It was with an ideal false precision the mature vulpess would weave amidst the loose foliage, lured so helplessly by the weeping colognes of several family members. A wide river would twist with aspiring fingers, coiling its life-giving body amidst the sloping terrain of The South; firestone gaze light upon it?s surface as the woman would marvel silently at the vast array of fish life. The meeting had been brief, their reunion distracted by Hati?s wounded body. Hardly preferable as Eyfura would pause beneath an early-morning sun, caramel physique illuminated by a swathing vision of golden liquid. A short summon would lure them to her, a bark, stern and boasting of her attempted leadership; a craving of domination the 38? babe was so infamous for.

The bark of one of her older sisters would draw Akemi's attention as she neared the river. For a moment the female would pause, trying to place the bark to a face. It wasn't a full blooded sibling, that was for sure. The female would pause, tail flicking with a moment of uncertainty. She could just walk on by, pretend she hadn't heard. Akemi would frown deeply, red orbs looking skyward. To give her family another go or not... eh... what the hell... why not. At the very least she had been able to make peace with Baldur, and for now the girl was comfortable with that.

Akemi would appear, and my god was this woman taller than Balder? Maybe a little... or the same height. Either way she towered over the tiny 23'' female, and outweighed her 55lbs. The she wolf would falter for a moment, ears tilting back, before she continued to walk towards a sibling she wasn't familiar with. She was well aware, however that this woman was of her blood though. But if she thought she was going to boss Akemi around, well, things weren't going to be that simple.

Akemi would come to a stop a few feet away. Considering her lack of familiarity with this particular sibling she doubted the other had paid her much mind either... The female would raise a brow. "A bold bark, sister. Do you so desperately seek others to dominate?" Oi... even though the girl was trying to be a bit better it wasn't quite going as smoothly as she thought in her mind. Nope... still sounded like a very cocky, smart-alecky brat... even if she hadn't exactly intended for it to come out that way.





talk, think

Ebony paw placed before ebony paw in a smooth and steady manner. Baldur was working on his balance and coordination. He'd always been a bit klutzy and that had gotten him into trouble in more ways than one and now was time to put that part of himself in the past as well. The pale brute was moving gingerly along the bank of a massive river that seemed to stretch on for miles. It was breathtaking and he paused for a moment to look. This time he actually stopped instead of looking and trying to step at the same time which usually resulted in his immediate face planting and/or injury. See.. he was learning. Thor would be proud. It was then he caught Akemi's scent as well as that of Eyfura and not much later he heard Eyfura's call. Now what did she want? Probably trying to rally the troops or some such? but he was curious and had nothing better to do. Baldur had to admit he'd always been a bit jealous of Eyfura. At 37" Baldur enjoyed lording that extra inch over the likes of Loki but it was a small thing when one of his sisters was taller still. Grinning he pranced into the company of the fae but it looked like Akemi was already starting to brew a confrontation. Why couldn't they all just get along? Not that he was one to talk. Baldur bit back a snicker at the site of wee Akemi and the giantess Eyfura. "Hey Akemi. Greetings Eyfura, what's with the summons?"

Did you expect any differently?

Loki was wandering, as he so often did, when a vaguely familiar howl reached his ears. A demanding summons, voiced by a wolf of Hroovitnir's line. He paused a moment, mentally trying to place the tones.

Oh, that's right. One of his slightly-younger half-sisters... Eyfura. Her litter had come around the time he was five months old, but she'd been much to serious for his taste. And now here she was, summoning them like she had any sort of right to.

Loki being a very contrary sort, his first reaction was to turn and walk the other direction. How dare she presume to summon him like a wayward child? But curiosity prickled at him - not about what she could possibly want, but curiosity about what she planned to do. The howl had a very... interesting thread in it, insidiously like unto that of an alpha's command. Was his dear darling little half-sister somehow planning on taking over where Hroovitnir left off when Hati had ended his delusions of starting an empire?

Well, no matter what her plan was, seeing her serious nature clashing with the volatile personalities of their siblings would at least be good for a laugh.

Sauntering casually into sight of the little group already gathered, he grinned. Baldy! And there was Akemi, cockily facing off with Eyfura, who was - true to his vague memory of her - quite a bit taller than the younger sibling. "Good morning, dear siblings," he purred, flopping down onto the rocky ground with what was a surprising - considering that he was flopping amount of grace. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your sanguine presence, Eyfura? You did have a reason for asking oh so politely for us to come, didn't you?"



