WC:373 // Meghann~!

Jacquez Trouillefou stood moodily atop the cliff, dark eyes fathomless as he stared out at the grey sea. This was the peak where Svara had jumped to her death. Fool. That little daughter of hers had vanished; apparently Whisper had changed her mind about his hospitality, and taken the cursed collar with her. If they survived the winter, he would be surprised.


The tall dog threw back his muzzle, howling a low foghorn of a note over the dull crashing of the waves. He was summoning a packmate he had not seen since the horserace. He needed a new Constable, as much as it would irk him to promote someone into Svara's old rank. She obviously wasn't coming back, and would remain a source of annoyance even in death. Perhaps this would be the closest the madman would ever get to moving on; rewriting the faulty memories in his mind so that someone new could replace his loss.


But he did need a Constable, a strong-arm, someone to lead ways of combat. Someone to watch over the kingdom, that he could send across the borders if need be. He would value Ruri's opinion as his second-in-command, as he always had, but she was also naive and a true pacifist. To balance her faith in the good, he needed someone tough enough to stomach the bad. His disjointed thoughts had flicked through the faces of the males he had accepted -- and Finn, too, she was as tough as a man, but he had not seen her since their fling.

Leroy had always been a strong contender, but he had puppies to provide for now. He had to focus on that, his hunting, his carpentry -- the husky could only be in so many places at once. Haven was a loyal knight, and already served their borders well, but sometimes had bouts with depression and weakness. He had his flaws, like any mortal. But Jac vaguely remembered someone that had not caused any trouble, had been polite and cool and staunchly loyal. He would be the best face for Cour des Miracles, the well-built dog with the green eyes, what was his name again...? He needed to recall it before the male showed up...

####There seemed to be a shift in the way he had been feeling recently. It seemed to him that he was feeling a bit uneasy as of late, though he supposed it would not be noticed by many. Though he did not consider himself a social and friendly canine, he did like to think that he made his way about the pack's territory on a regular basis, and he did occassionally come across someone, either someone he was familiar with or someone new. The one he saw most frequently was, as it had been since his arrival in the pack, Ayita, and now her children. His visits to them were not frequent, but that did not mean that they were less meaningful to him. The relationship between himself and Ayita was strange, and he still felt the smallest bit of remorse over the fact that he had, in his own view (and he assumed Leroy's as well), stolen her away from the father of her children.


####Still, there was something else bothering him, but he simply could not completely place it. In some of the places he liked to visit in the unclaimed lands, Vigilante had begun to recognize a scent he had not come across in such a very, very long time. He almost found it astonishing that his niece might be in the area, and while he would have loved to find her and speak with her, he was too cowardly to actually carry through with the idea. He loved his niece dearly, but he did not suspect she felt similarly anymore after what he had done to her mother. It had been something he had to do at the time, and his sister had been incredibly willing, having always been the kind and giving creature she died as. The fact that he may have caught a faint trace of his niece here was unnerving, even if he did not know for certain that it was her, and if the others were, too.


####Tilting his head curiously at the call, Vigilante stood from his perch outside of his house and began in the direction of the cliff. He had seen Jacquez at the horse race, naturally, as well as the party that had been held very shortly after he joined, but aside from those brief encounters, he had not actually spoken with his King since he joined the pack, quite a few months ago. This simple fact alone was enough to make him incredibly curious about what the other canine might want, as he had not gotten the impression that Jacquez was the type to call for someone out of the blue to simply have a chat. No, he believed, there had to be an actual reason for his summoning. Intrigued, he made his way quickly to where the call had come from, a place he had not been yet and knew nothing of what came of the place.


####He matched his pace with his even tone as he approached the collie King. "Hello, Jacquez. What brings you, and subsequently myself, here?" he questioned, firmly believing that there must be an actual reason for them both to be there. Obviously, Vigilante knew what had brought him to the cliff--it had been Jacquez's call for it. More interesting was the thought of what the king was doing here, and why he had been summoned. As far as he knew, he had not done anything that he could forsee angering his king, and while he was not on good terms with Leroy, he did not see that being the case of why he was there. The call had not seemed to be one made from anger, as well, but he also did not think he had done anything important as of late that would bring Jacquez's attention to him. Truthfully, he was completely unable to think of a possible reason.

They had coasted so far, the unhunted land providing a natural bounty, and the neighboring packs mostly staying to themselves. Cour des Miracles was the only territory not aligned against Inferni, and Jacquez felt as though that gave them an advantage over the purist wolves. Of course, things were shaky with Dahlia de Mai, but their beast Haku had not caused trouble since. Basically, the king was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and wanted them to be prepared.



Without turning around, the brooding monarch cocked his head and called out, "If you were to lay siege on a territory, would you consider a handicapped leader a weakness to exploit?" He scratched his chin, dark eyes reflecting the grey sea before him. "I know Phoenix Valley and Inferni both have rulers that are missing an eye, but there haven't been any blind leaders, have there..." The tall dog turned on his footpaw, peering inquisitively at the dog he had summoned. His past was shrouded in mystery, but he carried himself like a man who'd seen combat of some sort. Was this who he was looking for?

