It had been a few hours since Alarr called him to the border. During that time Tyrian had been prepping for the meeting ahead and musing over his options. He'd decided quite quickly that he wanted send a message back to Armada and let them know just how little Fireside thought of their threats. With that in mind he gathered together a couple bottles of Jupiter's finest alcohol (any day now he expected his nephew to start hiding them) and he and his companions rolled out a barrel of whiskey he'd nabbed not too long ago for a special occasion. This wasn't quite a special occasion, but it did seem worthy of the sacrifice. Now he knew what he wanted to say and the stage was set. With the open barn doors at his back Tyrian jumped up onto the top of the barrel and sat down facing the barnyard. He gave himself one last chance to think about what he was going to do, and then decided fuck it, just get it done. He threw back his head and howled for the whole pack. This was a mandatory meeting. Everyone needed to know what was happening. Things were going to change and he was about to start them on a path that might have lasting repercussions. They needed to be aware, then needed to be ready, but most importantly, they needed a drink. OOC: first round is due September 26! If everyone's in before then I might start early. ""

Álarr insisted on tending to Jynn's wounds first and when he was done she insisted on going her own way. He couldn't blame her and bid farewell to the wandering spirit before cleaning up his own wounds and doing it properly. Brynhildr helped him flush the wound with his home made saline. While she did that Afi created a poultice of herbs and moss to help step the bleeding as well as infection. Once that was done the wounds were expertly bandaged with deer hide strips and Álarr drank a little willow bark tea to help with his pain. He settled down and rested for awhile until his brother called a meeting together. Álarr got to his feet and headed out for the call, knowing full well his encounter with Sirius was likely to be brought up at the meeting. He nodded to Tyrian as he arrived and then settled down on his side, eyeing the barrel of whiskey.

Skadi was on her way back from the battlefield when the meeting call went up. She paused just long enough to consider it and then was off like a shot. Meetings were the hallmark of interesting things and she was dying for some entertainment. Training, maybe? A raid? A festival? Man, she wanted a big festival. Apparently her cousin Jupiter threw fun parties so maybe that's what this was? She could hope anyway.

She slowed just out of sight to smooth her fur and dignify herself. This was important business and she needed to look presentable. Once she was happy with her presentation Skadi slipped out from behind the barn and walked into the clearing. About halfway across she remembered she was still wearing her mask and had to pause to take it off and sling it over her shoulder before carrying on.

Torrent lifted her head at the sound of her brother's call, nearly dislodging Pidge from her shoulder as she slowed before changing directions, much to the raccoon's strident complaints. Torrent ignored her with chilly hauteur - Tyrian had called a pack meeting, and that was far more important than the raccoon healer's whinging or dropping off at her den the packet of dried herbs she'd traded for. Asriel broke away from her to head off to his own rest.

Coming up on the open barn doors, she could see Tyrian perched on a throne of alcohol, which didn't strike her as being particularly odd. She moved to seat herself next to Alarr. The antiseptic scent of a freshly bandaged wound mixed with the scent of blood on him, and she nosed at the wound with narrowed eyes, entirely unconcerned with any objections he might have, regardless of the fact that he was the master healer and she was barely trained. The positioning definitely implied that they were fight wounds, and not from a friendly spar. Did she need to rip someone's ears off for attacking her brother? She'd be accosting him after the meeting to find out.

Knowing, as he did, that drinks were being provided at this shindig, Jupiter made a point to get there promptly. He wasn't about to let some newbie who wouldn't appreciate what they were drinking hog the good stuff by getting there first. Actually, he didn't even know what Tyrian had planned but he knew missing out on the good stuff was a possibility and he wasn't about to let it happen. Especially since he had so graciously provided the good stuff. "Graciously" being the keyword. He was going to have to start storing his shit outside Fireside somewhere lest Tyrian catch wind of it and commandeer it next time something big and important happened. He wasn't bitter at all, nope not him. Jupiter had said yes with a cheery heart. He strolled into the meeting and swiped at Skadi's ear in passing. Damn those kids were growing. It almost made him- no, it didn't, that was a lie. Jupiter flopped down close to Alarr, kicked out one of his back legs and crossed the front ones. Was this a party? Booze throne aside, it didn't look like one...but that didn't mean it couldn't become one. They were celebrating something, he could feel it. ""

