She'd spent the past few days patrolling the plains endlessly to make sure it was safe for re-occupation. Once she was sure that Abaven would be able to live somewhat comfortably in part of their home territory, she returned to Ibis and called them across the channel to meet once more in their homeland. It was what Shaye wanted.

Her heart twisted miserably in her chest. Calling a meeting without Shaye felt like a huge betrayal, even if she knew that her mentor had no way of calling the pack together from beyond the grave. Theory called for the pack to surround her near the edge of the plains where it bordered the rapids. She took her place on a flat, large rock and waited for members to trickle in at their own pace. The water that normally surged in the springtime was relegated to a trickle - it must be blocked somewhere further up stream. What water that was there was dirty and churned with ash. She hoped it was cleaner at the origin.

The items for discussion today were all painful. Only a small spot of joy remained: they would be able to move back towards the mainland. Ibis Island was still an important part of their territory; the sky was clear there and the water was untainted. There were too many young members that she didn't wish to harm by forcing them to live out their youth under bleak skies with only dirty water to drink.

OOC: Abaven will be relocating to Serpent Plains, Fontamo Bay, and Ibis Islands as their 3 occupied territories. Here are some things that characters arriving will have common knowledge of at this point:

• Shaye and Odysseus have died due to volcano related tragedy. Their bodies have been recovered and have been buried with a mourning ceremony to be held soon. Shaye is buried beside Vail, Ody's grave location TBD by Laz.
  
• Rhyme is beta of Abaven
  

HOUSEKEEPING:

• There won't be any post order for this thread.
  
• I'll be making my second post by Friday November 15th just to move things along IC.
  
• Characters that do not post in some form by November 29th will be considered missing due to volcano activity and will be removed from Abaven ranks. I know that this holiday season is really tough, I want to give everyone plenty of time. A quick 100-word "I'm here" is totally fine. If you have an OOC reason, please DM/PM me so you can keep your rank. I just rank to accurately reflect the active population of the pack.
  
• If you're looking for a rank promotion and/or IC-development in any way, now's the time to do it! <3
  

Paws, too large for the long legged child, drug the ground as he walked towards the meeting. He didn't care about the meeting. He didn't care about much of anything. The boy knew, however, that he would get into trouble if he didn't go. Or at least, he would cause trouble for others. And so he moved slowly, his shoulders hunched, head lowered, across the plains and towards where Theory stood. He would deposit himself off to the side, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. If no one even realized that he was here, that would be great.

Sinking down to the ground, Beat's chin instantly sought the earth. He curled his gangly form up, one foreleg curled around his muzzle, bony hips sticking into the air like spires. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere. If he stayed, he'd only bring misfortune to the pack. But if he left... he would die. Despite his lack of caring, there was still a sense of self-preservation in the young wolf. He didn't want to die. And so he would go through the meeting. Pretend to be okay for a moment, then go back to being on his own.

Speech

Tempo wasn't feeling much better than his brother, Shaye was now the third parental figure in his life to have died. Much like Beat he'd started to think he may have been cursed, or that perhaps they as siblings were cursed. Their aunt Twig had begun to look after them but in truth, the boy was more comfortable away from her. Twig seemed nice enough, and that was reason enough for him to keep his distance. He didn't want her to end up dying either. He often chose to hide away in whatever nook he could find, including sleeping in these makeshift dens.

But he also couldn't just ignore the pack meeting as it was called. They'd only returned the mainland recently and the boy slunk along through the grasses he'd once played in. Now all he wanted was to move unnoticed, unobtrusive. He approached the place he'd been called to, and spotting his brother moved quickly towards Beat. He pushed himself in next to his brother, a soft whine escaping his lips as he settled onto his haunches. The only others he actually felt comfortable with at this point were his siblings, his logic being that if they were in fact all cursed they probably couldn't curse each other.

Art by LoupDeMort

Twig followed up behind Tempo and Beat, she gave them their space when she could. Especially after the loss of Shaye, Twig could hardly believe the loss taken from the poor boys so soon into their lives. With a heavy heart she made her way to where Theory called for them. She tried to offer her little nephews a smile, but it didn’t matter what she did. She couldn’t change the past, she couldn’t bring their loved ones back.

