To say she was on time would be wrong, but to say she was late well, that was wrong too. There was a fine line that Illie seemed to walk as she moved rather quickly through the packlands, searching for the call. She hadn't really made much note of exactly where the howl has resonated from, but there was a lot of scents leading to this one spot so she pretty much assumed that that's where everyone was going. It seemed kind of important, afterall. She had never been to a meeting before! And to be kind of honest, she was rather nervous about it. This meant she would meet everyone, right? That's what happened at these things....right? She squinted into the distance, staring at the large crowd of wolves and she had to pause to swallow a sudden bought of trepidation. That was a lot of wolves, and she didn't know most of them. Blue eyes were rather wide, but she pushed on, stepping towards the crowd wordlessly. She didn't know how these things worked, or where exactly she should sit, so she just made a point of sitting on the edge, away from anyone, and just stared at Valentine with a steely look on her face. She tried to keep her unease bottled up beneath a mask, but her eyes still glistened with the tell tale signs of fear. She didn't know many here, and she didn't know her place here. She didn't know if she could sit by those that she knew, or if she could even speak. So she just sat and waited, curious about what all this was about.

"Takkatakka"

To say she was late was an understatement. She had been so busy trying to keep her mind away from the darker thoughts that were plaguing her about the events that happened over the past year. And now summer was here...the season where it all started. She wasn't sure if she had fallen into a depression again, or if she had simply wandered off to be on her own to think about her life up to now. With one child sick from pneumonia, she had cared for the child and it was safe to say her pup was getting better. Well...not so much a pup anymore. Her children were nearing a year now, and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready for that milestone just yet.

She would push it from her mind for now, the woman sweeping through the Orchard to collect the healthier of the children that hadn't yet made it to, or were on their way to the meeting. She was late yes, and she would make up for that later. She needed to talk to Valentine soon, probably seek an audience with him after the meeting and get the nagging thoughts off of her chest. As she neared the meeting, she knew that everyone or almost everyone were already present. So she would choose to sit near the back and dip her head to Valentine, and Mercy. For those were pretty much the only two she really had any interaction with. And while she didn't really talk to mercy, she didn't forget the spontaneous short spar they had. It was close, but Avalon and the pale woman seemed to have a mutual respect for one another. Sitting down, the curled her tail around her paws and waited.

Late as ever. The boy didn't particularly care. His mother had scolded him about it, so when his mom rushed by and told him to hurry up made him question her lectures. Then again, this was the first time his mom had ever been late...still, he had been grounded for a whole season. And now that he was able to freely move about he was more keen on entertaining himself with exploration then anything. But whatever mom said, he did. So he followed her to the meeting and upon arrival, he went to go sit around the other kids and looked up at Valentine with excitement, completely forgetting his initial disdain about responding. It was his first pack meeting! He wondered what would be in store.

He didn't have to wait long before the first members began to appear. Seraphim arrived first and parted with a few words about the weather. ”Indeed it is,” he answered with a soft smile before his gaze was pulled away by the arrival of Birna. To her he dipped his head. ”Good morning, Birna.” After Birna came Angelus, Evangeline, Esti and the boy Lykos, who ran up to him with a grin on his face. ”Hello, Lykos.” Following Lykos was Felix and then Ashmedai. ”Of course,” he returned cryptically. And then there was Cascade who arrived with her usual flair. ”Hey, Cas.” Then came Mercy and Chaos, who burst onto the scene. ”Chaos!” he mimicked in a somewhat smaller voice. ”Come sit next to me.” After Chaos came Atreides, Hati and  Revenge, each earning a nod in greeting as Valentine sought eye contact. Rhythm entered the gathering place next and Valentine's grin grew. He returned her affectionate touch and his eyes trailed after her as she moved to sit down nearby, but his attention didn't have long to linger before Dagmaer bounded up with Integra in seemingly resigned pursuit. Then came came Rhyme, Rhys and Illie. To the last of these he said, ”Why don't you sit over here, Illie?” With a small jerk of his head he motioned towards Rhythm and Dagmaer. Lastly came Avalon and Dragon, the pair earning a nod in greeting.

Valentine waited a few more minutes to see if anyone else was going to make it before he decided to begin. Before he addressed the pack he leaned over Seraphim to speak to Angelus in a hushed voice. ”Your servus is your responsibility. See to it she remembers to attend future meetings.” His gaze then dropped to Cascade. She should have been able to hear him speak to Angel, so instead of repeating himself he simply gave her a significant look. How they chose to get attendance from their slaves was up to them.

