Bracken
Lumen Beta | Male | 5.5
Location: Lumen Camp | Mentions: Tarkik, Romulus, Remus, Besart

Romulus’s reaction was expected, and Bracken sat silently as he put the healer in his place. Tarkik, Bracken finally remembered, the shame of forgetting one of his pack mates coming and going within a breath. Whether Romulus would go through with his threats, Bracken didn’t know, though he had to assume his alpha would be wise enough to not prevent Lumen’s one healer from doing his job. He never failed to surprise him before, so he didn’t wait to see.

“My apologies Romulus,” Bracken spoke up again, after everyone had had their piece of this argument, all except Remus, who Bracken was now watching carefully. “I’ll be sure to keep the subordinates in better check.” He gave a curt bow of his head, a forced smile, then lead Tarkik with his nose to turn away from the other wolves.

“Come Tarkik, Im sure you have more important things to occupy yourself with.” He said, a strain to his voice, a warning. He looked back towards Remus, watching the pathetic excuse for their potential alpha. Romulus wouldn't exactly be Brackens role model for leading a pack, but he wouldn’t argue that he’d prefer to follow under a tyrant, than a coward.

Romulus | Lumen | Alpha | Location: Lumen Camp | Mentions: Besart, Remus, Tarkik, Bracken, Doratu

Though being told to calm down did nothing to cool the Alpha's anger, Besart's method of blocking Tarkik from sight helped return him to his senses somewhat; after all, he wasn't about to go through such strenuous effort to reach the younger male, it wasn't worth his time. Despite that, Romulus couldn't help but bite back a swift retort. "Don't act like you're irreplaceable, Tarkik," The male spat venomously, "You're far from an expert Healer - you're good enough now, but there will always be someone better than you, and if I find that healer, you'll be demoted faster than you can run your mouth. I'll remember this little talk, and how the only thing stopping me from crushing you into the dirt was the fact that you were my only healer at the time. You better pray that no one challenges your position." Romulus eyed Tarkik from where he stood, eyes ablaze in silent fury, before averting his gaze to Remus. The sight alone made the Alpha frown in disgust, for his brother always found a way to get on his nerves; just by acting pitiful, he'd already started a significant argument amongst the most important positions in Lumen Pack. "See to it that this does not happen again, what a waste of my time," Romulus ordered, glad that at least his beta understood how things worked. Shaking out his fur, Romulus thought for a moment, considering what he was supposed to be doing before he was interrupted. "Besart, Remus, come with me." The Alpha spared none of them a second glance, quietly brooding to himself, annoyed that so few of his pack took his side, and that so many would actively oppose him despite the consequences.

Romulus huffed, his bad mood only worsening as he saw an unknown male trespassing on his territory. "What do you think you're doing? This is Lumen Pack territory, and I'd prefer if you didn't encroach on my land without permission," The Alpha replied, striding over to oppose the silvery male. This wasn't the time to mess around at the border - Romulus was already far behind schedule, and now he doubted that he'd even get to see any rabbits before night fell. "I'm not taking on any more outsiders until after the New Moon Meeting, so if you're here to loiter, you best be on your merry way." He stated flatly, watching the other male with a bored expression, "And yes, I am the Alpha of this pack."

↞ { Scorch } ↠
Female • 4 Years Old • Noctis Scout
Location: Noctis Camp | Mentions: Ace, Tahnjo, Luka

"It's true. Fire brings destruction but cleanses all. Given time to heal everything will grow back stronger, with a fiercer will to live," Scorch hummed in agreement, her eyes drifting back toward the trees. The greenery surrounding them was lush, carrying the aroma of healthy, growing things. "As for the deer, the herds will return in time. Where there is grass there will be deer. In the meantime Tahnjo is right. We should take from them sparsely, if at all." Her yellow gaze glanced over the male thoughtfully. He was clever and more insightful than she might have guessed. "I'll do another survey this evening. Would you like to attend?"

Moss? Her alpha would have her collect moss? Scorch's eyes narrowed slightly, but she offered no words of protest. Every wolf must do their part, and if this is the task Axe...no, no, Ace? If this was the task Ace asked of her she would complete it without complaint even if she felt it a waste of her skills. As Luka joined them, cheerful and upbeat as Ace himself, Scorch studied him quietly. Having already given her opinions on the wonders of their new home she didn't feel the need to repeat herself simply because someone new had joined the conversation. "It is fine with me," she confirmed once questioned if his company would be welcome and turned toward the woods, leading the way beneath the canopy.

