Aurielle Adravendi

They’d lost so much over the course of this spring. Once she’d checked in with each wolf of the pack individually and spent time with them, she waited a day or two, then made her way to the meeting boulder. Her strength was returning, the meandering, restless walks she found her paws taking her on helping to revitalize her muscles and tendons. Their lower numbers would be helped in due time by Legacy’s mother’s arrival. The woman had lost her husband, and three children to the plague, and they were only four among many of the wolves in that Chapter of Nomads, though the pups had been the only wolves that young to be taken out. Three children remained of that litter and they would be coming with their mother to reside in Valhalla while she continued their older half sister’s training. It was the best outcome to have hoped for. Come Summer they would arrive. She leapt to the top of the boulder and settled, gazing at the clear space before her. It would be so strange not to see Justice or Domari, or Paladin sitting there. Or her father… She drew in a breath and tipped her muzzle to the sky, calling the pack to the gathering boulder and letting the howl drift into silence as she let her muzzle lower and waited for the pack to arrive to the meeting. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

His patrols took a lot longer than they usually did now and he absolutely hated it. His leg was certainly on the mend but he had been scolded many times to take it easy as to not open the still healing wound... again. After this latest tongue lashing, the male decided that maybe he shouldn't be so pig headed and actually take it easy... if only a little bit. Enzi seemed to have taken up the mantel as his warden, quick to give him a sharp and swift peck or pinch of her talons if he started to push his limits. The bird had probably struck up some deal with the Spirit or the annoyed healers. Not that he really listened, he was only careful enough so that he didn't reopen the wound, as he did actually feel bad causing more work for the remaining healers. And then, as Aurielle's howl echoed over the plains, Drachen stopped his low walk to listen. It was a pack meeting and everyone was expected to be there. His blue eyes scanned over the rest of the distance of his patrol, the urge to push through and arrive late to the meeting and finish it was seriously tempting as he hated leaving things half done but the call of the Spirit was something he could not ignore. So he turned and walked his way to the meeting place, casting the black dot in the sky that was Enzi to make sure she followed as he made his way to answer the summons. His gait was uneven but still his paws landed on the ground nearly silently against the ground, even with the ever present pain running up and down his leg. He was hopeful though, that the long gash was getting better, the pain slowly getting less and less each day, replaced by an unbearable itch from the tissues healing, but it was something that he could tolerate. As long as he was back to full force soon. Drachen was surprised however when he was the first to arrive, his oceanic eyes scanning the area for anyone else assuming that he missed them, but no, he was the first. The Mist then turned his attention to Aurielle and gave her a small but warm smile and approached her, stopping a respectful distance away as he took a place at the front where others would soon arrive. He was glad to see she looked healthier than she did when she came by his den. Still not completely back to health but he like the improvement. He, himself still looked rather ragged after being struck by the sickness, at least his pelt was now more sleek and free of mats from the blue ooze that dripped from his eyes and nose. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Laoise Adravendi

The past season was a numb blur for Lee, the weird fireflies, the terrible sickness and the deaths that weight on each as every one of them was almost too much for her to bear. But she had to be strong for her family, for her mother who was still recovering and trying to keep the pack together. So she had thrown herself into her studies and focused on trying to heal anyone who needed help, as much as she could. But with Paladin gone.... she felt lost. The girl was in the middle of taking a drink when she heard her mother's summons for a pack meeting so he quickly gulped down the rest of her fill, choking once as the water went down the wrong way before taking off towards the meeting area. She had been lucky enough to not have contracted the sickness somehow so Lee was determined to do what ever was needed of her to help her mother out. Lee slowed her run down to a walk when she saw her mother and Drachen waiting at the meeting place, Lee looking over each individual to check their overall health before giving her mother a bright warm smile before settling down near the front. She casted her blue eyes around to look for her siblings but when she couldn't spot them in the distance yet, Lee let her mind wander as they waited. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Ardyn Cadeyrn Aodhán Phoenix Adravendi

He was running a little late, but with all the pack had been through, including himself, he knew his mother wouldn’t punish anyone for lack of punctuality, or probably even outright absence at this time. Legacy was grieving with the Chapter and her mother, but Ime and Kayode had already conveyed to Aurielle that Legacy and her mother would be coming to stay with Valhalla, along with the woman’s remaining pups. So, he walked with Coran toward his mother’s call. Was it normal to feel so old, when so young? Was the feeling going to fade or would he always feel aged? The two brothers arrived to find only Drachen and Lee arrived so far, and Ardyn tucked against his sister’s side with a brotherly nuzzle to her cheek before nodding at his mother and Drachen, glancing over the wound the events had wrought on the man. With as bad as everything had been, perhaps Drachen had been too paranoid to let the lemur or mandrill at Paladin’s side suture the wound. Ardyn knew he’d been half wild with suspicions he’d never felt before through it all. He sat, tail flipping to keep the long hair from under him as he turned his eyes to the plains, glancing to his mother now and then. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Amorielle Adravendi

