A beautiful day for a neighbor
01-30-2020, 08:48 AM
While he knew some of his wolves were less than enthusiastic about the changes he had made to the family's pack, Eligos had been unmoved. This was the way he had decided upon, the Path if you will, and while he would willingly coax those wolves to accept the changes, in the end his mind was set. Pyrrhic had been Malleus' heir, and he had gladly given the pack to Eligos. The line of their succession was unbroken - he had not seized the pack by force. He was the leader of the Abraxas by their traditions, and his was the right to change what he felt needed changing.
Eligos didn't say any of that out loud, of course, merely observed and would seek to rectify their discontent with words rather than teeth as their ancestors might have resorted to.
And so they had moved.
The journey hadn't been particularly arduous, not like when his father had taken over the pack and moved them to the castle. This time they no longer had any elderly wolves, nor young pups. Except that, along the way, he had found a pair of rolly-poly little dog pups, barely weaned, and hadn't quite had the heart to leave them behind. They had been fierce for being tiny pups, despite ancestory that was inferior to a wolf, and he told himself that he would make them useful someday. He had piled the pair onto his travois and they had mercifully fallen asleep, and they had already been close enough to their destination that they didn't wake until the pack had crossed the new border in the laye afternoon.
He had them make a temporary camp in one of the larger caves in the walls of the canyon - it was large enough for them to spread out and have some privacy, but the pack would undoubtedly want to find their own dens. For now, he asked that they sleep there together until they mapped out the area and knew which caverns would be dangerous, occupied by predators, or likely to flood in the rain. He encouraged them to explore in pairs or groups if they didn't have companions to send for help in an emergency, and passed among them all bits of chalky rock to mark the caverns to keep from getting lost. He imagined most of them would want to explore the canyon with all its fascinating nooks and crannies, or sleep to rest after their journey. Tired as he was too, though, Wligos doubted those pups would let him sleep after the nap they'd had, and he didn't particularly want them wandering the canyon aline until he had instilled some discipline in them.
Besides, he had an errand of his own that needed doing.
The lake-land butted up against another pack territory, one he recognozed the scent of though he had never seen these lands. While it didn't particularly bother him to have close neighbors, he was glad they had part of the lake plains between them as a buffer between the other pack and the caves that would be a fall-back. He would need to encourage his wolves to make their homes in the canyon as much as possible for their protection, though with the caves as ready-made dens he couldn't imagine too many would try to dig their own in the wetter land around the lake.
The closeness of his new neighbors made it imperative he make the initial move to approach them and soothe any ruffled feathers Aerie's proximity might cause, now, right after they'd arrived, before anyone realized they'd staked their claim and could get aggressive over it.
With the two pups tumbling around his paws and playing games of Chase and killing chunks of grass with their fierce little teeth, he made his way to the not-yet-marked border. He stopped to study the wall that marked the other border for a brief moment before dismissing it. He raised his leg and marked his own border, just one spot as a declaration, then stepped closer to the wall, between the two territories.
Ah.... an opening. He positioned himself in front of it, not crossing but immediately there, then lifted his muzzle to give a short, polite call for the pack's alpha. Unless the pack had changed leaders, he knew this alpha, though they had never met or spoken. He had been one in the crowd at her festival.
Eligos didn't say any of that out loud, of course, merely observed and would seek to rectify their discontent with words rather than teeth as their ancestors might have resorted to.
And so they had moved.
The journey hadn't been particularly arduous, not like when his father had taken over the pack and moved them to the castle. This time they no longer had any elderly wolves, nor young pups. Except that, along the way, he had found a pair of rolly-poly little dog pups, barely weaned, and hadn't quite had the heart to leave them behind. They had been fierce for being tiny pups, despite ancestory that was inferior to a wolf, and he told himself that he would make them useful someday. He had piled the pair onto his travois and they had mercifully fallen asleep, and they had already been close enough to their destination that they didn't wake until the pack had crossed the new border in the laye afternoon.
He had them make a temporary camp in one of the larger caves in the walls of the canyon - it was large enough for them to spread out and have some privacy, but the pack would undoubtedly want to find their own dens. For now, he asked that they sleep there together until they mapped out the area and knew which caverns would be dangerous, occupied by predators, or likely to flood in the rain. He encouraged them to explore in pairs or groups if they didn't have companions to send for help in an emergency, and passed among them all bits of chalky rock to mark the caverns to keep from getting lost. He imagined most of them would want to explore the canyon with all its fascinating nooks and crannies, or sleep to rest after their journey. Tired as he was too, though, Wligos doubted those pups would let him sleep after the nap they'd had, and he didn't particularly want them wandering the canyon aline until he had instilled some discipline in them.
Besides, he had an errand of his own that needed doing.
The lake-land butted up against another pack territory, one he recognozed the scent of though he had never seen these lands. While it didn't particularly bother him to have close neighbors, he was glad they had part of the lake plains between them as a buffer between the other pack and the caves that would be a fall-back. He would need to encourage his wolves to make their homes in the canyon as much as possible for their protection, though with the caves as ready-made dens he couldn't imagine too many would try to dig their own in the wetter land around the lake.
The closeness of his new neighbors made it imperative he make the initial move to approach them and soothe any ruffled feathers Aerie's proximity might cause, now, right after they'd arrived, before anyone realized they'd staked their claim and could get aggressive over it.
With the two pups tumbling around his paws and playing games of Chase and killing chunks of grass with their fierce little teeth, he made his way to the not-yet-marked border. He stopped to study the wall that marked the other border for a brief moment before dismissing it. He raised his leg and marked his own border, just one spot as a declaration, then stepped closer to the wall, between the two territories.
Ah.... an opening. He positioned himself in front of it, not crossing but immediately there, then lifted his muzzle to give a short, polite call for the pack's alpha. Unless the pack had changed leaders, he knew this alpha, though they had never met or spoken. He had been one in the crowd at her festival.