This Christmas I'll Burn It To The Ground!

He ignored her question for some time, but when he finally answered, she felt her anxiety rise. "If you haven't figured it out by now, you're a poor leader. My uncle was mistaken in passing the pack onto you," She grit her teeth together, ears pressing against her skull as he spoke. "I thought perhaps giving you a chance would change things. That you'd be able to kick things into gear and get the pack more...ambitious. But not even you seem to want to do that. You walk around looking clueless, and despite Acere's offer to teach and train you, you refuse because you want to figure it out on your own. While I understand that desire, that's something that should have been done before the pack was passed to you. A pack requires leadership. Without leadership and structure, a pack cannot survive let alone function well together. But as it stands, I am now challenging you for the right to lead the pack." She narrowed her eyes at him, her body tensing as her heart pounded hard against her chest. She never expected Ignis to do this...it seemed nobody expected him to do this. It felt like a betrayal, but...at the same time...he wasn't wrong. She had been a poor excuse for a leader. She had done nothing to really acknowledge her new duties and had basically let the pack fend for themselves. While she was a leader now, she wasn't doing anything to lead them.

She looked down at her paws. She knew he was right. She wasn't ready for this. Although she didn't want to disappoint her father and the pack he placed in her paws, she wasn't ready. She had hoped nobody had noticed. She had hoped that she would've been able to learn on her own and not ask for help. But in doing that, she had failed even more. Her pride had been her downfall. Now she felt like she had failed them all, and that perhaps they had all been too nice to point out her failure to her. But Ignis...he called her out on it. She looked up at the faces that were supposed to depend on her. The faces that she knew she was failing...

"So, cousin. Will you accept my challenge and defend your position? Or will you choose to walk away?"

Her attention turned to him again, her claws anxiously scraping the deck of the ship as her anxiety rose further until she felt like she was starting to panic. How weak she must look in front of them all...It took everything she had to try and keep her composure. To keep her legs from shaking. But...her confidence was shattered. Ever since she had that encounter in that damn cave...she had changed for the worst. Her confidence had been all but destroyed there...on top of that, she knew she wouldn't be able to defeat Ignis. He was a far better warrior than she was. He had more experience. She felt like if she tried to fight him, she would lose pretty quick. He looked confident standing up there...but her? Despite her size and imposing appearance, she was weak. She knew that. She didn't have the experience for any of this...and yet...she was still afraid of letting them down.

Would they think less of her for walking away? Could they see how unsure she was? Would they hate her for failing them? She fought back the tears that threatened to surface, but she did her best to blink them away. "I...I can't...I can't do this..." Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment before she looked at her father. "I...I wanted so badly to follow in your footsteps, father...but...he's right...I'm not fit to lead..." Not since her confidence had been so badly shaken. "I...I'm sorry, everyone...I've been failing you all since day one..." She stared at the ground again, "The pack is yours..." She wasn't sure if she was ready for backlash...but she would understand if the pack got angry at her for her decision...I'm sorry, father...I just can't do it...