Hó'nehe Tribe Gathering

Cochise did not waste any time in getting to the place where Sakari had called from. She had a feeling that it wouldn't be too long before someone sounded a call of some sort and she could only hope that it wasn't for a tragic reason. Their asylum had been penetrated too many times before, and part of her was excited that perhaps there had been a fight and now she was needed. Perhaps that fight was still going on and they just needed the back up.

Yet when she arrived only to find that Sakari was standing at the helm, the dark-haired medic slowed her approach considerably, her bristled coat smoothing out when nothing seemed to be out of place. None of those foreigners around to disrupt the peace, just her niece and the call that was to draw them together. Cochise arced her tail up for a moment before pulling it into a healthy swing and mustered up the thought to even smile a bit. The reasoning had to be grim, or perhaps that they found their Me'ko? That was a happy notion, and only helped to fuel her curiousity and optimist.

She didn't say anything because the half nip, half nudge with her muzzle that she gave the silver-haired relative was her hello, and very much in an "auntie" way she was merely pinching at her cheek while no one was around to look, at least from what Cochise figured. Once that was done, the medic planted herself near to the Tsehata’a and did what came best and next: waited.

Olathe flicked her ears in interest. So, Sakari was calling for them, was she? Well, Olathe would come--in a minute. At the moment, though she was quite occupied, soaking in a little spring that pooled among the trees. The water was, strangely, comparatively warm to the air outside, as it sat in just enough sunlight to get warm during the course of the day. The she-wolf wasn't too eager to leave her bath, especially not for Sakari, whom she viewed as a somewhat lesser leader than her uncle Anasazi despite their equal rank. This had a little to do with the fact that the Neve'heth's had never been on the best of terms with the Cocheta. Besides, Lathe thought, The Neve'heths were here first. One of my family should've become a Tsehata’a. The female sniffed a little disdainfully.

Still, she supposed it wouldn't do for the local huntress to be absent from a pack picnic, so the fae pulled herself from the warm water. She gasped slightly as the cool autumn air struck her in sharp contrast to the heat that had enveloped her. Wincing from the chill, the Enano'eve loped through the trees to the regular meeting place. Sakari was there, as were the medic Cochise, the old peacekeeper Wynonna, and the priestess Zyanya. Rather than give regard to their respective ranks--for each wolf's position in the pack was ever changing, and if one were superior to another in one week, it was possible to have the tables turned in the next--Olathe tended to pay respect based on the duty one provided to the pack. Therefore, she gave a deep nod to Cochise and Zyanya, both of whom she admired for their hard word, and a much smaller inclination of the head to Wynonna. The Ho'emane's job, the hunter felt, was ridiculously easy and unecessary. Peacekeeper indeed.

To Sakari the Enano'eve gave a stiff, formal kind of bow. The two had never been close by any stretch of the imagination and that was not going to change just now. "Good evening," she offered as a general greeting, and chose a seat near Zyanya, with whom Olathe felt most comfortable.

Leoti dashed a dark-edged forepaw against the ground as her prey dashed off, wide eyes flashing almost defiantly. Frustration threatened to overwhelm the hungry youth—but only until she realized whose commanding voice had startled the rabbit into flight. Rising attentively from her crouch, the Unranked Ho’nehe bounded through the grass toward the others. As she ran, the wolf prayed she was not so late that any and all chances at a good impression would be lost on those who had already arrived and proved their loyalty to the pack through punctuality. The young woman was more than a little way off from the meeting-place, however, and as she slowed to an unhurried walk, ears and tail already flickering into a submissive posture, the Luyu femme saw that several packmates had already gathered around Sakari.

Avoiding eye contact with all save their leader and—her heart leapt and faltered guiltily in the same beat—Kuruk, the silvery girl took a seat near to the Ahtono’e, noting that he’d set himself apart from the others. Strange, that the other guys aren’t here yet… Fleetingly she wondered if they were tied up at the borders, escorting yet more numb-skulled foreigners out of their lands. The influx in visitors had hardly ceased since the Ho’nehes had relocated, and Leoti had seen the worry in her friend’s eye as they confronted two Creek males only a few days ago. Doubtless we’re going to discuss the matter here, she reassured herself, glancing toward Wynonna and the elusive Zyanya. Maybe they know something about it. Maybe the spirits will tell us what to do… Things were rarely so easy, though.

