Sirius had mentioned that the pups were growing. Their minds were developing and he wasn't particularly thrilled about the directions that they were going in. It seemed to really bother him and so she had decided to give her sibling a bit of help. She had organized a training session. She and the pups would speak at length and she would aim to teach them something about diplomacy. How to hold oneself and conduct oneself properly. Iolaire had chosen Sea's Plain simply because it was less active. They wouldn't be disturbed here. She had cleaned a dusting of snow off of one of the platforms and had laid out skins so that they would be able to sit comfortably at length. Though she'd told her niece and nephews the day prior what to expect, she called for them anyway. Raising her little muzzle to the sky, steam poured from her maw as she released a sweet, high pitched howl. Like a good aunt, she had lunch prepared for them as well. Now she simply had to wait for them to arrive. "Speech"

Azure heard his aunt's call and sighed, pulling himself to his feet. He'd been moping, frustrated at his recent losses and now about the raid that was to be happening that he was not allowed to be involved in. It was a rough time for the boy and the last thing he wanted to do was head to any sort of meeting. He dawdled most of the way to his aunt's chosen gathering spot and once he'd arrived, flopped down upon the plain to wait for the rest. "Hi, Aunt Io." He said, the greeting an afterthought but only what was polite. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Things had been weird lately. She still wasn't fully sure why her father had been so upset with her and Indigo. No one really seemed to have a good answer for her. Anyone that she asked seemed to tiptoe around the situation. It was frustrating. She wasn't a baby anymore. She could handle the truth. When her aunt Iolaire made the call, Asla leaped into action. Any distraction would be a good distraction. Maybe she could get a straight answer out of her aunt. Coming up to the plain, she noted that Az was already there. He seemed to be a little... dejected. Padding forward, she bonked her forehead lightly against his and turned to smile at their aunt before settling down upon one of the furs beside her brother. "What are we doing today?" She only knew that they would be learning. "Speech"

Indy had been mostly keeping to himself after the incident with his father, it was too much for him to keep from Asla like he’d said. He loved his sister, he still didn’t understand why it was a bad thing. Indigo felt like Aslatiel completed him, they were very different but they were also the same. Close together since conception, the vivid violet boy hated being away from her.

Iolaire was the adult he most trusted in the pack and he hadn’t even come to her about his problems yet. That fact alone would tell anyone that knew him that something was deeply wrong. He hid his internal struggle as his huge puppy form followed up behind Aslatiel and Azure. Hesitantly he sat beside his tiny sister, unaware he was looking around for his dad while he did it. ”Hi,” he said softly as they waited for one more puppy.

Mortis heard the call, and let go of his stance in the arena. He looked about the sandy view around him, and almost debated ignoring it. He was so close to getting the right feeling. To feeling the excitement and thrill Malalia had spoken of in battle.

In the end, he knew he couldn't ignore an adult. Beside, it was his Auntie, he loved Io. without a hint of bitterness, the boy jumped out of the ring, and went racing up the sandy incline. He hit the grasses, and went running through those, too.

In no time, he arrived at the meeting point, and found the rest of his siblings waiting there for him. He bounced to a stop besides Indy, who was behind Asla, who was besides Az. he nuzzled his purple brother, and turned his attention to Io.

Gradually her niece and nephews came piling in. All of them seemed somewhat dejected other than Mort who was particularly peppy. The dark woman arched a silver brow and shook her head. "What's wrong with you kids today? You look so down." Asla had asked what they were going to learn today and Iolaire sighed. "Well, I was going to teach you about diplomacy, but you can't very well learn if your minds are clouded and bogged up with other thoughts." Flicking her white tipped tail, she came to a decision. "One at a time, each of you are going to tell me about anything that's bothering you. Fell free to ask me any questions that you have." She gave a shake of her head. "I won't have my family sad and upset."

Azure had been the first to arrive, so Iolaire chose him to be the first to speak. "Azure. Why so sad, darling?" There was nothing but complete concern in the small wolf's green-gold gaze. Iolaire was the least judgemental wolf around. Anything that was bothering him would be treated seriously. The pups were too young to be so troubled.

His siblings shuffled in and Az threw his sister a grin as she bonked her forehead against his. At least no matter how much of a loser he felt, he could always rely on her. It was discouraging to see how different everyone was as they grew, but somehow Asla's bloodlust being so similar to his made him feel a little less like an outlier. Iolaire noticed the pup's moods - Indigo also seemed less of a ray of light then he usually was - and asked them to share it before their lesson. Az didn't like being first, what if he shared what was bothering him but Indy felt it was too stupid and refused to? Then Az would look stupid, too. He sighed, and shuffled his feet in the dirt. "I train hard and still lose all my fights, and I'm mad we can't be in the fight with Ashen. It's not a real fight so I don't get it, nobody would hurt us. It's not dangerous." He huffed a puff of annoyance, grumbling something unintelligible before continuing. "And I'm losing Mortis and I's competition, and it sucks." Az wasn't about to elaborate on what he'd done to get himself his first strike, but he doubted his winged brother had been bad enough to earn one for himself. He shot his brother a look, though there was no malice in it. He didn't blame his brother for his own mistakes, though he still wished he could be better. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Indy could hardly look at his brother and the notch that he’d left in his ear. He glanced at Azure as Asla bumped her head against his. The vivid violet boy returned his brother’s affection with the hint of a smile as they were all quick to give their aunt their attention. She didn’t miss the general mood of them, and Indy’s ears fell further to his skull as he realized he was doing a poor job of hiding his emotions. He already came to his aunt for so much, how could he talk to her about this? About what his dad said?

Azure started and when he said he lost all his fights Indy closed his eyes and looked away ashamed. He had been so angry that day afterwards it felt like all that filled him was guilt and confusion. Indigo certainly didn’t want to go next. He leaned more heavily into Asla’s side, stealing away her warmth for his own comfort. He took a breath and looked up to his auntie, ”I didn’t get chosen to compete for heir.” Indigo confessed softly, feeling the sting again as he tried to understand why he hadn’t been chosen. Still blaming it on his obsession with plants instead of hunting like the rest of his siblings. He didn’t say anything about getting yelled at by Sirius, he wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about that. ”And all the green is gone.” He felt like he hadn’t seen the sun in days at this point. It was going to be a long winter.

Soon the whole bunch was there and she was surrounded by her brothers again. It was her favorite place to be. She loved them all so much. Laying next to Az, she smiled at Indy and Mort as they settled down too. Then they all turned their attention to their aunt. When Io asked what was wrong with them, each of them looked a little sheepish. She asked Azure to go first and he did. Indigo went second. She supposed she should say something too. She was upset that her brothers were upset. She didn't want any of them to feel bad. They were the best brother's and the best family in the land. Why should they feel bad? Clearing her throat, Asla tucked tall ears back against her skull for a moment. "Everyone is changing. Everyone seems to be growing apart." She cast her plum gaze towards each of her brothers. "All I want is for everyone to be happy and to help everyone to keep being happy." That would never change. The highest thing on her list of priorities would be the status of her family and the happiness of her siblings. "Speech"