Plague on the Rise

[Cascade]

It had been a while since the alphess had stepped foot in this territory. No more recently than its last occupant's retreat had Perjury walked among the saplings that gave the land its name. She had been drawn here today, though, by whispers of a new pack's establishment, news that always warranted a visit. Perjury herself owned more land in the forest than any other wolf. The massiveness of her redwoods echoed the massiveness of her territory. However, it was not enough for her to ensure harmony only within the borders that defined was was technically hers. The whole forest, she believed, belonged to her in a way. The Frigid Plague was responsible for it. Just as the Honovi's bluffs overlooked the heathlands, Perjury watched over the forest.

Coming to a stop when she scented the markings that defined the border, Perjury stood and waited for Quinn to fall in beside her. Perjury had judged Quinn as having a good deal of potential, and this meeting would either confirm or contradict that judgment. The snow was shallow here, and she pushed some of it aside so that her paws could stand on plain earth. Perjury did not plan to make any demonstration of her power to this new pack. It was well known that she had power over the earth, so it was not realistic to expect that these wolves would be unaware of it. But less widely known was the specific nature of her abilities, and even fewer knew the level of her mastery. This was knowledge that would be valuable to protect.

CursedErin Juice @ttop

[CursedErin]

Quinn was only a recent member to Frigid Plague's ranks, and she was already trying to prove herself to the alphess Perjury. The brown she-wolf had followed Perjury from her recently made den within the redwoods. She was excited to greet the new pack and welcome them to the land, her tail was swishing with excitement behind her. The subordinate scented the border along with Perjury, and just as the alphess had sat, so did she.

Quinn sat directly beside her alphess, awaiting whatever wolves would appear. "Seems like a great chance to learn about our possible allies." she said, her mind ready to analyze whatever wolf showed their pretty little head. The knowledge hungry wolf was beginning to get a bit antsy just sitting there, but she would do so, allowing her tail to express her eagerness rather than her paws. The more time passed, the more the she-wolf would do various things, such as sniff the air quickly, groom herself, un-sheath and re-sheath her claws, and so on. "Rising.. Sol." she said, trying out the name of the new back on her tongue.

[Cascade]

Perjury shook her head at Quinn's mention of this pack possibly being their ally. "The Honovi are our allies." She explained, "They are our allies because the ancestors of our packs were bonded by blood, sisterhood, and an unspeakably huge act of selfless goodwill. Do not mistake the mistake the source of an alliance's strength. Allies are not strong when two alphas agree to fight together, they are strong when two packs feel that they are unshakably connected."

The alphess looked over at her compatriot; she was not lecturing, but merely stating fact. "These new packs scramble about in their infancy, forming what they call alliances. They make promises to their so-called allies to fight by each others' sides and die for them, having only just learned their names. This meeting is not about forming alliances, merely about determining whether this pack intends to live in peace with us or wage war." She smiled. "When the spring comes, I will take you to the Honovi lands. You will see the oasis that our packs built together, a symbol of our inalienable bond. The meaning of a true alliance will not be lost on you."

[CursedErin]

Quinn quickly turned her head to look at Perjury. "Ah.. An even better reason to be here. I'll gather what information I can, alphess." she replied to the Frigid Plague's leader. "Sorry for misunderstanding the reason we are here. My brain likes to jump ahead and make conclusions at points." she added before turning her head slowly back in front of her.

"Shall we signal that we are here, Perjury?" she asked, her eyes starting to scan the area in front of her once again. Her ears were tuned in for the slightest sound that another wolf might be approaching, a twig snapping, bushes shaking, loud paw steps, a rabbit shrieking after being caught, anything. Quinn's tail continued to shift around behind her with anticipation. She was honored that Perjury allowed her to accompany her, and if she needed to, she would defend her alphess to the death, but she intended to not let that happen.

[Cascade]

"Information is power," Perjury replied in agreement, "And yes, I think it would be wise to make our presence known." Not leaving the circle she had made from the snow, the alphess tilted her head back and howled. Her voice communicated her power, commanding respect, and a discerning wolf's ear would be able to pick out the importance of this particular call.