Settling into a submissive crouch, the yellow-eyed girl expressed silent regret that she did not have the courage to interrupt the progressing meeting with more personal greetings to her friends and allies. She also feared that such friendliness might be unbecoming in the eyes of the Spirit-Whisperer—she was not longer a child, after all, and restraint was expected from her now in many things. What if her friendliness toward Kuruk was misconstrued too soon? These anxieties buzzed in her brain only so long as the Luyu wolf could stand it. Then, recalling that she had been called here on pack matters, Leoti put up a wall against her fears and waited, hoping for the next distraction.

& take it back.

The filtering melody of Sakari’s howl snagged his attention with a simple twist of his sandy dappled ears and a toss of a likewise coloured muzzle into the skies. He regarded it for a minute; the simplicity of the sound encumbered with the soft notes of summoning and decided that it was worth abandoning his border-stalking post for a time to attend. After all, the splinter in his scouting mission had been to find Olathe, in which he hadn’t seen for a few days and it was a distinct possibility that that was where she’d be.

Although this seamless deliberation would appear to take minutes in the process of explaining, it took only moments to reach a unanimous conclusion and his limbs where soon churning in his fluid gait, carrying him toward the spot in which his nose, and likewise the wind, guided him. By the time the ground-consuming gallop slowed to a purposefully slower gait and he broke free of the foliage he’d been surrounding himself in, the rest of his tribe members – with the absence of a few – came into view and Hawk wasn’t surprised that he was one of the last to arrive.

As predicted, and hoped, Olathe was in attendance but the cast of his eye picked up another thing that was far more interesting than his sister. Leoti was near the dark-coated Kuruk and it caused both disquiet and uncaring within him. But the conflicts of this event where never to reach the glean of his eyes or expression and he turned his attention quite happily to the fact Rowtag was no where to seen – in particular, no where near Zyanya. Dipping his head and swaying that tail and ears of his in deference to anyone that would notice and accept it, he crept toward Zyanya and seated himself quite close to the Spirit-Whisperer, throwing a discordant wink toward both sister and Leoti if their attentions happened to stray his way. The rest would entail simply waiting for either the meeting to begin or for the remaining few to arrive.

gorgeous set by karm ! <3
WLC! — 100

One crazy weekend. :/ Didn't even realize this was up already. -fail.-

Anasazi apparently took him time when he heard Sakari’s call though he knew he should have made it sooner. He hadn’t realized how far away he was until he saw that a few others had arrived before him. Inwardly, he frowned at himself but he tried not to look so pessimistic on the outside. Seot’a had told him to look on the right side of things (in a subtle way, he supposed) and that’s what he was trying to do. He quickly made a circle around the room to come around to his fellow leader and niece. A smile was given to her first and he took a position next to her before his fierce eyes looked at the rest of the crowd.

He nodded at his adopted mother with a smile and wagged his tail and smiled at the rest of them. Zyanya and Cochise were given a brief smile and he then grinned at Olate and then the rest of who was there. None he really paid any extra attention, but instead he decided to wait it out and find out who else would show up—assuming that they all would—and waiting for the first order of business Anasazi was sure to come up. He imagined Sakari felt the same way he was feeling at this time and he was ready and up to take it head on.

Cochise shrugged. She wasn't sure what the remedy to making sure that their so-called "neighbours" didn't come trespassing in was. Although an idea did come to mind, and she didn't hesitate in getting it out. "Perhaps we should post guards at the tunnel entrance? We could catch them before they set one paw in," Cochise spoke firmly, almost darkly in her own little manner.