Finally his gaze rose to take in those gathered. Speaking loudly so everyone could hear him, Valentine rumbled, ”Greetings and thank you all for gathering so quickly. I've got a couple of things I'd like to discuss today starting with this year's apprenticeships.” His eyes roved over Imperium's three puppies thoughtfully. ”Cascade will be paired with Dagmaer, Lykos with Mercy and Dragon with Esti.” Valentine looked at each teacher in turn. ”Don't take this responsibility lightly. You are helping to prepare our young ones for adulthood and hopefully giving them the skills they need to not only survive, but to thrive." He paused for a beat, then, ”I'd also like to pair each of our yearlings with a ranked member. My hope is that these mentorships will give our yearlings a glimpse into what life will be like once they too are ranked, as well as help them choose a career path if they haven't already. The pairs are as follows: Illume with Mercy, Rhys with Hati,” His daughter seemed comfortable enough with the Legionary. If anyone could withstand Hati's gruffness it would be Rhys. ”Rhyme with Avalon and Chaos with Birna.”

Having stood up at the start of the meeting Valentine slowly sat down again. ”The main thing I'd like to discuss today is raiding and so those of you under the age of one are free to leave if you don't wish to sit through the rest of the meeting.” He paused to give any youngsters who wanted to leave the chance to do so.  ”Now, we can hold meetings and training all day every day but practicing against friends isn't the same as going toe to toe with someone who has just as much to lose as you do. In my opinion Imperium has been too quiet. We stand above our neighbors supported largely by pomp and posture instead of deeds, instead of memorable, tangible shows of strength. I think it's time for a change, but I recognize that the change I propose will cost everyone here something, be it blood or worse, and so it is with that in mind I want to hear your thoughts on the subject. What I'm suggesting isn't a one time thing. If the support is there I want to make raiding a regular event.” The thought of raiding was an exciting one and Valentine had to force himself to remain seated, otherwise he would have stood and paced in anticipation. ”Now, what say you? I want to hear your opinions, both for and against the idea, and I want target suggestions if you have them.”

OOC: Next round is due March 3rd. I want a post from every member old enough to participate (yearlings and up) in a raid. Valentine will dismiss those not interested shortly.

””

Before long, Valentine stood up and addressed the pack. When the young ones were handed out to a mentor, Mercy sat up a little taller. Both Lykos and Illie were given to her, and her tail thumped on the ground as she was given two apprentices. She wanted to speak up, but she waited, waiting for Valentine to open the floor. IT was then that he spoke of a raid, and Mercy was the first to leap to her paws. Purple eyes shone bright as her whole body nearly shook with excitement. The alpha asked for those to speak up, and she let out an excited bark. "I'm all in!" she said without hesitation, bumping her shoulder against Lykos again. He was too young to fight, so she glanced down at him with a smirk. "I will tell you all about it when we get home, kay?" she said softly, although she almost shouted it. It wasn't hard to see that Mercy was overly excited, she had been growing very bored and this would provide a lot of entertainment.

Remembering what she was going to say, her pale ears pulled back slightly as she looked at Valentine. "I hope you don't mind, but I had already taught Illie and Lykos a bit before this meeting," her voice had grown a touch sheepish, although her tail did not stop wagging. Biting her lip, she tried to reign herself in, forcing herself into a seated position. When she did so, her weight still shuffled from leg to leg.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Interesting. She listened quietly as Valentine spoke to the pack, and she kept calm as he talked about pairing mentors and such. At first, she wasn't very excited. Unsure if he would even consider her to be a mentor considering she hadn't been here long, but to her surprise, Valentine paired her up with one of his own children! Her tail wagged as she dipped her head, "I'll teach Rhyme all I know." And she knew quite alot considering she was probably one of the oldest ones here. She looked at Lykos and Dragon, proud they had mentors that would teach them well. Especially Mercy, Avalon respected her and she respected Esti after she had held the training and seemed to be patient enough with the pups that had attended.

