PACK MEETING - Ring the Alarm

[Paint]

Bandit was sure now. She had searched every inch of this land, nose to the ground. Caden's scent was fading. She'd traced it to No Man's Land and found blood upon the ground. Raising her head in utter fear she stood in silence, taking in the sight, recreating the struggle in her mind. He could be dead, but... surely they would've left his body if he was dead. No, Caden was alive, somewhere, but Bandit let it dawn upon her slowly that the worst had happened.

She ran like she'd never run before, unleashing howl after howl, bellowing like a wounded moose as she tore through No Man's Land and back to the Stars land. She felt as if there might be Moons wolves on her tail the whole way, snapping at her heels. Had she been a more emotional wolf, she might have cried. But Bandit was a leader, and now was her time to shine. She called each and every pack member with the urgency of her call and arrived in the Pebble Clearing absolutely exhausted with the effort of running and howling. She sat outside the caves as the sun began to set, streaming the sky with red and orange. She waited for the pack, chest heaving, burnt amber eyes searching wildly for a sign of the Stars wolves.

[[Midnight]]

One of the youngest pups in the pack, Akiko was keen on learning from the older and more experienced. She spent a lot of her time socializing and had come to know some adult packmates intimately. Mostly they had been the ones to tolerate her puppish hyper-activity and inablility to keep quiet at all times.

She wasn't far at all. In fact, she was only a yard or two away from Bandit - she had been sleeping in one of the dens below, dreaming of an invisible hare she was getting ready to chase. But when Bandit sent out the call that all pack wolves recognized as a summoning, her ears were immediately perked and her eyes flicked open. She listened intently to the series of howls. The voice sounded like Bandit, the female newly-born Akiko had met, one of the first in the pack, really. Akiko felt confusion as to why Bandit would want even her to come to her side, but then she remember that she had recently been appointed as Beta wolf. Excitement coursed through her paws - was Bandit ready to start up a hunt that even Akiko could join?

Blood pumping, she lifted herself from her sleeping spot and hurried to the outside, squinting against the sunlight. With a bright-eyed smile, Akiko bounded across the sloped clearing, towards Bandit, while hoping to see some sign of her parents as well.

[Paint]

Bandit was surprised to see that her first visitor was only an adolescent, but dipped her head to Akiko in greeting anyway. In some distant way they were related, but Bandit did not feel much in the way of maternal instinct for her- or any pup, for that matter. Her time to procreate was probably long gone now, she was in the last good year of her life, but she had no regrets.

"Akiko," she began, but paused. How could she break this news to a pup, of all wolves, first? No, she would wait until a great group of them had assembled. "Howl with me. We need everybody here. It's very urgent."

Bandit lifted her muzzle and opened her mouth again, unleashing the panicked and mournful howl again. She stood up, hoping that the stretching of her throat and head would somehow make the howl louder, more important.

Esmerelda, meanwhile, was not far off. She lifted her tawny head in curiosity, emerald eyes blinking as she listened. She felt the pit of her stomach sink a little. It sounded very serious. She hoped nobody was hurt. Immediately she began to run, pumping her legs, hearing the sound of the other pack members moving through the land not far off. Oberon came into view as he vaulted a log and exerted a short growl to greet Esmerelda. They ran side by side until they reached the clearing, skidding into place and panting slightly as they saw Bandit howling.

Seeing her daughter, Esmerelda moved forwards a little but no more. She so desperately wanted to be as her mother had been, a natural mother, so caring and without hesitation. But she could not. She was too independent. So she smiled at her daughter instead and she and Oberon came to settle near the other wolves.

"What has happened?" Oberon barked.

"Something terrible. We need the pack here. Howl!" Bandit ordered, and with a strange sidelong look at Esmerelda, Oberon began to howl too. Es followed not long after.

[[Midnight]]

Akiko felt her heart sink at the turn of events. Her puppish glow disappeared and a look of grim maturity replaced it as Bandit directed her to take to howling for the pack, which she immediately began doing. She was deadly curious of what was going on, but also knew that it was going to be a serious meeting. She kept her questions to herself.

Observantly, she noticed that Caden wasn't here yet, but it seemed the rest of the pack just about was. Well, except for Bion. Akiko remembered with a little twinge in her heart that her father had recently joined up with the neighboring pack. He had taken another female with him. Thinking of this, her eyes held onto Esmerelda, who did not greet her with anything but a small smile. She looked away, wishing to be reassured by her mother and feeling a bit troubled.