"If that doesn't work out, then I'm not really sure what we should do about it. More and more are working their way in, that's for sure." Her ears turned jabberwocky for a moment, before curving back forward. For all they knew, some of them could have been spying on them from somewhere... although she wouldn't know where. The foreigners weren't that hard to smell out.

& take it back.

Anasazi was the next wolf to arrive after him and he was met by the sliding forward of a slender ivory-splattered foreleg and a deep nod toward the other male, with ears splaying sideward in obvious deference to the father-figure. His tail would sweep cordially against the fallen autumn leaves, crumpling them with distinct crackles up until Rowtag appeared on the scene. Hawkspur's head was to immediately snap to its height again – to what it had been prior to his uncle's arrival – and his ears instantly slipped back tightly against his streamlined skull. That tail of his began to lash across the leafy floor as bi-toned eyes visibly narrowed and the edges of his top-lip curled up a fraction, wrinkling the bridge of his muzzle. Even his hackles bristled slightly between his shoulder blades to emphasise just how much he disapproved of Rowtag being in the same meeting as him and Zyanya.

Thankfully, the Mata’naeve took a seat next to his midnight-hued brother (not the Spirit-Whisperer female) and the Ahtono'e eased his display of immaturity and intense dislike of Rowtag each to simply ignore him. The commanding voice of Sakari was a welcome distraction – although sneaky pointed glances where still being made toward Rowtag every so often – and his attention would swivel toward Cochise, as she voiced her opinion, then onto Anya as she promptly followed suit. When the soft melody of her voice no longer stirred in the cup of his ears, his own chords rumbled into life. "Posting guards is a good idea. I've been doing my best on the border-tunnel front, but a few keep slipping past. Even those who've been here before and should know better than to trespass again."

Seot'a's approach encroached on the corners of his vision and caused the Neve'heth male to pause in speaking to turn to her, noting with a degree of displeasure the frosty glance Leoti received from the Vove'stomo. His ears even flipped back briefly to earmark such an emotion within him, before he turned back to Sakari once Seot'a had seated herself (next to Kuruk, he noted). "I agree with treading carefully for the sake of our Me’ko, but even swift kicking's out don't seem to be getting through their stupid skulls. And am I the only one growing uneasy with the knowledge that our Me'ko is likely to be one of those morons?"

gorgeous set by karm ! <3
WLC! — 100

The next thing to catch her attention happened to be Hawkspur’s wink, to which the young woman offered a soft smile. He’d placed himself very close to Zyanya, she noticed; pack meetings always made it clear who the wolves of the tribe were most closely allied with. Anasazi approached, cordial but outwardly oblivious to the Unranked girl’s presence. Leoti took no offense; she hoped one day to prove herself to the other stand-in leader, but for now she was just a face in the crowd, about to contribute to the collective voice of the Hone’he, and anonymity suited her just fine. The most recent arrival—Rowtag, whose sharp glance toward Hawkspur and his proximity to the Spirit-Whisperer brought a gossip’s grin to her lips—garnered a nod from her, but nothing more. Sakari seemed poised to speak.

Her prediction proved true; the matter of trespassers fell heavily into the circle, sending silent minds spinning. The Tsehata’a’s warm greeting belied the serious matter of their discussion, and the grave reminder that their Me’ko might lurk among the interlopers. Leoti chose silence over a straight-away answer, though Cochise’s swift reply rang true with her. “Perhaps we should post guards at the tunnel entrance?” It was a smart idea, and the two-year-old supported it. Their pack was large enough to support such a constant guard, though shifts would have to be arranged, and part of her mind deemed the solution a bit harsh. Why wouldn’t the strangers just accept them and keep off? Did the wolves of these lands really consider themselves to be so above the laws of common sense and courtesy?

A lack of response from the tribe’s grandmother immediately stirred dread in Leoti, but Zyanya’s contribution—she spoke of the spirits’ words, and a chill shuddered down the girl’s spine as she listened intently—distracted her from useless worries. “The spirits speak of revenge,” but that was impossible. War, so soon, in strange lands? While she was no tactician, Leoti understood that her fellows were at a huge disadvantage when it came to combat in the Savage Valley. Licking her lips nervously, Leoti might have moved to agree with the Spirit-Whisperer’s words, but Seot’a’s arrival snagged her attention first.

