Promises to Keep [Perjury]

[Gyllbane]

Scarlet paws crunched through the icy, packed snow beneath the boughs of the redwoods. Treason had crossed the pack border not long ago, but all around her already were the scents of a pack practically thriving in the wintertime. Perjury had done well, truly, in Treason's much-too-long absence between visits, and she meant to congratulate her, among other things, as she visited.

Soon enough a break in the trees came, the refrozen snow dipping downward in a gentle slope toward a familiar riverbed. In the dead of winter, even this large tributary froze near-solid, though perhaps a faint trickle of near-slush water still wound its way beneath the thick-packed ice. Snow had not fallen here in some days, rendering the already-fallen powder icy and hard - all the more of an obstacle for her as she picked her way over the frozen path.

The now-healed wound at her side twinged, worse this time than previously in her journey, and though she was loathe to pay it any mind she knew had to pace herself. As she came to the other bank she paused, taking deep breaths of the chill air about her. Though it was not as cold as it had been, her breath still formed frosty puffs of mist whenever she exhaled; truly, not the best time for a visit, but it was long-overdue as it was.

She'd had a mind to venture further into the territory to seek out Perjury herself, and see what had become of her childhood home - if she wanted to find her with any measure of swiftness, though, she would have to help Perjury find her instead. After a moment more of waiting she finally gave a call out, a lonesome sound that echoed through the quiet of the forest about her, and she listened to the sound with almost a measure of fondness. Truly, she did miss it within the forest sometimes, its darkness and wet-earth smell ringing with nostalgic familiarity, the way sound moved about the trees. She scratched out a place in the snow for herself, a small area of frozen peat she could rest in as she awaited her cousin's arrival, and turned her amber gaze to the woods.

[Cascade]

The alphess was quenching her thirst in the river when she heard the call. It gave her pause, even though she was going quite slow already—no wolf with any brains at all would gulp down near-freezing water without expecting a headache. Normally a howl would not be necessary. Perjury was so in-tune with the earth that she could pick out a familiar wolf's footsteps just from the pattern of vibrations in the ground. However, she had no power whatsoever over the snow and ice that layered the ground, and it proved to be an annoyingly effective insulation. She could tell that someone or something was coming, but their exact identity was muffled in the ice crystals. The howl, though, was unmistakable.

Perjury wondered what she would see when she came around the trunk of the last great tree that stood between her and Treason. Perhaps she had been trampled near to death, and had to crawl to the forest dragging two useless back legs behind her. That would be a satisfactory explanation for the lateness of her visit. Indeed, her hunch appeared to be partially true as she laid eyes on what would have been a massive wound just a short time ago. Treason had been through the ringer.

"I hope this doesn't mean you've been dethroned," she said in greeting, indicating the wound in her side. It didn't look like something another wolf could have done, but one could never know in a valley like this, "Or did you want reassurance that it hasn't spoiled your looks?" Perjury's delivery was flat, but buried in her tone was a teasing mirth that she didn't let just anyone see in her. Settling down in her own dry patch of earth, she felt a happy sense of rightness, reunited again with her cousin and closest friend.

[Gyllbane]

Treason's ears caught the sound of pawsteps approaching before anything else; soon after the scent came to her, and she managed a genuine smile as the slight form of her cousin appeared to her out of the treeline. She seemed as well in health as ever, if tempered slightly by the season, and it struck a chord in Treason's heart. She truly had missed Perjury, as both a family member and a beacon of careful thought, and her tail swayed gently behind her as Perjury came to join her.

"You truly believe I wouldn't die rather than give up my pack to some usurper?" She cocked her head at Perjury's words, though the question is more amused, and rhetorical than anything else. The morbidity of it wan't lost on Treason either, and some part of her wondered whether it was the company she now kept or the events of seasons past that had brought it out in her.

She shook her head. "No. This is the thanks I receive from the forest from my last attempt to visit Frigid Plague. The bear got out of it far worse than I, though." She gave a half-smile, glancing to what she could see of her own wounded flank; the thick fur of winter had grown unevenly over the wound, creating a strange, uneven landscape of russet fur over the scar tissue that wove about her ribcage. "I have spent the past moons recovering from it, and I'm sorry I did not send word. There have been... developments, within the Honovi's ranks, that I would share with you by only my own word."

[Cascade]

Perjury's ears perked up, "A bear?" She was genuinely impressed. Even she with her great power would not want to be in a close combat situation with a bear, and Treason had no such special abilities. It was a wonder that she had not been torn clean in half, let alone that she had been able to put up a real fight. "Remind me never to find my way onto your bad side."