The memoire girl didn’t crowd them, but sat close enough they could join her and she could keep half an eye on them. She sighed softly and settled back onto her haunches. She looked to Theory, and wondered where the young woman might lead them.

Void wandered in slowly, his mood brighter than those already gathered. He had his stars back, the sky was returning, and they were closer to home than ever. The young pup had not yet built a relationship with Shaye, and her loss wasn’t much to him. He wasn't comfortable around the other wolves that were sad because of it. Not because of anything they were doing wrong, but grief was so strange. He’d felt the loss of the stars, he had experience loss of a sorts. Watching the pack mourne upset him.

Hesitantly he made his way forward, not finding any of his own siblings or his mother. He hadn’t seen much of uncle Rhyme either, not that he wanted to be around him right now. Void shook himself and the gross feelings off and took a seat, blue and lavender gaze searching for his immediate family.

Spirit made his way to the meeting, not particularly hurrying…although he should have. He was content to be back home, away from the island for the most part. The Volcano had settled a bit more, no longer an immediate danger to them and for that he was happy. Spirit had missed the tribute to their fallen kin, but the sadness of others made him uncomfortable, he didn’t feel sad and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Perhaps it was his lack of a bond with those that had passed on; perhaps it was something else entirely, only time would tell. The youth was not the first to arrive, but by the looks of it he also wouldn’t be the last. Only one other sibling had arrived, Void, and Spirit could not help but smile. Making his way to his sibling and bumping him softly on the shoulder with his snout. He remained silent as he slid down into a reclined position next to his tall sibling. At least he had Void there to keep him company.

Morning dawned dull and foggy, though Brandr could see the sun fighting to cut through the clouds and mist. Spring was slowly warming the earth but residue from the volcano had yet to fully clear. He glanced up in the air but did not see the eagle he'd befriended during his winter hunting. He had rather hoped to see the bird again as they'd worked out quite a report when hunting together and he knew other wolves had animal companions. Ah well, perhaps he could visit the Ibis Islands again. Theory called for a meeting in Abaven's old haunts on the Serpent Plains. Ash still lingered, the spring rains turning it into a strange mush that stuck in between his toes as he moved. Winter had been hard on them all and the loss of Shaye and Ody had been a terrible blow. His heart ached for Theory and he longed for the day when the sun would shine on them again. "Talk" "You" Think

Gloom was plastered to the ground, lowered as much as she could be so she was invisible. The voice that had called the pack to them was Theory's not that of Shaye and though she didn't know either of them particularly well she could sense something was off about it. She lifted herself slightly to peer over the grasses and flattened her ears as she realized she hardly recognized anyone gathered. Neither her uncle or mother were there yet, nor that one cousin she'd met Corvus. Her eyes landed on her brothers and the girl pelted across the clearing towards them, skidding round behind void and pressing into his back as much as she could, and screwing her eyes shut. She tried to ignore the feeling of being watched, even if it wasn't true she couldn't help but feel every eye had turned her way. Speak! Think!

Image by Blue-Onyx

Rhyme slowly walked into the meeting, his broken gait bringing him to sit close to Theory. Were it not for her he might have already stopped by now. There were pups to look after and provide for, there were wolves still needing protecting, and Rhyme couldn’t afford to look weak in front of the pack. They needed to see their leaders strong, even if he was only held up by tissue paper and popsicle sticks.

He offered a forced smile to his niece and nephews, though his emotional capacity to worry about those that hadn’t appeared yet was minimal. Rhyme was broken inside, and his facade was poor considering his dull coat and glassy eyes. He clung to how much he was needed here, otherwise he would have descended into chaos long before this moment.

Theory tried to cast an encouraging smile at all the puppies who attended. She'd almost forgotten how many of them there were. Soon she'd have to call a little pow wow and see which ranks they might be interested in as they grew older - it was never too early for just a little bit of training. It was how she'd been raised, after all.