The young wolf managed to remain indifferent as those cold eyes assailed her, though the effort was great. She chose to ignore the older female’s nudge against Kuruk, too; what did it matter to her? Despair at her own small standing within the pack threatened to overwhelm Leoti, but Hawkspur’s silent support heartened her, and she even found her voice. “Perhaps we can seeks out the leaders of these trespassing packs, and send a delegation to explain the situation to them? It’s better to have their own superiors punish them, rather than…”

She faltered a little, her pale eyes seeking Sakari’s for approval. “I just don’t want to jump to conclusions. Like Zyanya says, we’ve got to watch our step around here.” Did that make her sound clever, or cowardly? The words were too far gone to take back, so Leoti seemed let them hang in the air, to be judged as the others saw fit. It’ll be okay, she thought with a brief, humorless smile at her own anxiety. You haven’t done anything wrong…yet.

It was quite disturbing to think that they might have travelled all this way just to find the Me'ko to be as big an idiot as the rest of the lot here. As it was, Olathe wasn't holding out much hope: all they had to go by was a name and Zyanya's visions, and considering their recent lack of luck, Olathe Neve'heth wasn't putting too much faith in Zyana's prescient ability.

"Well, Ouray," she intoned with some amusement, stubbornly using her brother's true name as opposed to the 'Hawkspur' he preferred, "What do you think? I'd hate to speak for all the Neve'heths only to find that our opinions differ." Surely her brother could guess a bit of her thoughts on the matter, if not her entire plan.

Olathe knew that she was notorious with the pack for her bluntness and sarcasm. Surely they would all have heart attacks if she proved herself to be anything else when offering her own ideas on the matter.

"We can't just send a couple of visitors to them and expect to be greeted with open paws. These are packs not based on bonds of family or longstanding loyalty. They're just... a bunch of riff-raff all jumbled together. They won't understand our purpose or our traditions. We're a threat to them, that's all they see." Uncharacteristically, her voice sounded reasonable and almost calm. This, she thought, probably stemmed from the fact that she beleived her words to be absolute truth. "We must be prepared for war, if it comes to that. They won't all want us here, I promise you that, and they won't all be willing to help."

At this, Olathe dipped her head respectfully to the Tsehata'a pair. "I propose a different plan, one that I would volunteer for--to send a wolf to live among them, not as a spy, per se, but simply to get an idea of these wolves' mindset. Perhaps to gain trust within at least one of the packs, or, if needs must, an easy position to assasinate leaders from, should they become aggressive towards the Tribe. What say you?"

What she didn't add was the fact that she might just do that anyway, with or without their blessing. After all, it wouldn't be the first time the head of the Neve'heth family disappeared, she thought with an acerbic little smile.

Agreed with Houkie, forgot about this because of my absence, so I'm throwing something quick and short for this. x_x

Anasazi didn’t have much to say. He was feeling selfish as he listened to them, wondering if he might have been the only one set on going home. Though, in the back of his mind, the idea of finding their Me’ko was tapping at his mind and he never said anything. He listened to each individual idea and somewhere, he was developing his own. They were all good and decent, some more logical than others that would work better, but he didn’t voice his opinion just yet. He kept to himself as he turned, looking at his relatives.

He shuffled his footing and looked at his paws before bringing himself to speak. Meeting the leaders is a good idea, that way we can pass understandings between them and us, he said, looking at the one who gave the idea with a faint idea of a smile before he glanced at his fellow leader, looking at her. Right now, she called the meeting, and while Anasazi wanted the same thing, he looked at her for advice for once, recalling all the memories between them.

