Valta had many more wolves than when it had started and it was time that the delegation of work and chain of command was further evolved.  With the need to explore the Nook for more land was a perfect chance to let one particular wolf prove their rights to a promotion.

Kotori howled for Arcturus.  His nephew had shown to be a competent wolf and someone he could rely on.  At least, up to this point where all Kotori had asked of him was the same as all others in the pack.  Now they would see if he had the ability and desire to be a leader of other wolves.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Despite his initial difficulty settling into a routine and the life of living in a pack after spending much of his youth out in the wilds with his sister and mother, over the last couple of years he had grown to enjoy it and began to look forward to things like his regular patrols and hunting trips. The structure of it all gave him some stability that he realized he had been missing and it gave him more peace of mind knowing that his family and Vanille had somewhere safe to live–mainly Vanille, if he was being honest with himself. He knew that Tira and his mother could more than handle themselves in a fight despite the fact that they were a fraction of the size of many other wolves, but Vanille was a bit more on the soft side of things. It was something that he loved about her, but that didn't stop him from worrying any less.

He was just finishing up dressing and processing his kill from earlier in the morning when his uncle's howl rang out across the pack's territory. It took him a second to realize he was the one being summoned and he glanced up from his work with a surprised blink. He wasn't sure why Kotori was calling for him, but he quickly wiped the blood from his paws and got up to go meet him quickly all the same. He found his uncle near the rapids a few moments later and he offered him a grin as he approached. "Hey, Uncle. You called for me?" he asked curiously, wondering what this was about.

"Arcturus Indarra"

“Arcturus,” Kotori nodded to his nephew as he approached.  “I was thinking to offer you a proposition.”  His nephew had gained the size of so many in the Fatalis family, being just couple of inches larger than Kotori.  He had filled out well and had a dense mane around his neck.  “I want to see what sort of prey we can find in the nook.  Not just in the form of little rabbits or deer.  I need a wolf to lead a group of wolves to hunt some larger game.  Do you feel comfortable taking the point of leaer and grabbing something large?  Bufalo would be great if any are there, elk, something with lots of meat on it around those lines.”

He didn’t doubt Arc’s hunting abilities and he expected he expected he would be fine leading a hunt but Kotori wasn’t sure if he had done it before.  It was a skill that was needed for a higher rank. “If you can succeed in leading a hunt then I will give you the rank of Jousi, the highest station of our hunters.  There are too many wolves not to have someone in the role.  You are both my nephew and more importantly, I believe capable of the position.”

"Kotori Fatalis"

Arcturus blinked with surprise when his uncle told him that he was being considered for a promotion, Kotori not beating around the bush at all and getting right to business. Arc had never really put much thought into trying to move up the ranks or anything of that sort. It wasn't that he didn't like the idea now that it was presented to him, but he had always just pulled his weight around the pack and helped out where he could simply because he loved his family and wanted to give back to the pack that had given them a home. Apparently that work had gotten his uncle's attention regardless and Arc listened as Kotori explained his desire to see what kind of prey could be found in the nearby nook–specifically some larger game like buffalo or elk. Arc nodded in agreement without much hesitation. "Sure, I'd be happy to lead a hunting party." Though he did tend to hunt small to medium sized prey more often than not since he hunted on his own usually, he was no stranger to hunting larger prey and with some help he'd make easy work of it.

As Kotori explained the rank that he'd earn for leading the hunting party and mentioned his belief in his capability to handle the roll, a proud but slightly awkward grin tugged at his lips. "I'll make sure it gets done. Thanks, uncle." Even though he had never really sought out the recognition for the skills he had been honing since he was a pup, it still felt nice to get it. He knew that ranks didn't mean everything and that someone could be incredibly skilled without having some kind of high station to show for it, but now that the option was in front of him of course he was going to take it. "I'll scout ahead a bit in the morning to see what kind of prey moves through the area and then go back in the next few days with a hunting party."

"Arcturus Indarra"

It was good to see Arcturus quick and confident to take up the task. Arcturus was one of the many in his family to be larger than Kotori, despite Kotori’s own decent size. Giant wolves were fairly normal in Kotori’s family but considering the size of Aslatiel and Satira it was still amusing at the huge size difference he had taken from his mom and sister.

“Excellent There are a good number of wolves in this pack that I believe would be capable and willing of hunting with you. If needed I would gladly help in the hunt but, you would still be the one leading it.” This was to be Arc’s task whether or not Kotori ended up there.


"Kotori"