After a few moments, when she ceased howling, her eyes looked to Bandit.
"What's going on?" she asked, unable to hold back. "Caden is taking a while."

[Paint]

Eventually Bandit stopped howling. Esmerelda and Oberon followed suit, drawing their muzzles shut and looking over at her. At Akiko's words, Esmerelda looked over at her daughter and felt the same concern. But moreso for the fact that the lands seemed so quiet. Oberon shifted his weight a little as he saw Bandit's sinking expression.

"Caden is taking a long time," Oberon murmured. He frowned, looking around, inhaling to try and scent any other pack members. "Where is everyone?"

Bandit swallowed hard.

"This may be it," she spoke loudly enough to be heard, but fairly quietly too. She glanced around. Somewhere in the distance a bird cried. Her first instinct was that the Moons had taken more than just Caden. But the trail, and his blood, hadn't smelt like any other Stars wolves. Which left only one option.

"Bandit, what do you mean?" Esmerelda spoke, alarmed at her expression.

"Caden has been taken hostage by the Moons, I believe," Bandit added the last bit just in case it wasn't true. But she knew in the pit of her stomach that it was. "And it looks as if we're the only Stars wolves left over."

All the wolves knew that packs changed all of the time. Oberon remembered leaving his pack, he was sure there would be lots of wolves who would leave this one. But he'd never imagined that it would come at such a bad time.

"Akiko, where is your father?" Esmerelda's worry was evident. She'd heard enough of Bion, enough rumours now, to know that he had ties to the opposing pack.

"Where's Taya?" Oberon asked as well. Bandit growled deeply.

"As I said. I think we may be it. I can't smell any other wolves on our land, can you?"

The three wolves fell silent.

[[Midnight]]

Now was not the time to panic, but Akiko felt the emotion stirring in the pit of her belly. The adults were looking frightened, and the news that Caden was kidnapped almost seemed to shatter Akiko's innocence. This was the first time she was ever faced with bad news. Her life until now had been blissfully peaceful. Caden had been such a confident and reliable Alpha. She always pictured him as strong and undefeatable. Now, he was in the paws of the Falling Moon. She didn't know much about them, except that they weren't nice. She thought she could remember her mother telling her a story that Duke killed her great grandfather.

"Is Caden going to die?!" she blurted out fearfully. If Caden were to die, Akiko would be devastated. She might now know him well, but he had been her Alpha since she was born, and she grew to appreciate his leadership. He had just begun to include her in all the pack activities now that she was old enough, and he was kind to her.

Meeting her mother's eye, Akiko felt her fear intensify when the brown she-wolf asked of Bion's whereabouts. She stared blankly for a few moments while Oberon asked also of Taya. Stupified, she wondered how Esmerelda and the pack could not know that Bion had left for Falling Moon. What was going on? Confused, she stuttured incomprehensively. When the thought finally formed, there were tears in her eyes.

Her father was with Falling Moon, and Falling Moon had just kidnapped Dancing Star's Alpha.

"He's...a traitor!" she shouted suddenly. She intended to sound angry, but her voice came out more like a hysterical scream of terror. "I saw him with Taya! They joined Falling Moon!"

She turned away from the group of adults, her muzzle pointed towards the south. Akiko had became angry and determined. She already had the plans worked out in her head; just keep going south, until she crossed the river into Moons territory. Then she would save Caden.

"I'm rescuing Caden!" she stated. But, for some reason, her feet wouldn't budge. She stood in place, legs trembling with fear.

[Paint]

"I don't know if Caden is going to die. I imagine they'll keep him alive until they figure out what to do with him," Bandit spoke up, snapping her attention onto Akiko who appeared to be having slight hysteria. She growled again. "Stop it! You'll get yourself killed if you go sprinting off into the Moons land."

Esmerelda had gone silent. Her green eyes were boring into Akiko, ignoring everything that she said after the news about Bion. Es knew that Bion and her had been falling apart, peaceably, but now she felt angry. He didn't even tell her. In fact, he had never really told her what was going on with him. And she thought that she ran away from problems. She sat down roughly on the ground, swallowing hard, remaining silent.