When the subject changed to raiding, her ears perked and she listened with all of her attention. She was very interested, and she somewhat had someone on her mind for a good raid..."I agree with mercy, I'm all for the idea of raiding." Normally, she would have shied away from the idea...but one pack in particular she had been rather upset with. "I propose Celestial to be a raiding decision. They're nearby, and I'm sure they have herbs or prey we can't get here. Vericona Plains are a prime spot for good herbs as well, and is plentiful with prey." She would leave out her own personal reasons about it...maybe tell Valentine about her decision after the meeting.

Esti's smile never faltered through the meeting. Everything here was great news. She was assigned a pup to mentor- oh well, could be fun... maybe- but then raids were mentioned. Esti's ears shot up, her smile widening large enough to show teeth. Mercy seemed excited too and, for once, they could agree on something. Mercy said she was all in followed by something irrelevant about the kids. Then Avalon said she was in too, even suggesting a pack. Esti then spoke up, "Finally, yes! I'm at least three-hundred percent in- when do we start? Let's make a tour of it!" A laugh that turned into a partial-cackle left the woman's maw. She hushed herself with a snicker. She was getting too excited. Esti stood, stretching, "I think we have been too quiet. I like Avalon's idea. How 'bout we start close, work our way out? As for a specific target..." Esti's mind shot to Abaven, but she wasn't sure if they were counted as allies, so her smile just sharpened, "Anywhere works for me."

Felix would watch quietly as wolves filtered in, wolves he knew by sent, though not by name nor appearance. Well, for most anyways. He knew Valentine of course, and Cascade, and Rhythm, and Valentine's children (they ween't hard to spot), but no more than that. That should change, he decided, but not at this moment. Instead, he would listen as Valentine spoke up. It was good news, outstanding news, and the man would smile slightly, his tail wagging ever so lightly behind him. Apprenticeships, and so many at that. Imperium was a strong pack, no doubt, and that was once again reaffirmed as raiding was brought up. Hmm... raiding for fun. Ha, Imperium certainly was not a goody-goody pack. No, not in the least. He listened quietly as Valentine explained and asked for suggestions; he was going to keep quiet until a woman spoke up. Celestial? Celestial was a pack in the West, rather far away and in dry lands. Frowning, he'd wait, and another member would agree... adding on they should start close by. Imbecile. He stood then, shaking out his coat. "If we're starting close by, then it makes sense to start with packs in the South as opposed to packs farther away, such as Celestial," he said pointedly, eyeing the idiot women. "There are two packs in the South. We could hit them first, and then later on hit the next closest pack - the one called Abaven, and the other one called Fiori. After that, then it would make sense to hit Celestial... based on starting close and working our way out. That is, unless there's some vendetta against Celestial I was not aware of?" Another pointed look at the women. "If so, by all means, let's hit them first." A toothy grin, shot at Valentine. "But I do believe that Valentine would have let us know if that were the case, would he not?" Felix then sat down, sweeping his gaze once more across the pack. Hopefully the others were more intelligent.

Valentine seemed preoccupied by something, and though he lit up when he saw Rhythm he seemed distracted as the rest of the pack appeared, and Cas eyed him quizzically. He wasn't letting his infatuation with Rhythm interfere with being alpha was he? That didn't seem particularly... Valen-like, she decided, remembering back to his righteous fury when she'd turned her back on him in favor of Sol. No, that's something she'd expect from someone like Bass or one of the other alphas, but not Valen. It was probably just her own moodiness coloring everything, dragging her into a downward whiny spiral. She gave herself a mental shake and bit down hard on her wayward emotions. She was supposed to be Valen's partner, his second, not the whiny lead weight dragging him down. So what if he was distracted by Rhythm? He was alpha and that was his choice, though she was fairly certain it was just in her head anyway he still wouldn't have appreciated her interference if it was true. But wouldn't it be her duty as friend and second to let him know? But it was still all in her head.

Her thoughts chased themselves in ever more irritatingly depressing circles, and she let her head drop to her paws and just hoped Valen would start the meeting soon so she could get out of her head. What the hell was wrong with her? Nothing had felt right since Chaos' birth - no, before that. The last time she could remember feeling like herself was when she'd lured Valen off for an adventure on Sonticus' ship. Was she sick?