"Agreed," the dark-haired medic said, satisfied with what Sakari had proposed. Anazasi didn't seem to have much of an opinion; he hadn't said much, so in a way the best thing that she could do was assume that he was also equally behind her decision. "Meeting with their leaders is possibly a right step in the right direction," she said, pausing. "Considering that I don't believe we've yet to be approached by theirs."

Of course, she wanted to ramble on and for some reason almost suggest that there was always a mild possibility that their Me'ko wasn't apart of that bold group out there. They had puppies to adults to elders cross their borders and so far none of them seemed to fit the meal ticket in her book. "Although, I am curious of what we should do about those who inquire about our home, and of us. I find it hard to decide if they're being nosy or simply have other intentions." She didn't really pose a question there, but it was somewhere between the lines.

After all, she had been asked who they were before (by the herb thief, Lasair) and she had never really given an answer. Other times, she had seen others babble loosely about the Hó’nehe. How much was simply too much and not enough?

She had to admit, the tribe had had her quite fed up lately. Why had it been necessary to drag them all miles and miles and miles from their home, to seek out a runaway princess or her ilk? How hard would it have been to just give leadership to one of the lesser families, and remained where they were? Nevermind that Olathe thought that it was her own Neve'heth family who ought to've ascended, though she had no particular designs on being Me'ko anyhow. It wasn't worth it to rule a bunch of idiots and vagabonds--with her friends and family being the notable exception.

It just made no sense to follow the advice of a pair of hallucinating she-wolves, no matter how good of friends they were to Olathe. There, Zyanya was proving the point by fainting. Too much in the way of narcotic flowers, Lathe thought; while she respected Zyanya's ability, she was sceptical that every single vision the other female had ever had was true.

Much to the Enano'eve's dismay, her own suggestion appeared to be ignored by most of them and dismissed out of hand by the others. More than a little miffed, Olathe came to its defense, though she was careful to keep her irritation out of her voice and remain persuasive-sounding instead. "I mean it not so much in a secretive way--perhaps more of an... emissary. Someone sent with friendly intentions, open about it from the start. Just say... we need to find someone, and we think the best way to form connections might be through sending one of our members to stay with one of their packs. Etcetera. When I mentioned possible offensive moves on our part, I intended that only to be if they should prove hostile to us or otherwise a danger to our cause."

Even as she defended it, the Huntress felt certain that they would not accept it, and she resisted the urge to sigh. Certainly none of the other propositions were much less farfetched, except perhaps the one of meetings between leaders--if they weren't all overrun by trespassers in the meantime.

The intonation of his true name earned his pig-headed sister the peeling back of leathery lips and a soft growl to emit from his muzzle, in a subtle warning that clearly expressed what he would do to her if she kept it up—family or no family. Plus, as she guessed, he already had an idea of what stupidity was going to come out of her supposedly smart mouth and that in turn earned her an over exaggerated roll of his mismatched eyes. Whilst he was opposed to everything that involved moron-ville, he at least had a brain cell in his head that allowed him to see sense in the fact that something had to be done in as least threatening manner as the Hó'nehe could try and muster. Whereas Olathe was quite evidently stupider than he ever could be and her idea just went and proved that. And the funniest thing about it was she really did think she was the best thing since sliced bread.

Anyway. Various voices would curl in the air after Olathe's grand plan and a smirk would trace his lips over the fact that her idea was being blown out of the water, so to speak and for the most part, ignored. It would only cease when he became distinctly aware of a change transpiring in Zyanya. Instantaneously, he would turn toward her, just as she began saying something before fainting. He was on his paws and nosing her worriedly in a second, only rolling his eyes up to meet Seot'a as she came over to inspect the Priestess. How he didn't growl at her on her approach or for just continuing the meeting—despite the fact that Zyanya was in fact alright—was beyond him. But even as they continued he kept nosing her gently, becoming clearly agitated by his friends' state, no matter how many times he'd seen it happen.

