Time had passed and though no one had openly said anything, Hattori saw it prudent to address the rumours. Kiriko had never made much of an effort to be truly present, but she was the mother of his children, the very children she had left behind, scarcely made an effort to know them, let alone nurture as she should have. They were yearlings now, perhaps she'd simply waited till she deemed them old enough- though he supposed there was no use in theorising why she had left. Her reasoning mattered little at this point, he knew she had left of her own free volition, she hadn't been forced or abducted-this was a situation of her own making. Wherever she went, she would not be welcomed back, not by Hattori at least.

Standing within the communal space, the light filtering through the canopy, he knew what he ought to do but took a moment longer to follow through. Perhaps a man like him shouldn't bother with relationships, he felt...jaded, a bitterness he did not appreciate had settled and reared its head whenever he thought of the past. No matter, what was done was done, he simply had to keep striving forward.

He tipped his head back, calling out for his children, and whoever else who wished to attend.

Speech // thought // Japanese

Asahi was stalking another bamboo rat when a call entered the sky. Her father... He sounded... she had a feeling she knew what this meeting was about. She had heard the hushed tones and noticed how her father had been stalking around in a particularly more dour mood than his usual stoic self.

She abandoned her stalking and carefully wove her way through the thick forest of bamboo to the central meeting area where the Patriarch sat.

Her golden eyes scanned the area and the way her father was poised. The light filtered through the elongated leaves into the familiar space, casting an almost tranquil scene. If she didn't know better she would have assumed this would be for a lesson or teaching moment.

She stepped out of the bamboo, careful of the tender striplings, and bowed her head in greeting to the Kaicho. She sat daintily before him, waiting for the others to gather.

Kina had finally recovered from her illness. Her father had assisted her in her recovery, in getting back onto her feet. Her mother had been noticeably absent, as she often was, so Kina did not think much of this latest stretch of absence. Kina focused on who was present in her life as well as her recovery and what happened from there would be as it would be.

Kina focused on her breath, making sure her breath out was longer and slower than her breath in. Even now she could feel that slight pressure, that reminder of her illness but she breathed past it, willing her lungs to expand. Her eyes were closed, opening only when she heard her father's call. Wasting no time she got to her feet, shaking out her coat as she ended her meditation and headed to the communal space.

She arrived to see her father waiting there as well as her sister Asahi. She dipped her head in greeting to both before sitting down to wait.

Jiro probably was taking the disappearance of their mother the hardest. Not that she was actually present for their lives so far, but he felt a closer connection to her than he ever really did with their father. Which wasn't due to anything other than his own personality being a striking difference in comparison to the stoic and brooding Hanzo.

Since the noticeable stretch of absence where Kiriko was no longer returning at night or during the day, Jiro found himself spending more and more time in the garden or outside of pack lands. Hunting with Jynn or hanging with Imogen seemed to fill his days enough that he could avoid the duties he should be tending to. Especially with winter arriving, the plants would soon need to be stripped and there wouldn't be any garden to tend to. The thought of the dying plants only dampened his spirit as he sat staring at them.

When his father's howl echoed through the bamboo, he turns his chin to slowly peer through the shadows. Should he even care to attend? Perhaps it was better to listen when called for. No sense getting into trouble. With a sigh, Jiro stands, nearly to full his height now, and makes his way somberly through the bamboo pathways. It doesn't take long for him to arrive, but already Kina and Asahi sat before their father, waiting patiently. Please that Kina was feeling better, Jiro makes sure to give her a playful shoulder bump as he passes before plopping himself down beside Asahi. Scooting his butt as close as he can until he's practically sitting atop the smaller girl, he gives her a cheeky grin. Sad or not, Jiro was going to always be Jiro.

