growing pains [ASHEN MEETING]

It had been some time since the Empress had summoned them all together. The last he could remember was shortly after he'd rejoined the ranks fo his natal pack, a few seasons ago. The amethyst marked male slipped from the familiar outbuilding of the Shrine where he'd been holed up since his experiment with the thinning veil. Having recovered the muscle mass and mental fortitude that he'd lost to the drugs over those many days, he was safe to venture out without supervision by his companions. As he meandered to the source of the summons, Pollux clung loosely to the side of his neck, tiny digits wrapped in the silken strands of his ruff. Hallux kept to the air, and was quick to alight upon a branch high above the clearing where the pack had already begun to gather. Two-toned eyes sought out the familiar pallid form of his favourite cousin, before he remembered that she was gone. Married off to one of their allies. He would need to go visit her soon.

The wraith dipped his head in a subtle greeting to the Empress, before he took a seat near the fringes of the meeting. Without Ikigai, he wasn't sure he was totally welcome here anymore. His other cousins weren't as familiar, and he was the only one left to follow the old religion. He was an outlier among their ranks, and it left him wondering how he ought to go about.. making friends. A small sigh shuddered through his narrow chest as he settled onto his haunches, wrapping his tail about his hips and paws. Pollux released his grip on the long strands of fur around his neck, and settled instead upon the folded joint of his master's knee, leaning against his flank. The tiny primate idly toyed with the jeweled chain that draped over the wolf's form, watching the rest of the pack trickle in.

"Pontifex" || "Hallux" || "Pollux"