The meager remains of the pack's supplies were laid out along the communal spaces of the Armada. The fire was still roaring heartily in the pit, and he was waiting to hear any further reports that the torrential rain and flooding in the night just passed had affected any other dens or damaged other important resources of the Armada. The Warlord was not a happy wolf, knowing just how badly the pack's food supplies had been damaged, and with winter just over the horizon, too.

It was time to bring in the rest of the pack, and begin the painstaking job of rebuilding their supplies. Through hunting, trade, or perhaps even raiding. He raised his head and called for the pack.


"Sirius Fatalis"

Gossamer was headed back into the pack lands with a bundle of herbs in her mouth when she heard her father calling the pack together. Well, seemed like she'd gotten back just in time. She noted that it sounded like an urgent call so she headed straight for the meeting rather than dropping her herbs off right away. She was sure they'd keep and she could set them up to dry later. She arrived and nodded to her father before taking a seat. Gossamer set the herbs down, spitting out a few random bits of leaves and steam. Ásta followed in behind and settled down next to her.

Artorias shook the ocean water from his fur as he stepped back onto the beach. After pulling every last piece of salvageable product from the flooded stores, he had found himself covered in a less-than-desirable amount of grime and muck. The food that had gotten soaked had been entirely spoiled and turned the water into a sludge. The store would either need an incredibly thorough deep cleaning once it drained, or it would need to be filled in and a new one dug. He knew Sirius would not like to hear this, but he also knew it had to be said. Bad news was still news and needed to be reported.

As he tried to dry out his fur, Artorias made his way back toward the communal space where Sirius sat in wait for the rest of the pack to join. He found the Warlord scowling over the minuscule amount of supplies that had been saved and Gossamer just arriving, and even those would require a good drying before they could know if they were still usable or total losses. The damage they saw now night not have been the extent of the concern. He found a position near Sirius, offering his godfather a concerned glance before looking over the remaining furs, blankets, raw materials, and other dry goods that hadn't been totally destroyed. No food or herbs had survived. No mixed medicines or poultices could be salvaged. This did not look good...

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"

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.
____________________

Pack meetings weren't really...Ophie's thing. It wasn't that she didn't care what was going on around her, only it made her guilty knowing she'd already missed out on so much. In this instance she didn't have much of a choice, the pantry was ruined, Ophie couldn't stuff her face silly even if she wanted to. Which...even now she sort of did and didn't. She ambled along, sides huffing and puffing as she struggled to not get left behind and miss out on too much. By the time she stumbled onto the scene only Gos, Artorias and the Warlord was present, which was a good thing! But also bad since Ophie had pointedly been avoiding the Fatalis patriarch, for reasons that involved disappointed stares and gruelling work out routines. Ophie couldn't decide which one scared her the most.

Struggling to keep her breathing calm and collected, she swallowed the lump forming in the pit of her throat. No one would starve her into skinniness, would they? Taking refuge beside her sister, Ophie planted herself in Gos' shadow. Present but not the centre of attention, just as she liked it.

Zee caught the sound of her husbands call and sighed, already knowing the reason he was gathering the pack and hating that she could not do more to assist in the process of restoring their lost goods. Sirius had not outright discouraged her from assisting, but Zee knew she was not physically healed enough to do more then menial skinning and tanning, or catching fish off the shore. She shrugged on her cheetah pelt, glancing back at herself to see whether it fell enough down her sides to cover the outline of her ribcage. Deeming it acceptable (or rather, accepting there was nothing she could do about it) she moved forward to gather with the other Armada wolves. A few were already gathered and she offered a gentle nuzzle to both her daughters before taking her place alongside Sirius. She gave to him a lick of his cheek in greeting before directing her gaze forward to wait the rest of their pack. "Speech"

If there was one thing Hanako didn't miss about the Armada, it was the meetings. Yeah yeah, she understood they were important because everyone had to be on the same page and all, but the idea of sitting around and listening just wasn't very high on her list of priorities. Like with many things these days, Azure made it pretty clear she didn't have much of a choice though, stomping along beside her as she jaunted her way towards the gathering. It had been a hot minute since she'd shown her face in public, least of all making an entrance like this, her own sweet scent imbued with the perfume of heat. Honestly, it was kind of....not great. She didn't mind the attention-least of all from Azure- but she wasn't really into airing her dirty laundry and waving it about for all to see.

