Whispers in the wind

Shawchert Menue · 08-13-2011, 05:26 PM

[html]

+3 OOC: Orin post and then AW to anyone Smile

He had heard about the refuge’s in Cercatori, though he had not met them, and this brought curiosity to him. He wanted to see what was going on with his neighbors, as he had known they were their allies in a way. There were a few trades that were made to that pack and Skye had friends there, seeing as he was no longer the head leader or leader anymore and he wanted to make sure to protect the pack, he thought it was best he went there to see what was going on. He thought about telling Sky, but couldn’t find her. He wasn’t going to be gone long. He found Orin near the terrace and let her know, though she insisted on coming, he didn’t want to bring the pups and she agreed. Shaw found Bangle on his way to look for Skye and knew the man would be able to take care of the pups the same as Skye would. All they had to do is let each other’s children play together.

Shaw and Orin set out as soon as possible to make sure they weren’t gone long. They didn’t say much knowing that travel would be quicker and they didn’t want to stay too long. Shaw made sure he was quiet as possible, though he didn’t have the softest feet around, but when they got near they slowed down Shaw could see there were patrols around every once in a while, and all of them seemed to be quite on guard. He wondered if they were waiting for some kind of attack? This was hard to see, seeing as all the packs around AniWaya were peaceful, the only ones he could see really causing any troubles were the northern packs. He followed the white wolf quietly as he could, he had found a leather cloak that hid his obvious markings so he would be hard at seeing and he kept his eyes on anyone who would come by. For now he would take Orin’s lead.

[/html]

Orin Takekuro · 08-13-2011, 05:40 PM

When Shawchert told her where he was going and why Orin knew she had to go with. Two beaten women had sought refuge within Cercatori d'Arte? And they had come from AniWaya? Orin had her own problems and wasn't exactly up-to-date on territory news, but even she had caught the tail end of whisperings that things weren't right beyond Cercatori's borders. AniWaya had always been a peaceful tribe from what she knew, so what had happened to these women?

It would have been better to interview them before taking off, but there was no time. Shawchert was ready to leave them and word had it that the women were still very shaken and weak. This would be just a scouting mission, anyway, but she couldn't let Shawchert go alone. She was no longer the bumbling little girl that helped found Cercatori. She could do this.

Except... the pups? She was anxious to leave the girls behind, but they were old enough to be left under the pack's supervision. Still, she thought they needed a babysitter, so they quickly sought out another trusted pack member who had pups of his own and understood the importance of their safety. Leaving her daughters in the coy-wolf's hands, Orin and Shawchert spirited out of Cercatori d'Arte.

While Shawchert chose a cloak to conceal his body, Orin decided to shift into her Lupus form. This was her most graceful of shapes. She could move fast, cover a lot of ground this way, and if there was any sneaking to be done it was best to do it in her smallest body. She knew this way, if she had to, she could run ahead and scout out any danger and report it to Shawchert if need be. It was a good plan.

When they first arrived at the tribe's borderlands it wasn't obvious that anything was amiss. “Maybe they were lying,” Orin wondered aloud after some time as they made way towards the lands. It didn't look like anything bad was going on here. Still, Orin knew better than anyone that evil could come in very discreet packages.

As they drew closer even Orin's blind nose could tell that the scent of guards was thick, but she didn't know enough about AniWaya to know if this was abnormal. She glanced up at Shawchert, looking for any hint in his eyes. “What do you think?” She asked her former Alpha. “Should we go back, or press on?” She didn't know if they should call for a member of AniWaya, or remain undetected for now.

Ayasha · 08-13-2011, 05:52 PM

OOC: Time to start building the DA, Dawali's Army.

IC: Ayasha was patrolling the borders, but not looking for intruders but for allies to help overthrow Maska and his goons. So she saw the two forms come from the distance and saw as they concealed themselves, obviously trying to stay hidden. She stalked towards them, also trying to stay concealed, but so that the guardians would find out what she was doing.