Her nose lowered to the ground, seeking out hints of the primitive plants. It wasn't long before her snout brushed a soft greenness growing upside a trunk, gently peeling some of the moss from the bark with her claws.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

↞ { Tarkik } ↠
Masc NB • 2 Years Old • Lumen Healer
Location: Lumen Territory Border | Mentions: Bracken, Romulus, Remus, Besart, Doratu

Intermingled fury and fear rushed through Tarkik like a wildfire as those threatening words left Romulus' mouth. Despite himself, his lip curled even as his body began to tremble. Why was he even here? 'You don't need me? I'm replaceable? Fine! I'll make things easy for you and leave right now you brainless brute! Have fun replacing me on the spot!' He wanted to shout after him. Instead, he obeyed Bracken's command, his amber gaze settling on Remus for a brief moment with an emphatic softness that contrasted drastically from the way he glared after the scrawny wolf's larger brother.

His ears flicked, a certain satisfaction calming some of his outrage when the odd stranger criticized Romulus' leadership before disappearing beyond their borders. It was good to see other wolves weren't afraid to challenge him, and he watched Doratu's fleeing form with a hint of wistfulness. Was he kinder? Tarkik bet he didn't beat on his siblings or threaten his healer. As they drew closer to his den Tarkik paused, staring up at the massive red-furred male who escorted him away before turning on his heels and springing further out into the meadow. His ears swiveled, waiting to hear words of protest. Even if he should, he would pretend he hadn't.

He burst from the underbrush where the field met the treeline, staring into the territory beyond. He was tempted to follow his thoughts, leave this pack and their ungrateful, bully of an alpha behind. Why should he stay with deadly threats of abuse or worse hanging over his head? Why should he serve an alpha who didn't respect him? He'd grown up in a pack like that. Tarkik put up with it for as long as he could before it became too much and he ran, and he was quite certain if he hadn't he wouldn't have lived long enough to see his second year of life. Would it be like that here? The moment another wolf came along with even a hint of healing skills would be he be disposed of?

Tarkik paced the borderline, torn by indecision. To abandon his pack was the mark of a coward. He may have to leave this land altogether. There were no guarantees another pack would accept him, or that he would be allowed to keep his rank if they did. Healing was too important to him to give up, and besides that, his presence might cause them trouble. Not to mention he would be leaving his packmates, wolves he had come to care for, without a healer for however long it took Romulus to find another. Was he that selfish to put his safety above theirs? A whine filled his throat and he flopped down on his haunches, shoulders hunched and ears flattened as he stared down at his paws bleakly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Romulus | Lumen | Alpha | Location: Lumen Camp | Mentions: Besart, Remus, Doratu

Romulus watched the male retreat, confused and annoyed all the same. "Like I'm gonna take advice from some idiot that leaves his own pack vulnerable just to come and make pointless comments," The Alpha called after him, shaking his head in disdain, "Try using your scouts next time, it'll save you the effort." Romulus' tail lashed behind him angrily, unbelieving that Doratu could be an Alpha, considering his supposed penchant for leaving himself completely exposed in another male's territory. Though deep down Romulus knew he had an undeniably short fuse, and a foul temper to match, he'd never leave his pack so unprotected for something as trivial as insulting another Alpha. Lumen Pack was his family, even if he had a bad way of showing it. The thought that he was treating his family badly briefly crossed his mind, but he was too determined to remain superior to change his ways, so he willed the surprisingly hurtful thought away, casting it somewhere far into the back of his mind. "Ugh, no more distractions, at this rate Remus would be better at playing Alpha than me," Romulus joked drily, though the joke didn't come out as scathing as he wanted, "Whatever, the rabbits aren't going to catch themselves, and I need to get something productive out of today." The Alpha quickly added, not appreciative of the doubtful tone that had been present in his earlier statement.

The trek to the northern burrows was a quiet one - Romulus took the lead, uncharacteristically silent the entire time, not even mentioning Remus' name or slinging a vague insult every time he saw something pathetic, such as a slug or worm amongst the grass. The Alpha followed a thin trail in the dirt, worn in by a small animal, hopefully leading to the burrows Besart had mentioned. A few moments later, Romulus halted, pausing a reasonable distance from three dirt holes that dotted about a small grassy hill. "This what you were talking about, Besart?" He asked, waiting for clarification. A source of food this close to camp was invaluable, and finding it excited him, even if Besart had found it first. "Maybe I should collapse two of the holes, so that all of the rabbits are forced out of the remaining one, then you two catch them as they appear?" The Alpha suggested. Romulus was better at catching larger prey, since animals like rabbits tended to be too fast for him to chase after, whereas with something like a deer, he'd latch on once and not let go. So, his plan used his strength, and the speed of Besart and Remus. Though, did he really want to destroy a reliable food source this close to camp? It wasn't ideal, he could admit that, but Romulus could think of no other way.