Where the Road Parts (Werewolf roleplay) -SemiLit-

[Minimetoo]

Elijah turned his already annoyed glance towards December, his lighter eye showing no emotion. His pack didn't think this was a serious issue by the way the others were acting. He understood Evans's case, since he had to care for three wolves instead of one. Raidyn was his beta, his friend, and had never been late before. December's late appearance nearly had his wolf clawing at him to attack. But the tardy wolf kept his distance, so he said nothing to him. "We have a pack to take care of," He started, his tone softer now. "It's better the humans than us. We can't risk getting hurt or damaging our home. The pups deserve better than that. We all do. We won't attack right now. A few of us will patrol the forest and maybe take out any strays that happen to be here and not in the city."

"Raidyn, Morii, Drake, Austin, Riley and Selia, you six are up for patrol. If anyone wants to join them, please do so. Meeting dismissed." Elijah nodded once before standing up and shifting on the spot. His jeans tore to strips, leaving a mess of light blue on the floor. With a sharp bark, he walked off towards the city, his head high but his tail low. When he thought he was far enough, he sighed and dropped to the floor with a soft snort. His dark eye stared sadly at the leaves just getting affected by autumn. There were plenty of leaves still green, but a few were turning golden, red, yellow, and orange, all at once. He took a large breath, his chest lifting, then dropping. The grass near his dark nose fluttered at the sudden blow, then bent back to tickle the wolf's nose. He snorted softly, then angled his head closer to his body and shut his eyes. 

[OneSmartChicken]

{{ Oh I love the pups. They present me with so many opportunities for fun. }}

Morii bared her teeth. Damn it all. Her gaze focused on Kalika, a warning stare even as she bristled at the alpha's decision. A stare was a challenge, and Elijah was her alpha. No one else. Even if she didn't feel like a family with the pack, she respected alpha. And she did not take kindly to anyone challenging him.

An involuntary snarl tore from her throat at Elijah's dismissal, but she bowed her head in acceptance. At least she was on patrol. If she was patrolling, she might just happen across a stray. And that stray would not survive the encounter. Morii shed her shirt as she turned away, less aware of such things as shame over nudity than those who had been raised with human ideals. Plus, she didn't want to change flashily like Elijah; she didn't have that many clothes. She stashed the outfit back in its hideyhole, and then she was a wolf and everything was better. Her shift from human to wolf--and back--was surprisingly gentle-looking. Fur ran down her body, smooth as silk, and the run of fur softened the gruesome shifting of muscle and bone. It took a matter of moments, moments spent in fire and agony and ecstasy, and then enormous paws flexed in the leafmatter below her and a plumed tail waved like a banner of dominance before she corrected it, settling it at just the right high--neutral with a touch of dominance.

The world looked different through the wolf's eyes. In a way, everything was black and white--not the colors, of which she could still see a few, but...everything. There was Those We Protect, Those We Do Not, Those We Eat, and Those We Kill. And that was the world. So much simpler, and yet so much more complicated. Morii the wolf stuck her nose in the air and inhaled, opening her mouth in a lopsided grin. It smelled wonderful at night in the forest. The wolf shook, and shed the human's worries like water. It took a step towards Pack, then whined. Not Pack? Even the wolf was still confused over their new packlife. So it whined and, spirits abruptly falling, let its head hand just a bit as it trotted away to patrol. Alone. Again. The wolf was tired of being alone.

Evans loved his home, he really did, but...Well, he couldn't deny that he was relieved by Elijah's decision. Despite his indecision, in his heart he'd hoped they wouldn't set out to wage war. He turned his head to kiss Georgia's nose, glancing askance at Elijah as he shifted. Funny how even after all this time, Evans was still a bit impressed by the shift. And Elijah's...well, Elijah's was powerful. The pups appreciated the shift too, and Georgia's yip made him smile so he kissed her nose again.

It never ceased to impress him just how fast a pup could be.

On moment he was sitting there with Georgia on his shoulder and Ranger sitting up in his lap, and the next thing he knew the boy was off. He yelped and leaped to his feet, shifting Georgia into his arms so she wouldn't fall or get jostled too much, then he was sprinting after Ranger. No time to change meant just running after the kid until he got tired or distracted. Luckily, Evans wasn't human; even a few hours of running wouldn't tire him. But this...this would exhaust him. It made no logical sense, but it would. Pups were exhausting. He was pretty sure that was their entire shared goal in life, to exhaust him, in fact.

So he was quite surprised when Ranger stopped fairly soon. At least, by Ranger-on-a-rampage standards. What he was not entirely surprised about, however, was the reason. The scent alerted him before the scene, and he grinned as he looked around a tree to see Ranger pawing at Elijah's nose, whining worriedly. Georgia leaped out of his arms to run over and join her brother, staring with big still-blue puppy eyes at their alpha; Ranger's eyes were already an adult amber-brown, but Georgia was stubbornly maintaining those baby blues.

