The moon hung over head, not a single cloud on the sky to cover it up. The expansion of stars shone over head, each pinprick of light shining for all to see. The dame lay on her back, gazing up at the stars through the budding branches. A sigh left her lips, clouding in front of her as she dangled her paws over her chest. She had tried to get some sleep, but it simply hadn't come to her yet. So she wandered away from her den and into the Orchard, the scent of blooming flowers scenting the air. It was like a sweet perfume, calming her racing mind as she breathed it in. She had no idea why she couldn't shut her mind off, it wasn't even like there was one solo thought that consumed her. It was just everything, a little bit of this and some of that racing through her memory. Mercy shook her head, wiggling her pale body on the cold ground as she tried to erase everything that lingered in her thoughts. It didn't work though, and she knew that she probably wouldn't be able to get any rest tonight. Why was it so hard to just shut off everything?

Mercy wiggles her form on the cold ground, purple eyes inspecting the stars above her. She had a thought to go and find Revenge, but she really didn't want to get up. It wasn't like she wasn't sleepy, in fact she wished that she could just pass out right then and there. The woman huffed, her elongated tail coming up across her belly to curl around her left front limb. Dammit all. Maybe she should go and look for a fight or something, that would tire her out. She was growing bored of the lack of wolves to bite into, it had left her picking fights with Imperium's newest members. If Valentine found out, she was sure that he wouldn't be too happy. A smirk crosses her lips, snorting softly. She needed a hobby...

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Even though the Spring days were warm, the nights were still chilly. It was still too cold out to find any fireflies. Ashemdai walked through the evenly placed trees, sighing to himself, remembering that moment. That day had been such a mix of good and bad that he still didn't totally know what to think of it. The trees here were fragrant, and the almost full grown was finding it hard to keep his mind off of the coming season. He would be an adult. He needed to be responsible. He needed to do the right thing, right? He didn't know how!

He noticed a white form ahead and almost thought it was his mother. No- the scent was different. This was Mercy, Revenge's brother. He hadn't really talked to Mercy ever, but he knew she was a strong fighter. Without getting too close, Ashmedai called, "Just isn't a good night for sleep, is it?"

She had hoped that looking up at the stars would help her drift off, but it really didn't seem to work. Nothing did. She let out another sigh and was about to roll over and get up when a voice sounded. Her ears flickered towards the large male, her head turning to look at him. Ashmedai. Esti's son. She grumbled softly to herself, returning her head to the point where she could look back up at the stars. "I wish. Sleep doesn't seem to like me today." She said louder, as he wasn't too close to her. Her long white tail flopped back down to the earth, and she tried to hide her mild irritation. While it wasn't hard to get under Mercy's skin, she was on edge around the boy. From what she had seen in meetings, he was a very bubbly, energetic boy. And he was Esti's son, and she was less than fond of that woman. Mercy didn't feel like dealing with a heck of a lot of energy right now, but she knew that she was jumping ahead of herself. He had only said a few things, and he was keeping his distance. Maybe the moonlight sapped up his seemingly endless energy.

Mercy rolled over and sat up, shaking the earth that clung to her pale coat. She looked back over at Ash, her purple eyes narrowing slightly so that she could see him better. "Isn't it passed your bedtime?" She said softly, a small smirk on her mouth. She was teasing him, of course. He was nearly an adult, and a lot taller than her. Which didn't surprise her, she had used to be tall until she joined Imperium. 'The pack of giants,' she thought with a snort. Although it bothered her, she was getting used to being the short one. At least there were a few wolves who were smaller than her.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Mercy commented that sleep didn't seem to like her today. Ashmedai could relate to that. She shifted around a lot before finally sitting up to look at him, asking if it was past his bedtime. Ashmedai snorted, "Yeah, probably. I need to get my beauty sleep..." he mumbled, "Nah, actually I was checking for fireflies, but I guess it's still too cold. Thinking about it now, though, I don't think I can sleep for a while. I might go patrol or something." Ashemdai yawned loudly for effect, before looking around. He didn't really know what else to say. He didn't feel like making small talk about the oddness of the trees or the weather, but he also didn't feel like just leaving, "What usually happens when you can't sleep? I- uh- usually just patrol I guess. I hate just laying still and waiting to sleep. Makes me itch." he commented. It was an honest question. His mother never seemed to have much trouble sleeping, and Valentine was always either busy or off sleeping... somewhere? Ashmedai didn't follow his dad around like he used to as a pup. Even now, he had no idea where the alpha was. He could be patrolling or asleep, or doing whatever. It didn't really bother Ashemdai anymore. He felt... distant. He felt like he had to realize that his father had his own life and that he couldn't be jealous every time his dad did something without him. Shaking the thought from his head, Ashemdai directed his attention back to Mercy. "Speech"