Finally Valen began to address the pack, and she lifted her head with an attentive look. Apprenticeships, which was to be expected. She'd trained Chaos over the last year, but there was still the young Sonticus pups who hadn't had any real training. He assigned her one - though she blinked at the name, so close to Daegmar. She couldn't remember one of Avalon's pups bearing that name? Maybe it was another of Valen's strays. She hadn't done as well as she'd hoped to with Ashmedai's training, in part because of his own moodiness about Rhythm's litter and in part because of the distraction Chaos brought, so it would be good to get a second chance in training someone. Valen also assigned the yearlings to mentors to guide them into becoming full members, assigning Chaos to Birna. Cas' eyes traveled to the taller warrior, and she grinned. Birna had actually kept watch while she and Valen were off making Chaos; how did she feel to be training him now? Old, probably, if she was anything like how Cas was feeling.

But she perked up again, and sat up when Valentine began to speak about raids. Oh yes. She grinned gleefully. "You know I'm always good for a fight," she needled him, anticipation brightening her. Suggestions flew from some of the other wolves, as well as harsh words, though she was far too distracted to take much note of it. "We could always raid Abaven," she suggested with patently false innocence. Who cared if Bass was Rhythm's brother? Supposedly she was an Imperium wolf, not Abaven, so maybe it was time that was enforced. "Bass has gotten pretty complacent about how friendly we are, it wouldn't hurt to put a little fear in him."

Ashmedai was all ears when it came to raiding. Mercy seemed to be too. Avalon- was that her name- seemed to be partial to Celestial. His mother agreed that Celestial would be good. Then she suggested starting close. The brown, lower-ranking wolf- who was he anyway- tried to go all geography on them as if he knew all the lands... Wait... Did he? Ash supposed it was kind of common to know the packs. Okay, probably really common... But Celestial wasn't terribly far. It was Tornach's family's pack. They weren't the closest, but they were no Yfir.

Ash agreed that sure, Celestial might be a good target, but he also agreed with his mother's other suggestion that they should start close. Celestial was kind of close across the river.The brown male- what was up with all the brown wolves always trying to ruin the fun mood- suggested sharply to go after closer packs then Abaven then Fiori and tried to ask if there was some vendetta against Celestial, "Pleaaaaase, he asked for suggestions, not accusations of vendettas or whatever. Celestial might be a good spot..." Ashmedai spoke in a mumble eyeing the brown brute suspiciously. What was he trying to be, anyway? Ashnedai's dad asked for suggestions he got two: Celestial and packs close by, but then this guy was trying to go all 'meeeh geography this, vendettas that, you're wrong, glare, glare, glare'. Ashmedai rolled his eyes, "Ahh, shuddup and suggest something." Oh wait- he did. The two south packs then... Abaven? "Abaven is like... really far away compared to the two nearby packs. It's all the way east. It's not the next closest pack. At all." Ashmedai shot a sharp, confused look towards the man. Was he dumb or did he not know where Abaven was? He was just talking geography like he knew, "If we loop one way we can get the two south packs through the caverns to the gully, then hit Torn- Celestial at the lake. Then we could go to the willows and by then we're practically back home... Ah- maybe it's bad to attack them all at once, though." Ashmedai cut off, panting sheepishly, he was trying to pick too many fights at once. He needed to calm down.

As Cascade spoke up, Ashmedai felt himself agreeing from a pack standpoint. They were getting comfortable... The boy thought of Abaven and Sparrow... Slowly, Ash's attention was torn from the subject and a smile rose on his lips, "Yeah, maybe we should start with Abaven. At least they're somebody- and they have healers which means herbs. And they aren't near a bunch of packs so, like, they won't team up and make alliances with all those around them. Hit and run?" Ashemdai smiled, his tongue lolling out of his maw. He shrugged, there were a lot of options, "Lots of packs to the South and West..." Ashmedai mused quietly, glancing at his dad. He wondered what Tornach would think if they raided his family's pack. What about Sparrow? No- for now he had to think of Imperium and raiding season.