####Certainly, the nature of this call was not something he could guess, knowing that the one-armed King was most unpredictable. It was not as if he had spent much time with him at all, only brief meetings. At some point, Vigilante felt that he would need to become more familiar with Jacquez, but he did not know how to go about doing that. They were most assuredly different from one another, and he had never been one to get along with most immediately. In fact, until he had arrived in this pack, the only one he had been comfortable around had been his sister. Now, at least, he believed that he had one friend and quite a few acquaintances that he was growing fond of. It was a start, and though he did not expect to be close to everyone, he did want to know the others in his pack, especially the eccentric and intriguing King.


####The question took the dog mutt by surprise and he took a moment to contemplate his answer. He had never met either leader from the two packs that Jacquez had mentioned, but then, his own leader had both of his eyes (unless something had happened recently to remove one or both that he did not know of) and the question did not pertain to him. It was a strange question, however. "I would not be one to do such a thing," he said, forming the sentence carefully and calculating the words. That was only half true, as he had attacked packs in the past, but it was only for specific members, sometimes even the leaders. "But if I were of the mind to do that, then yes, I suppose I would be weak enough to stoop to such a level." He viewed it as a weakness to be willing to do such a thing, but if one were to be happy attacking an entire pack, then he supposed that they would use anything that they could to their advantage, as unfortunate as the idea was.


####He was intrigued as to what had brought the King to ask him this question, of all of his pack members. They had never had a conversation, other than to give him a home in the pack. Was it possible, then, that Jacquez had decided that his opinion would be valid, for one reason or another? "Why is it that you ask me, specifically, this question?" The call had been meant for him, surely. There was no question of that in the least. However, he simply could not fathom why Jacquez would call for him, rather than for someone he had known longer and more personally, unless this was a question he had asked of many others thus far. He did not see the relevance of the question, however, he was willing to discuss it to further understand the collie's purpose in asking him specifically. For whatever reason, his leader had decided that Vigilante was someone he should ask, and, willing to please his King as necessary and also curious, the malamute-shepherd mix was very much interested in hearing the King's reasoning.

The male answered him honestly and intelligently, integrity coloring his choice of words. As surmised, this packmate had strong morals, strengthened no doubt by the past he had alluded to. Jacquez had greeted him at the borders that morning, accepting him - Vigilante, that was his name! - without asking what his talents or background consisted of. The memory was hazy at best, corroded from the nights of binge drinking that followed it, but he could recall some question of their pack structure... Whether or not it was possible to live like a "normal" canine, or... what had he said? Some question about being ordered against his will...

Jacquez had no intention of ordering him now -- if normalcy meant maintaining his low profile, then Vigi was welcome to turn down the promotion (at the risk of offending the king). But surely being in control meant that no one could ever force him again, right? And on the flipside, having been pushed around in his past meant he would be more sympathetic to those he would be in control of, less likely to abuse the position... That sounded like a good thing to have around. Jacquez wasn't about to pretend that he was upstanding or sympathetic to anyone's plight other than his own -- it just made sense to placate his followers with a noble who actually might listen to their problems rather than blow them off.

"Ruri is my second in command now," he explained curtly, although it didn't really answer Vigilante's real inquiry - why him? "Our leadership has three good arms and two good eyes; we show a weak front, to be sure." The king frowned, scratching his chin as he tried to formulate a fitting speech. He did love to dazzle with his silver tongue, but Vigi seemed to appreciate direct honesty more. He seemed like the right man for the job, and Jacquez did not like the word "no". "Strategically speaking, it seems advantageous to present a third noble to our Royal Court, one of sound mind and body, one physically strong enough and mentally prepared to repel would-be marauders."

He paused to let the words sink in, turning to look back out at the roiling sea. They were not close by any means, but they didn't need to be, did they? Men did not require words to form trust -- it was actions that captured their hearts. Vigilante had enough faith in Jacquez's leadership to remain loyal thus far, and that in return proved to Jacquez that Vigi could be trusted. Would they be friends forever? Highly unlikely, for their moral compasses pointed in polar opposite directions. They were barely acquaintances as it was, but peace-loving Ruri would be their moderator. Still, Jacquez had always had a knack for judging character, predicting flaws and corruption, and in this male there were none. It also privately gave him a kick to have their kingdom ruled only by dogs, unlike their wolf and coyote neighbors.

####Still, the King did not answer his question, only continuing in his own way. In such a short time span, Vigilante had come to realize that getting a direct answer from Jacquez was very likely difficult to do, and probably not likely to happen at all. He had initially asked the collie mix why he had been called to the cliff, the death scene of a former leader and then member, but had only gotten a question in response. Now that he had asked why he was being asked such things, he had only been told of the current status of the leadership of the pack. It was not as if he was not capable of making a guess—and one that he assumed could be considered an educated guess—as to why he was being asked and told these things, but he did not like to make assumptions, generally. It was not in his nature to do so, as so many wrong assumptions could be made about literally anything, and his former business had to be run completely on facts. He could not assume anything, and he could not take anyone’s word for anything or something could very well go drastically wrong and innocent blood could be shed. It had never been a risk he was willing to take, so he did not do so still, even if the outcome would not be nearly as disastrous.

