exit stage left

Chaos' eyes still stung from smoke, but he watched the arrival of his pack with weary concern. They straggled in slowly, and many never appeared at all. Among the missing were pups, and his heart dropped before he steeled himself. "All right," his said to gain their attention, his voice a hoarse croak. "It seems the volcano is having a bit of a tantrum tonight." The forced lightness of his words was at odds with the tired slouch and smoke-reddened eyes, but he forced a grim smile nonetheless. "I don't know how long this is going to last, or when our lands will be safe to inhabit again, but I can tell you we are not going to be able to stay there now. We need to get a headcount, see who was outside of pack lands tonight and who was home but is missing now. Then we'll have to decide where to go until things here are safe again." What Chaos desperately wanted to do was turn around and run back into the pack lands to search for the missing - but if they had been caught in the wildfire there was nothing he could do for them, and those who had made it here needed him to lead them. He cleared his throat, wincing at the roughness, before continuing. "I need a group to come with me now to look for..." his tongue tripped over the word survivors so he settled for "to look for anyone who got lost on the way here. I'd like everyone else to stay here until we get back, and we will all get to safety. If anyone has any ideas where we should hole up?" He glanced around expectantly. "Personally I think we might be better off taking the pups on a tour of Boreas for a while rather than trying to lay claim to temporary lands that everyone else is going to want too, but I'm open to suggestions." He shook himself, forcing himself to his paws despite his weariness, and looked around at them all. "Valentine, I need you to stay here," he said, with faint gentleness in his tone. "As Alula you're the next highest ranking wolf here, and your boys need you." Torrent hadn't shown up with the rest, and Valentine was too old to go off on a rescue mission. Chaos wasn't willing to risk him, not after losing his mother. "Rhythm, Asvor, I know you don't have much to work with but please see what you can do about any injuries. Anyone else, volunteers for rescue come with me. Adult volunteers," he added belatedly, for the benefit of his young brothers and his niece.