[ShadowHunteress]

Aurora sighed softly as she looked at Morrii, she looked at her alpha when he told them who would be running, she nodded at the dismissal, she silently shifted, not bothering with her clothes. She licked her wounded shoulder silently before she headed after Elijah, she wanted to speak with him, to ask him a favor. She sighed softly as she kept her head and tail low, her paw falls silent on the ground. She stopped when she saw him lay down, she kept a respectful distance and lowered her head, the grass barely touching the tip of her sensitive nose, 'Alpha Elijah?' she asked softly as she stood there. The last thing she wanted to do was anger him.

Drake smiled, "Yes sir." he chuckled, he shifted into his wolf form after slipping out of his sweats. He shook out his red and white fur before he followed after Morii, 'Hey, why are you looking so glum?' he asked as he ran with her, his taill wagged happily as he stayed by her side, he wasn't one to seek out solitude, he loved being with others, and he liked keeping people happy, he was a good guy, but sometimes he could be a bit dense and not notice when he wasn't wanted. He looked up at the night sky for a moment as the grass squished down under his paws as he ran.

[Minimetoo]

Elijah's ears moved at the sound of trotted on leaves. It was too small to be one of the wolves patrolling. Maybe a rabbit? He inhaled lightly. No, wolves. The pups. Before he could open an eye and see if his nose was right, one of the pups was right in his face. At his whine, Elijah opened his eyes and turned his head a bit to the left, his curious dark blue eye on the little boy. With a slight wag of his tail, he nudged Ranger until he was on his side. His nose pressed against the pup's tummy and he flicked his ears, smiling warmly down at him. The noise of another approaching pup had him turning his head to meet a pair of puppy-blue eyes. He smiled, his eyes closing for just a second, before he gently knocked her over next to her brother. He licked the top of the pups' head, his tail brushing along the floor as he did so. 

He had always been fascinated by the thought of pups. But the thought of pups led to the thought of mates, and the thought of mates led him to the thought of love, and love was something that could hurt him all over again. He shied away from that idea. There was no way he would intentionally set himself up to get broken. Elijah lifted his head up to stare up at Evans, then snorted softly in recognition. He held a lot of respect for this pack member. Evans willingly gave up his old ways for these pups. Became a father to them and for them. It was definitely admirable. The wolf pushed himself up and stretched, yawning mightily while he was at it. He straightened up and looked back to Evans, cocking his head slightly. Another wolf? He silently turned to Aurora, not looking too happy.

[Ravendarus]

Cira sighed quietly as Selia snorted a bit, "Stay here and be safe I will come back" She warned Cira, "I-I can take of myself" Cira reminded her stammering a bit as she did. Selia nodded her head, glaring at the others she got ready for patrol. She wasn't to happy about it though. She hated being told what to do, by anyone, that meant even their Alpha Elijah, she didn't like him one bit, mostly for that fact that Cira liked him and if he even dared to hurt her, Selia would fight him to the death, she might end up dead but she didn't care, no one hurt Cira and got away with it. Cira sighed shaking her head, wishing her sister wasn't always so... rash. Selia loved to pick fights with anyone, Cira avoided fighting at all costs, she would never start a fight, but she did fight when she had to. She wasn't always the best, but she had an amazing sense of smell and hearing which made up for her lack of sight making her one of the best trackers in the pack. She was determined to move on from her past, even if it meant changing herself. She padded to Elijah quietly, "I-Is there anything I-I can do?" She asked him quietly.

[ShadowHunteress]

Aurora's ears went back and she lowered her head, 'I am sorry Alpha, I shall go.' she said, turning away. He was busy with Evans, and the pups, she liked the pups, they were adorable, but they reminded her of family... which hurt to much to think about. She sighed softly and glanced over when she saw Selia and Cira. She silently limped away from them to go on patrol with the others, better safe the sorry, and it was better to do that then it was to go to the place she had once called home.

[Kaliyana]

Kalika took one small step forward, intending to follow Elijah to try to work something out with him; she hesitated though, feeling Morii's glare on her. She snarled, almost reading the thoughts on her face. How did it look like she was challenging her Alpha? If she was going to challenged him then she would have made that extremely obvious; she would have attacked him if she had intended to challenge him. She snorted, glaring at Austin as he gave her a "don't do it" look, and stomped after Elijah-- She needed to talk to him. She wasn't the kind of wolf to just sit back and let innocent people get killed; she may be able to kill people herself but only those who threatened her or her pack.

She took off running, diving into the air just before the treeline and shifting before she landed; the pale yellow of her unnatural coat flashed in the early morning sun, making it look golden. The darker marking on her shoulder looked darker, almost as if it was unpolished gold. Her green eyes flashed around her wildly before she caught Elijah's scent and followed it. She slowed, circling around him to stand in front of him. She tilted her head at him, a silent question in her eyes; she wanted to talk to him.

---

Austin nearly shifted and grabbed Kali by the back of the neck to pull her back. She was going to get herself into some serious trouble... But he ignored that, it wasn't his problem. He moved into the trees, stripped and shifted; sticking his nose in the air to try to catch any scents. He found none that were unusual, none that he didn't know, and none that were any other wolves. He moved deeper into the woods, intending to go in a giant circle around the clearing before he moved back outwards to circle again at a greater distance.

