Freebird

Chaos had watched Birna and Raba disappear into the canyons after their quarry, and wondered if he'd ever see either of them again. He had wanted to go racing after them and demand Raba take the pack back and he'd track down Magpie... but he knew it was something Raba had to do for herself, and besides... there was a rising excitement in him, to do this thing he'd never considered doing, and it wasn't like him to second guess and regret anything before he'd leaped in with all four feet. Why shouldn't he lead a pack, after all? Wasn't he his father's son for all he'd been given the Saxe name to carry on instead?

But if he was going to do this thing there were responsibilities he had to take care of. He went first to the den Dagmaer had been brought to, to find that Kassander and Qualm had done what they could with her and she was resting. He'd peeked in on her, but he hadn't wanted to disturb her so he'd quickly ducked out again. He wondered what she'd decide to do once she recovered - if she recovered. Would she go after her relatives and travel with them to find this... Aserlin? He'd be sure to speak with her when she was able and let her know where they'd gone.

For now though...

Somewhat subdued by the circumstances of his obtaining the pack, but with obvious energy he bounded to the center of a wide valley cupped within the Maw, and hopped up onto the boulder there. He surveyed the valley, spread out like a rocky amphitheater, and thought of his dad calling meetings. He wished Valentine were able to see him now. Chaos, the youngest, the oddity, an alpha.

He tried lifting his head in an approximation of Valentine's kingly bearing, but it just felt awkward and dumb, like a pup playing so he dropped it right away. The two owls dropped silently from the sky into a gnarled old tree a little ways away in the valley, hooting quietly to themselves a moment before swiveling their heads as one to watch him. He grinned at them, and decided that if he would be an alpha it would be on his own terms, not trying to imitate any of the fancy cultured packs that dotted Ardent. Nor would he borrow his father's militaristic ranks - it would be ill-fitting for a wolf as impulsive and freespirited as Chaos to try to be alpha to such a disciplined and ordered system.

Lifting his head he called the remnants of what had been Ivory Ridge together. He'd give them a choice to stay or go. He knew a lot of them had probably just been here to follow Raba, and with her gone they might not feel comfortable following him. If they left, Chaos figured it was just as well they did. He wasn't offended, and good riddance anyway. He wouldn't want to deal with the headache of constantly dealing with "but that's not the way Raba did it" and explain over and over again that Raba had wanted him to change everything. If they just didn't bother to show up though, that would really tick him off. That stank of disloyalty to Raba, who they all still thought was their alpha, and it made Chaos lift his lip in a half-snarl of disgust. He flopped down on his boulder to wait to see who'd bother to show up.

OOC: this is a mandatory meeting for all wolves in Ivory Ridge except Birna and Raba who are gone and Dag who is still poisoned. Everyone else is required to attend. Deadline is March 6. Sorry for the short notice but I do not want to be waiting on everyone to post so I can get things going.