Even more interesting than the bear was this talk of developments. From Treason's tone, Perjury could tell that the news was not entirely positive. No news that could not be delivered via messenger was ever good. If Treason needed help, Perjury would not hesitate for a second to offer it, although she felt as though the forthcoming discussion would be more thought than strategy. If Perjury did not care about how Treason felt, she never would have confronted her with her unhappiness as part of the Frigid Plague.

The alphess wrapped her tail around her and curled in a little more tightly. Her slight figure was prone to chill, and sadly she had no control over the temperature of the frozen ground. Her belly rumbled slightly from hunger—it was no matter, she had a meal saved in her den for when she returned home to sleep—but the empty feeling reminded her that she had still not borne pups. This talk of ranks did nothing to distract her from the thought of her own pack's line of succession—or lack thereof.

[Gyllbane]

"If I can be honest - I'm surprised I even survived. Perhaps it was some sort of divine providence from the Power, for when I returned to my own lands I found quite the shocking visitor addressing my pack." Though Demetrios had proved himself over to be a capable Beta - as she knew he would - there was still something about the male's demeanor that unsettled her, and it was high time she shared the Honovi's changes, and her concerns over them, with her staunchest ally.

Some in the Valley would balk at the Honovi's apparent conspiracy with Evil wolves; Treason held her head high through the rumors, having proved her pack loyal and strong right alongside the Frigid Plague. But it was times like these that she was able to truly remember why she valued their alliance - not just due to the blood ties that knit their shared histories together, but because of Perjury's leadership. Even were they not cousins she would value the alphess' advice over most others.

"His name is Demetrios, and he claims to be the son of Acka and Condor - surely you understand my trepidation upon learning this. He attempted to lay claim to the Alpha position - not against me, but alongside me. You can imagine his frustration when I refused." She gave Perjury a careful look. "I told him that, should he wish to bolster the Honovi, he would do well to prove himself in the Beta position, and though it took some convincing, he accepted, and has proven himself a worthy packmate. Still... something does not sit right with me. That he would appear, seemingly out of nowhere, once we had finally gotten a decent foothold on pack life... Am I too paranoid, Perjury? Are these concerns just founded in my own insecurities?"

She shook her head quickly, her ears flickering backward. "It took enough of my strength just to convince myself to lead all that time ago - and now, only when I thought I was sure of my position does this descendant show himself, when I was most ill suited to care for my own. Was I wrong in denying him his petition for Alpha?"

[Cascade]

Perjury was unsettled by the news—it sounded like Treason was not fully joking about there being a usurper. Personally, she would not have given in to any stranger making demands of a special position among her ranks—and she had the track record to prove it. But she also recognized that blood ties to the pack were a strong factor, something that had enormously helped Treason herself when she ascended to her rightful place. "The son of the founders themselves...if blood were the only factor, his claim over yours would be unquestionable." But, thankfully, it was not the only factor. "A fine leader, though," she offered, "Who would not show his face to the pack he claims to hold so dear through all its hardships and struggles, but who would appear out of thin air in a time of prosperity and demand the highest authority over it based solely upon the name of his mother."

This had apparently occurred months ago, but Perjury was only just now hearing of it—and from Treason's mouth. Was this Demetrios ignorant of the Honovi's relationship with the Frigid Plague, or did he just not think it important that he should meet face-to-face with the alphess of his ally? Perjury wondered how far down on the list of priorities the alliance meant to this wolf if he couldn't be bothered to stop by once since his arrival to the valley.

"I do not think you are paranoid, and I most certainly don't think you are wrong to instantly grant him control of your pack. He was perfectly content to live his entire life without the pack until now, so what can he truly say that he has done for the Honovi?"

[Gyllbane]

Treason smiled genuinely at that, the faintly forlorn air leaving her voice at once as she replied. "My thoughts exactly. He has not been here, and I have. The Honovi may not be perfect, no - and we may have had our trials as of late. But my pack showed me during that encounter that they would stand by me. I should give them more credit." She nodded sagely - to hear her own thoughts spoken aloud in such a manner by Perjury was truly a boon to her resolve.

"But as I have said - Demetrios has proven that, true to his word, his goal ever remains the betterment of the Honovi. I've of a mind to keep him in the beta position for awhile yet - for if he tires of it, then I will know his loyalties lie to his own honor above all else. If not, then I shall have a capable wolf to fall back on should I become indisposed once more." Her tail flicked upwards from where it rested against her thigh, highlighting the scarred-over wound once more - she doesn't seem to shie away from it, nor what it might mean for her future. "Though I truly pray that does not happen." A smile curled the corners of her lips up once more, gently.