With Ulfr off on his own now permanently, Asvor couldn't help the restlessness that sometimes threated to overtake her. Somehow in her older age she had grown more and more used to idleness; in a peculiar sort of way it felt earned, like something she had a right to, though that didn't mean she wanted to always do nothing. She was a Finnvi, after all, and Finnvis were the type to stop just because they were getting older. And while she enjoyed periods of relaxation she felt suddenly reinvigorated by Tyrian's call to assemble, knowing this meant something interesting was coming. He wasn't the type to hold meetings just for the sake of it, so she could only assume they were due to celebrate, or to fight - or maybe a bit of both.

Either option sounded fantastic to her.

She'd been rearranging her meager supplies of herbs before winter fully settled in. The south in general was far more temperate than the lands of her youth, but that didn't necessarily they'd have an easy winter - it felt as though last winter had just barely ended, more bitter than she remembered since settling down in these lands. Unfortunately her store of herbs wasn't terribly impressive, but she'd make do, as she always did. Stretching out her limbs as she stood from her brief break, she headed quickly to Tyrian's call, noting the group that had arrived so far. In the crowd she searched for Valdis before anyone else, though quickly settled in and faced Tyrian, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Valentine ambled onto the scene with his skunk in tow. Today for some reason they were getting along fine. It was anyone's guess how long the truce lasted, but for now at least it was holding. The old king, spying the bottles beside the barrel, made his way to the front and sat down next to the good stuff, and by proximity, by Tyrian too. As he waited for the meeting to get started he rifled through the supplied booze and made himself a little game plan. There were some things in here he wanted to try. "Talk" "You" Think

Leaving the pretty girl he felt himself having googly eyes at had been difficult, especially hearing what she had gone through. That she chose to cling to him while she processed her traumas made the yearling boy feel special far beyond what he deserved. Gwyn was special, and part of him wished deeply that he could tell her that all of the time, but the boy couldn’t even speak. Let alone the logistics, they both knew he couldn’t stay in the castle with her forever. If he could have said goodbye he would of, but their parting was still sweetly sorrowful, and Ysmir returned home with Barenziah.

He was just about to curl up for a well deserved, if lonely, nap when he heard Tyrian’s call for the pack to gather together. He moaned internally at his bad timing and dragged himself out of bed. At least he had there wherewithal to bathe, so he would be presentable at the very least. He was again thankful at how absent the pack had been at the festival, there weren’t many who had witnessed his defeat.

So the boy held his head high, hiding the fatigue that lingered just behind his eyes as he slipped into the meeting. Dual toned eyes fell on his sister, but he paced behind the crowd for a long moment before deciding to sit a little ways off so he could watch everyone. Ysmir lowered himself to his elbows and the white gyrfalcon landed on his hips and made herself comfortable there. Ysmir tried not to wince as her talons grazed his skin for the hundred millionth time.

Valkyrie took her time in answering the call. A lot had been on her mind lately and though she'd had plenty of time to mull her options over she was still no closer to an answer. But that was dilemmas for you. They cropped up easily and were difficult to banish. In time she was confident the gods would make their will known and that would be that. She was quiet and thoughtful as she walked, and upon reaching the meeting place and seeing that some of her children had beaten her there, her heart swelled with pride. They were a good looking group and had grown into fine men and women. They would do well in this world and the next. After observing those gathered for a moment Valkyrie seated herself towards the back of gathering so she could continue people watching.

The life of a shepherd meant that your world revolved around, well, sheep. Lachlan had fallen in love with his little ram lamb and that was just the end of it. They were just coming out of breeding season, the only time more busy than lambing but Lachlan hadn’t been through that craziness yet. Getting ram and ewe together was difficult enough. Lamby was kept a ram, but was still a little too small. Next year once he was of size, and his horns were more impressive, he’d get to run with the flock as well. Until then he was being a little butthead with Lach.

