The Warlord had gotten little sleep that night. Autumn was riddled with rain, and the occasional storm. The worst he had seen yet was the one just past. The entire night had been filled with pounding rain, and he knew there would be flood in the Armada territory. He glumly considered what it would take to drain their firepit, and hoped none of his wolves dens had sprung leakes.

When he pulled himself from the den, the water beneath his small bridge was swollen, and his paws squelched in the mud. He sighed, and turned back to his Wife. “let’s go get some breakfast, before I need to see if anything needs to be repaired” he suggested. Having made it his mission to ensure she was well fed at any opportunity.


"Sirius Fatalis"

The night prior had been rough, and Zee was eagerly awaiting the end of season when the autumn storms would lose their thunder to the cold. A yawn pulled at her jaws and she watched Sirius shuffle out of the den with a blurry gaze. She lifted a paw and rubbed hard at her eye socket, grimacing at the audacity of daytime. "Not hungry." Zee - never the morning person - grumbled. She could not deny the Warlord's request however, and at least could see the necessity in making sure everything survived the torrential rainfall. "Could accept a warm pelt around the fire, instead." Perhaps she could sneak in a few more hours of warm rest at the communal firepit while Sirius inspected the dens and storage. Already Zee was fanaticizing about the many pelts that would be stacked within the cellar - surely someone must have killed a bear lately, or something similarly sized with a fluffy coat blanket that could hide the entirety of her body beneath it. "Speech"

The Warlord was well accustomed to getting himself out of bed in the earliest hours of the mornings. It wasn’t rising that was his problem, it was finding sleep in the first place. He looked fondly back at his tired wife as she rubbed at her eyes and grumbled. She claimed a lack of hunger, likely sick of her husband tossing food in front of her at all hours of the day.

“Come on, let's get you that coat then” he said, bumping lightly against the smaller wolf and making his way towards the center of the pack. As he feared, the firepit was sodden, and the spare wood sheltered to the side had managed to get damp in the heavy wings. Shaking his head at that, he decided he could at least get his wife a warm coat.

He looked at the cellar door, and frowned, an odd scent catching his nose. He hooked a claw through the latch and pulled it open. The scent of dampness growing. He stepped down, and landed with a splash. It took only a glance to realise that everything was covered in a sour, greasy sort of water. He hurried to the section that stored their food, and found every piece of winter storage slimy and soaking. “SHIT!”


"Sirius Fatalis"

Zee accepted Sirius' affectionate bump the only way she could - by spreading her limbs, gripping the ground, and keeping herself upright against his overwhelming strength. It took more effort then she was used to, a sure sign that her body had weakened in her time away from home. She followed alongside him without complaint, sticking close enough to his side that occasionally his fur would brush against hers. The firepit was soaked, something Zee should have expected after the night they'd had. "No fire for me." She lamented. "Oh well, the coat will just have to work twice as hard." Sirius peeled off from her side towards the cellar door and Zee's ear followed him though she stared into the soaked logs. A few heavy pawsteps, the creak of the latch, an unmistakable splash, and a curse. Zee's head snapped toward the dark hole in which the warlord had disappeared inside, stepping toward the entrance and standing off to the side to keep the doorway clear. Her head poked in, her eyes struggling to adjust to the absence of light. "That bad?" She called down to him, hesitant. Something told her there would be no fire, no warm coat, and no breakfast forced into her paws either.     "Speech"

The Warlord found himself looking up miserably at his Lady Queen. Trying to find the words to tell her that the pack was going to have to tighten its pelts for winter. That there would be a lot of work, and little comfort for his Lady today. He shook himself, determination falling over his eyes. Right then. Best get to it.

He leaped back out of the caller opening, and turned to Zee. "We've sprung a leak, the entire caller will need to be emptied and worked over. I'm not sure how much food we can salvage, and everything else will need to be cleaned and dried. Weather permitting..."

His frown was heavy, but his body movements gentle as he placed a paw over his Wife's. "I'm going to get some warm bodies to lend their help, don't go far." He requested, before moving off. Plans already swirling about his brain. As he moved, he raised his head, summoning Iris and Mortis to him. When the winged Heir and dainty slave appeared, he was quick to cut to the chase. "Mortis, start digging out the firepit. Perhaps throw fresh sand to absorb thr moisture, and get a fire started. A big one, we have a lot of things to dry- no, no questions now, get to work." He cut off his son, sending him back to the direction of his Mother. "Iris, see if you can salvage any coats and food for our Lady Queen. See to her comfort above all else, don't take no for an answer" he ordered her, putting the poor thing between the two Alphas stubbornness. With that said, he was off again.