####It did not seem likely that the pack was in immediate danger, as he was sure that he would have heard of this before now, but he also did not know what the standing was with any of the other packs in the area. Vigilante was aware of past problems with Dahlia de Mai, but as far as he knew, nothing had happened as of late that should be worrisome for the King when it came to the way that other packs saw them. “I suppose that would be a very logical step for you to take next, if you are worried about the way our pack is presented to the others,” he mused, considering the direction this was going. It did not seem likely that Jacquez would have called him here to ask for suggestions about who he should ask to step up, because it was not as if the two dogs had any sort of relationship. They had barely ever conversed, and yet, Jacquez was discussing this with him. “Where is this going, in regards to myself?” he asked carefully, selecting the words carefully. He did not want to offend his King, but he was not one to dance around subjects if he could easily avoid it. Where his King liked fancy words and pretty tongues, he preferred things to be very straight forward, as he had never been one for much small talk. Of course, what sort of small talk could he possibly have been involved in? He had been a separate entity from his old pack entirely, operating on his own and only keeping in contact with his sister and her children and the Elders, when forced to.

"I need someone like you to hold the kingdom together. I travel frequently, and I neglect the borders. I cannot risk anything happening to Ruri now that I have put her in a position of power - she is utterly blind, and while her mind is sharp, she is also far too trusting of strangers." He spoke with the casual intimacy of an indulgent relative, charmed by her innocence. Haku Soul had met Ruri once at their borders. He had not harmed her then, but if the unpredictable Dahlian had chosen to snap at that moment, nothing could have saved the little collie hybrid. If Jacquez could appoint her a bodyguard without offending her, he would do so immediately. But making their presence more formidable in the eyes of their neighbors would suffice just as well for now.

"I am asking you, Monsieur Vigilante, if you will become my Constable, my beta in command. If I am not present within the kingdom or otherwise incapacitated, it will be your voice that our packmates will follow. If there is unrest within our kingdom, or war is at our borders, you will report it to me. Should a conflict break out, you will be our first line of defense." Jacquez spoke over the rumbling of the tide below them, confident that the dutiful canine would agree.

It was a lot of responsibility for someone he barely knew, but Jac was often impulsive with these decisions, trusting his gut instinct to be correct. He had taken Svara Thames as his right-hand officer after just meeting her, and she had not deserted him by choice, as he had learned from Whisper. She had been as wild and impulsive as himself, and while it had amused him to no end, he realized other pack leaders began to see their safe haven as an impetuous gang of youngsters, flaunting their new-found freedom. As a proud and noble king, his decisions were always good ones, and he did not know the meaning of the word 'regret'. But now that they had settled in and found a real niche to stay, they needed to present a more mature and serious face to the judgmental eyes of the wolves around them. Vigilante should fit the bill.

####The gesture surprised him, as Vigilante generally kept a respectful distance from everyone, but he merely nodded with a small smile, as if to apologize for being so, as Jacquez put it, modest. It came as a surprise to hear that his suspicions were correct, as he hardly knew the King, but the reasons that he gave were solid ones. Vigilante certainly could not argue with him about the way that packs needed to present themselves. While he found it slightly uncomfortable to know that their leader was away so often and even admitted to neglecting the borders, and subsequently the safety of his pack, the doggish man was glad that the collie man was making an effort to do something to offset these unfortunate facts. He did not think it was good for the pack to have such a wayward leader, but at least now they would have three leaders, and though he was not completely certain of his abilities, he would not do anything to let his pack down.

####Soon enough, as well, he would need to meet this young Ruri to get acquainted with his fellow sub-leader. He doubted he would ever really know Jacquez, and he also did not think it likely that most ever would, but it would be worth the effort to know his fellow sub-leader, at least. Of course that meant that he was going to take the promotion, although it did not actually seem as though he would have had much of a choice to begin with. Vigilante doubted that Jacquez was the type to accept “no” as an answer, so even if he was not interested in the position, it did not seem like that would be good for him. “I’d be honored to take the position, Jacquez,” he said simply, unsure of exactly what it was that he was supposed to say in response to everything that the King had told him. He was unaware of any potential dangers to the pack, but he could certainly understand, and even relate, to the collie’s concerns.

####As long as Ayita was in this pack, he would forever be wary of anyone who came near the borders. The mere idea of anyone finding a way to hurt her was something he found to be completely unacceptable, and he was not even willing to think about that risk. He understood that he was partially chosen to be a strong face for the pack, and he was okay with this. Vigilante was aware of his own body and the fact that he obviously had physical strength and generally presented a clear, well-developed mind. As long as the pack had one leader that did not look to be easy to take advantage of (as much as he hated to think that about Jacquez, and especially about a girl that he had not met), he might not need to worry nearly as much about Ayita’s safety, unavoidable as it was. He did not want to show her that he was so protective of her, but he was.