Hannibal hadn't shown up, leading Dutch to believe he was going to be absent for a bit longer. she didn't really care outside of a casual friendship toward the man, but it was their kids she worried over. Godbrand fidgeted visibly, trying to catch a glimpse of his father, and the dwarven woman resisted a sigh. for a few days now his absence had been felt. when Deathbelle began to speak, she resisted speaking out, denying the move for herself and the kids. she wanted to go. far away. she wasn't a member of this pack but was tethered to them because of the half-Klein blood of her children. and because of that, she felt trapped. like she had with the Hjarrandi after Valkyrie captured her. but this was more complicated. largely ignoring the others, she fell in beside Dea after whisking Godbrand with her. she gave the other woman a nod before her thoughts turned back to responsibility. she'd have to collect Beryl and Gimli from the den. locking eyes with Sirius, she approached him after a brief hesitation. "can you look after Godbrand while I get the others?" she gave her son a hard stare as if telling him to behave for the dire wolf. Beryl would be easy, but Gimli would probably fight her on the move. turning away, leaving her child with the rest of his family, she made to leave for the den to find the other two. / EXIT DUTCH to FIND BERYL AND GIMLI

Pops was missing.

Godbrand didn't know why, but at his age, he felt it was a good reason. there was some disappointment and he didn't really concentrate on his aunt as she began to speak. his little body raised to stand on his back legs, trying to find Hannibal in the crowd still. but after the adults were done talking, everyone else was rushing about. he heard 'volcano' and 'eruption' before Ma was herding him to Tree Trunk Guy. after a few words to the dire wolf, Ma left.

Beryl and Gimli hadn't shown up, left at the lake because maybe it'd be too much for all three of them at once. worry was in the pit of his stomach but he pushed it away just as quick. staring up at Tree Trunk, he squinted his golden eyes but said nothing. Ma'd be back. so would Pops. he just had to be patient and be a good guy for the others. Godbrand stuck close to the dire wolf, hoping not to get under anyone's paws as he retreated under the massive wolf.

"Speech"

Tox frowned at her mother's lack of answers. She was confused and felt very very wrong. She felt the need to pray, more to soothe herself than anything. Her frown deepened and she pulled away from her mother as she began to speak. She didn't answer any of the essential questions! Toxicity, who always craved knowledge, needed it now more than ever. Their mother was ignoring them. Toxicity could probably guess why, but she was so frustrated by the lack on information along with her instinctive gut feeling of something being wrong. She felt... angry? Bitter? She wasn't sure yet, but tears pricked at her eyes.

Zee was supposed to lead them somewhere else. Well she didn't know where their father was. She had been at the pack the whole time. She didn't know anything. Only Deathbelle did. She promised them answers when they arrived but Toxicity didn't want to go. She wanted to stay. Pestilence somberly agreed and Toxicity found herself at her sister's side. Her face furrowed in thought and she leaned close to her sister, "Let's slip away and find dad... I don't like this..."

Sirius Warlord “Of course, Empress” Sirius agreed, giving his head a low bow. It wasn’t surprising that Zee would also be staying with the children, but he was grateful, parting from her would be difficult right now. He wasn’t impressed that Deathbelle would be lingereing a moment behind, but there was little he could do about that now. He shot his childhood friend a look, an almost warning, that if she didn’t arrive soon he would be looking for her. Dutch spoke, directing his attention to her, and he gave her a curt nod. Godbrand was nudged towards him, and he moved to pick up the wolf in his maw by the scruff of his neck. He gently deposited Godbrand onto his broad shoulders behind Venom, before going for Pesto and Toxicity. “I don’t think so” he said to the girl as he went to grab Toxicity by the scruff as well, placing her among the other puppies there. He was becoming a true puppy-train as he grabbed for pesto then. With his mouth full of this last pup he spoke through her fur, vibrating the back of her neck as he said. “You guys stand on each side and make sure none fall off” to Zee and Dea. He wasn’t losing (or misplacing) any children today. "Speech"