Imperium's wolves would quickly fall in and the meeting was underway starting with apprenticeships.  The pups would be paired of first followed by the yearlings and Birna found herself with a new apprentice, Chaos.  She offered the boy a smile and couldn't help chuckling softly to herself.  He would be a handful but she admired the boys spirit and she knew he'd be a devoted learner.  Where had the time gone though?  She couldn't believe he and the others of Valen's last set of litters were yearlings already.  It was simply unreal, next season she would in her fourth year. Valentine would get to the heart of the meeting, raiding.  Like many of her fellows Birna's alertness sharpened at the mention of raiding another pack and she would nod at the alphas words.   It had been far to quiet in Imperium lately and there was the chance, though perhaps slim, that fighting against a common enemy might get some of her fellows minds off their internal feuds.  The members of Imperium seemed to be constantly competing against each other and while a little competition was good she worried about the rifts that could form.  Raiding would be a perfect chance for some bonding time.  She grinned and sat back, letting others offer targets as she mused over her own opinions.  "I am for this idea, regular raiding will help keep our skills from getting rusty as well as encourage teamwork in battle." Birna wasn't particular about a target, really.  No packs stood out to her. "If we're looking for hunting grounds the Algoma Prairie of Donostrea would be a prime target.  It's fairly close by and rich in prey.  Celestial also has good hunting grounds but I don't fancy dragging kills across the barren wastes to get it back home.  They should have some decent herbs, though.  However, if our main goal in this raid is to use it as a training exercise the spoils might be secondary.  How much of a challenge do we want?" she grinned at Cascade. "I think Abaven is fair game and many of their members seemed quite despondent at Imperium's performance in the siege. Though it will be 10 against an entire pack.  Those are challenging odds indeed and I don't know how it will affect our relations with them.  Fiori is a similar size to Abaven if I recall correctly."  It felt strange to mention her old pack as a potential raiding target but so much had changed, including the leadership that she doubted she'd feel any strong ties to it.  "Borealis on the other hand is likely far to small to be worth the effort.  I don't know much of Celestial's members or Donostrea's."  She was vaguely familiar with Yfir but a trek to the north seemed a very, very long way without particular spoils in mind to obtain and she was uncertain where Valentine stood politically speaking with packs like Yfir, Abaven and a number of others.   "SPEAK"

The constant throbbing in her head was making it very hard for Integra to concentrate on what Valentine was saying but she tried her best. Pups were paired with older mentors and then there was the raid. Integra wanted to scream. Now that was not fair! Of course she'd get sick when Imperium was planning a raid, and the young woman knew there was no way she could participate like this but at the mention of this possibly being a regular thing she nodded fiercely. "Yes, I like the sound of that. There's to many for all of us to go in one raiding party anyway. I call dibs on the second!" She'd fall silent and let the others mince out the targets. ""

Dagmær stuck her tongue out as Integra went to go sit with her brother. "You love me don't lie!" she called out after the Armada girl before settling down with a grin on her face. Dag focused on the King as he began to speak and paired them up with their mentors. Wolves that would train them and teach them to survive. She was paired with a woman named Cascade. Hmmmm…. her gaze wandered to the dark-pelted woman with the white patch over one of her eyes. That was the woman Valentine had stared at so she was guessing that was Cascade. Well ok then! She grinned. "Hello, Cascade!" It was only proper to introduce herself.... well... she supposed Valentine already sort of did that. Next the King started talking about raids… which meant fighting! Dag was on her feet, tail wagging. "Can I raid to?" ""

Integra came to sit by him in a huff, and Atreides grinned over at her. "Could be worse," he needled, "She could be yours. Then you'd never be able to get rid of her." But he didn't have time to say more, because Valen was getting things started. First was the annual Assigning of the Mentors, and though he blinked to hear Mercy assigned not one but two trainees with so many adults available, he shrugged it off. It wasn't like he was going to have gotten a trainee anyway - he wasn't even a full warrior himself. But he perked up right away at the prospect of being able to prove himself as he'd failed to do in the siege. He surged to his paws and stood quivering eagerly. "I want in!" Where to go? Hmm... "Well," he ventured, "Celestial's heir was kind of an asshole to Avalon's kid when Inty and I had to pick him up from the border. Snarled at him and tried to scare the hell out of him even though he hadn't done anything to them. Seems like a good reason to teach them a lesson to me."