Turning to face the pack, Theory cleared her throat nervously. She leaned on Rhyme before standing by his side in what she hoped was a confident pose - her ears were pricked forward and her head was held high, but her tail just couldn't seem to flick upwards. It'd been hard to muster the kind of bravery that Shaye had sworn she'd seen in her since her mentor's passing.

"Thank you for gathering," she said, realizing too late that her voice was a little too quiet. Theory turned her eyes to the sky for a moment and collected herself. If only Shaye were here. "First, it would be impossible to start without recalling our recent losses. Shaye and Odysseus have passed," her voice was shaking. It was impossible not to. "They will be sorely, sorely missed. There aren't words for how much we'll miss them - their leadership, their guidance...." she soldiered on, her voice growing stronger as she went.

"As you can see, we're a little bit closer to home. For the foreseeable future we'll be split between here, the Ibis Islands, and Fontamo Bay," Theory announced, hoping to see some flicker of happiness or relief among her pack members. Was returning home the right choice? "I'm willing to hear anyone out as to other habitable lands in Boreas if they would feel comfortable further from the site of the eruption," she added, trying to meet everyone's gaze for a brief moment. So many of those attending were young. Had she looked that small once?

"Rhyme is continuing on as beta. We can use all the help we can get. If you'd like to take on more responsibility, please let me know," she finished, settling back down by her father's side. He was hanging on by a string. "Poem and Motif have been located and are safe. Poem has entered an agreement of her own free will on behalf of her sister and will be training with another pack for the next year," Theory added a bit stiffly. The news still bothered her, but the rest of the pack deserved to know what had transpired among Shaye's daughters.

He was... still in shock. Time had passed since the volcano erupted, but the skies were still dark with ash, and spring didn't look like spring here in the mainland. It didn't look like home. It didn't look right at all. He was here, it shouldn't have been home... it was gone. And he was afraid to venture further; all the lands he grew up exploring were directly impacted by the volcano. It would be all gone now. Destroyed. Or buried under ash. The past several months had been hard, and he was still shakey at the thought of it. Still though, he managed to arrive back at the mainland, though he hadn't realized how much time he had spent trudging through ash until he realized it had been quite a while after Theory's call to Abaven. With a start, he turned towards where he knew the meeting was, and he loped over to it. "I'm here. I..." he trailed off, shaking his headbriefly as he gestured to the world around him. Hopefully they'd understand.

He had only been with them for a short while, found in winter… but it had given time for the blisters on his pads to heal at least. With a bit of food and fresh water the male had found himself gaining a bit of strength but he had chosen to keep away from the rest of Abaven during that time best he could. As much as he was grateful for the aid he knew in his heart he would not be able to stay forever. Even if he wasn’t fully well, still suffering the effects of smoke inhalation and bearing wounds still healing as fur attempted to grow back, Gavroche knew he needed to leave soon… before he was too late to save the other wolf from her enslavement. They had come back to the mainland and, thankfully, he made it with Mela’s collar still in his possession. Gavroche refused to leave it, half carrying, half dragging the heavy thing around his body as he made his way to the meeting site. He was late, not that he was really an Abaven member anyway, but the young male knew it was not right to merely accept aid and then leave without a word. As pressing as finding the band was… he had to at least say something to Theory before he did so. He breathing was hard, a bit raspy as he arrived and slide the collar off his body so that he could give himself a small break. He didn’t really look at many of the others, though one wolf, who also seemed to be late, drew his attention for but a moment. His eyes slide to Theory then and he spoke up to the best of his ability. "Miss Theory… I can’t thank you and Corvus enough for finding and giving me aid but... I can't stay with your pack any longer… I have to find the that band..." His ears flicked back as he finished his words with a whine. What would he do if the brown wolf had already been resold? It would be his fault... "Speech"

Twig watched as more gathered, though she was sure there would be more to appear soon. Theory’s words wavered at first but Twig couldn’t blame her. She had spent a lot of time with the woman since taking on the dual responsibility for the boys. Autumn felt fully the wound of her loss. They had to keep going though, the world didn’t stop even for a wolf as beloved as their former alpha.

