It wakes and returns for the third time
#1
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Post order: Dawali, Ralla, J'adore - then freely/with no order.

Forward-dated to May 1st

Please consider this thread semi-mandatory, as there are important news!
Please do not in feel obligated to match my post length Smile


The male stood firmly by the roaring fire. His ornamented walking stick was planted into the ground next to him very firmly as well, though he stood as tall as he had ever stood in that place, patiently watching his tribesmembers arrive one by one. Still, his leg had not entirely healed, but his limp was gradually dying, and he would not risk it becoming permanent. The carvings on the stick were born out of solitude and endless restlessness - but now he had learned how to properly shape wood by the knife. His howl had long since been silenced by that creeping density that the setting sun brought with it, as if the strange light manifested itself in thicker air which muffled and quickly killed any sound. That thick air and settled silently, and everything around the ceremonial ground glowed like firebugs from the setting sun's strange aura. A perfect spring evening, with sweet scents teasing his olfactory nerve, and it was so long since he had been outside.


Once they had all arrived, Dawali rested both his hands on his cane's rounded top end, positioned it in front of him, and cleared his throat to get their attention. As if rusty at speaking to them, he paused a moment to measure the focus of his listeners, using the silence to his advantage as all sounds but the fire hushed and eyes were turned to him. When he spoke, he spoke slowly and clearly, but hardly not loudly. "It's spring again." his deep voice stated bluntly. "We have all struggled to recover from the storm that claimed some of our tribesmembers. But the snow is long since gone, and this," he said, stretching one arm outward as if pointing to the green which touched everything. "must be celebrated! But before we do anything of the sort, I have a very important announcement to make." Yellow eyes searched the crowd for a familiar face, and when he found her he waved a hand at her, as if telling her to join him up front. "With my injuries, I have for some time been unable to serve the tribe. Jefferson was kind enough to help us, and he holds my eternal gratitude. But I have come to realize that we are in need of more than one person to turn to when the situation calls for it." Smiling, the red wolf turned to face the femme rather than the crowd. "I have asked Ralla to join our council, and she has accepted my offer. She will be the one you can call on if I am elsewhere or unable to help." The side of his eye moved then, as if in a wink, and he stretched his arm towards her. "And now I leave the majority of our ceremony in her capable hands." The russet male stepped back just enough to shift the main focus onto Ralla, and waited patiently for her next move. It was, for him as well, an exciting moment, and he was curious to see how she would fare while speaking to her tribe from her new rank for the first time.

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#2
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Let's have some fun! Big Grin (Nootau: Visible)


In the gaggle of the crowd Ralla remained as she listened to her chief open the ceremony. Even pregnant she wanted to be a part of this; was required, since she would be taking a step up in her tribe. She took slow, deep breaths to steady her nerves, looking around and finding solace in Kemo's eyes and grip in his hand. In the other hand she held her ceremonial fire staff, carved to tell the story of fire's origin by Cercatori D'Arte's very own alpha, where her spirit guide perched as restless as she was. The barn owl may have tried to seem calm, but it seemed as if not even spirits were perfect in personality, either. For the occasion, Ralla had plaited her long, waist-length mane, red beads laced throughout and contrasting with the snow white tone, and the ever-present tooth and claw necklaces remained. Very conservatively she had painted her eyes and face with red paint, feeling that she would look silly with any more, considering the round globe of her stomach. Her condition alone garnered her nervousness, since she would have to speak in front of her tribe being so.


All were silenced as their Kalona cleared his throat, commanding attention in the simplest form. Ralla could see that he was still injured, but he had healed miraculously well, and it was a wonder since he had basically tended to himself. An ear twitched down as she heard her chief's voice; so long had it been since he had spoken publicly that at first his deep voice scratched. He corrected it on his own, though, and she listened avidly thereafter. Drawn by Chief Dawali's movements, Ralla's eyes followed his outstretched arm to survey the green before she realized that the subject had switched again. He made a motion for her to come, and she stepped nervously through the crowd, Nootau flying off the top of the stick and glide about until she came to stand next to Chief Dawali, landing instead on one of the wooden sitting logs surrounded the Great Fire. As she felt the cool stone beneath her paws, the claws retracted and extended, struggling to calm her nerves, and she felt the Great Fire's welcoming heat. Taking another breath, she smiled up at the man who had found her and brought her to AniWaya; who had guided and taught her much.


