Making Waves

Surprisingly the first of his family to appear wasn't the brother who'd inherited the pack, but rather Baine. His monochrome tail wagged in pleasure to see his littermate, though another twinge of guilt bit at him. He really hadn't been putting enough effort into seeking out his much smaller sister, even before he'd gotten caught up in his plans for the range. He'd even been here to speak with Regulus and hadn't sought her out. Though, he reasoned, she was surrounded by family here with Regulus, Zuriel, their mother and father, and the new pups, not to mention the more distant family that their mother attracted, so at least his absence hadn't meant she was alone. Still, he felt the need to explain his absence to her somehow. "Dia dhuit, Baine. I'm sorry I haven't been around. I've been building a..." he paused, uncertain of a word to describe it. "A community of my own, Baine. Someplace where anyone can feel welcome, have a say in the community and be safe. A place that can help... provide for all the wolves of Ardent, not just any one pack. It's been a lot of work so I'm afraid I haven't made it back here as often as I should..."

They were quickly joined by three young wolves, clearly his youngest siblings to judge by their colorations. Only the first spoke, a bold young girl who looked so much like him it was startling. He regarded her with all due gravity, and answered her with as much seriousness as she'd asked the question. "Yes, I am family. My name is Tórnach - I am your older brother. Baine is my littermate. You must be Rasiel, Laisrén, and Kieryn." Regulus had spoken only briefly of them at his last visit, so while he could pick out Laisren by virtue of being the only male, Tornach did not know which of the girls was which and so waited patiently for them to introduce themselves.

He was puzzled when another wolf appeared that he didn't recognize. No, he did recognize her, vaguely, from the meeting where his mother had raised Celestial's banner for the first time, but he didn't know who she was. She knew him, though, a startling fact that had him perusing the stranger much more closely. She was much smaller than him, but older, probably Regulus' age. It was the eyes that gave her away, though - they were Surreal's eyes, odd to see in a wolf of earthen coloration when it seemed that Surreal's colors bred true in their family rather than Falk's. "Faite?" he hazarded a guess, naming the sister who had gone missing before his own birth. He could remember now that Regulus had mentioned something about her elevation in rank to Legionary, though at the time he had not grasped the significance of the name. He dipped his head politely to her, not entirely certain how to greet someone of such a close relation who was essentially a stranger. "It is good to finally meet you," he settled on finally, before lifting his muzzle to survey the land on the other side of the border with palpable disappointment.

"I was hoping Máthair or Athair would come. Are they still sick?" he asked the elder two of his present siblings with studied casualness in his tone. He didn't know how much the family had shared with the youngest three and didn't want to cause worry. The wolf he'd called for specifically hadn't appeared, either, a fact that could very well overset his vague plan to take the youngest on an outing without either the parental or alpha authority to give permission. But he couldn't outright say that for fear of getting the younger ones' hopes up only to dash them if he couldn't get them permission. "Is Regulus around?"