ILLUME SKYE Illie was annoyed. She had fallen beneath a tree in the orchard, hoping that being out in the open might help her sleep. Her den was so big and cold and lonely, and she didn't like it. So maybe sleeping out in the open would help. And it was! She managed to fall asleep and stay asleep without those nightmares coming back. It was nice and peaceful and she would have to do this more often. That was, until her new packmates decided to have a rather noisy conversation on her doorstep. Blue eyes slid open groggily as she tried to figure out why she woke up before she heard a loud, obnoxious yawn and then more talking. A huff would burst from her lungs as she quickly lifted onto her paws and stalked forward. Unable to sleep? Oh, she could sympathize in her slightly grumpy way. When she came upon them she could almost groan, seeing a certain white female she didn't rather…enjoy. "You guys talk so loud." She said in a rumble, blinking her sleep from her eyes. "I was trying to sleep." And without invitation she moved to sit near them and yawned slightly before blinking up at the stranger. Everyone was so tall here. "Youre a mountain too...is everyone here a mountain, you know, besides snow white?" She asked, looking to Mercy with a gentle smirk. "Whats patrolling?" "Talk"

Her ears flickered in irritation as Ash kept on rambling on about fireflies and some shit. She just looked at him, very much tempted to just get up and walk away, leave him to his own devices. She wasn't here to have small talk with this young brute, she was tired and that made her all the more irritable. If she bit him he would probably go off and whine to his daddy about how she was being a mean little bitch. She smirked to herself, the corners of her lips twitching upwards. When he yawned, she narrowed her eyes at him, feeling the same thing build up in her jaws. Oh no, no way. Dammit all! Yawns were indeed infectious, and one split open her mouth. Her jaws cracked as they opened wide, and she silently cursed Ash for making her follow in suite. She didn't want to admit that she was overly tired, or agree to go on that patrol with him. The white flecked man asked what she did when she couldn't sleep, before once more stating that he was going on patrol. She shrugged her pale shoulders, about to answer when another voice cut into the silence.

Mercy froze, her head turning slowly to look upon the white and blue female that she had met days ago. At her comment about sleeping, she snorted, purple eyes rolling. "Just returning the favor, sweet cheeks." She said sharply, watching as she came and sat down. Great, a little gathering of annoying wolves. Her ears lay flat against her skull, eyes narrowed as she let out a huff. She might as well leave now, try to sleep somewhere else and let these two ramble on to each other. But before she could even move a muscle, Illie spoke up and struck a nerve. Mercy's entire body grew ridged, her lips pulling back to a snarl as she growled at the blue female. It was obvious that she had hit a sour note with Mercy, it was written all over her face. That, and she didn't take to kindly to nicknames. "Careful, little one." she warned, hackles standing on end.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Wow! What a bunch of grumpy cats! Mercy yawned, AShmedai smiled wide and lopsided at her. He could understand that feeling, having just yawned himself. Suddenly, a grumpy voice said they were too loud and Ashmedai's head spun to see- Who. Was. That. SHE WAS BLUE. EVEN AT NIGHT SHE WAS BLUE. Ashemedai narrowed in on those eye spots. She called Ashmedai a mountain and Mercy snow white. Ashmedai laughed heartily, "You got it! I'm Ash Mountain!" At the "snow white" remark, Ashmedai's laugh was brought to a snicker as Mercy growled. He nearly snorted, "Shh shh, river child, you're gonna make her upset." He directed his attention to the blue wolf, "Patrolling, walking around the border, marking it so its clear, uhhh... You know watching and sniffin' for intruders. It passes time and stretches your legs. Besides, my dad likes it. You know Valentine? Are you uhh- I mean you have the same eye spots. I mean, it's cool if you aren't, but I just wanted to know. I mean- I don't have the eye spots, but all of my siblings- Valentine's children- do so like... Are you one of them?"  His eyebrow was quirked as he looked from Mercy to Illume. "Speech"