She approached the strangers and noticed that they smelled like Bangle and Liam. So she relaxed slightly. ”I’m Ayasha, scout of AniWaya. How may I help you?” Her tone was wary but she wasn’t as worried about them as the wolves that might come upon them. She could be punished for this but she knew that they didn’t often leave the village.

She regarded the two wolves as they seemed on edge. She gave another glance around. ”We need to be careful about talking though. Maska, the supposed new leader of AniWaya, and his goons don’t like newcomers nosing around. But AniWaya may need you help.” She paused and looked around. Her voice became a whisper. ”We need to get rid of him but not now. Please help us. He’s already caused several of our members to leave and hurt many others. The land is now oppressive.” She didn’t know that Shiloh and Saxif had left and gone to Cercatori d’Arte.

Shawchert Menue · 08-13-2011, 07:32 PM

[html]

+3 OOC: RAWR!!

He noticed the guardians too, and knew enough that they were not meant to be there unless they were expecting something. Shawchert knew that much. He looked over at Orin and shook his head.

“I don’t think they just beat each other up, besides, if you see they way they are patroling... they’re expecting something. Then again someone from the outside could have gotten in and got to them. That would be a reason.”

Shawchert said. He looked down at his now partner, she was a stealthy as could be, which was saying something from her once clumsy self. Just as they thought they were hidden well enough before deciding what to do a wolf creeped up on them and started speaking. Shawchert listened to her his ears perked and listening to what she had to say. It seemed the tale had been true, this Maska seemed to have overthrown the AniWayan government, at least that’s what he got from it. He knew of Dawali, and that he was the leader here, but much more than that was rumors and tales.

“We understand this” He said in a quiet very soft voice “Some of your pack mates have come to Cercatori, they are refugees there and we are taking good care of them. We can’t do much our pack is too peaceful, but supplies?”

He looked over at Orin, to see if she would have anything to say. He knew smuggling in supplies would be hard work, but if they were caught, this would bring out strained ties between Cercatori and AniWaya.

“We may have to speak with our leader about helping at all. This is a delicate matter,”

He said nodding slowly. His voice was strained low so no one but the other two could hear him.

[/html]

Orin Takekuro · 08-13-2011, 08:50 PM

Before they could make a decision on what to do next one was made for them. Orin glanced at the borders in time to see a luperci woman who looked much like herself coming towards them. The woman only revealed herself to them as she grew close, and it unsettled Orin that she knew where they were but they had not seen her before. Orin's yellow eyes scanned the landscape, searching for others. Had they walked right into an ambush? A moment went by and nothing happened. The woman seemed to still be keeping herself fairly concealed with them, and after a moment Orin began to believe that she meant them no harm.

The AniWayan began speaking right away. Her introduction was stilted, uncomfortable. What was going on? Orin glanced at Shawchert, but looked back to the blue-eyed, snowy wolf a moment later. Before the d'Arte pair could say anything the woman glanced around with suspicion matching her own, then spoke conspiratorially to them. Orin's eyes widened, she was surprised that the woman had said so much to two strangers. In one breath she truncated the plight of her tribe, and spoke of mutiny. Things must really be awful here.

Orin began to respond but Shawchert beat her to the chase. While his tone was discreet, she couldn't believe her ears! Had he really just divulged all that information to the first AniWayan who approached? If the tribe really was divided, as Ayasha professed, how did they know she wasn't one of them? Orin moaned in frustration and gave Shawchert's tail a sharp bite, proffering a few hairs. She spit the fur out on the ground after giving him a sharp look of contempt, then turned back to Ayasha.

“It's good to meet you, Ayasha, though I'm sorry about the circumstances,” she said, her voice reflecting her current annoyance. But the irritation melted from her voice as she continued. “My name is Orin and this is Shawchert. As my companion has told you, we're from Cercatori d'Arte and we have come to check on the state of your pack, since we have started to catch wind of strange tidings here.” She would not confirm what Shawchert said about the refugees. These people were counting on them for help. Even if Ayasha was on the right side, if the AniWayan refugees did not tell her that they were fleeing to Cercatori d'Arte she did not need to know. At best, it was just more information the insurgents could beat out of her.