Ooh his first meeting and it seemed so interesting already! First the kids got paired with a mentor, and his mentor was Esti! Yes he liked that idea. Esti had done the training not too long ago and by the end of it, he ended up liking her. Was he weird for that? Maybe, maybe not. Either way he was excited about it! He couldn't wait to get back and tell Gryphon and Kharnage about it, and then maybe when they weren't sick anymore they'd get awesome mentors of their own too! He remained still and attentive as his alpha talked about raiding, well that sounded exciting too! He glanced at his brother Lykos for a moment, but then remembered they weren't a year old yet which made him pout. He listened to his mother's suggestion, and then tried to remember if he'd met anyone from that pack..wait, wasn't that the one he had tried to explore before Trey and Inty stopped him? As if to confirm, Trey spoke before him. Oh yeah...the big red thing had tried to scare him even though he didn't even trespass! His fur fluffed up as he snarled, puppy teeth baring. "Yeah that big red meanie oaf tried to scare me and I didn't do a thing to that dummy!" He looked sheepish for a moment as he caught his mother's stern eye. "Not that I should have gone in the first place.." It was a lesson learned having been grounded for the rest of the season. But maybe one day when he was big enough he could be the one to scare that bright red headache. Seriously, how could anyone be so impossibly red like that!? It was an eyesore!

Evangeline snorted softly at Angel when their father leaned over to inform him he needed to chastise his own slave. She'd known this pet was going to be trouble hadn't she? And now it wasn't even attending meetings like it was supposed to do. Valentine went on to start the meeting, though so she couldn't tease Angelus anymore. She more or less tuned out as he assigned mentors - she couldn't very well train someone herself, since she'd just turned two and as far as she knew there weren't any interested in healing in this latest batch anyway, though she'd hardly had any training at all from her own mentor anyway and could hardly be considered a healer at all so Rhythm would end up with them as a student anyway. Having a mentor was pretty useless when they went and got themselves knocked up and paid more attention to their pups and wolves from other packs than they did to their student... She tamped down her sulkiness, recalling clearly enough what happened last time she'd called out Rhythm in a pack meeting. It wasn't relevant to the pups being assigned so showing her annoyance would do nothing but get her own self in trouble. She could ask Inty to teach her more, or... her mind drifted to the wolf she'd met in the junkyard, and a faintly satisfied smile almost wormed it's way to her muzzle. Maybe her.

Her attention was called back to the meeting when her father brought up raiding. Her eyes widened slightly in excitement, and it took a great effort to hold herself still in regal elegance. "I would like to accompany you, father," she spoke stuffily, head high and eyes bright with suppressed excitement. "Having a healer along would come in quite handy for identifying which herbs would be worth our while to take if that is what we decide to raid for." She didn't impart a suggestion as too where to raid - she neither knew nor cared about most of the other packs. She hated Abaven, hated the way they always seemed to stick their noses in Imperium business and their snotty holier-than-thou attitudes and the way they acted like they were soooo important because Rhythm was a Destruction... but regardless of her mother's suggestion she rather doubted Valentine would take them to raid the clingy interlopers so she would hold her tongue rather than risk not getting to go along.

Hati was rarely surprised by anything. Angry, well yes quite often, and furious, half-crazed, selfish... all those things but rarely surprised but when Valentine's younger daughter sat beside him for all the world as sullen as he, his brain screeched to a complete, confused halt. No one chose to sit with him. It was nearly unfathomable - yet, there she was, and no longer the tiny pup who'd woken him from his nightmares. He cast a sidelong, suspicious glance at her from beneath his mask. Easily six inches taller than he was, though with a yearling's build much lighter than his own thick frame, they were quite likely the oddest looking pair in the pack. More startling was that he didn't mind her presence there.

He turned his attention away from the child and to her father as Valentine began the meeting, hanging on the alpha's words with a familiar intensity, but he was given his second shock in as many minutes when Valentine assigned him to mentor Rhys. Him, a mentor? Baldur would have pissed himself laughing to hear it. But why would Valentine, who was surely in his right mind, entrust his precious younger daughter to him? A numb feeling crept over his extremities, and a rare moment of doubt choked him. What if Valentine's child got hurt or killed because of him? What if he... snapped? What if...? The gibbering of voices hurtling questions at him was deafening. Shut up he screeched back at them, and a red-tinged silence fell. He snuck another sidelong glance at the yearling beside him and forced words from his throat. "Don't think I'll make it easy for you," he managed to grunt for her ears alone, wrapping himself back into his eternal grumpiness to partly put a lid on his crazy. "No student of mine's going to make me look bad by being a shitty warrior." At least she wasn't a pup anymore. It was safer this way...

Raid.