Still, they both knew they were better off keeping close. The little ram followed is master so when they arrived at the meeting they could sit close. Having a living breathing wool blanket up your rear was an advantage sometimes. Lachlan settled somewhat close to Tyrian, and not because of the booze like Valentine and Jupiter, but because of his affection for the alpha. He glanced at the wolves around them and leaned into the ram’s side as he began to chew his cud comfortably.

Dagrún had been up to no good. She'd pilfered a bottle of Álarr's red wine and had been just about to partake when the meeting call rang out. She groaned. Go figure! Hopefully the healer hadn't noticed that particular wine had gone missing and she could get a drink in before he noticed. She'd never tried wine before and really wanted to know what the fuss was about so when she noticed he'd been gone for an extended period of time she pounced. Ah, well, she'd just have to wait a little longer. Stuffing the wine back in a hole she'd dug and covering it with her sleeping hide she slipped out of her den and headed for the meeting. There were already a number of wolves there. Her eyes immediately went to Álarr and the wound on his neck. Ah crap… now she felt bad for stealing the old man's booze.

It had taken Valdís awhile to recover from her respiratory infection, far longer than she would've liked, but she was finally getting around better. To think she had to celebrate her 9th birthday fighting off illness. Was this what it meant to grow old? She stretched, ears twitching at the call for a meeting. Valdís groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position. She was stiff. Everything hurt. Being old sucked. She got to her paws, stretching once more and applying another dose of the cream Ásvor had given to help with the joint pain she'd endured with her fever. She was sure her wife was keeping on top of healing duties and probably out and about somewhere but Valdís knew she'd likely catch her lover at the meeting. As soon as she was fully well she'd suggest the two go on a little getaway together now that the kid was out of the nest. Valdís arrived at the meeting and settled down quietly to listen.

He wasn't gonna lie, it had been a helluva long time since he'd been to Fireside. He couldn't remember when he had last visited, but it had clearly been a while cuz he could pick up the scents of younger wolves that had his family's scent. Had he really lost track of time that bad? But here he was, wanting to come home after seeing everything else the world had to offer and none of it drew him the way Fireside did. Would Tyrian let him come back? He didn't see why he wouldn't considering the family (in his opinion) had a habit of disappearing and reappearing every now and again. Still, he wanted to come home and he hoped they'd let him.

As he neared the borders, he heard Tyrian call the pack together for a meeting. And Ares being, well...Ares. Decided why not make his grand return at the meeting? He wasn't sure what to expect, but he'd take it all in stride and not worry too much. Good thing he brought a present, eh? Shifting the pack he had slung over his shoulder, he walked straight past the pack borders and made a beeline to the barn where the meeting was being held.

When he arrived, he was right in assuming there were younger members of the family running around, and...wait...when the hell did they happen?! His father was a grown man, yes. But he never really expected him to go around having more kids. Ah, well...he supposed he'd have to give them some more scrutinizing attention later. For now, he sauntered past the crowd towards Tyrian with a grin on his face. "Yo! Ya miss me? I uh, kinda lost track of time...like really lost track of time, but I'd like to come back home if you'll have me." He shrugged off the pack he was wearing and dropped it on the pile of booze Tyrian had at the base of his barrel-shaped throne. "Trinkets. Some shiny jewels, a couple of pieces of jewelry, buncha exotic feathers, and small animal skulls and bones, and some buffalo jerky I made myself. My own specialty I like to call Reaper jerky. Made with a special blend of peppers I found out in the wild. It's good, full of flavor, and sure to set your tastebuds ablaze!" He winked before stepping away to sit nearby.

He was sure something would be said to him for leaving the pack without a word, but he was a big boy. He could handle it.