She did, however, agree with offering them supplies... That is, if they were offering the right people. “Wait a minute, back up here.” She whispered as she sat down, curling her tail around her forelegs. “We're willing to help but we need some details first, and then we'll tell our Capitana everything we have heard and let her decide if we can afford to help. So the brutality we have heard about is true. Who is Maska? How did he take over your pack, and why doesn't this sit well with your people?”

Ayasha · 08-13-2011, 09:12 PM

She nodded at the their names. But her ears perked up the mention of two members of her pack going to theirs. She hadn’t seen Saxif and Shiloh around lately. Her mind made a possible connection. ”Would their names be Saxif and Shiloh? They’re my friends and I haven’t seen them lately. They’re safe? That’s good to hear. I for one, as well as many wolves in my pack, thank you.” She was happy for her friends but still worried about her pack’s future.

They both wanted her to explain what’s going on. She nodded. ”Maska came here a month or so ago saying that Chief Dawali had lied to us and was not the real Kalona. He then decided to not allow people to question him during the meeting. He has currently been bent on war with all our neighbors. He seemed to start with Crimson Dreams. One of our members left the pack with his wife, sister, and pups. And Maska thinks that the pups belong to him and that Crimson Dreams is planning a war on us.” She shook her head. ”He has hurt many people simply because they refuse to go along with his paranoia. He was a councilman back at the Great Tribe and thinks that the spirits are angry with how Dawali was chosen. My own spirit and my mother’s have both assured me and her that the spirits are not upset with Dawali.”

She paused to let that all sink in. ”Maska calls Dawali a usurper but many of knows that he is the usurper. I have a few requests to ask of you and your pack. One, get the word out to other packs. Two, any supplies would be wonderful, though you’d have to ask my mother, Ralla, what we need. And finally, let any loners you know and/or see to stay away from AniWaya. Maska is finding loners and making them guardians, thugs that only answer to him and can punish us as they see fit and for whatever reason they want.” She waited to see if they had any other questions.

Shawchert Menue · 08-14-2011, 08:22 AM

Shawchert gritted his teeth to keep from making a noise as Orin pulled on his tail taking hairs out. It was sore now, but he didn’t retaliate. In fact it made him realize how stupid he’d just been ‘THIS is why you aren’t a leader you stupid idiot of a wolf. Shaw became very quiet after he spoke listening to Ayasha, who in turn divulged whatever she could to them about this Maska wolf. From the sounds of it, he was nothing more than a tyrant, someone who needed to get off his high horse. Those who thought they had absolute power and who were taller than all else had long legs, and those who had long legs could be toppled over much easier than anyone else. It was how to do the toppling that had to be figured out. The girls words were coming out of her mouth as though they were a burden on her, and he thought her too young to be having to deal with such things.

“I heard that this place was an extension of another right? You have other tribes, what do they say? Can they help you?”

Shawchert asked, he had heard of the Great Tribe but nothing more than a story here and there. She did mention the Great Tibe so it must be true that there was at least one other pack like hers.

Orin Takekuro · 08-14-2011, 02:16 PM

Luckily Orin didn't know the names of the refugees so she was unable to accidentally hint whether the woman's guess was correct or not. It was best not to be too specific. She gave her an apologetic look, “I am sorry. We can't divulge the names and exact locations of refugees at this time. I will speak to them for you, though, and if we have future meetings I will bring you any messages they want to send.” Orin was starting to feel proud of herself. It just felt like she was doing this right... like all the best super spy novels.

Secretly, Orin hoped that she could speak with the refugees when she returned to d'Arte and ask them about Ayasha. They would be able to confirm that she was a trustworthy source of information – although Orin didn't have any evidence to the contrary – and she could then try to contact the girl again and give her some relief in these dark times. Surely knowing your friends were in fact safe would be a beacon of hope in the face of such strife.

The girl said something about the spirits, and at this Orin cocked a brow. She wasn't sure what she was talking about – knowing little about AniWaya, she knew even less about their ghostly mentors. She filed it away, remembering to look into it later.