[Deleted]

ooc: Just letting you know I've seen this and will get Luzaro over here as soon as I take him out of the thread he's currently in.

[Cascade]

ooc: You don't have to finish up your current thread, alphas have liquid time within their own territories

[CursedErin]

"Knowledge is more than just power, if it's used correctly." Quinn smirked, before following her alphess's lead. Her head tilted back, she howled with Alphess Perjury for the moment, until they would both stop and her head would lower back down to its original position.

[Deleted]

Two red wolves appeared from the tree lined border to investigate the howls that had summoned them there. The two looked so similar it was obvious to any wolf with eyes they were kin and, in fact, they were brothers. The first wolf was such a darkened mottle of black, red and green he looked as if he'd crawled out of a swamp and his ears and tail were ragged and torn. However, this wolf had bright green, intelligent eyes that quickly scanned the newcomers. They were both females and were both respecting the pack territory so perhaps they had come to join with his newly formed pack. It would not have been a surprise given that, in the short period of time it had taken to acquire the land, four new wolves had joined his ranks.

Luzaro was definitely a curious wolf and would often give every wolf the benefit of the doubt so he was outright with his questioning of the two females. "I see you've found your way to the Rising Sol pack boundary." he began with a friendly smile. "I am Luzaro, the alpha of these lands. Have you come to join our ranks?" he asked politely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wolf accompanying Luzaro was not as swampy looking as his brother and was, in contrast, a much brighter hue of red. This wolf was the same size as the alpha but not as torn and battle scarred. He shared the alpha's green, inquisitive eyes but where curiosity lit up Luzaro's, skepticism sat with Draga's. The beta of the pack was still learning but he was far more cautious and less open than the alpha. Taking a deep breath, he scented that the females smelled very similar. This was not an odd occurrence as they could have been related or living together but Draga got the sense they were packmates. From what pack, he was unsure but what bothered him more was that he was unaware of their intentions. They did not seem like they wanted to join the ranks of Rising Sol as they both held more of an authoritative stance than a highly submissive one. Neither Draga or Luzaro had been born in the mountain's valley and had no way of knowing that Perjury was an alphess herself. Draga looked on at the she wolves, quite obviously wary of them, and said "I am Draga, the beta of this pack and Luzaro's brother." and felt it unnecessary to say anything more.

[Juice]

ooc: Hey guys I'm gonna sit this one out because I've got Kivah involved in something plus I think Luzaro will be fine especially since Draga is there too. Plus I'm having trouble keeping up with all my threads :')

[Cascade]

Perjury looked at Luzaro, who had mistaken her and Quinn for loners looking to join their pack, and then looked to Draga, who had appeared to have gotten the right idea. Wordlessly, she made her displeasure known to him. After a pregnant pause, she broke eye contact with Draga and turned back Luzaro, who had introduced himself as the alpha. First impressions were critical, and he was not off to a great start.

She could help him, of course, by stating her identity and her business plainly. But that certainly wouldn't inspire the confidence she had lost in this wolf if she had to hold his paw and guide him through the simplest and easiest of diplomatic affairs. "I'm afraid you are mistaken," She decided on saying, "But I invite you to make another guess."

[CursedErin]

Quinn quickly let her eyes fall onto the wolves before her and Perjury. Her weight was shifted slightly forward, allowing her to be able to pounce if she needed to in order to defend her alphess. She studied quickly for any signs that the wolves from Rising Sol seemed to give off.

The first introduced himself to be the alpha of the newly claimed lands. He was the first to speak and the first to question. He seemed curious to Quinn, but also cautious at the same time. The second pronounced himself to be a beta, and the alpha's brother nonetheless. He seemed more cautious than curious, intent to turn the Frigid Plaugue wolves away, rather than speak to them. Draga had spoken briefly, saying only a pawful of words before quieting himself.

Quinn chuckled softly at Perjury's response before slowly leaning her head over to the alphess's ear. "Currently, the do not trust us in the slightest, especially Draga. Luzaro is war torn and battle ready, though he seems to be giving us the benefit of the doubt as he welcomed us swiftly, rather than question our motives." the female whispered, making sure only her alphess could hear. "Draga also appears more attentive as well." she finished, slowly pulling her mouth away from Perjury's ear as she started to scan over the alpha and beta in front of her for any more subtle changes they might make.