"Speech"

Pestilence had hardly shown her face around Fireside in seasons, having dove into parenthood immediately after begging Tyrian to allow Rasha to stay. The alpha King seemed reluctant, so she was determined not to have the adoption cause any sort of hardships for the pack. Pestilence single handedly fed, entertained, and sought healing for the sickly pup and devoted each spare moment she had further to running patrols or checking the fences for damage. Tyrian's howl was unexpected, but Pesto was not the sort to ignore her King. It would be Rasha's first meeting, and hopefully the pup was feeling up to attending. With her little one at her side, the monochromatic Klein made her way toward the meeting place. Tyrian sat upon a barrel of alcohol and Pesto eyed it greedily, ultimately deciding against it. She gave a hesitant smile Alarr's way before settling in with the group and patting the ground beside her to beckon Rasha with her. It had been what felt like forever since she'd actually interacted with her packmates, but hopefully social pleasantries weren't something you lost with time and lack of use. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Tyrfing was bordering on late, but he'd just crossed the border line on his way to the battlefield when the call had rung out. He panicked a moment, shuffled back beneath the fence and darted across the Range toward the meeting point. The majority of his family were already present and the perfectionist in him did not want to be caught anywhere near last to attend, so rather then join his siblings Fin shuffled nonchalantly towards the back of the gathering and plopped down beside his mother. The viking woman likely had some reason for not being in the middle of what Fin assumed would be chaos when the keg was popped open, so he could pretend that he too, shared her very reasonable and wise point of view. He didn't know much of what to expect today, but whatever it was he hoped he'd get to show off some of his newly acquired skills.   "Speech"

Alfrun set aside what she was working on to make her way towards Tyrian's call. It would keep until whatever the alpha needed was finished - it was more in the same vein that she'd been working on since a short time after she'd married. Magic. She would bear children for the glory of the Finnvi, and she was determined that neither her age nor Jupiter's infertility was going to get in the way of that. But this would keep, for a bit.

Meandering into the group with her usual preoccupied air - she was watching the way the auras of the pack interwove around each other, some mingling, some repelling - she inclined her head to Valkyrie, then to Tyrian, before seating herself decisively beside her husband whether he liked it or not, settling an evaluating half-blind gaze upon his brightly colored form. Plotting magic.

Katja had been busy elsewhere, watching the battles on the battlefield and planning to participate - she'd seen Skadi when she'd come, though she wasn't certain if she was still there - when the call came. Luckily the battlefield bordered Fireside lands, so she could hear the summons. Sparring would need to wait. She made her way quickly and efficiently back to the barn that served as the center of activity for her birth pack, but arrived after much of the pack. She swept her chilly stare over the group calculatingly a moment before she seated herself on the other side of her mother from Tyrfing, flanking her with an honor guard, and settled herself neatly to await Tyrian's meeting.

It felt stranger than he could express not to have his sister in the pack anymore. She'd gone off to make a band of pirates, and while Talon was happy for her, he had been feeling pretty out of sorts over it too. He'd spent more time moping around the sheep than he had socializing with anyone, and while there were certainly worse things to do than throw yourself into your work he was, perhaps, taking it a bit far. And it wasn't like he couldn't go see Sparrow, with the pirates allied with Fireside and all. He just didn't, because it felt weird and wrong for her to be gone and he'd rather avoid the situation than try to do anything to fix it.

But pack meetings didn't mean voluntary socializing, it meant something you had to do, so Talon left his post at the sheep flock to trudge over to the barn, flopping messily onto his haunches with a sigh.

Adelphie had gone quite these past months, focusing on herself, her ambitions and her aims. She was beginning to settle into pack life and was due to see her leader personally to request a more deserving rank. The lady was lost in her thoughts until a call would break the silence that engulfed her. She would get up naturally, making her way quickly towards the call of Tyrian. This would be her first meeting and she was keen to see what he had to say. Her legs would ake her forward, observing the wolves whom were already there. She would respectfully join and settle amongst the group, nodding in respect to Tyrian, waiting the news eagerly. Were there changes coming amongst the group? It had been a while since she had experienced any tensions from outside the borders. "text text text"

The young girl was all wags and smiles today. She had never met anyone- not even really anyone in the pack besides her momma. She was tiny still, but had been getting over her sickness- whatever it had been. It seemed that now she could eat food well, she was fine as long as she ate, though it was hard to keep weight on her. Her tiny legs trotted quickly next to her mother's steps. She was excited, sure, but being the size of a porcupine or smaller made her feel absolutely dwarfed by all of those around her. She stared wide eyed as they came through the group and eventually settled. Would she be that big one day too??