident in her prior words. She wasn't bad. She was okay.

Then Lillianna spoke up telling Starling to learn his place. Sparrow wasn't a fighter, but she couldn't hold her hackles completely smooth, couldn't hide the glitter of anger that danced in her eyes or stop her maw from dropping open slightly before clicking shut. She quickly calmed her appearance with a long breath in then out. She turned on Starling, the wolf that stood up for her when Zell insulted her without any second thought. Sparrow watched as Lillianna stalked away and Starling left. An odd feeling welled up in her chest; Distrust? Anger? Pity? This Lillianna, Sparrow thought, must be trouble, and if she would turn on Starling like than and turn tail to go to Finch, was not to be trusted. Lillianna was disloyal and brash, even is she spoke of loyalty and passion, Sparrow felt those things boiled down to more than who would fight who when. She liked to think that she only became rough when someone was being unfairly attacked, like when Zell insulted Lillianna, or just now when everyone wanted to jump on Quelt. Was she wrong? Was Lillianna being, in some sense, the same, or was she always ready to jump? Sparrow wasn't sure, but she knew she didn't like the red girl right now. She felt like she needed to keep an eye on her and watch her every move.

Shrike then spoke up and promptly left. Sparrow looked after him, then turned to her father as he began to speak. He said they were to be mercenaries... hired fighters ready to fight whenever. They were also supposed to be a good pack, though, weren't they? And were they getting paid for this? Her father addressed her and her ears flicked back submissively for a second to show respect. He said they would not harm the innocent. Sparrow nodded, stepping towards her father, "Questo è tutto quello che posso chiedere." Sparrow lifted her head in a small smile, "Tu non sei crudele. Per favore ricorda. I do not know of this Sin, but I do know you, Father, and I trust you." She aimed to lick her father's chin, "I am with you." Sparrow flipped between the two languages slowly, but smoothly. She was not going to apologize, but her father had made an attempt to answer her questions without acting like-

Félicien erupted into a babble. She understood he was angry for his pack, but like he said, he wasn't there. Sparrow did not think Sin acted mercilessly. He challenged and he won and it was scary and maybe they needed to fight him, but she didn't think that one act was evil. If another alpha was scared of him, Sparrow wondered if that was Sin's fault or the Alpha's. There were so many sides to the story that Sparrow didn't know, so she put her faith in her father. Turning, Sparrow lowered her voice calmly. She wasn't angry at Félicien, only sad. He spoke of acting like Bass was the enemy, but he was acting like anyone with any doubts was the enemy, "You are saying the same thing Lillianna said, so you know I feel that this is not true. We have questions, we are not acting like my father is the enemy, so please let everyone day their piece freely, then let my father explain. Everyone will feel more at ease if they understand everything, right? My father said we will fight for the sake of our pack, and for the sake of your pack. It's up to you to stand with him, and let all the others fall away." Sparrow offered a small nod, the ones that would fight would fight, and the ones that wouldn't wouldn't. Bass would deal with that.

The small red wolf(?) spoke up, scolding Lillianna. She felt that Félicien had reacted the same way too, but she didn't disagree with what he said when he said he had lost respect for her. He made a lot of sense, Sparrow thought. She wanted to speak to him afterwards, maybe he could offer some insight on how to tame her words into meaning. Everyone else said their piece and then Bass dismissed them. She moved to push briefly into his chest, "Stai al sicuro." she whispered. Bounding back a bit, Sparrow offered a loose, forged smile, "Come to me for healing, Father, though I'm not sure if you'll need it!" She offered a small wink and turned to bound away.

She passed many strange wolves: Valentine, some others, then Aunt Rhythm, then- "Ash?!" She stopped to look at the boy she had gotten to know briefly in Imperium. He kept walking, his eyes glancing at her as he smiled, but didn't break formation. They were all really going to fight... Sparrow took in a shaky breath, swallowing a lump in her throat. If they were going to fight, they would need healers! Jumping a small bit, Sparrow kicked herself into motion.

-Exit Sparrow-