ILLUME SKYE Illie hadn't noticed Ashmedai's confusion, mainly because her tired blue eyes were on the white female she knew. She watched Mercy, who seemed as grumpy as ever. But then again, when was she not? Illie had never seen Mercy happy without some malice behind it, but then again...she had only really met her once so she could easily just have bad luck and only see Mercy when she was unhappy. Getting back at her, huh? She settled comfortably and stuck her tongue out at the white female rather childishly, before grinning at the warning. Oh yeah, they were going to be the best of friends. So she tilted her head to look back at the male as he began to explain, before her brow slowly rose when he seemed to be unable to get full sentances out. Untill finally, it became clear. This must be one of Valentine's kids. Her eyes slowly widened before she quickly looked down and shrugged gently. "I dunno, I might be." She whispered softly, staring at a very interesting blade of grass. "I'm quite the mystery." She said softly, lifting her nose to give a small smile to "Ash". "I'm Illie Skye, and that's about as much as I know about myself." She laughed then, a bitter tone to her voice before she slowly stretched out onto her belly. "So you're one of Valentine's kids, huh? What's that like?" She murmured before glancing back to Mercy and staring at her. "And you, any relation to King Mountain?" "Talk"

Mercy eyed the two young ones with narrowed eyes, and she really wasn't sure why she was still here. The two of them went on to chat, Ash seemingly choking on his words after he explained what patrolling was. She raised a black marked brow at him, and then he finally spat it out. Ah, he was wondering the same thing that she did the first time she met Illie. Mercy was curious as well, she had bit her tongue the first time. It would seem that he didn't know though, and her purple eye grew slightly wider. She didn't know, at all? The dame didn't miss the bitterness in her tone, and she had to say that it surprised her. So she had no memory at all? Damn, now she felt a little bad for picking on her. Just a little bit though, Illie was no better than her. Okay maybe she was a child but... never mind that! She shook her head to clear her thoughts, focusing again on the white and blue female. Ash called her river child and told her to watch it with Mercy, causing her to send a glare in his direction. So what if she was grumpy? She was allowed to be what she wanted to be. She huffed as her shoulders slumped, looking over her shoulder at nothing in particular.

When Illie asked her if she was related, she turned back to the girl and snorted. "No, not at all. My last name is Guerrero, I'm just a pack mate." She had a very different relationship with Valentine, one of respect and a touch of something else. But she pushed that away, it wasn't like she was pining for her alpha. It had just been a fun night, that's all. Rising to her paws, Mercy stretched out her pale form, her elongated tail flickering behind her. "Now that I think about it, Ash's idea of a patrol isn't a bad idea at all. Shall we?" She asked. She would have preferred to go alone, but she had a feeling that they would follow her anyways. So without waiting for them, she turned towards the border, leading the way and leaving the other two behind. They could chat all they wanted, at least now Mercy had a goal in mind.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

The girl didn't know anything more about herself than her name? That was... strange. She said her last name was Skye, but if her mother hadn't wanted to let Valentine know then her name wouldn't be Imperialis anyway. Cascade's pup didn't call himself Imperialis either, so that was no real indication of who she might be. Ashmedai looked at her for a moment, "Well, you fit the bill anyway, so you might as well be family." The boy offered a goofy smile, trying not to think about her amazing blue-ness. Mercy said she wasn't related to Valentine and that her last name was Guerrero, "Wait, I thought you were a Destruction like Rhythm?" he asked. Revenge was a Destruction, right? Ashmedai was confused. Regardless of how strange last names worked, Mercy said his idea of a patrol didn't sound bad. the boy's tail started wagging softly, "That's the spirit! Midnight March! Pre-dawn patrol!" Ash started marching in place for emphasis, looking at Illume before setting off after Mercy, "C'mon, it's your first patrol- well, maybe not really, but it is for now!" "Speech"