"And what of you? How has Frigid Plague - and yourself - fared since my last visit? Sometimes I wonder why you don't make the journey to the Heathlands as often as I do here - but then I recall how much I enjoy my visits here, and how you have just as much packland to protect as I - with far more wolves to protect it from, if the scant rumors about other evil packs are true." Her ears pitch forward once again, curious as to Perjury's answers.

[Cascade]

"It's good to hear that he has at least not slacked off in the position you have provided him." Perjury thought that Treason's plan of keeping Demetrios as her beta to suss out his true intentions was a good one. The position of beta was quite powerful in its own right—growing restless for more even with that much status would reveal him as a true outsider to the back, blood or not.

"Personally, I would think action will help you more than prayer," Perjury replied to Treason's statement about her wound, "Have you considered taking advantage of the mountain's magic? As a Neutral, you'd have a better chance of success for whatever you chose than a wolf of any other alliance." Inwardly, Perjury was thankful for her natural-born gift. If she had had to subject herself to Geist's insanity, odds were good she would not have even lived to tell the tale.

Admittedly, Treason's words stung a little bit in the part of her heart that held her guilty conscience. Which, to her credit, was a very small part. But it was true—she had grown indignant waiting for her cousin's visit whilst hardly having taken two steps out of her own territory in months. Perhaps it was the cold that had made her lethargic, but it hardly seemed like a good excuse, especially now that it was warming up. She wouldn't be around forever, and neither would Treason. Did she really want to spend the one life she had constantly patrolling through the redwoods?

"I can't say anything in my own defense when it comes to my lack of visits. Although I will make a trip up to the heathlands as soon as the flowers bloom—for one thing, I'd like to meet this Demetrios in person. The Honovi lands are a place of extraordinary beauty in this valley; I'd be a fool to continue to delay a visit, even if it's not my childhood home."

She thought about the Midnight Silence pack and the others that had been cropping up and fading away all around her over the past few seasons. "We haven't been bothered." She stated simply. "The other packs, evil or otherwise, seem to realize that creating trouble with the Frigid Plague would be biting off more than they could chew. A few scant alliances have been made, but there's no real substance to them. Wolves creating bonds of convenience with others whom they hardly know; they will just as quickly turn on each other the second their 'alliance' becomes an obstacle to their own prosperity. Fledgling alphas hiding their insincerity with moving speeches full of empty words—it's nothing new." She cast a sideways glance at her cousin, "Although there are some new things that I wouldn't mind. I've been giving a lot of thought to my line of succession lately. Have you done the same?"

[Gyllbane]

Treason nodded happily at Perjury's acquiescence to a visit; truly, a tour of her packlands with all the changes was long overdue, and a reassessment of her roster of packmates in the Spring would not be a bad idea. "Come to think of it, spring - and your visit - will be a wonderful time to have a pack meeting, to convene and allow the wolves who have not met Frigid Plague yet to understand your pack better. And I daresay that will give you a good idea of how Demetrios holds himself about his fellow packmates."

In truth, Treason had wanted Perjury to meet the beta male for a long time; her recovery necessitated as little travel as possible, though, and she would not have sent the male off on his own to Perjury's doorstep, lest he let his prejudices get the best of him, for she had heard his quip during their disagreement about her natal pack. She did not hide the fact that she had been born into Evil dens, raised alongside the now-Alphess of the most well established evil pack in the valley, yet she did not allow it to sully the Honovi's reputation with undue rumors. Having the beta of her own pack so mistrustful of their allies could prove disastrous in the long run, and a pack meeting to formally introduce her cousin might help to smooth things over.

"As for considering a Power..." Treason trailed off, almost embarrassed at her next words. "In truth I had not considered it in the slightest, with all the hubbub of change, and my recovery alongside it. Certainly I have not been well enough to even consider the journey until recently - yet the White Wolves have blessed me already, as White Magic was willing to descend from her mountain den to knit my flesh and bone. I do wonder how much more I could ask of them before they demanded something in return of me. And as for succession..." She pauses again, giving Perjury a bit of an odd look - merely at the thought that her cousin had been considering her lineage at all lately, though she supposed it was perfectly natural as they grew older. Young they certainly were not anymore, and clearly Perjury had realized this as much as she had.