"Speech"

It's in my nature

Akemi, a woman she knew and yet not a particular friend. They had not had the true pleasures of associating all too much at all, however Eyfura?s tentative nature of course meant she was aware of the babe?s name. Not a whole lot slipped under the determined nose of the towering vulpess, and her wisdom was something she would pride herself in. ?If I sought to dominate, I would not merely inquire for attendance, I would hunt and I would strike,? my, did the woman believe she could judge a vixen she barely knew? If so, Eyfura would pity her somewhat silently, her features near-void as marked towers would hang loosely in an apparent disinterest. Though her interest was heavy, simply loitering places unseen, not willing to parade such a trait to a family she knew were fabulous at being poor judges of ones being. Unwavered, spitfire gaze would soon find its way to the approaching liveliness of Baldur. Ah, she was a little more familiar with he; their litters had virtually grown up together, separated by barely a few months. ?Surely a woman does not need good reason to unite with her family, Baldur?? but her voice was light-hearted, a smile threatening to brush the corners of her caramel lips. It was nice to see him after so long, he had always been the brighter one of the otherwise-temperamental bunch. Alas, perhaps a little too free-spirited for her likings, but a brother all the same. Loki; she could sense him coming from a distance away; wary of his presence. Not in a cautious way but an alert way. He was always so sour, defiant, proud. Almost to the point of it being painful to deal with him, but as she had said so many times before ? family, was family, and the instinct she bore to guide them was too strong to surpass. She would shift her weight as he arrived, showing a sheer disrespect for her presence by sprawling himself upon the carpets, mindlessly dropping his heirachy by becoming level with his siblings feet. She frowned, a light sigh accompanying the frustration of her mind as he too would riddle the air with vile judgements of her character. She was a domineering thing yes, but she was far more kinder natured than those who surrounded her. She was a woman of realism, she took life exactly as it was, without polish and without fairies. Loki on the other hand, thought it fun to drape spiderwebs over the positives, outdating respect, and ooze black gloom over anything else anybody had to look forward to. ?As much of a reason as you had for coming, brother,? she would respond, holding her cool with the voidness upon her fa?ade. ?Have none of you any interest in remaining as a family, are your brains too washed by our fallen father to dare show the adulthood that he so lacked?? she shook her skull in pity, ?And here I was thinking I?d arrived for the better, only to find my siblings hold no care for one another. Am I not entitled to speak with you all, to ask of your travels or your future plans?? A mere statement slowly began to turn into a lecture, rather typical for the mature woman, ?Do any of you hold the ambition for a life, a permanent residence here, or are you all rather satisfied scrounging turf as rogue parasites?? She was disappointed to say the least, aware that at least one of them would bite back, but she was more than prepared; somebody had to try and keep them in check. ?Where is Hati, anyway??

cellpadding="5" cellspacing="25" style="width:650px; border:1px solid #000; background-position:top; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-color:#8a9bb0">

Not all that long after she showed up another wolf would soon arrive. A face that brought a smile to her own and a quick, yet excited, tail wag that immediately stopped once Akemi realized what she was doing. "Hello Baldur." She didn't call him by the usual teasing name, and it was clear in her eyes she was glad to see him. Another would then appear, another brother, one that she wasn't so thrilled to see. Ugh Loki... she was still a bit irritated with him since the last time they met, but she supposed that she could deal with him. He was family after all. Her red orbs would flick back to her sister as she spoke. The female would frown, and then a sigh would pass her lips. "It wasn't my goal to come off as offensive to you, Eyfura." She had picked up the name from Baldur's greeting to the other. "Just argh... don't mind me much. I'm still learning how to properly act I suppose you could say." She would glance at Baldur as she said this. Would it make her brother happier to know she was trying to do a bit better? Blood red orbs would flick back to her much larger sibling. Akemi would role her eyes a bit as the woman turned a simple question into a lecture. "Honestly Eyfura, please. You know damn well that we come from a broken family, but that does not mean we don't care for each other. We are all dealing with making our adjustments at the moment, anyway." The femme would pause and then speak again. "I can hardly speak for the others, but I'm quite certain in the path I wish to take. I for one plan of making somewhere in these new lands a permanent home, hopefully for all of us, if I can get agreement from the rest of you. It's just going to be a matter of getting a pack set in stone, and, well, us agreeing on a leader I suppose." She was well aware that most of her other siblings wouldn't like Hati as a leader, though she was going to push for that any. [color=#c3cfe0]"As for Hati, well, I'm not sure. He was injured..." She looked to Loki and Baldur, sure that one of them knew where he was now. Speech