These feelings of unrest would become starkly apparent in the period following Olathe trying to get everyone to take note of her "marvellous" idea. "Olathe. Shut it." He snapped, raising his head and glaring at her. "No one's interested in your"—insert best mocking girly-voice impression Hawkspur could command from his chords—""let's-be-as-stupid-as-they-are-and-start-a-war" plan!" With that said, he turned toward Sakari and uttered a "Fine," in reference to what her and later Seot'a with improvements proposed.

gorgeous set by karm ! <3
WLC! — 100

Kuruk’s reassuring touch and gentle approval of her idea sparked self-confidence in the quiet girl, but Seot’a’s sudden presence chilled it somewhat (she seemed a little more forgiving at the moment). Still, Leoti felt more comfortable keeping quiet and letting her gaze merely dart from the face of one speaking wolf to the next as they made their opinions heard. The dark male added a few of his own logical questions to the haze of words hanging over them before Olathe chose to speak. The she-wolf’s use of Hawkspur’s true name made her hackles twitch—a glance toward the bi-eyed male let Le’i know that he did not approve of it either—but at first her thoughts seemed reasonable. It was true that these packs were strange to them, and possibly viewed the Hó’nehe with suspicion. It was always safer to be prepared than to be caught off-guard… But to propose what was in essence a mission of infiltration (and to suggest murder, so soon without due provocation!) was madness, and the young woman’s mind shied from it. The leaders will talk her down—they must, Leoti assured herself, ears flickering distractedly, revealing her stress level at the idea of conflict. I just hope that she can take the rejection…

Rowtag, a sensible wolf in the youth’s opinion, appeared starkly against Olathe’s idea, (as did Seot’a, much to her relief). As he offered support for her, the yellow-eyed lady nodded briefly to acknowledge his words, then turned her attentions on Anasazi—whose slight smile brightened her outlook all the more. Pacifism would prevail for now, it seemed. Sakari spoke, answering Kuruk’s inquiries with quiet confidence (a welcome change from the breathy uncertainty that had tainted her questioning of Zyanya) and reminding the pack that it would be in their best interests to remain alert and civil in their dealings with the other Valley wolves. Leoti could only agree—it was her fervent hope that the outsiders meant no harm to her people—but Cochise’s suspicions stirred fresh worries in the young girl’s heart. These were promptly dispelled when the Ma’heoneve fainted in front of all of them.

What on Earth…? was all the pallid child could think at first; concern came later, after Seot’a had risen to check her ally’s condition and given the signal was all was well. Le’i pulled herself back into the conversation just in time to catch Wynonna’s words, which were at once wise and generous. The younger girl agreed when it was mentioned that the grandmother of the tribe could not go alone into the lands of potential enemies, but she had no suggestions for who should escort her, and so kept her mouth shut. Moments later, Leoti found herself enthralled by the mention of a mountain king who might come to their aid. The Vove’stomo’s knowledge was startlingly in-depth, concerning that they had not been here very long, but rather than feel disappointed by her own ignorance, she chose to focus on the positive notion of an alliance. Nodding softly in agreement, she awaited the next reactions from those around her.

Rowtag’s concern, for both Zyanya and Wynonna, touched the two-year-old. If anyone should go as an escort, it is him, she thought approvingly. Noting Kuruk’s distraction—he too had been swift to glance toward the fallen Spirit-Whisperer—she shifted slightly, reminding him that she was here and could remind him what had just transpired, had he missed any of the conversation concerning an embassy to the Nova Mountain leader. As she refocused on the meeting, it appeared that Olathe was not yet willing to give up on her notions. As she defended them, Leoti wondered if perhaps the idea was sounder than it had first seemed; the bloodthirsty female’s wording had simply been a little too strong for the topic. Before she could put more thought into the matter, a very agitated Hawkspur put her sharply in her place. Leoti instantly felt sorry for him; his attraction to Zyanya was making him look like a bit of an ass at the moment. Hoping that everyone could forgive everyone else for their responses to the drama unfolding around them (why couldn’t pack meeting ever be normal?), she simply awaited future developments, her pale eyes fixed on the Spirit-Whisperer, as though her attention—combined with that of the others—would return her to the waking world more swiftly.