Majima, for all his emotional constipation, certainly wasn't ignorant of the shift in mood as of late. Nor was he handling it particularly well. He'd been feeling particularly frustrated as of late. He desired an outlet. Was almost looking for something to sink his fangs into. But he's forced himself to avoid such actions. Majima couldn't say he felt particularly close with most of his family, and yet right now he craved their love and validation more than he ever had, or at least it felt that way. Majima was aware part of that was his own failure to really connect with them and he admittedly wasn't taking that particularly well either. He felt he'd failed, in some way. Maybe if he'd tried harder to spend time with his mother, maybe if he'd spent less time chasing after his father... But he knew chasing mental what ifs was a waste of time. He hadn't, and they were here now. Still that didn't mean he arrived before his father looking particularly happy. Not that he seemed to much anyway. But his expression was a darker one, still reserved, still stoic, but there was emotion brewing under the surface and he wasn't exactly managing to hide it. Probably another failure on his part. Majima approached, giving his father a deep respectful bow before he turned his attention to his gathered siblings. His gaze softening when he spotted Kina. He was glad to see she was recovering, and he settled himself beside her, giving her a quick concerned glance. A silent sign of his care. Maybe he ought to be spending more time with his siblings while he still had the chance. "Speech"

Art by Dezigre

Seiko did not think of their mother much, if at all these days. Maybe when they'd been younger their mother's absence in their life had weighed much more heavily on them - but as far as Seiko was concerned they had all fared just fine without her. Would they have done better had she stuck around? Maybe, but it wasn't something the young wolf thought much about. No point when there were far more pressing matters almost all the time. They hadn't really thought about how it affected their brothers and sisters either, though Seiko wasn't the sort to speculate on the inner workings of their family's minds. It just wasn't any of their business. Though Seiko ought to have been able to deduce what their father was calling them in regards to, they truly had no idea. It was impossible to ignore the discontent in their father's voice though, and obediently they came to their call, though not before many of their other siblings. Asahi, Kina, Jiro and Majima were already here. Though Seiko tended to gravitate toward a few of their siblings in particular, they loved them all just the same. A nod of acknowledgment to the group was offered as they moved to settle in near Majima, giving their brother a little shoulder-to-shoulder bump before focusing their dark gaze on their father intently.

Kaizen had known for a while. Perhaps if things were different he could have been close with his Mother, he would have liked to be he thought, but things had simply not worked out that way. Kiriko was simply...hadn't been the right wolf, it seemed. He could not claim to be upset and admittedly couldn't quite understand why any of his siblings might feel some sort of way about it.

It wasn't as if she had died, she had simply…left, chosen to.

Still, this meeting of sorts felt like a big deal, his close family gathered at their Kaicho's command. Awaiting, intent on listening to what he had to say.

Moving in from the edges, Kaizen's gaze flitted between those who had beaten him there. This was all the family he needed, he'd decided as much.

She wasn't sure what to think of her mother's leaving. Suffice to say, however, that she wasn't particularly torn up about it. She had never been close to her mother, which seemed to be the trend among her littermates as well. She had chosen to leave, so why should she get any sort of hung up about it? If their mother didn't want them, then so be it. The dragon girl would move on. Pretend she didn't exist. She was born from Hattori and whatever magic existed in the world, or so she chose to tell herself. It was better than claiming being birthed by someone who didn't want them. Who had abandoned them. Now that she was older and her horns stopped growing, the headaches that plagued her during her puphood had ceased. She was feeling much better. Much more energetic. Not so crappy or sleepy from the medicines she had to take to deal with it. She felt she could breath a sigh of relief and finally live her life without the pain and without the burden of it all. The pale girl stepped out of the bamboo to join the others as her father waited for them. No doubt he would bring up Kiriko's absence, though by this point, it was no secret. They all knew she was gone. She wasn't close to any of her siblings. Not yet, at least. Though she hoped to be soon now that she wasn't confining herself to her den dealing with what she'd been dealing with. Hopefully they'd forgive her for her own lack of appearance growing up, but there was still time yet, she hoped. Choosing a spot to sit, she waited patiently for her father to begin the proceedings. Her Maine coon kitten sitting beside her, gently batting at her tail. Hinata