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Ralla · 12-08-2011, 08:23 PM

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Good grief :O

"What a coincidence; my destination lies there, also. Perhaps it is fate?" She giggled then in an attempt for lightheartedness, half for the fate comment and half for the pronunciation of the pack's name. She and her brother had once been the same before the language ingrained itself into her, and now she could speak English fairly fluently, although AniWayan now dabbed her accent here and there. "But no, it must merely be logical, I suppose. It is on my way, and I assume you are familiarizing yourself with the land?" It would only be reasonable to do so, after all. Even if Ulilohi had met the leaders already, that had been under much harder circumstances; diplomacy was key. And, despite Ralla's attempts to make peace with the few she knew from each pack, she was not even close to enough anymore to make the difference required; it was merely fact.

"It is likely the same reason as you are visiting," Ralla said with a return to semi-seriousness. "I cannot claim the same respect or political power as you in the packs, but I feel obligated to pay condolences and try to make amends for what has happened. Perhaps if I..." she paused there, considering adding in Dawali's name but then thinking better of it, "...had been more obstinate and firm--had I not so easily let Maska do as he willed--all of this could've been avoided." It was there that Ralla had most failed in her duty as a councilwoman: She had not been firm enough in her advice to Dawali, and so he had brushed it off. Still, even after all that had happened, Ralla could not see the man as weak or disgraced; she took his blame on her shoulders, and would likely always remember how they had erred every time a reminder of the war showed its face. I wonder how Noss bears it? He's been through so many battles... Yes, how did her stoic brother bear the pain? The loss of lives? More importantly, how would Ulilohi handle them now that she had taken charge? It was at least a comfort to know she was delegating early, which left Ralla feeling much better that her earlier visit with Anu would be much more enforced by a true figure of the leadership. A change of thought crept into her mind, then. "What is to become of us?" she asked, not with fear, but with a bit of apprehension in her voice. "There are those who remain in the tribe--and those who I know will return--who had worked for their paths and homes. I have seen the reconstruction for the last week or so, but will you readily accept those who left?" The question was more of a hidden trick; it would test Ulilohi's willingness to accept those who ran--a trait viewed as some as cowardice, even though it was truly a wise move to do so--and Ralla hoped Ulilohi would be open to the newcomers once more. The tribe was in a sorry state, and needed to rebuild as fast as possible. "And not to be shrewd, but I wonder also how I am to proceed once I return--path-wise, that is," the white woman said with a note of deference. "I ask this not because of the want for status or rank, but because it is a duty I believe I earned, and sorely miss." She knew it might've sounded strange that one would miss tending to a blazing pyre, but Ralla did; she missed the smell of the smoke and her duties tending to those ancient embers; she missed keeping the lore of the pack fresh with the young ones and the feeling of reaching back through history to touch the spirits of the ancestors. Nootau was the only one who knew her feeling intimately, but the spirit guide was so quiet he would never tell a soul.

Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.

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