She smiled wider when she saw her Kalona wink, giving her courage. Her own forest green eyes searched out for her similarly white mate, finding him and using him as an anchor of courage. She had a great responsibility to her tribe now; she had to take heart and treat it as such. Given the floor very suddenly, Ralla turned to face her tribe and looked out to them, steeling herself as her knuckles turned ever whiter, grasping the staff as she was. "First I must thank you, Chief Dawali, for this honor. And then I must ask everyone's trust that they believe my promise; I will try my hardest to aid you when needed, and I promise my complete devotion to you." At first her voice, so pristine during songs or stories, trembled, but it regained its luster as she grew in confidence, knowing that those she was speaking to were her family, not strangers. "As Chief Dawali said, we have gathered today to give thanks for a beautiful spring, and to welcome it as we pray for success in our endeavors." Now she was sounding more like the normal Ralla; eloquent and gentle, eager to honor tradition and the spirits. "J'adore and I have prepared a special bit that we wish to give to you this ceremony," she said, walking back a little ways and coming forward with J'adore, both of them holding opposite ends of the bone tree. It was not terribly heavy, so it did not hurt Ralla at all to lift it.


Placing it beside the Great Fire, the bone tree almost seemed to glow an eerie white. Made of antlers and the large femurs of past kills, connected with strong rope about the base, strings of beads and feathers hung about it, niches and natural hooks made from the bone itself. The white wolfess looked back out to her tribe. "This is a Bone Tree; a Gola Tsaligu. We will place it upon the ashes of the Great Fire, and you may place your sacrifices on its hooks or hang it on the strings. We will then relight the fire, and by doing so, we are all contributing and thanking the spirits for our success in hunts as well, praying for more." Ralla then looked to Chief Dawali for further confirmation. She knew that she was not of the Master rank of the Fire Tender tree yet, and so could not conduct the ceremony by herself. From there she would do as she was allowed, and assist where she was needed. But now that she had been named a Council member, she realized that she needed to maintain a new disposition; she needed to remain calm, composed, and appear as if she were in control. She needed to be reliable.


Moon walks. "Moon talks." Moon thinks.


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#3
OOC- Ugh, J'adore is being all weird and talking XD 700+

The male stayed mostly silent for the duration of the ceremony save for a few words of thanks, each word truer than the last. He could not agree more with Ralla's promotion to council rank. Even if he tried he could not find it within himself to boil any jealousy towards the woman, any attempt to was futile. She had taught him the ways of the tribal pack, so that he now fitted in perfectly with the members who had been here long before him. For that he would always be grateful. He had never thanked her before now, chores, personal and rank releted always hindered him from taking time out to thank her. And even if he was free, chances were she was busy.

Before stepping forward with his mentor, he unravelled the black bandana, letting the dark coloured locks flow free. When Ralla had finished speaking, although being the least significant of the three, he still felt obliged, as the co-creator of the bone tree, to say something.

Stepping away from Ralla, only slightly however, not wanting to step to far out of his comfort zone nor upstage Ralla, and making a soft coughing sound, his gaze, first directed to the floor, then up at his fellow packmates, an anxious expression still gracing his face, he spoke. 'I do not have much to say that has not already been said by our Chief or our new council member, but I feel also that, even due to large setbacks cause by nature, something as free and untame as any wild creature, and deserving the same respect, that we have devloped as a tribe. That we have built a stronger relationship with a neighbouring pack. That we have come together and came out on the other side all the better for it'. Pausing and glancing towards Ralla, he took a breath and continued. 'I would like to congradulate, and thank, Ralla myself publicly. I came to this pack knowing little of it's ways, I chose the fire tending rank randomly and Ralla aided me in learning what I know now. I still have much to learn however. I am glad that she had been offered a council rank, because it has given me the perfect oppertunity to thank her, something which I had not had time to do before now'. Stepping back beside Ralla, happy he had said what he had been waiting to say, happy that Ralla had been given a rank she fully deserved, J'adore again became silent, looking from Ralla to his Chief and back down at the floor again. He felt small compared to the two figures that stood with him.

The Kalona and a council member. The Spaniard felt that he should still be standing with the rest of the tribe, and much he would prefer to be. While he was not socially awkward, speaking out to a group had never been something he enjoyed. While the two leaders speeches had been relevant and sound, J'adore speech had been little but ramble. Though he meant every word of it.

He had had a proper speech planned, but he had forgotten it. A stupid thing to do, yes, only serving to make him look an idiot in front of his pack. Originally he had planned to say something spiritual and meaningful, and then thanking Ralla. Either way he was sure there was something, even something tiny, that could be pulled from the jumble of words.

