She hadn't attended the challenge, which truthfully she should have but she was just tired. Working with Cordi had taken it out of her, particularly easing her passage into the next life. She hoped the cub was still doing well. She had been planning on letting her get settled in before she went and pestered her, and besides she felt like it should probably be her direct family that summoned her the first time.

Well, what better time to get out of the brief rut she'd found herself in than by going to the meeting? Which wasn't optional but still.

There were many familiar faces there, but she didn't sit with any of them. Perhaps she would have joined Gareth, but he was off on his own and clearly seemed to want to be that way. There were a plethora of cubs around, which pleased her, but their parents were busy corralling them. Aquila and Caligula were in their own little bubble, and she didn't blame them for it. So, she would settle herself amongst the pride, but not particularly beside anyone.

She too hadn't come to the pride challenge, but that was simply because she didn't enjoy watching them. They made her nervous, and she hated conflict of all sorts. One of her biggest fears was going to a challenge and getting sucked into a fight herself. So she had stayed away, and then was grateful that Cassandra called out for them later because it meant that everything was fine. Just fine. For a little bit longer anyway.

When she got there, both her parents were around, as well as some of her younger siblings. There was still a cloud hanging over the family that she felt might never go away, though all she wished was for everyone to be happy again. She just... wished she knew how to make that happen.

Being just a baby, she didn't understand what was going on with all the calls and chaos within the pride. All she knew was that papa had told her to stay put in the den, so she had, and then he'd told her they were going to the call, so she had, and now she was here and... she didn't want to be. There were a whole lot of other lions around, and her sister smelled kind of funny (she didn't yet have the concept of hurt), and father seemed angry, and, and, and. And there had gone Jazz waddling off like it was just another day, so maybe it was just her feeling off. Father had brought him back to them, of course, because that was what father did.

Speaking of sister, Sariel decided she much preferred waddling over to @Solanum and attempting to insert herself between her front paws so she could nestle there. Hiding in one of her dads manes would have been better, but neither of them were particularly close enough to the ground at the moment.

Thorin wasn’t entirely too sure what had happened. He remembered both his mother and his father had come back. Both were bleeding from various spots. At first, Thorin had felt entirely scared at the sight. He was scared that something bad would happen to them, but thankfully they seemed to be healing now.

Cassandra then left the den, and Thorin felt confusion cloud his mind. He followed after her regardless, worried once again and riddling with anxiety. He closely followed her, his silvery gaze watching their surroundings closely. He couldn’t help but feel protective his injured parents, even if he was still so small.

His mother then crawled upon a large rock and he sat next to his sister, realizing that the pride was being called.

code by scorpixia♡︎

After everything that had gone down, Kiba had been making sure to continuously walk alongside the borders of the Brook. He didn’t want any possible trespassers or troublemakers to make their way into his home.

When he heard the call of his High Sovereign, Kiba made sure not to waste time. He quickly jogged over towards the origin of the call, and he realized that many other pridemates had already answered. He was looking late to the party, it seemed. Though he was sure his excuse was enough, considering he was further away and at the edges of the territory.

Weimar missed a lot of things. Where maroon father had gone, why Bronx entertained them at home. Daddy was very eager to entertain them! This made the strawberry cub very happy, oblivious to the reason for it, not seeing the worry in his parents even when one returned injured. Then there was downtime... a nap... and later, another call, and Weimar was surprised to be herded along out of the den instead of corralled in the back of it again. This was being a super cool day!

His jaw gaped at all the other lions with so many different sizes and colors and ages and smells. He kept falling behind, needing to be nudged to keep up. Finally when they got there, Weimar was free to stare all he liked from around the protective pillar of Seraphiel's good arm. Wandering off would get him snagged and brought back - like Jazz - so he was careful not to move a single step away. Not because he was scared or shy... well, maybe... but because he wanted to stare at all the new things without interruption and if his parents thought he was being bad then they might make him pay attention to something boring. Still, trying not to scamper off was emotionally exhausting. He'd need another nap later if he didn't pass out on the way home.

@Voluspa wasn't here yet. It was the first thing Khal noticed when he arrived to heed his sister's call to a meeting. It was a familiar thought now, after more than a year apart he was always painfully aware of her absence. Now at least he could soothe himself knowing she was at least nearby. He would settle himself on the outskirts of the crowd as he typically did, slipping quietly along the edges as he recognized most of the faces but realized there were several more strangers now calling themselves Vermedan. Voluspa's return had given his restlessness a reprieve, but the lingering feelings of no longer belonging to the Brook were still there.

coding by flea & image by yumpy

Pale eyes shifted over the crowd as the yearling approached, the curious depths of her gaze registering the various faces and forms that she did not recognize. Hadriana had been keeping to herself as of late and the consequence of such behavior was only now beginning to dawn on her. Luckily, there was a facet of the crowd that was familiar, and she made her way towards her parents, brother, and uncle. Hadriana would aim to bump @Elysian ‘s shoulder as she came to a halt before lowering her hips to the ground and glancing over her fathers faces. There was something etched in their expression that did not sit well with her – vulnerability, perhaps, age, maybe. Either way, her belly twisted unpleasantly and she would turn her eyes back to their matriarch without speaking, and wait in silence to see what they would learn.

non sibi sed omnibus

if I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; if I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin, unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain. - emily dickinson

code by corvus

code (c) daanyen // art (c) Celestial-Drifter

Ratha was stirred awake when her mother had gotten up and crawled out of the den. The pattern in her step was determined, and soon, @Cassandra would turn and chuff for her cubs to follow. Ratha did initially follow, though she quickly fell behind as @Sæunn, @Asbjorn, and even @Thorin zoomed passed. What caught her attention was a pretty, but dying flower sticking up out of the snow. She detoured from her path to poke at it, and when it crumbled beneath her touch, she looked back towards her mother and siblings and realized they made great headway without her.

So, she scampered after them the rest of the way. Her mother got there first, easily settling into her podium position. Their father got there, too, settling in underneath her, and her sister and brothers all found their places around father. Ratha pranced proudly through the gathered lions before making her own spot by her father's abdomen, next to her sister Saeunn.

She was careful enough to study the faces that sat in attendance, looking in her direction (really, her mom's). There were many lions and lionesses here that she hadn't seen or met yet, and she wanted to know them all. Many of them were scarred or healing from recent wounds, and she wondered if that had any correlation with when her mother and father returned that one day badly bitten, scratched, and bruised...

one foot in the sea & one on shore thankfully, the valkyrie was not far behind @Khal — while she had not intended to be one of the last to arrive to the meeting, adjusting back into amaryllis had been different than what she had expected, and her thoughts on such had impeded her usual promptness. the feelings gnawed at her in a way that she could not properly or articulately express, and while, perhaps, they were simply a byproduct of her journey, they remained all the same. a sharp rush of air filled voluspa’s lungs as she emerged onto the fringes of the group, her eyes scanning the crowd only to realize that most of them looked glaringly unfamiliar. that’s what you get for being gone so long - but where are the others? her brother, sister-and-law, and what she could only assume to be all of her nieces and nephews filled the clearing, but otherwise the sigrun found herself to be naught more than a stranger. anxiety prickled against her skin as she trailed forward another step, and then another, seeking out her beau above all else. he was her comfort, after all, and her lighthouse amongst the haze — and so it was at khal’s side that voluspa would look to seat herself, head craning to rest on his shoulder, whilst her gaze flickered towards the shapes of @Cassandra and @Myrkvi. they were here to listen, after all.

code // art // do not use without permission