Regardless, she made her way to the forefront of the gathering, humming a little as she paused and jutted out her hip, wondering what spot would suit her the best. She hadn't been stripped of her rank per se, so she was pretty intent on pretending as though all was fine and dandy in that regard. Just as Azure no doubt expected of her.

Finding a nice spot with minimal dirt she settled down, all nice and dainty, even patting her tail as though to goad Azure to join her. If he didn't have better places to be.

Azure may not have been back in the Armada long, though it wasn't as if he'd forgotten about what being in a pack entailed. Meetings were a normal part of life and he didn't hesitate to get up from the grass and stretch, retrieving his runaway koi-wolf and encouraging her forward to show her face there. While it wasn't a mandatory meeting, Hana still had to keep up the appearance of her rank. It would not do to inform the pack of how light her punishment had truly been, and as the Armada's Wrath she'd be expected there.

They walked in silence, and Azure merely raised a questioning brow as she settled down and patted her tail beside her. She wasn't wrong in that it was the place he would have chosen to sit, but as always she pushed his buttons in making it her idea and not his. Glancing around at the gathered wolves he saw already some of his younger siblings, who he'd had nearly no interaction with as they grew. Blinking past the - WOW - of Ophie's weight, he turned back towards Hana and took his seat beside her, looking up at his parents and wondering why the meeting had been called.

"Speech"

Hikaru looked around for Mortis as he arrived at the meeting after his morning training. Every day before dawn he made his way to the training fields, trying to keep his fit form and in fighting readiness. He’d slacked off a little while the pair of them visited the Hallows, but he hadn’t skipped a day since being back home in the Armada. He lingered at the back of the pack while he waited for the winged heir to arrive, and he watched the rest of the pack with interest. Sirius looked deeply concerned along with his back from the dead queen.

His silvery eyes drifted from face to face, he wondered if they were as out of the loop as he was. None of this seemed any good at all.

It had taken her a while to scour the territory for every spare pelt and supply, looking in every spare den that had been dug throughout the plains and finding the ones that weren't also damaged by the heavy rains so she could gather the things left behind in them. She had just gotten to the opposite side of the plains when her called called for everyone to give them the bad news and she sighed as she trudged back toward the central gathering area with five or six furs draped across her back, Marigold carrying a random stash of bowls they had found, and Willow carrying some bundles of herbs that were dried, but still usable. There were at least three or four of the dens that she had come across that had been flooded as well and she had pulled a few furs out of the waters trapped inside and laid them out in front of the dens so perhaps they could come along and collect them later to dry them.

When she arrived at the meeting she saw her parents there along with Artorias and two of her sisters, her older brother, Hikaru, and Hanako. She walked toward where some of the other salvaged supplies were to slide the furs off of her back, Marigold and Willow dropping off their portions as well before Willow flew off to land in a near by tree. Briar came over to her mother, giving her cheek a kiss before very pointedly walking past her father to go sit beside Artorias, leaning lightly into his side while she glanced over all the water logged supplies. It wasn't much, that was for certain. She frowned as she looked at it all, her ears flicking uncertainly. They were going to need a lot of work put in to make up for all of this.