Oberon, meanwhile, had his attention all on Bandit. Technically, she was their new leader. He wondered how she would fare, but judging by the tone of her voice as she spoke to the young female Akiko she wouldn't do too badly. The lands suddenly seemed incredibly empty. Oberon could feel every fibre of his being wishing for a fight. He'd always promised that he would be on the frontline if the Stars ever needed it. But despite knowing that he was ready to fight to the death, he wondered what their odds were on winning. Bandit looked as if she could fight, but Akiko was only young, and Oberon knew that Esmerelda was faster than she was strong. There were so few of them.

"Let's just hope that we're joined by more Stars wolves soon," Oberon murmured. Bandit's ears flicked to listen to him, her amber eyes still burning on Akiko. "Bandit, we need to formulate a plan."

"You're right," Bandit replied. "We are not going to run headfirst into the Moons land like reckless pups. That's what they want. We need to find out how many of them there are, how strong they are- we need every scrap of information that we can find. We can't fight this on brute strength, not yet anyway," she finished, her body still apart from her ears swivelling forwards as she thought.

[[Midnight]]

Still visibly upset, the youngest of the group sat back on her haunches, looking down at the pebbled soil, feeling humiliated. She wanted to run away and hide. That, of course, would be unacceptable, and besides, she was also hoping to look like an adult. She straightened up at the thought and looked over her shoulder, back to Bandit, who had clearly taken charge over the situation. The confident, take-charge demeanor did help calm Akiko's confusion. She wondered now, since Caden was possibly gone forever, if Bandit would be their permanent Alpha. Looking at the small group, however, Akiko marveled at the lack of numbers. Where had everyone gone? Her brothers, the other pups?

She thought she had seen less and less faces lately, but hadn't thought much of it. Akiko stood back up and retraced her steps, settling down near Bandit.

She pondered the elder female's plans. Information was what they needed. Akiko thought again of her father, and what his place in the kidnapping had been. How involved was he? And why hadn't he come back? She hoped for the best - that he was trying to save Caden.

"Um... Maybe we can get a hold of...my father, or Taya," was Akiko's suggestion. She didn't voice her fears - that her father may have even helped in the abduction.

[Paint]

Esmerelda remained in shock, hearing Akiko saying 'my father' threw her even more. Perhaps months from now she would see that they were never meant to be, and she had been harbouring thoughts of leaving the pack and Bion to go back to No Man's Land. But that was out of the question now. For once Es tried to fight the need to run away. She'd lost her brother and now her mate to the Falling Moons, and was finally beginning to feel like a Stars wolf again in the face of evil.

"I don't think Bion would have had anything to do with a takeover, it's not in his nature," she finally spoke, knowing she spoke the truth although it was difficult to mask her feelings. Oberon nodded in agreement, ignoring her strained voice to try and avoid embarrassing her.

"Nor Taya. But if they are indeed behind enemy lines then the young one is right, it could be useful to speak to them," Oberon spoke up, glancing back at Bandit as Akiko settled near her.

Bandit meanwhile was thinking very hard. Her mind raced through the options. Bion and Taya behind enemy lines- would they still consider helping? Would they be part of a movement to get Caden back, even if they were Moons wolves now? Or would they see the evil being done and return? Or, even worse, had their loyalties truly been shifted to Duke? Bandit's amber eyes were wide with the idea of it. She so wanted to race across the border and sink her teeth into Duke's wretched throat and yank it out. Just to end all of this.

"We need to play to our strengths here. You're right, Oberon, Akiko has come up with a good first move," Bandit knew how important it was to praise young intelligence. It was hard being an adolescent in a crisis, but Bandit hoped that it would make their small pack stronger. "I cannot go to find Bion or Taya," she growled a little out of frustration. "If they know I'm the Beta then I'll be the next target. Either we send someone fast or we all go."

She glanced over at Akiko, noticing that she had sat a little closer. It seemed odd to Bandit that Esmerelda was not nurturing her daughter a little more, she'd barely seen them speak to one another. But then again, she'd never seen anything in Esmerelda's temperament that would suggest she would be overly motherly. She was a free spirit. Bandit pulled her thoughts away from the pack and began to think of options again.

"So, strengths," she returned to her original point. "We have original Stars wolves behind enemy lines, that's one. I can lead this pack, however small, and I'm a strong fighter. However, I am not so fast on my feet. Do you all know your strengths and weaknesses?"

[[Midnight]]

Akiko looked to each wolf in turn as they spoke. Calmed now that they were talking plans, the she-wolf sat quietly and considered everything. She felt her determination to help Caden full-force. She wasn't completely naive, however, and looked helplessly again at their lack of numbers. Could four wolves really take on the pack that had single-handedly seized their young, strong Alpha?