The idea of calling Mortis her friend was still strange and foreign to her, but the more time they spent together the more comfortable with it she became. He was easy to be around and adorable in the way he approached things. Even though she still refused to ask for his help whenever she was collecting herbs or working on her training, she wouldn't turn it away if it was offered and she just enjoyed his company even if he just stayed near by while she worked. Today she was working on the latter while Zee was off doing something else, getting some pointers and tips from the winged heir. He was one of the few males that she had overcome her fear of so it was a bit more comfortable having him place her paws or direct her movements than it was when Sirius did it.

She stopped mid motion at the sound of the Warlord's howl, her ears perking as she lifted her head toward the noise. She wasn't surprised when Sirius called fro her, but hearing him call for Mortis in the same breath was a surprise. She glanced at her friend before dutifully trotting off toward Sirius, finding the dark male fairly easily. She glanced between Sirius and Mortis as the Warlord commanded him to prepare the fire pit and to make it a big one without a single bit of explanation or reason other than they would have a lot of things to dry. She gave Sirius a slightly confused look, but listened intently as she was given the task of salvaging food and coats for Zee as well as seeing to her comfort - and to not take no for an answer. She gave a little tilt of her head, but before she could ask anything he was off, leaving her with more questions than answers. She gave a small shrug and followed after Mortis till she found Zee, walking up to the Queen with a dip of her head. "What's happened?" she questioned, starting to evaluate the scene. "Sirius told me to salvage food and furs."

"Iris"

Iris was a quick study, and determined to learn. He enjoyed giving her pointers, and helping her work on her stance. He was also careful not to get any closer then he had to, and never lingered if he did push a paw into position. He would never forget the way she had tensed that first time he had gotten close.

He paused, tilting his head to the side to listen when his fathers voice called out. “Uh, I better go-” he started to say hurriedly, then realised she had been called for too. That was strange. He glanced at her, and they trotted off together in the direction of the Warlord. The moment he appeared, his father began to speak. He tried not to let his confusion show “What is it fo-” he started, and Sirius cut him off. Demanded he proceed without question. He gave a sharp nod. “Yes, Sir!” he agreed and snapped to it, darting off without a backwards glance.

He made brisk time heading to the packs center ground - that had to be the firepit his father was talking about. He found his mother, and glanced at her with a light wag of his tail before standing in front of the firepit. He pursed his muzzle as he looked at the sodden mess. His ears and tail drooped. He wasn’t even sure where to start…

"Speech"

The dim lighting grew darker still as Sirius climbed out from the depths of the cellar. Zee could see by the look upon his face that it was, in fact, not good. She nodded her head in understanding as he spoke - the cellar had flooded, there was work to be done. Her warm pelt and fire was forgotten, and she set her lips in a thin line in consideration. It had been a while since she truly felt like an alpha, but she recognized the situation they were in and accepted quickly her responsibility in making sure the pack was warm and fed for winter. "I'll be right here." She told him, leaning over to place a soft kiss on his cheek before he ran off. While the warm bodies were on their way, she figured she'd see the damage for herself. Steeling herself she headed down into the damp space below, letting out a disgusted 'ugh' as her feet disappeared beneath the greasy water. It did not take much more exploration to see how much had been destroyed, and Zee would have hung her head in disappointment had it not risked dipping her whiskers into the water. Paw steps sounded from above, echoing into the storage space and alerting her to the arrival of reinforcements. She trotted out of the cellar, lifting a soaked paw to hastily inspect the muck in the daylight before turning to Iris. "We sprung a leak." Zee parroted Seer's explanation with a sigh. With a gesture of her crown she beckoned her handmaiden below, pausing at the entrance way. "I doubt much of anything can be salvaged, but we'll do the best we can. We might start by bringing it all out, what do you think?"   Whether she was truly asking Iris' opinion or just delaying the inevitable decent back into the muck, Zee wasn't sure. "Speech"

After ensuring all traces of Briar's scent and any smells from their activities had been thoroughly washed away from his fur, Artorias had beelined for the pack's main stores to inspect the damage that had been done. He raced across the damp dewey grass, the chill of the early morning air clinging to his coat and making his humid breath form clouds in front of his nose. He arrived on the scene a few minutes later, finding Zee, Mortis, and Iris gathered around the cellar and fire pit. Even as he approached, the smell of mildew and decaying food hit his nostrils like a sucker punch. This was not going to be good... He slowed his gait, trotting briskly up to the group and regarding the two Fatalises with a dip of his head. "Good morning, Zee, Mortis, Iris. Sirius said something about an incident in the stores? He asked me to take inventory of everything that can be salvaged."