"Briar Fatalis"

thinking "speech" "others" He had never dug out his own permanent den, only ever stolen away into caverns and hollowed roots while travelling. He hadn't understood just how grueling the work was, but he was loving the burn in his muscles at the end of a long day of digging, hauling stones out, and packing walls. The heavy rains that had seemed to peter out just as he'd begun helped to loosen the soil enough for him to scoop out sopping clumps of mud near the beginning, and slowly work into the thick loam over the course of the first day. He was thoroughly entrenched in his work when he heard the Warlord's summoning howl, and hauled himself out of the cavernous den he was building near the shore of the sea. There was something about the waves lapping at the distant shore that called to him, and he'd elected to get to work on a small incline just beyond the sands, where the plains' tall grasses transitioned to the hardy tussocks that tended to line shorelines. Drawing in a deep breath, he shook the damp soil from his pelt vigorously. Wiping the worst of the dirt clods from his paws, he set off at a lope towards the last echoes of the Warlord's voice. There was already a sizeable group congregating around the Warlord when he finally arrived. Immediately he recognized a small, horned woman at his side who must have been the Queen they'd been avoiding throughout his first day. He ought to introduce himself once they were done at the meeting. As cerulean eyes trailed over the assembled wolves, he noticed quite a few of them resembled the Warlord quite closely- he had certainly built a large family for himself. The pale coated, orange dappled wolves both caught his attention right away. He wondered if these were the pretty slaves he'd been warned to treat kindly- one of them was leaning against a titanic oak-coated male who looked a lot like the Warlord. Perhaps best to avoid that one, lest he incur the wrath of either male. The young man, however, might warrant further investigation. Dipping his head politely to the Warlord, the phoenix settled himself near the back of the meeting to observe the proceedings. The sodden pelts and supplies at the Warlord's paws didn't look promising, and a bad feeling began to sink into his gut when he saw them. He sensed he had arrived at the very start of something bad, but that only left him with room to succeed in its wake. I GOT LIES TO TELL YOUR CHILDREN, WHEN MY SMILE PIERCES THROUGH YOUR BONES

Art by Monster

Aris had been caught out of pack lands by heavy rains and had ridden out the rough weather warm and dry in a cave with Tansy, so she was just returning to pack lands when her father called a meeting. With only the dreariness of the weather to dampen her spirits since she didn't yet know that flooding had hit the pack lands and probably ruined anything she had in her den, she was in fairly high spirits as she bounded into the group, barreling through Ophie and Gossy with a grin on her way to throw herself catlike against her mother's thin side. She was bonier than before she'd gone off and 'died' and smaller - well, Aris was bigger, really, but whatever - but Ari reveled in just having her back, and stayed half pressed against her, half draped over her like a warm black and purple blanket as she peered curiously around at the things spready out nearby. "What's going on? Why all the long faces?" she asked perkily.

The Warlord stood there, leaning his weight on his forepaws as he watched the pack slowly stream into place before him. Artorias, who was temporarily his wolf, the faces of some of his kids. Zee settled in beside him, and he returned her quiet cheek kiss. He glanced at Briar and crooked a brow at her as the other wolf settled down beside Artorias.

He waited a moment to see if any more wolves would turn up, before clearing his throat, and letting his gaze move across each wolf. ‘You would have heard the storms last night, there have been extensive flooding throughout the Armada - if your den has been flooded, please speak out shortly. However, and this is the most concerning, the packs main supplies have been damaged. Most of our food is beyond repair. I will need volunteers to break up into different groups. I will need diplomats to trade for supplies, hunting teams to begin restocking, and a digging crew to repair our celler and other dens.” he said, before waving a paw at the crowd, indicting they should begin deciding what groups appeal to them.

"Sirius Fatalis"

Sedna had been deep in the depths of her own stores, recovering what she could from higher shelves and moving them into the sun so they wouldn’t grow mould as the lower areas of her storage den dried. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t thoroughly pissed, but at least she had had the foresight to put things that were harder to come by up a little higher. The rest could be replace. She didn’t even want to look at the state her garden was in.

She was in half a mind to pretend she didn’t hear the meeting called, but Otis clambered onto her back and began plucking at her fur insistently. With a roll of her eyes she set out, there was still so much to do, but she supposed she needed to stop at some point and rest.

She arrived just as Sirius began to speak, and moved to sit on Hana’s other side, silver eyes scanning those that had gathered. It was good to see that Zee and Azure still resided among the living, had she really been so holed up in her little corner of the plains that she had missed their return?