Akiko agreed with everyone's sentiments that Bandit and Taya were not the types to agree with their tyranny, nonetheless take part in it. Still, the two of them had yet to reappear here, the place where they belonged and where they were needed. She imagined that they might even be forced to stay because of the situation. She hoped furiously that they were still alive. They were, after all, Dancing Stars.

"Well... If they are not with them, they are against them. Maybe they are both being held hostage along with Caden," she pondered out loud, in a way retracting her original idea. If that was the case, their plan would not work and would only cause more danger. Precise communication was needed somehow.

Looking to Bandit, she began to take an inner look at her own qualities. She wasn't sure what good ones there were. Akiko was easily frightened, and often ran away from fear. Thinking of this, combined with the embarassment from her earlier behavior, Akiko looked down at her paws in shame. She felt useless. She started to speak the first idea that came to her mind.

"Maybe I should sacrifice myself. I can lie and say that I want to be a Falling Moon, because my father is one, too. I can relay information. I am a fast runner," she said confidently, eyes shining. She felt it was a brilliant idea.

Green eyes wandered to Esmerelda. Akiko wondered if her suggestion would recieve any sort of reaction.

[Paint]

Oberon and Es lifted their ears forward at Akiko's suggestion, both seeming to hope that she was right. Somehow it seemed easier to accept that they had been dragged kicking and screaming to the Moons land rather than they chose to. But Bandit shook her head and spoke firmly.

"There was only Caden's blood on the ground- the smell of him and the smell of the Moons pack. I followed the trail."

Esmerelda listened as Akiko spoke again, meeting her daughter's identical green eyes and feeling a pang of loss. She shook her head quietly.

"I'm not letting you go over there and be some sort of spy," she finally spoke up. She wasn't sure what else to say. Explaining herself wasn't really her forte, so she simply fell into silence again and looked over at Bandit for help.

"Agreed," Bandit nodded. "We're not sending our youngest. If you're fast on your feet then you can serve us in other ways. When we're done here, I want you all to spread out and search the lands. There is a chance that we have more pack members who simply did not hear us."

Oberon nodded in agreement, inhaling as the breeze swept past in the vain hope that there would be more friendly scents riding on it. If they couldn't find any more pack mates he wasn't sure what they could do.

"What about Taya and Bion?" he asked Bandit.

"We have to try and find them and talk to them. But we can't trot over to No Man's Land and howl for them- I'm sure Duke would be more than happy to send a true Moons wolf with them," she replied darkly. "We're going to need some luck on our side."

"Bandit, I know No Man's Land very well," Esmerelda piped up, feeling slightly inspired as the wind whipped up her tawny fur. She stared with the greatest of intent off into No Man's Land. "I was a Loner here for a year or so before I joined this pack again. I can spend some time there trying to get hold of Bion or Taya."

Bandit considered this. Esmerelda read her expression.

"I know the land very well- and I'm a very fast runner," she insisted. Bandit sighed.

"Okay. You can find a hideout in No Man's Land. But at the first sign of trouble, I want you straight back here," she almost barked the last order. Es nodded. Part of her would feel relieved to be back in No Man's Land, she knew, but if she could help as well then she would.

"So we need to find more wolves. What if, no offence Akiko, they are all adolescents? What if we have no real fighters left?" Oberon dipped his head in apology to Akiko. "I'm a fighter and so are you Bandit, but that's only two wolves against a whole other pack. So do we wait for more warriors or..."

They both looked over at Akiko. Esmerelda frowned in alarm.

"We could train them," Bandit murmured thoughtfully, amber eyes set on Akiko.

[Fire]

When the evening arrived, Sayuri decided to wander up Gale Cliff on the edge of her brother's territory. It was a peaceful enough place, and she found it pleasant to occasionally sit and reflect on the trials and errors of the day. There was a stream nearby that separated the StarLands from No Man's, and together with the red and purple haze above the sun, the bubbling waters were relaxing, and welcomed. Soon she settled onto her belly and her eyelids began to droop.

As the sun dipped lower beyond the horizon and the Delta had begun to drift to sleep, a howl tore through the forest on the other side of the territory. Sayuri jerked awake; her maw raised and her ears alert and twitching. She recognised the voice to be Bandit's, the Beta of the pack, and it sounded urgent. There was a brief pause before the black and tan female actually began to move, as dread immobilised her. But she reminded herself it wasn't necessarily bad news, perhaps the issue was so incredibly important that it required the pack's immediate attention. She heaved a deep breath and began jogging through the forest at a steady pace to wake herself up, but soon the urge to know what the matter was drove her to race wildly through the thick tree trunks and underbrush.

