Chaos rolled in the new spring grass growing up through the browned dead stalks of last year's growth, scratching his itchy spring-shedding back on those old grasses. He'd been been itching mentally as well, impatient to get the pack back to where they belonged. Sure it was good to get the younger wolves - not pups anymore - out to see the world as a group before they went off into it on their own, but he wanted his lands back. He needed to send another scout party off to see what the volcano was up to now. Maybe Valdis would be willing to lead it for him, since he was wary about leaving the pack for long without a real established territory. There was good hunting in this one, but they were here only temporarily and would be moving along soon - after his scouts returned with news. He'd decide where to go from here based on that.

Sighing, he stopped his scratching and sprawled there on his back, staring moodily up into the ash-gray sky.

There was no word yet if Legion would be able to move back into their homelands and what state those homelands would be in. She imagined the land was going to need time to heal even if became hospitable enough for them to stay without risk of bodily injury. It was frustrating. She felt like several packs had crammed into the west, eager to get away from the eruption's epicenter. Too many wolves and too little prey. She could only hope that things would get better now that spring was here.

As spring was a time of new beginnings she had something she'd been meaning to do for awhile now. All she needed to do was track down where Chaos had wandered off to. Setting her nose to tracking she soon located the alpha laying leisurely on his back. "Not the best view in my opinion," she said as she wandered close to. "Could I speak with you for a moment? I wish to discuss the matter of my rank."

The sound of pawsteps had Chaos lolling his head to one side to see Valdis approaching. He grinned lazily at her comment and made a vague gesture at himself. "Oh please, this is my best side. Can't get a better view in all the world." Playfulness aside, he rolled dutifully to his belly, then heaved himself to his paws to shake off a cloud of vegetation and loose fur. "Always at your service, Valdis. What can I help you with?" He tilted his head to her invitingly, pleased to see someone taking initiative. A lot of a pack's activity tended to rest on the alpha, but Chaos admitted to himself that while he was just fine at patrolling and such, he wasn't so stellar at the whole pack relations thing, both inter- and intra-pack stuff. It would be nice to be able to foist some of that off on someone else willing to take up the slack for the pack.

ooc: if you want to have Chaos inform Valdís about Tyrian feel free! I started the thread with her wanting to ask about rank so its a bit hard for me to have her switch track

Valdís smirked at his comment and watched patiently as Chaos rolled over onto his belly and stood to address her. "I've been honing my skills in battle, Chaos. I feel I have languished in the rank of Accipiter long enough. If you find my skills suitable I wish to put my name forward for the rank of Mantle. Eventually, I have my eyes set on the rank of Alula." The upper echelons of Legion had been sparse for some time now and she saw a way for her to advance and so she took it. She didn't want to get too ahead of herself and so she focused on Mantle. Valdís mentioned the rank of Alula to gauge Chaos' reaction. Would the idea intrigue him or did he prefer her ambitions lie elsewhere?

He listened with interest while Valdis spoke, and twitched his ears thoughtfully when she fell silent. "Well, he said slowly. "We could definitely use a Mantle, considering most of the pack are warriors and we don't have a single wolf to lead them yet. I mean, me, and Valentine as my alula, but he has his paws full right now." Between the unexpected litter, now yearlings, and the... troubles... with Rhythm, his dad's golden years had been much fuller and more stressful than he would wish for him, and he hadn't wanted to ask him to do more for the pack. Let him finally retire in peace, in the rank that gave him the respect that he deserved.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he eyed Valdis. "With Enrico dead and Valentine getting up in age I could definitely use someone willing to put the time and energy into one of the beta ranks. I'd like to put you as Mantle for a while, though, if you're willing to wait on the higher rank. Kick our fighters into shape, get them working as a unit, and I don't see why a beta rank couldn't be yours for the taking."

Valdís listened patiently as Chaos spoke and nodded her agreement. It was a good idea for her to try out the rank of Mantle first and see if she even liked being in a leadership position. Valdís knew she was a good fighter, there was no questioning her skills in that arena but just because she was a good fighter did not mean she'd be a good teacher or a good leader. This would be a useful exercise and if it wasn't the position for her then she was fine with going back to being an Accipiter and focusing only on her battle skills. Valdís dipped her head.

"Thank you, Chaos. I will look to training the troops at the eve of summer." With only a short time before the turn of the season that would give her time to wrap her head around her new position while not waiting too long to begin.

"Who are all our Accipiter's so far?" She would of course open initial training to all wolves who worked at their skills in fighting but she wanted to know who were the career fighters.

Chaos grinned crookedly at her and nodded acknowledgement. "You'll be seeing me there. No one's above the need to practice, eh?" He tilted his head thoughtfully as he went over the pack's roster in his head. "Right now Jupiter and Ares are our only official Accipiters. The yearlings are old enough to be ranked now, though, and should have been apprenticed ages ago. Fucking volcano has no respect for timing, of course, so we'll have to work around that. We'll have a meeting before we leave the Basin, so I'll find out before then which of them might want to train to be what."