It seemed others had been harder hit than she had, but her supplies were nothing compared to the main medicinal stores. Her mouth turned down in concern. She would wait to see how others decided and allocate her efforts to wherever she was needed most.

"Speech."

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

Hanako offered Sedna a pleased side glance when the warrior settled beside her,  quickly falling back into the natural swing of their friendship as though time at all had passed. Now wasn't really the time for pleasantries and she returned her focus to the Warlord who seemed content to get things moving along. Hanako was pretty self-absorbed, there was no denying that, even she had noticed the vicious change in weather. How it had rained so violently it was as though an army was marching above her den, the thumping of their paws following the beat to the drums of war. Her ears flicked back in a subdued show of concern, she was a good fisher perhaps even the best in these parts, but there was no way she'd be able to make a dent in the restocking process alone. Not that she really wanted to, to be honest, surely there were other ways she could help?

And sure enough, Sirius went onto to say he was in need of a diplomat or two and who better for it than her? She leaned a little on her front paws to volunteer herself only to pause for a beat, shooting a look in Azure's direction she wondered if she'd even be allowed to leave. Ashen was close enough, maybe she'd be delegated to speaking with them? If nothing she had to put herself forward, even if only to maintain the illusion of her rank.

"I'll head out wherever you need me to, just point me at a pack and I'll get what you need." If nothing else she still held unshakable confidence in her abilities. When it came to work she'd never let Sirius down, a lot had changed but not this.

Offering her Mother a quick lick to her chin as she passed, Ophie tried to settle in to wait patiently and listen. It was a little hard though, she felt prying gazes upon her from all angles, judging and no doubt thinking mean things that made her want to curl up into a ball and just cease to exist. She shrank further into Gos' side, her heart picking up pace in her chest as she swallowed the lump forming in the pit of her throat. They weren't here to judge her, it was simply a matter of having not seen her for a while. Their responses were natural, understandable, and she shouldn't blame them even a little. The fault laid squarely at Ophie's paws and she knew it, there was no use in denying the inevitable.

Getting to the meat of the meeting, Sirius recounted what Ophie already knew and practically underlined it with red felt tip pen: hard times were ahead and unless everyone chipped in the pack could go under this winter. Neither of the options sounded optimal for Ophie but she didn't want to hide away any more, she'd missed the mammoth hunt and reaped the rewards anyway.  It was time she actually did something to earn her name. She shifted nervously, guilty at the thought of speaking out even though the Warlord opened the floor with a wave of his paw.

It was okay, she'd be okay.

"I um...I can help hunt. Or dig...if I'll just in the way." She was quick to backtrack, a little panicked at the thought of making a mess of things.

thinking "speech" "others" Cerulean gaze drifted over the assembled crowd, taking in the varied colour palettes and overarching themes of dark or modest colouring. While a few seemed to hold bright shades, they seemed to be set into dark base coats, save for a few outliers. Granted, upon further inspection a great number of the attendees bore a similarity to the Warlord that could only be the result of blood relation, so he was certain that the rest of the general population of the Armada weren't quite so homogeneous. Once a few more of the pack's members had gathered, the Warlord had decided there were enough present for him to begin. "You would have heard the storms last night, there have been extensive flooding throughout the Armada - if your den has been flooded, please speak out shortly. However, and this is the most concerning, the packs main supplies have been damaged. Most of our food is beyond repair. I will need volunteers to break up into different groups. I will need diplomats to trade for supplies, hunting teams to begin restocking, and a digging crew to repair our celler and other dens.” the somber tone set the rest of the attendees into a similar mood, with many frowns creasing the features of those gathered. Mephistopheles was no exception, and his brows furrowed lightly. Curiosity bade him wait a moment, and see what others were opting to do. One of the dappled wolves, the one leaning against the burly young man at the front, spoke up and offered herself for trading expeditions to neighbouring packs. Evidently she wasn't one of the previously mentioned slaves, which was only a slight disappointment. After he heard a soft voice from somewhere in the crowd offer to hunt, or dig, he decided he might as well make himself known. "I would be more than happy to start stocking the larders and tanning hides, or raid nearby packs for resources should it be required." he rumbled, just loud enough to be certain his voice carried across the meeting. Tail tip twitching lightly at his side, he resumed his scan of the crowd to see what the consensus was. I GOT LIES TO TELL YOUR CHILDREN, WHEN MY SMILE PIERCES THROUGH YOUR BONES