“So where is Dawali now?” That was important to know. If Maska labeled Dawali a criminal and took control of the pack what had been done about Dawali? Did Maska have him prisoner? Was he still within the pack? If the AniWayan's loyalties and happiness were with Dawali, it'd be imperative to know where the man could be found. She hoped he could be found, and that his fate had not yet been sealed.

“We can do our best to deliver word to the other packs. If anything, we will be able to speak to our cousin-nation, Cour des Miracles, and we can try to speak to Crimson Dreams. If they are planning an attack we can at least ensure they know that there are people here who oppose Maska's rule. As for the packs for the north... I don't think we can make any promises.” She looked at Shawchert to back her up. Phoenix Valley was no longer Phoenix Valley and she did not know if she was in good standing with the pack that had formed from he Valley and Dhalia. And regarding the other packs... Orin just knew it was usually easiest to leave those guys out of things. Shawchert would know more about their pack-to-pack relation with them. “We can also send a rumor through the loners that something bad is happening to them near here. We can tell them the tribe thugs are murdering lone wolves. That should keep them at bay for a little while if the gossip spreads fast enough. If they hear he's recruiting them.”

She glanced around, knowing that the longer they stayed here, the higher their chances of being discovered were. She and Shawchert could probably escape, but Ayasha would be stuck here to take the consequences of her insubordination.

“Can we meet with Ralla?” she asked quickly. “If not today can we arrange to come back? Then we can let you know if we will be able to lend support, and find out just what else we can do to help.”

Ayasha · 08-14-2011, 06:03 PM

She nodded at their responses. ”We are an extension of the Great Tribe. Maska claims that the Chief Achak Aatu has sent him because he is displeased with Dawali. Yet several of our members came from there recently and that the Chief said nothing. Which makes me think that he is lying. So, unless they’re told, they know nothing of this. Unless they really did send him.” Ayasha didn’t want to think of the consequences of that.

She nodded at Orin’s caution. ”It’s alright if you don’t tell me. I understand that you don’t really trust me. With everything going on, it’s understandable.” About Dawali, she frowned. ”He’s still alive but has been made the omega. Everyone is supposed to ignore him and he’s supposed to stay in lupus form. So he’s fine but not much better than a slave. Plus, all the masters were demoted.”

She gave an actual smile at they’re offer to spread the word as much as possible. ”Thank you. I can ask her and find a way to get the message to you. We could meet in a week and I’ll bring my mother with?” She offered. It was the most she could offer but she thought that her mother would agree to come.

Shawchert Menue · 08-14-2011, 09:09 PM

Shawchert nodded, his eyes out for anyone who might possibly come. it seemed that Orin had things under control now and since he’d already messed up one thing he wasn’t about to mess anything else up. He wondered how she’d become so mature. He liked it, quite a bit and watched as she took control. He would just sit there and take in the conversation. He would let Skye know everything that was passed along, including his own blunder. He could see that the AniWayans were between a rock and a hard place, and Dawali, well he hadn’t met the man but he respected a leader for who he was, to be demoted, and forced to stay in his lupus form? It was just... well undignified. He hoped the leader was alright. He wanted to speak but he kept his mouth shut, knowing Orin had this under control, what had been his journey seemed to be relinquished to her. He was now here to listen to what they had to say and try to keep their heads on. His ears twitched to make sure he wasn’t hearing anything. His eyes scanned the area, hoping slightly that someone would find them.... but then what would happen to Ayasha? He took his thoughts back, keeping his eyes out, and his ears sharp.

Orin Takekuro · 08-15-2011, 03:31 PM

Orin nodded as she listened to Ayasha, her expression somber. Everything the girl said added up. At least, it was a plausible story, whether or not it was true was a thing to be discovered in the future. Still, Orin believed the girl. The desperation in her eyes, the seriousness of her tone even though she looked like she hadn’t seen her first year yet.

"One week will be fine,” she nodded. “Don’t try to send us a message, it’s too dangerous. A messenger could betray you, and a guard might see you if you try to leave. If you or your mother can’t come leave a rib bone at this spot and we will know the danger is too great. It is much safer for us to sneak up to the borders than it would be for you to leave without suspicion.”