He heard the word fall from Valentine's lips and his attention jerked back to the meeting that had continued unabated despite his inner struggles. His eyes dilated, and nostrils flared as though scenting blood already. Raid? Yessssss. The siege had sated his need to bathe himself in the blood of war for a time, but he was restless, and the idea of a quick, bloody strike to steal from another pack appealed to him like honey appeals to bees. "Just tell me where to go," he rasped with relish, quivering with anticipation already.

Chaos perked up and grinned toothily as his father mimicked him, but stayed quiet while Dad started the meeting. What he heard made him wiggle in excitement. YES! They were actually being assigned mentors! Rhyme ended up with Avalon, who he vaguely knew was Dragon and Lykos' mom, and Rhys ended up with Hati. Ouch! He winced internally with sympathy for his sister's bad luck, but mostly he was too busy being over the moon for his own assignment. He got Birna! Birna was a great warrior, and he already knew she was a cool teacher from the training she'd done with him and Dagmaer and Rhys'n'Rhyme. What luck! But even better luck because his dad went on to say that he wanted to start doing raids! "Can I raid with you guyth, Dad?" he burst out excitedly. "I promith I won' get in the way!" He threw a grin back and Rhys, and over at Rhyme. Were they as excited about the prospect of going to fight another pack as he was?

His smugness was short-lived as within seconds of arriving Evangeline pointed out the absence of his slave. Curse her perceptiveness. Angelus soured. That was a good question. One he had no intention of answering. Instead he turned his attention to the thing strapped to his sister's back. Seeking to repay her for her slave comment, he raked a critical eye over the pack before whispering smugly, ”You look like you have an inside out groundhog hanging off your back.” Ha. Hopefully she'd stew over that. The meeting got underway. First up was mentor pairings – he dodged a bullet and wasn't paired with anyone – and once that was out of the way his father introduced the fun stuff. Raids. The Ultimus had been thrilled with siege they'd had. He wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to fight again. His father asked for suggestions and a couple were tossed out before Felix, the wolf who'd fought him to gain entry, got snippy with those who has suggested stuff before him. Angelus silently eyed him in the hopes of puzzling out where the slightly snotty tone and pointed looks were coming from. Maybe he had family there or something, but regardless of the reason he needed to be careful. Angelus was familiar with his father's ways and he doubted he would have much tolerance for poor behavior in a meeting. Perhaps in defense of his mother, Ashmedai was quick to counter Felix's suggestion, his tone also bordering on insolent. Because Ash was his brother Angelus sent him a warning look. He knew better. Because he didn't have any packs to suggest right off the bat Angelus simply listened and waited until a few more suggestions were thrown out before tossing his own two cents in. ”The idea is to show 'em who's boss, right? With whatever we take from them being a bonus for us and a little salt in their wounds, yeah? So distance and spoils don't necessarily have to be at the top of the list. I do like the idea of starting close and working our way out but...” He paused to carefully consider what he was about to say, ”It sounds like that Celestial guy disrespected one of us. If the heir has no respect for us I doubt that the rest of the pack would be any better. And I don't like the idea of Abaven thinking we're soft on 'em because we helped 'em in the siege.” How many lectures had he heard on respect? Too many to count. ”Maybe make those two packs a priority and then start over, working from the closest ones out?”

Upon being assigned Hati as a mentor Rhys blinked rapidly before returning the Grump's suspicious, sidelong glance. She thought he was mean and cool, but that didn't necessarily mean she wanted him to be her partner. Now they were stuck with one another until she got a real rank. It wasn't that it was bad per se, but it did kind of rain on her I'm-an-adult parade. Grown ups didn't need babysitters. Hati grumped at her, his words drawing the corners of her mouth downwards in an offended frown. She fixed him with an indignant, fearless stare and whispered back, "So long as you're not a shitty," - oooo, bad word; she relished its use - "teacher we shouldn't have a problem." Challenge accepted, Grump. Oh, raids, huh? She wanted to go! Rhys frowned again, this time thoughtfully. She couldn't think of a pack to "nominate". The only other pack she knew by name was Abaven, and that was the pack where her mom's family lived. Abaven was nominated by a few others and honestly Rhys wasn't sure how to feel about that. She didn't really know any the family that lived there, but she identified them as family and the idea she had of family was that it was to be protected. Should she consider her extended family different than her immediate family? Her frown deepened. That was going to require a bit of thought. "I want to join the raiding party," she said slowly. If they picked Abaven she still had time to think about how she wanted to handle that. Maybe one of her parents would have some insight on the subject.