The toll that had been paid during the strange events from the past season and a half had been high. Quite a few of their members had succumbed to the sickness and passed away...though Amorielle hadn't been close to those that didn't make it, they were still family. Still valuable members of the pack, and now she had to get used to not seeing their faces anymore. She had been keeping an eye on those that were recovering, Tel being one of them. The girl was slow to recover, her mind still somewhat muddled but Amorielle had faith the girl would be bright-eyed once more. When though, she wasn't sure. She had been left with paranoia and claimed she still heard the occasional voice that only she could hear, but the whispers were dwindling and Tel had confided in her that she had a dream about her parents...though the details were fuzzy at best. She couldn't see their faces, but deep in the pit of the girl's stomach, she suspected that the voices were her parents...memories from when she was very young. She heard her mother's call and made haste to arrive, Tel trailing behind her after she gave the girl some herbs to try and calm her mind. So much had been lost...no doubt some of Valhalla's members were changed after the traumas they suffered. Her own wound from Tel was mostly healed now, the crystals that had grown after that were gone, crumbled away when the sun returned. It was really a strange turn of events...never in her life had she seen anything like it, though thinking back, her deceased ancestor had said it reminded her of the plague they had all those years ago. She arrived at the meeting, mind still focused on the past, but she moved to sit near her siblings and offered Tel a place among them. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Red was putting away the proceeds of his previous hunt when his mate's call reached him. He finished what he was doing and headed off at a trot. As he came into sight his gaze automatically tracked to his mate and their children - adults now, but his children nonetheless - and breathed out another sigh of relief that it was over, and they were safe. Others in the pack had not been so lucky. Loved ones had been lost, familiar faces would be missing. Valhalla would bear scars for many years to come. He settled himself to wait for the rest of the pack to assemble from where they recovered.

He’d finished off his patrol when Aurielle’s call came. He was numb. A part of him was used to loss, but not at this scale. Justice, who had scared the living daylights out of him at first, then given him a few pointers on fighting when they’d first met. Domari, a trusted friend and hunting companion, one who’d been a great fighter. Paladin. A talented healer with a smile and song. He’d tended Cairo through his colds as a pup, tended wounds and slivers. And Harlow. A loss he’d never expected. Were the rest of the niblings alright? Meri? Artur? As much as he and his older brother butted heads, he still cared for the cold fellow. He met with Taliesyn as the horse made his way to the gathering, before parting and taking his place as Sentinel on the boulder, just behind Aurielle, giving her the foreground and keeping an eye out for Caelia and Viviane. Drachen, Lee, Amory, Ardyn, Coran, Red. Legacy, he knew, would be absent for this meeting. Was Rhaegara alright out there? Malalia? Audra? Mortis? He drew in a breath and let it out in a soft sigh, ears planning back as he scanned the faces and then the plains. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Caelia had been fairly reclusive through the events of the last few months, hiding out on her own so as to not expose herself. Always ready and willing to defend her pack at all costs, she hadn't felt like she'd had much to contribute once her fellow packmates started getting sick. She was no healer and none of her skills could possibly begin to relieve anyone's suffering, so they had simply endured until whatever had gripped the lands had passed, sunlight slowly chipping away at the darkness, bit by painstaking bit. Though she'd heard rumors of some wolves not faring quite as well, others even dying, she wasn't fully sure exactly what had gone on. A shiver gripped her as she heard Aurielle's call and promptly reacted to it, traversing the plains swiftly until she found her pack gathering. Already Cairo was there, and she drew up beside him, leaning slightly into his shoulder for a moment for reassurance, for him as much as for herself.