"We won't come back with anyone else. If you see someone else, or only one of us, then something is wrong. Don't show yourself if it is not the two of us, together. If we bring another for any reason they will wait for our signal before approaching the borders so we can tell you and Ralla that we brought them. Understand?"

She glanced at her silent cohort, wondering why he was so quiet. Then she noticed the attentive look in his eye and the twitch of an ear, even his nose seemed to wriggle now and then. He was keeping look-out, though the vein of his thoughts she did not exactly guess. Either way, he was vigilant, ensuring their safety.

“We should go. I fear for your safety if we speak much longer. But I have one more question,” she looked back to Ayasha. “I understand the orders Maska put in place on Dawali, but what has become of him? Is he still spirited or is he lost? And is he… still communicating with his people?”

She crooked an eyebrow. It would be impetrative to know whether or not Dawali was actually prepared to fight for his tribe. If not, any help d’Arte could offer might be wasted. Skye would need to know if the man lay in wait for a time to reclaim his rightful station, or if the disgrace had broken him.

Ayasha · 08-15-2011, 04:15 PM

OOC: Want to wrap this up soon?

IC: She noticed Shawchert looking about, watching for anyone that might come upon them. Ayasha agreed with his carefulness. What they were doing was dangerous, especially for her. But this was a chance that she was willing to take, that she had to take, for her Tribe. So she kept alert as well.

She nodded in agreement with what Orin said. ”I agree. It is rather dangerous for messages, especially for me and my people. A rib, alright. We should be a bit safer here since the guardians don’t tend to leave the village. But I’ll let my mother know.”

At them not coming with anyone else, she also nodded. ”And it will only be me or me and my mother. She looks like me, except green eyes and she has red paint on her. Don’t show yourselves to anyone you don’t know.” She warned them.

Them leaving was a good idea. Not just for her sake but theirs as well. At Orin’s question, she sighed. ”He tends to not speak to anyone since it is lawful to do so. My mother is mostly leading the resistance. Dawali truly believes that he doesn’t deserve to lead and what Maska has done is right. But my mother might be able to convince him to fight.”

Orin Takekuro · 08-17-2011, 01:27 AM

ooc Since Shawchert is in meerkat mode and is letting Orin take the reigns, I'm going to go ahead and post one more time to wrap up. Shaw you can still put a closer in here but I assume you wanted to wrap up too. Smile

Ayasha, you too! 300+

The d'Arte envoy frowned at the news of Dawali. So, he was an honorable man and would not disobey Maska. How far would that go? Did he not have the spirited heart to be a leader, or was this punishment the torture that it would be for any alpha suddenly forced to submit to even the lowest member of a pack? Mostly, Orin was concerned for what this could mean. It was clear that there were resisters to Maska's rulership, but if AniWaya's former chief would not disobey false law what would make them think he would go along with a mutiny? Circumstances were not well defined now, and Dawali might show some inkling toward aiding the resistance in the future. But still... what if they tried to revolt and their former leader would not return to his station... could that happen?

The answer lied with Ralla. The girl had said Ralla was leading the resistance on Dawali's behalf. If Cercatori was going to lend aid, they needed to know that the pack would not fall in upon itself once the false leader was uprooted. If Ralla had the courage to organize the resistance, then, Orin hoped, she would have the courage to act as tribe leader. “It is imperative that we speak with Ralla. If you can convince her to come it would be a great help to your people. I have more questions for her. Hopefully by that time I will have answers for you.”

She stood up and leaned in toward the young, trustworthy girl. ”We will do everything within our means to find you help.” She gave the girl a respectful nuzzle, and then turned to go.

“We've spent all the time we can. They might notice she is gone by now. Go, Ayasha. Be safe, and tell Ralla of our meeting today.” Ayasha was not the only one in peril. Orin and Shawchert were as well, and needed to make it back to their homelands as soon as possible. Knowing Shawchert would follow her, she spun around and trotted away from the AniWayan borders.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?