ILLUME SKYE Illie didn't like dwelling on it, it just made her feel bad. Really, she liked to move, liked to distract herself, so when she brought it up she tried her hardest to shrug it off. Here, especially. She didn't want to appear weak to these wolves, her...packmates, and a lack of memory and any sadness towards it could be seen as a weakness, right? Neither seemed to comment on it, which was good! But she could tell that something changed, just a tad. Perhaps their curiousity was sated, or maybe Mercy understood why she was so moody when they first met. Either way, it didn't matter. It was out in the air then. Illie knew nothing, didn't even know if "skye" was her last name. She blinked up at Ash as he told her she might as well be family. Family, huh? Maybe that's what she was missing. "As long as you aren't super annoying I think it'd be fun to have you as a brother." She said offhandedly, looking away. When Mercy brought up her last name, again, and Ash quickly contested it, Illie moved to stand on her paws. "Last names are weird. I mean, just cause you don't share Valentine's last name doesn't mean ya aren't related, you know? I mean, I'm not even sure "skye" is my last name." She laughed then, a gentle smile on her face as all her tiredness seemed to melt away. "It was the only thing I remembered, though, so its gotta mean something." She laughed again, as if it were all a big joke. A patrol, huh? That sounded like fun! She quickly turned to follow the two, a gentle smirk on her face as she did. "Ya know, Ash? You called me River child, which is weird cause I think he found me in the water. So that works." She said then, looking at her...brother? Something, at her something. He certainly was a something wasn't he. Then her large blue eyes turned to Mercy, shining almost happily. Yeah, this was all good. She was liking this, at least she wasn't alone in her den tonight. "What'd we do if we find somethin'?" "Talk"

She really was trying her hardest to ignore Ash, but it was hard with his constant yammering. The pale woman sighed, but she had to admit that she was slightly curious as well. She had thought that Illie was one of Valentine's kids as well, the eye dots were kind of a dead giveaway. But most of his kids were massive, and she was shorter than her. Shrugging her shoulders to herself, she just wished that they could get on with everything. Mercy snorted when Illie said as long as he wasn't annoying, her gaze darting between the two. She really needed to bite her tongue to keep her from commenting on it, but oh damn did she want to say something. The woman was actually thankful when Ash spoke up once more, saying that he thought she was a Destruction. Her lips twitched slightly, purple gaze resting evenly on him. "I was, but I don't exactly get along with my family. I may have been born a Destruction, but I cast away the shameful name and made my own mark. I didn't want to be aligned with them anymore," she said with a soft growl, turning around to start their patrol. "I'm my own wolf now."

Ears stayed flat against her head at Ash's sing song voice about a march, eyes rolling. Was he ever going to grow up? Damn. Mercy ignored everything that Illie was saying about her name, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be sad for her or what. It was just a lot easier to push past it, focusing instead on what the white and blue girl asked next. Grinning, she turned her head around to flash it at Illie. "We bite it," She said with a laugh, picking up the pace somewhat. "a good time for you to practice what I taught you." Mercy teased. Weaving between the trees, she stopped at every other one along the border to rub herself against the trunk, marking it with her scent. Turning around again, she rose a brow at Illie, gesturing to the tree for her to do the same.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Ms. Bluebird said that as long as he wasn't super annoying, she would be okay with him as a brother. Smiling, Ashmedai leaned in, "If there's one thing I can promise you... It's that I'm super annoying."  Ashmedai offered a big smile, "You'll grow to love it, though." So Mercy changed her last name? Ashmedai nodded, "Huh! So I see! That's actually... SUPER COOL! I love it! Mercy Guerrero! 'My own wolf now'." Ashemdai then turned to Illume as she spoke of not remembering anything but her name, his smile didn't falter. He thought this was incredibly interesting and the thought of it being sad didn't really cross his mind, "I think Skye is a great last name for you. You look kind of like the sky anyway, so it fits! River Skye. It fits!" Ashmedai waved his tail, "Man, I need a cool name too now... Maybe we can come up with one while we're on patrol." Illume asked what you do if you find something on patrol and Mercy answered that you bite it. Ashmedai thought that was the most agreeable thing she had ever said. He nooded, "I can teach you too, you know, if you want to some time. Mercy's better, but I can fight too!" He thought about it for a second, "Actually... I think everyone here can... Right Mercy? Is there anyone here who can't fight?"   "Speech"