02-19-2010, 04:45 PM
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Please continue posting in the order you first posted. Word Count: 762 They arrived; some in pairs or groups, some alone. Mostly, they arrived one by one, and most greeted him in one form or the other. He grinned broadly at his daughter when she complimented him on the quality of the building, and he quickly mentioned to her that she should not forget Hemming's hand in this. But that point would soon be pointed out to everyone, for he intended to speak highly of it as soon as everyone had come. Levi appeared with a face that was worried for being late, and Tayui greeted him politely, as she often did. He nodded and smiled to them both, offering them polite greetings and responses that matched theirs. Levi was far from late; Dawali had not yet begun the meeting. To Tayui he professed that the winter was treating him well, though he kept to himself how the spring would treat him better, once it arrived. He mirrored her request; the usual dance of social convention, and exchange of polite phrases. But, it was a dance he did not mind, and it kept his bonds with his friends fresh and updated. Yumiko arrived and expressed the same worry as Levi, but he offered her a sentence or two of reassurance as well, and as Aria and Hemming and Ember finally arrived, Dawali could see none but one face missing. He answered Aria's question briefly, stressing that she would know the meeting's topic soon enough. Louis was probably just around the corner, the Chief concluded, and he took a step up on the slightly elevated part of the room at the end of it, standing but a foot's length higher than the rest, clearing his throat in an attempt to capture their attention. "Welcome to the Town Hall!" He felt rather pompous speaking like that, but he could not honestly say that he did not like a bit of drama every now and then. His arms moved out from his sides slightly, and he stood tall, voice deep and strong; the voice of a leader. "I want to just introduce this meeting by thanking my good friend Hemming for helping me with this project. It has taken me almost a full year to build this structure, so that we can meet in a more hospitable place than in the midst of the winter elements during the cold season. Had it not been for his brilliant ideas, I certainly would not have finished it by now." He paused, allowing the attention to land fully on the other male, his own gaze landing firmly on him. Smiling, he was truly grateful for his efforts in helping the Chief piece together his dream of building this thing, and it had turned out so well, too. The Chief let the moment linger, but then continued to the subject at hand; a subject which was far less pleasurable, but all the more necessary, to speak about. He hesitated for a moment, but collected himself, and pushed the knowledge of his hypocrisy out of his mind. It would gain no one to let the thought linger. "The reason I have called you, however, is of a more sensitive character," he said, pausing a moment to let his gaze wander as he spoke. "As I'm certain a lot of you already know, war is upon the packs in the north; Dahlia de Mai and Inferni. Though this is far away from us, there are still certain things to consider. I understand that some of you perhaps have friends or family in either pack; do not let this conflict break the bonds you have there, and more importantly; here. Even more so, do not let these bonds carry you towards participation in this war. It is not AniWayan business, and I will not have a tribesmember make it AniWayan business." They did not have the strength to withstand any sort of conflict right now, and till Dawali drew his last breath he would always work the hardest he possibly could to prevent such things from ever happening to them. "We have no alliance with either of these two sides, and we have no enemies either. I beg you to work to keep it this way." He allowed for some time to pass now, to let the members express themselves on the matter, to ask questions, or whatever might please them. Still, they would find that in this matter, he was quite firm. He had seen enough of war to know that it gained no one. In reality, no one won wars; everyone lost. |