[Deleted]

Luzaro kept the smile on his face and continued to look benignly at the wolf before him and paid little attention to what the brown wolf seemed to be whispering. The red wolf' smile widened at the white she wolf's proposal. "Excellent! I quite enjoy guessing games." Luzaro paused for a moment and turned his eyes up towards the sky in mock contemplation. "Could it be that you're the Alphess of a pack and have come to check up on us?" Luzaro's green eyes stared straight at Perjury. Kivah had given Luzaro a crash course in the packs of the valley and Luzaro had familiarized himself with the pack names, alliances and names of the alphas. Kivah had been in the valley far longer than the alpha and was quite helpful in information about it. However, the information Kivah had was limited and Luzaro wasn't familiar with the ways of any of the packs except Eternal Snowfall. Luzaro and Draga had observed the Eternal Snowfall pack since their arrival in the valley and felt they would be good allies based on the general opinion of them from the loners and what they'd seen of the pack's treatment of its members.

Luzaro did not realize who this wolf was or from which pack she hailed. She could be Piala, Ilana, Treason or Xenia if the red wolf was recalling the information correctly. Winter had just recently come to a close so wolves weren't really traveling around the valley if they had a pack. It definitely wasn't Piala because the territory was clear across the valley plus Luzaro had seen the star marking on the face of the Eternal Snowfall alphess from afar and this wolf didn't have it. It probably wasn't Treason either because that trip was also quite a trek so it was safe to assume the wolf before him was the alpha of one of the packs within the forest. She was either Ilana or Perjury and finally Luzaro asked "Who are you?" to the white she wolf.

~~~~~~~~~~

Draga watched closely as the brown wolf leaned closer to the white wolf to whisper something to her, probably about the brothers. The beta growled quietly in the very back of his throat and, luckily, the noise was only audible to his ears. Draga couldn't place it exactly but he felt something strange about these two she wolves. They obviously weren't there to join but if not, what was it that they wanted? The red hackles on the beta began to rise slowly as it dawned on him that these two could be here to incite a battle against Rising Sol on behalf of whatever pack they came from. Suddenly Luzaro guessed that the she wolf was an alphess and everything finally made sense. Draga's eyes looked from Luzaro, to the white wolf, to the brown wolf then back to Luzaro. How did he know if she was an alpha? What hadn't he been telling him? How did he know this information? Where did he get the information? The red wolf slightly shifted his weight to ready himself for the possibility of a fight happening.

[Cascade]

Perjury nodded at Quinn's assessment. She was sharp, and her quick evaluation of the two left the alphess impressed. Less impressive was this wolf in front of her. Perjury kept her mind open to the possibility that this "lovable dolt" persona, for want of a better term, was an act meant to lower the guards of potential enemies. At this early stage, nothing could be taken for granted.

"You're right." She said, "We have come from the redwoods to pay a visit to your up-and-coming pack. My name is Perjury, alphess of the Frigid Plague. And you can relax," she said this last part to Draga, whose unrest had not escaped her, "It is not in keeping with the Frigid Plague's code to attack any wolf, or group of wolves, without good reason. If you cast your pre-conceived notions about evil aside, you'll find that we are much more agreeable neighbors than you may have anticipated."

[CursedErin]

Quinn smiled softly, she seemed to be a bit amused by how Luzaro made his ways around conclusions. Her eyes shifted back to Draga for the time being, watching him carefully, he seemed to be much more of a threat at the moment than the alpha.

Once again, Quinn leaned forward to Perjury's ear. "Draga is in a hostile position, ready to pounce should a fight arise, watch for any sudden outbursts. Despite that, he also appears to be a bit confused by the situation as well, but it will be cleared up, I'm sure. Luzaro keeps a friendly attitude, not a terrible idea for an alpha, but we will see where it gets him." she whispered again, and then pulled her muzzle back from Perjury. The entire time she spoke, her eyes were on Draga and Luzaro.