"No thought to that either, I will admit. I will say, though, that if it comes to it... if a worthy successor does not show themselves to me soon, then I am not above asking one of the Honovi to sire my next generation. It would not be fit of me to leave the Honovi leaderless." She shook her head firmly. "And what of you? What have you considered?"

[Cascade]

Perjury's lips drew into a somewhat embarrassed smile. "I've been putting more and more thought into it lately, and I think it's time to put thoughts into action. Vanitas, my beta...although there is nothing decidedly romantic between us, I trust him a great deal and know that his values match those of the Frigid Plague. I have a great level of admiration for him, and—" she muttered under her breath as she was unable to stifle her blush, a humiliating display for someone of her position, however slight it was. "Regardless. I would like to have pups soon—in the spring, in fact—and I am going to meet with him tomorrow and request that he be the father."

Vanitas had been so reluctant to accept the position of Beta that Perjury could not imagine that he would agree to stand alongside her as Alpha, but it did not matter what he called himself. He had strong genes, but more importantly he and she had a strong relationship. She knew that he could be relied on, and if he agreed, his contribution would not stop at the minimum possible donation of time and, ahem, material. The pups would be hers, her heirs, but they would at least know their father.

"My mother and father had me fairly young," she said, feeling the words slip from her mouth without thinking, "I believe it was their intention that I...would have had plenty of time to spend with them, before the time came for me to take my place as alphess." She stared at the ground, gaze hardened, "As you know, things didn't work out quite as planned. But if I can I want to give my pups what my mother and father wanted to give to me. I don't want to wait too long."

[Gyllbane]

If Treason had had a deathwish - or perhaps respected her cousin a little less than she did - she might have made some quip about puppy love as Perjury ducked her head. Instead she merely smiled gently, her tails whisking lightly over the frozen peat. She was, actually, rather glad that Perjury seemed to be taking her pack's lineage into her own hands; she had not ever made mention of it, but she knew Perjury had struggled with the death of her parents, and it warmed her spirit to know that even in this, her cousin had made the choice to be proactive in her pack's future.

"I am sure you will make a fine mother, Perjury, and a strong one too - no pups in this valley will have had a more capable parent. And though I do not know Vanitas well, I am sure he will prove a worthy father - your respect is not so easily won by just anyone." She flicked an ear. True, she didn't know the Frigid Plague beta quite as well as she liked, but he seemed a good candidate, physically at the very least, large and powerful in ways that Perjury left wanting. And with their mother's powers at play in their development - she doubted stronger and more well-off pups could not have been born into the Valley.

"We are of the same mind, then. For one... I rather look forward to being a mother." Her smile grew bashful once more, but it's an honest statement nonetheless. "I have always loved pups. And to have gone through what we have - at least we will not lack for knowledge in the education and guidance on their paths." She gave Perjury a knowing look, unsure if the message would get across - she referred, of course, to the stress of both Perjury's parents' death, and to her own exodus from her natal pack, both of which had aged them beyond their youth rather quickly.

[Cascade]

Perjury did not share her cousin's overt love for pups. While she was certain that she would love her own children, she knew that she would be most grateful for their company once they had grown into independent individuals. Still, the prospect of motherhood, even to a brood of vulnerable newborns was exciting, knowing that they would be her own. And yes, hopefully, her pups would have both of their parents longer than she was able to have her own. For as strong a wolf and leader as she had become, the loss still weighed heavily on her heart.

"Perhaps history will repeat itself," Perjury mused out loud, "It could be that one of my pups discovers they have a neutral heart and joins your ranks. Or maybe the reverse."

[Gyllbane]

"Perhaps." Treason nodded, glad that Perjury had caught her meaning. "And perhaps one of mine will follow in our grandmother's footsteps, and leave the Honovi for you and your own. Whatever their choices, they will know not to be afraid." She smiled, again, at the prospect. The next few months were sure to be an interesting stretch of time.

"In the spring, then, I will see you. I'll look forward to it, and I will inform my pack of your arrival." She dipped her head. "Thank you as always, Perjury, for your counsel, and I will send a scout should things grow dire with Demetrios - though I doubt it will get so bad."

[Cascade]

Perjury nodded as she stood to see Treason off. "I look forward to meeting this new beta of yours and seeing with my own eyes if he is all that he purports to be." She would give him the chance for a proper first impression. She would also make it clear—if necessary—that any act against Treason was an act against the Honovi, and all that that implied. But that would not be for a little while. In the meantime, she had a very important conversation to have with her own beta.

"Be well, Treason," she said, "...and wish me luck."