The sound howl came when she had nearly reached Bandit. This time, however, there were more wolves, and at such close range the desperation was unmistakable. Heart sledge-hammering against her chest, Sayuri forced herself to run faster, faster, faster until her lungs burned and it was difficult hauling breaths in and out.

After what seemed like an eternity, the uncertainty and distance drawing the minutes even longer, she arrived at the Pebble Clearing and spotted the gathering of wolves. Her pads were sticky with sweat.

The first wolf her eyes met was Bandit, and she nodded a greeting, speaking almost as soon as she was within earshot. "Sorry I'm late, I was on the other side of the-" she paused as realised her brother wasn't present, "...territory." Sayuri let out a small chuckle and added: "Well, I suppose I can't be that late if the Alpha hasn't arrived yet," and her mouth twitched into an amused smile. A few moments passed, and the looks on the faces of her company began to sink in. A fresh wave of fear crashed over her.

Her eyes scanned the wolves before her, and it felt as though the number was significantly less than the last time they'd had a meeting. "Where's-" her voice cracked, her gaze flickered desperately from one wolf to another, as if hoping that she'd missed Caden's face amongst them. But she hadn't. Carefully, Sayuri regained her composure, controlled her breathing and turned to Bandit. "Where's my brother?"

[Paint]

Bandit felt such relief when Sayuri showed up. She knew that there must be other Stars wolves, and now that she thought about it, what she had heard of Sayuri did not indicate that she would abandon her brother's pack. But her amber eyes softened when she realised what she had to say. Sayuri's questions cut to her core and she gathered herself.

"Caden has been kidnapped by the Moons," she said evenly. She knew that if she acted in a hysterical manner that nothing would get done. She wanted to explain to Sayuri the conversation that they had been having, but knew that she'd need time to let it sink in. "I'm so sorry. We will get him back."

Esmerelda watched Sayuri sadly. She knew what it was to lose a brother. Although in different circumstances, she supposed, as she bitterly remembered Justyn choosing to side with the Moons. She was beginning to wonder if there would ever be a male who didn't let her down by becoming an enemy. She looked over at Akiko, and thought about herself. Fighting was not in her nature. She wondered if there was any fight in her daughter.

Meanwhile Oberon was thinking. There simply had to be more Stars wolves. Perhaps, like Sayuri, they hadn't heard the howls yet. Maybe they were sleeping, or next to the river- the rush of the river would surely overpower the howls of faraway pack members. He was grimly realistic but knew that it was worth a try. I can fight, and I can train others to fight, he thought determinedly, imagining roaming the lands and teaching the young ones to be swift and lethal. He'd been waiting for an opportunity like this, to step up and show what he was made of. His blood was rushing with adrenalin.

[Ashara]

Astra had just been taking a drink of water from a river near a small water fall when she heard what sounded like howls in the distance. Unsure if she had really heard anything and thinking that she had just been imagining it she ignored the sound and continued to lap up the cool water from the river thirstily but then faintly she heard the howls again this time it sounded like there were more wolves howling. Now sure that she hadn't been imaging the sounds she pricked her ears to hear what direction the howls where coming from. They were coming from Pebble Clearing. She started to jog through the trees in the direction of the clearing but the closer the got the more she could hear the urgency of the howls so she sped up into a run. When she finally reached the clearing she skidded to a halt breathlessly in front of the wolves gathered there "Sorry I'm a bit late I couldn't hear properly with the waterfall I was near" she said looking at the wolves in front of her. She knew it almost instantly the serious looks on all the wolves faces and the absence of Caden. She looked towards Bandit the Beta hoping that she say something , anything as the reason for this gathering other than what Astra already knew deep down inside herself was the reason for their gathering-without Caden. She knew that something bad must have happened to him but she was dreading to hear what this could be. She looked down worriedly waiting for one of the other wolves to tell her what exactly had happened. She desperately hoped that he was alive, if their alpha was dead what would they do....?

[angel]

Kade walked around, being the pup he is. He tripped over a pebble. Not talking to anyone. He landed onto his back and huffed. He stared up at the sky. He hadn't seen his father for a while. He yawned, and laid on his back a while. Hearing they're voices. But he was a bit far away from them.