It felt good knowing they could return to Abaven’s ancestral home, or at least closer now than they had been on the island. She didn’t have a clue where would be better than the lands the pack had always been. When Theory spoke of more responsibility though, ”I’m here for you Theory. Use me where you have most need.” She had no grand idea of a high tier rank, but she was very much willing to take on more responsibility for her adopted family.

Octave had been distant, he'd tried to spend as much time as he could with Novel, knowing his sister's poor mental state was in danger of slipping even further with the sudden eruption. She'd been so mentally scarred by the fire, she'd become so much more terrified and he had no doubt the volcano had only given her a reason to buy into her fears. So he'd been focused on her, to the detriment of the rest of the pack. Octave knew he had to turn his attention outwardly again, but it was hard when he was so consumed by worry for his sister. Still when the pack had been called the man knew he had to go, he had to show his face once more. He listened silently to Theory as he spoke and Noko lounged along the top of his head. The man grimaced as the girl mentioned Shaye and Octave couldn't help the flood of guilt it brought with it. He should have been there for the alpha, for the woman that had accepted him into her pack, into her family. He knew he was one of the few healers left in the pack now and so when the girl asked if anyone wanted to offer help he rose to his paws, Noko seemed to understand what it was he was getting at and while Octave couldn't summon the words he had managed to summon enough confidence to hold himself with a small amount of pride. "Octave and I are at your disposal, it'll be a long process of rebuilding stores and the like but we'll try our best to offer our healing skills where ever you need." The lemur said, perking her ears and looking to meet Theory's gaze. "Octave" "Noko" & Hidden thoughts

Desolate arrived late, in time to hear the end of Theory's speech. He'd stayed back at the den on purpose, wondering if anyone would notice his absence and come and get him for the meeting. Nobody had. The pup was angry at being forgotten, and angrier that his mother seemed to never be around when he needed her. Where was she? Small ears flattened against his skull and he glanced around the gathered wolves. Uncle Rhyme was there, but he looked too sad for Desolate to want to bother him. He moved towards his siblings, taking a seat quietly among them to listen to Theory and the other adults as they spoke. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Corvus was slow to respond to Theory's call. Returning to their homelands should've brought him more joy than it did, but all he could seem to focus on was how much had changed. The normally dangerous rapids had slowed to a trickle, and he heard his father's warnings to keep his distance from the dangerous waters echoing in his head. Now his father was gone, and the rapids looked safe enough to toss a newborn pup into - the change wasn't something he welcomed ,and he quietly found himself cursing the smallest things that had changed as he trudged through the plains. The grass hadn't begun to grow back as thickly nor as greenly as he remembered, and even the sun seemed dim and drab overhead. It was easy to blame his dark, irritable mood on the volcano and everything it had done to them, but deep down he knew his grief over Shaye's passing was what was gnawing away at his spirits. He snuck in on the tail end of what Theory had been saying. Corvus had no opinion about where they should go. A selfish part of him wanted them to go north, far away from the volcano. Fuck their home and all the emotions that seemed impossible to separate from this place. But he knew moving so far away with so many young wolves wasn't a good idea and he wasn't about to suggest it, no matter how badly he wanted to. Instead he was silently, his uncertain gaze drifting over the group. Though he briefly considered moving to sit near Twig, his brother caught his attention and his pace picked up slightly as he closed the distance between them. He refused to let Aiden slip away again. His protectiveness seemed visible as he moved to sit alongside his brother, not hesitating in wrapping his head around Aiden's shoulders in a somber embrace.