He shrugged his shoulders to shed the extra furs he'd brought from the blankets, offering the warm and dry pelts to Zee to keep the chill away from the Armada queen. Turning amber eyes to the dark hole in the earth, Artorias took a trepidatious step towards the underground storage—and was immediately hit by the smell of damp and decay again. He recoiled with a grimace; oh yeah, this was going to be bad. "Ooookay! Iris, will you help me empty the stores?" He shifted his gaze back to Zee and Mortis. "As we bring items up, if you could get any non-perishables around the fire to start drying, that'd be greatly helpful. We can get a full tally on losses after we get it all out." Turning back to the cellar, Artorias took a deep breath through his mouth and descended into the sodden stores.

Blue and gray paws hit about three inches of water with a splash. Artorias scowled at the foul sludge he was wading through, a mix of water, mud, and rotting food. As quickly as he could, he began to grab as many items as he could: blankets, tools, raw materials and metals, anything that wasn't food or perishable he snatched up and hauled up to set on the ground for Mortis to dry. The stores had been pretty sufficiently stocked, and it would take some time to empty them out. Once he and Iris had them laid out and drying, he'd be able to get a better idea of how much had been destroyed.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"

One big happy family

Artorias has two ravens named Corbin and Eira and a fox named Argent. Assume they are within calling distance at all times.
As his mate, Briar may enter Artorias' threads unless marked Private.
____________________

Iris frowned with concern when Zee explained that the storage cellar had a leak and nodded in agreement when she mentioned bringing it all out. It wasn't going to be a pleasant process, but it had to be done to see if everything truly was lost. Just as she was about to go see the damage for herself Artorias appeared and she looked up at the blue-marked young man with surprise, but once he explained that Sirius had instructed him to come take inventory she understood. It seemed that the Warlord had gotten all hands on deck for this. When he dropped off some spare blankets she was quick to pick one up and drape it around Zee's thin shoulders, giving her mistress a small smile. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it." She turned to follow Artorias into the cellar then, wrinkling her nose at the smell that hit her as well.

With his additional height that she didn't have he was able to wade into the water without getting into it as much as she would have so she took the job of being a runner as he passed things too her she could carry them out to the fire pit, slowly accumulating a spread of very soggy furs, tools, and supplies. The furs were the worst off and she wondered if the smell from the meat that had been left floating in the water would ever really come out of them once they dried - if they ever properly dried at all. They had to try and salvage what they could though so she continued on with her work, couriering things back and forth from the ruined cellar to where Mortis was working on the fire.

"Iris"

The Warlord came trotting back to the communal space not long after. He had increased the patrols at the borders in case anyone got wind of their moment of weakness. Briar was running her inventory of the knocks and crannies of the pack, and Art and Mortis were working on emptying and drying any surviving supplies.

He arrived to find Mortis had started the fire, and was receiving goods handed to him by Iris - who had given up on her duty of seeing purely to Zee, and had become a busy body seeing to the pack's supplies. He narrowed his eyes at her, holding her gaze for a moment, before lifting his nose in the direction of Zee. The annoyance was plain in his expression and the flick of his tail. Had she let Zee throw her off so easily? He needed her to have enough of a spine to stand up to Zee when she tried to shrug off help. She still had too much healing to do after her ordeal.

He shook his head, and moved to Zee, brushing a paw where she stood by the celler door - decidedly not sitting by the fire. He just wanted her to recover and be happy, the only way he knew how it seemed, was by forcing unwanted comforts onto her - before hopping down into the cellar where Art was pulling out supplies. “Is it as bad as it looked?” he asked, requesting a report from the boy.

"Speech"

Before Zee had the chance to get into action and begin emptying the cellar, Artorias was on scene. The yearling took charge of the situation quickly and Zee tried not to resent him for it - the boy had been learning under Sirius, and was preparing to take the head of his own pack one day. It would be good experience for him to control the situation, though Zee felt a part of her own identity slip further away as she was relegated to drying duty. The horned queen nodded her head, stepping back from the cellar doors to allow the wolves to enter and letting out a soft sigh as Iris draped a blanket across her shoulders. Artorias was just doing his job, Iris was just doing her job, but still Zee felt more and more like a feeble elder being doted on and less and less like the alpha she was trying to rediscover.   Sirius approached, annoyance clear on his face and as he entered the cellar before her she turned and moved toward where Mortis was working at the fire. Her legs and underbelly were coated with muck from the underground flood, and so she offered him a distanced nuzzle of cheek in greeting before taking her place beside him. It quickly became apparent that the blanket would only pose a fire risk with all this shuffling around the flames as items were passed along the chain, and she shrugged it off onto a nearby stump to keep it safe. They'd lost enough from this disaster, losing another hide would be only more tragedy for them. "Speech"