Art by Monster

The pack gathered rather quickly, and in the crowd she noticed a face she'd not yet met. She was distracted in her thoughts of this stranger when Aris bounced into her side, throwing the horned queen momentarily off balance and causing her to brush against her husband's thick fur. Her arm came around the purple bellied girl and she leaned down to murmur into her ear. "Shh now, you'll see soon enough." Sirius appeared to be ready to begin the meeting, and she kept Aris in her embrace while he addressed the pack. Sedna approached last, and Zee was pleased to see a familiar face still lingering, even if she'd been late to answering the warlord's call. Ophie's response drew her ear and she gave the yearling a smile, recognizing her anxiety and wanting to support the volunteer. "Perhaps I can accompany you in your hunting, Ophie." She offered softly, eager to spend more time with her youngest litter. "Speech"

Ari listened in dismay. The pack lands had flooded? Fuck, her den was probably a fucking disaster of muddy soaking furs and ruined moldy herbs and whatever. Damn, she'd have a lot of nasty gross work to do. It was tempting to just leave it all there, cave in the entrance, and make her own den somewhere else... she was not looking forward to dealing with it. Luckily, she was given a temporary out when her father asked for volunteers. Neither hunting nor digging appealed, but... trading? She perked up immediately. "I'll go on trading duty! I have a very trustworthy face, I'll be great at diplomacy." She gave her most guileless grin, then bumped against her mom. "aw, come on, Mom, you should come with us instead of hunting. Anyone could hunt but everyone likes you, they'd give you loads of stuff. You mever go out anymore, it'd be fun!" She didn't particularly want to leave her mom alone now that she had her back, and besides, it would be healthy for her to get exercise, right? It didn't even occur to her that anyone else would have a problem with Zee being away, nor that Zee might have a very good reason for volunteering to hunt - ie, spending time with the more anxious and in need of her children - all that occured to her was the opportunity to have her mom to her own self and she blithely chattered, fully ready to coax her mom into changing her mind and deliberately ignoring anyone else's feelings.

Az caught Hana's look, but before he could speak out against her thoughts she was already volunteering. He gritted his teeth, hating the position she'd put him in between speaking out against the 'Wraith' rank she was barely holding onto, and letting the flight-risk go out past his reach. There was little doubt in his mind that Sirius would approve her for this diplomatic mission, and Azure could not overrule his warlord father. "I'll accompany the diplomats, and do whatever hunting I can on the side." He rumbled, visibly annoyed though he attempted to reign it in. His little sister offered herself to join as well and Azure raised a brow at her, glancing across her small form before giving a shrug. Best case scenario he'd escort just Hana, but he assumed spending some time with the short purple one wouldn't be the worst, and more preferable then yet again playing guard to his mother. The youngest Fatalis litter were still practically strangers to him, but he assumed their father had at the very least lectured them on obedience.

"Speech"

Hikaru was more than surprised when Mortis didn’t show up to the impromptu meeting. He tried to assume the winged heir was already set to his task, so the young koi approached the group and sat a little closer towards Sirius before he began. Hika saw so much of his best friend in the Warlord’s face, it really wasn’t so hard to imagine the sweet boy as the one day leader.

Sirius was quick and to the point as he mentioned tha massive storms that had gone through and Hikaru nodded as he went on to say the rebuilding efforts would begin with them. Trading, hunting, and physical labor repairing their stores and the dens damaged. It seemed an even amount of wolves here wished to go out and trade, or would rather use their time hunting. The only one to mention redigging the larder and dens was Ophelia. He knew she was his favorite for a reason. Hika tried to offer her a grin as he spoke up in his soft voice. I’ll work wherever its most needed, but I can get started on digging right away.”

"Speech"