[Chaoswolf]

Riley frowned. Usually Elijah was more decisive then this, but he supposed that he understood the precociousness of the situation. He had himself had not spoken up during the meeting. He wasn't sure enough about how he felt to even cast a vote. Best to go along with what the Pack thought was best. Most seemed to agree that it was their home and they had to fight for it. But the whole gun in the face by his neighbor's thing was a pretty convincing counter argument. The meeting seemed to break before any real consensus was met. The blond boy was genuinely surprised to hear his name called for patrol. Especially without Rory being called with it. In fact, the pale boy in dark clothing was already walking away.

"Hey!" Riley called. "Aren't you going to come with me on this thing?"

Rory stopped in his tracks. He didn't bother turning around, just looked over his shoulder. "What for? My name wasn't called."

Riley frowned. "You aren't seriously going to let me go," he dropped his voice dramatically, "without you, are you?"

Rory stared at him. Maybe he would...But then he'd just have to listen to Riley whine about it later. He shrugged, "I'll come, since you're so chicken.

"If I'm a chicken, you're a hen."

Rory slapped him in the back of the head. "Yeah...I deserved that."

They both changed and trailed behind the patrol.

[OneSmartChicken]

Pawsteps behind her. Morii adjusted her gate, turning her head to look at the other wolf curiously. Ah the mighty Fool. Her ears pricked towards him, head tilting curiously, then she wagged her tail and sneezed at him. Not really a sneeze; just a quiet little noise to acknowledge him. She and the wolves had always done things like that, communicating through sneezes and barks and little things and big thigns and...but these were werewolves. Werewolves could Talk. So she took a moment to consider her answer. Why was she looking glum? Well, there were a lot of reasons. The question was, should she attempt to list it all or--? No, she would not. But she would not lie and say she was fine.

There are many people I miss, she told him with a wolfish shrug. I miss home, and I very much wish for this place to be my home. I do not want mutts to take what I could have. I do not want my home taken from me again, even if it is not yet a home. Her head dropped, nose running through the grass. A curl of her lips, a light click of teeth, and she had herself a flower. Which she sneezed at him with a grin.

Morii wagged her tail again, deciding to be happy for this silly wolf who asked why she was glum when so many others were "glum" as well. The breeze shifted, and she made a face. Elijah had left to be on his own, and still he was followed. Poor boy. Thrown into leadership. And yet he took to it like a fish to water.

Ranger barked happily, rolling about on the ground. Georgia's yip made him look up curiously, tongue lolling in an entirely happy grin, then he rolled some more as Georgia was flipped over beside him. The little girl squealed and wagged her whole body, pawing the air eagerly. They grinned up at their alpha, basking in his obvious affection, only to whine as he looked away and looked unhappy again. Ranger stayed on his back, uncertain, but Georgia rolled over to her paws and slunk closer, sliding underneath Elijah's jaw to lay down right under his head, as close as she could get. She sighed, comforted by the smell of alpha.

Ranger hopped up as daddy approached, standing up and wagging his tail energetically as he watched Evans stroll over. He'd turned into a wolf while the pups were distracted, and he sat down beside Elijah. With his tongue lolling and his tail wagging lazily, he looked like a happy, oversized dog. Ranger barked at him, then sat down. Mimicking daddy, minus the tongue lolling. Because that looked just silly.

[DecemberShaun]

December's empty gaze had remained on the ground for the remainder of the meeting, his dark bangs shielding his face from most, if not all, of the pack. He kept to himself and was quiet, that was just him. Maybe he came across as cold and heartless to most people, but to be perfectly honest, he did not really care. He wasn't here to have fun or make friends, so he didn't mind if most of the people within the pack disliked him. The only thing he was here to do was protect the land and the ones that chose to remain on said grounds. None of that had anything to do with feelings towards others, right? He had a job to do, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to do it properly.

As soon as the Alpha declared the end of the meeting, he turned away with a huff and shifted without a second thought, sheding and disregarding any clothing he had been wearing at the time of his shift. He had absolutely nothing better to do, so he would just go patrol with whoever else was told to do so. Without so much as a word to his Alpha, he softly snorted and ran off in a rather random direction, his wonderfully white pelt blowing in the direction of the cool wind and his paws meeting the moist grass beneath him as he ran.

Raidyn had taken his Alpha's silence in regards to him being late as nothing more than an acceptance, for lack of better terms. Elijah and him were pretty good friends, and he knew that that was no reason for him to just dismiss the fact that he was late for a seemingly important meeting, but he couldn't help but wonder why he didn't say so much as a word to him about it. Maybe he was just having an off day or something.. He wasn't about to ask him about it though, seeing as there was things to be done. Perhaps later he'd go talk to him, so long as his Alpha wasn't busy, of course.

As the meeting drew to a close Raidyn simply nodded and bowed his head in respect to his Alpha before standing and running off in the opposite direction of most of the others who were also on patrol at the time, shifting mid-step as he ran. If they were to properly patrol the area, they all couldn't go in the same direction. They had to somewhat split up and make sure as much ground was being protected as possible.