Ptitsa had been out of his eyesight for his speech. All the better too. Ptitsa's hawk eyes seemed to provoke rambling in the male, he hoped that the tribes members had found something useful in his speech, with J'adore felt he had delivered poorly. Even though his guide's eyes were behind him the whole time, he still felt the staring at him. Damn you Ptitsa, he thought, mentally smiling. He valued the bird guide. She was a friend, a mentor, a family member, she was everything he could want. He really did not know what he would do without the falcon's gaze always resting on him. Sometimes it was daunting to have her watching him, though she had proved her worth, she had aided him so many times.
#4
OOC: Ayasha hasn't shifted yet.

IC: She stood next to her mother as Chief Dawali started to speak. Her mother briefly explained what was going to happen. She listened as the wolf that had saved her four months ago today talked about how spring had finally arrived after a tough winter. She had spent most of the snowstorm keeping him company. She still considered him like a grandfather to her. She never really had much to do with Jefferson so she just nodded her thanks, even though he wasn't there to see it.

She was proud of her mother when she was made part of the council. She gave her a quick nuzzle as she went up. At being thankful, Ayasha considered all that she was thankful for. Her mother and father came back safely from their trip, she was going to be a big sister, there was this nice wolf she met named Roran, and she had decided to be a scout. She had much to be thankful for.

She had to keep from giggling at J'adore's obvious nervousness. But she managed to keep a straight face. Earlier Ralla had helped her cut out some of her fur and braid it into a loop. She picked it in her mouth and went up to the bone tree and hung her lock of fur on a hook. She nuzzled her mother while she was up there and murmured Congratulations, mommy. She smiled at J'adore and lowered her head to her Chief. She then walked back to stand by her father, Kemo.
#5
Shiloh was moved by Ralla's and J'adore's speeches and found herself fiddling with the small carved wolf she had made the day before while she was trying to sleep. She felt it was the right thing to put on the tree and stepping forward she caught Ralla's eyes for a moment and felt like she belonged in the tribe. Shiloh hadn't been there long and was still struggling with the ways of the tribe but was willing to build what ever was needed to stay. She was happy where she was and as she tied the wolf carving she thanked the spirits she was alive. She was dying upon her arrival to the tribe lands and had been brought out of it by the care of Chief Dawali. She looked over at him and noticed his leg still seemed to hurt him a bit. She bowed to him before speaking.

"I would like to thank Chief Dawali for saving me. I was sickly when I came into this tribe and he helped me get back on my feet. I owe both Chief Dawali and Ralla so much already and I am slowly but surely paying them back. Thank you and Congratulations on your new rank Ralla. I offer this bowl and jar set to Ralla for being there for me." she said shyly offering Ralla the intricate bowls and jars she had carved for her. They had owls in flight and owls in nests. She hoped Ralla like them.
#6
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Woop Smile


He stood quietly behind her as she spoke, listening intently and watching the tribesmembers as they devoted their attention to her. It was a strange feeling, after so many moons, to be standing there not on his own again. Ember had left them, but here was a place for her still if she should return to her true home. He would wait patiently for his friend to return at her own pace. In the meantime he had gained new loyalty, and he had faith in Ralla's ability to do justice to the rank she now held in the tribe's council. Watching her speak to the crowd, his faith was confirmed. She expertly explained hers and J'adore's addition to the ceremony, and he nodded to confirm it for each glance that reached his face. He returned Shiloh's bow when she approached them: her craftmanship abilities were superior to his in so many ways. The least he could give was hsi recognition.


He did nothing until Ralla asked for him to come forward. As usual, they would all participate in quenching the fire at his signal. He quitly grabbed the dry sand with one hand as he was leaning forward, and threw it on the flames in front of him. Rising, he used bigger scoops, giving the signal for the tribesmembers to join him in killing the flames. Once it had quieted he moved some of the half-burned wood aside and turned to Ralla. There would be more who had sacrifices to the tree, no doubt. While waiting, he unfastened a little puch from his belt and tied its string to the nearest "branch" of the bone tree. Inside rested a tiny piece of his leg bone: he had found it nested in the outer layers of his flesh while applying a poultice. He would give the spirits a part of this event which had reminded him of his own and his tribe's mortality. He thanked them for this reminder.

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#7
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+2 points.


Though still new to the tribe, Foxglove had come to the ceremony when called, dressed in her traditional gypsy clothing and with her hair in a thick braid down the side of her head with the intention of making herself more known in the tribe. She rarely said much and she was not normal, not right, but she had accepted this already. Though many had arrived, she recognized few, and the blonde girl remained as quiet as one could be, her lithe hands folded politely in front of her.