They had been a bit behind on their day, but they had also been fairly busy. She had recruited her daughter since she was now positively better from the bit of illness she had caught. They were busy getting herbs, where ever they could safely find them. They stayed clear of the more dangerous zones since the Volcano was still active and had been busy looking in other areas that were unclaimed by packs. They had been on their way back to the pack when the faint call rang in the distance. They had to pick up their pace and she motion to her daughter to do so before gripping her bundle a little harder so she wouldn't loose them. They hurried the rest of the way, trying their best not to be late to the meeting and miss what Theory had to say. As they grew closer the two slowed and Corentine respectfully quieted her movements as they neared the gathering. She moved her way around the others towards where her mate was sitting, just as Theory began to speak she was sitting down beside Brandr and placing her bundle of gathered herbs by her feet. Golden eyes looked up to Theory as she spoke taking in her words. At the mention of Shaye and Oddy's passing her stoic stature faltered as grief and concern flashed through her eyes. Shaye had been there to find her ailing mother, help care for her, and had been there when Corentine lost her mother. Both members would be missed, but Shaye held a special place in her heart, just like Bass had. She did not hold any opinions of where they should go, but she did fear remaining close to the volcano. If it continued to remain active there was always a threat of danger. Although she did perk to the young pale Destruction that spoke up. "I am also more then willing to pitch in on the healer side. And If need be I am more then willing to work as a pack healer instead of a hunter to fill the need for the pack." she spoke up. "Speech"

Lucine Scylding She was carrying her own bundle of herbs that she had helped her mother pick. She knew that having herbs was important, but she never had the patience to learn about healing. She was a die hard hunter, but she was always willing to help when her mother had asked for it. She had been sick throughout the happenings of the volcano, the move, and the passing of Shaye and Oddy. She had been mostly secluded and being cared for to get better. This had been the first she had really been out since the frantic move. Her ears perked hearing the distant call from Theory and she caught the sight of her mother's motion from the corner of her blue eyes. Huffing lightly she gripped her bundle tighter and picked up her pace just like her mother and they rushed the rest of the way. She knew it was highly inappropriate to be late for a called meeting and with her still being under a mentor rank she had to do her best to be on time for every meeting. This also meant she needed to step up her game and get cracking on her studies so that she could gain a rank within the pack. When they arrived she quickly fallowed behind her mother and quietly took a seat to hear what the meeting was about. A lot had to be said and Lucine found herself admiring how strong Theory looked in front of the pack. She didn't have any imput as far as where to go, so she remained quiet beside her mother. "Speech"

The fire and then the volcano made him superstitious. Was it truly a coincidence and the two events had no ties or were they tied together and it meant it was time to stay far away. Before Abaven, Allegro had never been settled in one place for long. His parents liked to travel and he had for a time before he grew lonely. He was weary since the volcano and the prey seemed very unsettled even with how far they currently were. He was afraid that prey would move away and that things would only get harder for the pack to continue to survive.

He had decided to do some scouting while he was out doing his hunting rounds. Exploring and trying to find a good food source that wouldn't be to skittish to take down. It seemed the further from the volcano he got, the better the chances were for hunting. He needed to figure out a way to properly bring this up and what he had been finding so far was that currently the South seemed pretty good. Granted they were still in some danger if the Volcano acted up again, but at least they were further from the big time danger.

He arrived and his blue eyes searched for his siblings. He knew Novel was having a hard time since the fire and that Octave had been caring for her. Part of him felt guilty that he didn't pitch in more, but really he didn't know how to help. He had scars from the fire and saving Twig from it, but nothing as severe as what his sister suffered. He was able to see his brother easily, but he didn't see any sign of Novel and frowned a little. Moving quietly up to his brother's side he took a seat and gently nudged him.

His attention turned to Theory as she began and he listened carefully. Bringing up the recent passing of Ody and Shaye along with some new things that needed addressed. She also gave an opening, not that she truly knew it. She opened the floor to suggestions of moving and it made him perk up knowing this would give him the chance to say something. He waited for the others to speak, including respectfully giving his brother the floor. When it grew silent he rose, his eyes looking to Theory.

"I would like to suggest moving more South, further from the volcano. With that thing still active we have no idea when it will act up again and it seems the prey are more on edge then ourselves. It's further from the volcano and the lands seem pretty abundant with prey, foliage, and water sources." he said before waiting to see what would be said.

"Speech"