He had never been so ill in his life, and he was utterly glad to be one of those coming out the other end on the side of the living. And yet… he felt guilt. The same oppressive weight in his chest that he’d sagged under for years after his last herd had been slaughtered by that landslide. He may have come out on the other side living, but others had not. They were wolves, but they were hid herd now. He felt each loss like a gore wound in the heart. And as Aurielle’s voice called the pack together, the stallion turned from the fresh gravesites and broke into a trot, slow and tired. Despite the bounty of grassy shoots coming up, he still felt wan and spare after the illness. Hips and ribs stood in shadow—or would if he didn’t glow. He joined with Cairo as the Sentinel headed to the gathering, and as they parted, Taliesyn stood, gazing around at the faces around him before looking to Aurielle. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Viv lethargically raised her head from her paws as she heard Aurielle's call for the pack, but for a moment she made no move to join them, just stared at the twin graves within the circle of stones. When she'd returned to bury Harlow here, beside the girl's grandmother, she could have sworn that Gwenevere had been here too, standing beside her with comforting solidarity as she had in life. They'd spoken together, but the glow of warmth and comfort had faded quickly when she'd learned that while she'd been gone from the pack searching for a cure, three pack members had died without her to provide them whatever medical comfort she could. If she had realized that Paladin was so ill, would she have left? Going off on her own, however good her intentions, had left the pack without a healthy, fully train healer. She could not have saved Justice and Domari and Paladin, but she could have eased their passing if she'd been here. If. Instead, they'd died in agony like all the others who had died of that damnable disease. Like Harlow.

Depression weighed her down with apathy so that it was an effort to force herself to her paws, and the bitter-ashen taste of her failures was like a sharp tang on her tongue. What was the point in going to the meeting? In continuing the charade? Even after she'd gone to the Nomads to get fully trained she'd returned to the pack only to disgrace it again. She added no value to Valhalla, no worth. The pack would be better off with one of Aurielle's half-trained daughters as healer rather than her.

But years of ingrained obedience was a momentum all its own and she turned her plodding footsteps towards the meeting stone as was expected of her. When she reached the pack she faltered and turned away from her sister and her remaining brother, slinking in to lurk far at the back, away from their line of sight, and slouched there looking at her paws, waiting. All sparkle and vivacity that she'd always had seemed to have leached away from her, leaving her emerald eyes dull and making her deep golden pelt somehow seem grayer without it.

Aoife had managed to avoid the worst of the disease that ravaged the world all through that winter and into spring, but she'd watched with helplessness as it had taken one member of Valhalla after another into its grip and one by one they'd succumbed. After so many deaths it had been difficult to keep her mind off the horrible possibility that her mother or brother might be next to die. She'd not been able to bring herself to so much as touch any of her musical instruments for weeks, so caught up in her worries was she. But the sun had returned and it had miraculously healed all those sick, and Aoife's relief washed away the stress and worries, her joy freed like a butterfly from a cocoon. Like the rest of her packmates, she grieved over those they'd lost, but relief let her think clearly and feel happiness without feeling guilty, for the first time in a while.

It was in this frame of mind that she trotted up in answer to her mother's summons, lute slung over her shoulder and the ever-watchful Anja padding at her heels, to sit among her siblings and the remainder of her packmates, and wait for the meeting to start.

Fidelias was returning from a hunt, a pair of partridge and several hares swaying on either side of a rope slung over his shoulders, when he heard Aurielle's call for a meeting. He took care to drop them off in storage first, though when he moved to seat himself at a slight distance from those gathered, his shoulders, ribs, and forelegs were still stained and speckled with blood where they'd swung against him. He was tired from his work, from grimly training himself to take up Justice's mantle while still keeping up with patrols and with hunting for the recovering pack, but not as tired as he'd have been even a short time ago. His adolescent form had lost any remainders of the puppy fat, and though he'd never be slender beneath that fluffy coat his body was strong with hard muscle where he might have been lanky with youth. He did get rest when he took up his post in sentry duties, but he was otherwise on the move in his careful, deliberate way from the time he was awake to long past when he normally would have slept, and it showed in the edges beneath his fluff, and the grim set to his shoulders and eyes as he waited for the meeting to begin, so that he could get back to his mostly self-imposed duties once more.

She had begun to recover, but at what cost? She still heard the occasional whispers...but she could never remember if they were from her dreams, or if they were lingering aftereffects of the sickness she had gotten. She still felt bad for biting Amorielle, but at the time, she had no control over her actions. Now though, she walked quietly behind the budding healer, her gait tired and her glow a little dull. She had heard about those that died during the sickness, and while she didn't know them very well, it still blanketed her the same way it blanketed the pack. Everyone was feeling the losses, she was sure. And considering she was quite the sympathetic and empathetic creature, she still grieved even for those she wasn't close to.

She took the seat that Amorielle offered her, casting a force, half-hearted smile at Ardyn before she took in a deep, quiet breath and looked to Aurielle. She was relieved that they had recovered. She didn't know what she'd do if she lost either of them...for her, they were like family.

"Tel'Teukiira"