Speeches were given, and though she listened, the only part she truly heard was that Ralla had been asked to join the council and that there had been a terrible storm during the winter. It must have happened only a short time after she had left with her mother and Poppy, for though it had been cold, there had not been a dreaful storm when they had been in this area. The small family had moved quickly and in a southern direction, so it only made sense that she would not recall this storm. It sounded as if it had been awful, indeed.

Talk of sacrifices passed and some began to bring theirs forward, including the Kalona himself. Foxglove knew little of the tribe's traditions and she had not come prepared. She thought for a moment, then pulled one of the silk scarves from the sash of them along her waste, holding it in her right hand. With a claw from her left, she pierced the palm of her right hand, watching the red bubble up around her claw despite the stinging sensation. Quickly, she clutched the pink scarf in her hand, allowing the blood to seep into the material until it stopped flowing, for the wound was not deep.

Quietly, her steps silent and graceful, the young Tsula Agateno stepped towards the bone tree with the scarf in her hands. She tied it to one of the bone branches, studying it for a moment before reteating. It was a blood sacrifice—a personal sacrifice. The young girl hoped it would suffice.

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#8
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J'adore's sudden speaking did surprise Ralla a little, but it was more the words than the act of doing so. She had expected him to give some sort of explanation for their culture project, but a thank you? The blush returned in full bloom, and forest-green eyes sought out her mate's, lest she keel over from embarrassment or over-gratitude. J'adore's modest step back into line gave Ralla the chance to lock eyes with him, too, and to convey her deepest humility and thanks for his own gratitude. It was the first time that Ralla felt like a real teacher, and not just a tribe member attempting to spread a culture that made her come off as preachy. It was nice, being appreciated. With a bond of friendship, she placed a hand on his shoulder--no longer teacher and student bound, since their only connections to such lied in the duty and art of script. No, J'adore had learned fast, and was still advancing well; there was plenty more room for friendship rather than anything else.


A sudden weight on Ralla's leg brought her back from the mutual look, making her bend to greet her daughter's affectionate nuzzle. In her muzzle still was the bound part of the little child's hair that Ralla had helped her to cut as a sacrifice, and Ralla hoped that the Great Spirits would be satisfied with it. Why should they not be? It is a part of her; she is giving herself. And finally Ralla's anxiety and her daughter's had been laid to rest when Ayasha had decided to become a Tsula Agateno, which Ralla thought suited her perfectly. And she would have Inez to aid her, once her riding skills became sharp enough. Ralla gave a silent prayer that she would excel, but this would also require her own or one of the animal caretaker's attentions and instruction. As it was, it was looking like the latter, since Ralla herself would be busy with so much more than normal... Shiloh came, then, and gave her own thanks. It seemed as if spring had brought out the kindness in everyone, and made them realize that there was much to be thankful for; especially after that storm. And then another unexpected gift; Shiloh's craft. Handed to the white wolfess from the scarred one was a set of bowls, beautifully inlaid to mimic owls who in turn mimicked Nootau. Placing the bowls and jars in turn next to Nootau--who hooted a barn owl's song in appraisal of the work, a rare show of pride that he normally did not voice--Ralla went to smiilarily place her hands on Shiloh's shoulders as another gesture of thanks and friendship. An embrace would be far too awkward, what with her belly full of pups and all... "Thank you, Shiloh," Ralla said, putting all her emotion that she had given J'adore through their look into her words. Both were invaluable tribe mates that Ralla would always remember. Like the owls on the bowls and jars, Ralla's heart was taking flight.


At their chief's signal, they all went forward to distinguish the Great Fire, Ralla bending on her knees just to be able to toss sand onto it. The ceremonial stone grounds just a little ways off glinted in the dying sunlight a little dimmer as the fire's light was diminished, but this time, it was going out with ceremony and honor, and would be re-lit in the same fashion. After Chief Dawali had placed his own sacrifice upon the tree, Ralla and J'adore both hefted the object its short journey to rest upon the ashes of the Great Fire, resting steadily in the embers that remained. They, too--and everyone else--still had things to give. Making a quick trip to Kemo and Ayasha, Ralla retrieved her own sacrifice which she had left with them when she had come up to speak; a rolled scroll of her first writing, being given as a sacrifice to show that she was still learning and would continue to do so, all to preserve, protect, and better the tribe. It was a bit of scripture referring to how fire came to be, and although the writing was far from perfect, it was her first true words in ink, after all. This she let hang from its string by a strand of beads, twirling from the wafting smoke that continued in wispy fingers.


Moon walks. "Moon talks.' Moon thinks.


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