Oh no what was he doing here? Baldur frowned to see Loki enter their little gathering. How did he manage to do that anyway? To always be where no one wanted him to come slithering in. He spoke, voice dripping with sarcasm and Baldur rolled his eyes. He was really in no mood to put up with Loki again today but he wasn't really in a mood to pick a fight either. He hadn't seen Eyfura in ages and hadn't really had much of a chance to speak with her due to Hati's injuries. He was willing to hear what she had to say and at least she wasn't as temperamental as the rest of his siblings though her sternness could get frustrating at times. Speaking of, Eyfura didn't seem to be to thrilled to see Loki there either so at least he wasn't alone in his disdain. But then Eyfura started to speak and Baldur growled lightly at her words. She really did not understand the depths of their wounds and as usual her tone was callous and rough in regards to them. However, her words did strike a chord with Baldur in regards to future plans. He longed for a direction to take some sort of action but in truth he could not recognize what it was he desired. Was it a pack? What did that word mean and what could he possibly know of it? Their family sure as hell was not any sort of 'pack'. It was a ragged batch of militants bent on training and breeding more militants. He wondered what that word could mean under different pretense. Baldur stared at Akemi in surprise. He was expecting her to go off half-cocked toward Eyfura's throat as she was often prone to doing but instead she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. Well this was strange indeed. Changes of all sorts seemed to bring themselves about when the family was together. First Hati, now Akemi. Honestly, Baldur was rather proud of his little sister at the moment. "Eyfura, picking at unhealed wounds will only lead to infection. Many members of our family are still trying to find themselves. But I wont' lie, your words speak true to me. I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life since I came here. I do plan to stay, but as a loner or pack member I haven't decided. I also feel we have untapped potential as a group but it's hard to piece a puzzle together with warped pieces." Was she offering to lead them? To start a pack? Or was it something she wanted Hati to do? Baldur was unsure yet if he would follow Hati anywhere. "Aye, he was injured. Loki and Thor took him to a healer but I imagine he's off on his own again. You know Hati. He's not the kind to stick around. But tell me sister, have you any grand plans yourself or did you merely come her to chastise us?"

Stifling the rush of irritation at his busy-body younger half-sister and her continuous tirades about duty or whatever it was she was yapping about this time, Loki very deliberately yawned. "All you wanted was a family reunion? Pity. I was hoping it would be something fun." He stretched indolently, green eyes slitted as he watched her. "Though I suppose for some they might be the only amusement they get in their lives." He considered answering Akemi's questioning look with a mournful tale, but even if he would do that to Eyfura and Baldur, the idea of implying to his little sister that her hero big brother was dead made him - yes, Loki the bitter, cruel, hard-hearted Loki - very uncomfortable to consider. Instead he gave her an indifferent shrug. "Left him with a healer. Assuming he hasn't killed her by now, he should be back to his usual villainous self shortly." Glancing back to Eyfura, he added, "You all are free to do whatever you want to do, but if you expect me to hop on the 'Hroovitnir family pack' raft you are going to be sadly disappointed. I left the home pack for a reason, I'm not signing on for another one." And he rather doubted Hati would sign up either - he had a feeling being around his family brought Hati as many bad memories as it brought Loki. Loki dealt with it by heckling them and making rude jokes... how would a big yellow-eyed rage monster deal with spending time wallowing in those memories? And how would they all feel spending time with the one wolf in the family who looked exactly like Hroovitnir? Interesting thought... maybe he should convince Hati to join them in their silly quest just so he could see what would happen. "Speech"

His belly was full, his lids were heavy and he was sprawled out on a big, sun soaked rock when the call reached his ears. The brute's eyes had slowly opened once more, fighting the urge to close for the brief second that it took his mind to break apart the noise he'd just heard. When it clicked his demeanor changed, every inch of him suddenly becoming alert. He didn't much care for her tone, but apart from that, Thor was glad to hear her voice. It took him a moment to gather enough willpower to stand, but once he was on his paws momentum was enough to get him going.

---

Thor reached the gathering just in time to catch the exchange between Akemi and Eyfura. His ears flicked back at the older sister's words. He didn't like the picture she painted at all. Suggesting that if she wanted to lead them she'd have sought them out and claimed them? How very much like their father. Immediately he was annoyed. No one would get his loyalty through force ever again. Since the moment he and Baldur left home the brute had been his own sovereign leader, a king, doing as he pleased. It would take a great deal to convince him to follow again, and if he were to ever consider it, it would be on his terms and his terms only.

So far this meeting, at least from Thor's perspective, wasn't going so well. He liked Eyfura well enough, but she thought far too much of herself and her words to Akemi not only betrayed this but immediately closed him off to whatever she was going to suggest. His newly discovered freedom would not be threatened by one who merely thought herself to be lofty. If she'd come down off her high horse and spoken to them as equals instead of idiots he'd have been much more open to the idea of them starting something, but now he wasn't so sure.

Every word out of her mouth pushed him closer and closer to the edge. Honestly, he felt belittled, like she thought she had to spoon feed him his own thoughts. Hey, he knew he wasn't the cleverest member of their family, but that didn't make him an idiot. If she was trying to win him over to a particular idea, it was having the opposite effect. "If this is your way of asking us to band together, you're doing a shitty job of selling the idea." He locked eyes with each sibling in turn, "Can any of you honestly say there's one among us who you'd follow?" If anyone wished to sell themselves as head honcho, this was one brute they'd have a hard time selling to. Seconding Baldur's query, Thor turned his gaze to Eyfura. Obviously she had something in mind or she wouldn't have called them all together. "No more "convincing" just speak plainly."