Fable is gone.

Epona had the vision, a word of return, and that was it. They're all gone now, and Dimitri is left wondering what could happen. No one has called the remaining wolves together. This found family they were forming, does that mean anything now? Hollow, hollow, hollow. It's like losing Narcissa all over again.

He knows that this situation is dire. He has small children, likely too small to travel anywhere else with the plague spreading through the land. Times like this, they have to band together, the remaining number of them. Spider will stay with them, and likely (as loathe as Dimitri is to think it) Steller as well, but how many others can he count on?

With a howl, he summons any number that will come. In efforts of sparing us an entire round of everyone showing up and showing shock, the writer will then assume people filter in. With characters that post being present and accounted for, as is the proper use of liquid thread time, Dimitri speaks.

"Epona's vision came true. Their scents vanished today. I call us together to discuss our next move. This was not meant to be our home," he glances towards Fiadh and the girls, "but given the age of our children and the state of my birthland, I personally plan to stay and keep the borders secure, and welcome in anyone seeking shelter from the plague. It seems what Fable would want. I don't demand that you all stay with me, but I would appreciate every one of you that stay at our side."

It was strange. Illithya always came to the border when she called, they'd spend an hour or two romping and talking, catching up and having prompt sisterly time before reluctantly departing. That was a weird thing to get used to in itself, and when they had to go back to their new sense of normal it always felt wrong to Eidola, a sadness would coil up inside her despite her cheery sisters attempts to make her smile. She would fake one; trying to ensure Illi didn't feel bad and promise to see her again soon.

But this time she didn't come.

She would try again every day─but she never came, and she couldn't shut up to Archon and Kyros that something had to be wrong. Nor could she sleep at night, sitting there on the border with her pessimistic heart looking off toward the heart of where she was born.

So when the call rang out; foreign and urgent Eidola nearly jumped from where the lay curled up with her sister and father. One strained, concerned look was really all it took to convince them they had to go investigate, and this time they didn't stop at the border.

❝ Dad... ❞ she murmured voice heavy with worry as they walked further in Avon, ears tucking back as it became more and more clear that their scents were gone. Not even faded. Just─gone.

She stopped before the unfamiliar face, the owner of the call and sat down reluctantly trying to brace herself for all the what if's that swirled in her mind.

"Epona's vision came true. Their scents vanished today." that was really all she heard, her fears confirmed, they were gone. So they just...left...without them? Without even saying goodbye?

Her heart shattered all over again; purple eyes flickering to Kyros in disbelief and devastation.

─
❝ speech ❞

No, Archon thought - he would not let the relationships of his daughters become like that with his own sisters because of his relationship with fable, absolutely not. Archon had given fable some space, and allowing Eidola to meet with Illithya at the border whenever the two wanted to see each other.

It was a beautiful relationship that it was blossoming into, one that made Archon miss his own sisters, pondering if he could ever truly fix the relationship with Dawnbreak. And he knew the day would come that fable would get to Illithya’s minds - turning them against him, or that the sisters would argue about something - expecting Eidola to come back distraught over something silly like that, but to have her come home one evening, distraught because Illithya was missing?

Eidola was not the only one who couldn’t sleep that night. And though Archon didn’t quite have a relationship with them, and mostly because they chose not to have one with him - Archon still worried. Especially when Eidola and Kyros had been neglected - and if Eidola thought something was wrong, Archon believed it.

He was not that type of father to belittle his children. No, he was not that type to not listen to his daughters - plus they did need family time, didn’t they? No more of this ‘meeting at the borders like we’re not supposed to have time together’ bullshit. They were family, it was time to act like it.

A call rang out as they were on their way, and Archon guided them to the borders and barked, respectfully.

Girls, stay at my side.

At his side, like equals. And not behind him, like secrets.

A stranger’s howl and the look from Eidola told Kyros all she needed to know following the reports from Eidola about her missing sister in action. Had something taken her? Just like something had smooshed that other pup, in the forest? The one their mother had cared so much about, so much more about than them?

Her nose twitched at the memory, ears flickering backward as she looked at her sister, then her father, nodding at his command, but she went to her sister, standing close - peering over at all these strangers that stood within their homeland.

The homeland that their mother stole from them.

And who was he, then?

Kyros leaned forward and activated her little sniffer, trying to grab his scent, but all she seemed to notice was the lack of scent from her family.

What did he do with them? Her hackles rose. A growl in her throat, deciding he was to blame, whoever he was.

IC warning applied

So, this is how a throne is built.

Steller would take it herself, but she knows only Fiadh would follow her. Of the wolves assembled, she is not a known quantity. And she admits, Dimitri's pretty face would win hearts as soft as these. But she can work with this. She can stand behind them, whispering in their ear. Fiadh would respect Steller's input, and Dimitri would cave to Steller's demands. And their children? Steller is already planting those seeds there.

She offers only the barest acknowledgment to the old regime. It would be wisest to kill them, to eliminate any competition to the regime, but it's not Steller's call. She does notice the child growling and gives it a cold glance, not even acknowledging it as anything more than an object of which to be disposed. Let it know that she can and would remove its presence if it does something stupid. Keeping the useless creatures in the periphery of her vision, she turns her focus primarily to Dimitri.

"I will stay with you," she declares. "The eaglets will need protection." And they are as much her blood as any children she bore. "And should the old guard return, perhaps it would do well for her to know these lands are protected."

Open for interactions here! He's just a baby...

---

He’s not sure why his parents have brought all of them here. He knows it has to be something important, from the way Dimitri and Fiadh both seem, but the weight of exactly what it is escapes him. Surely there were other, more interesting things to do that didn’t require this? In fact, he had found something, obviously dropped by a large bird, and had wanted to show-

Oh. Oh. Cian, fortunately, has always been on the quieter side- but even if he hadn’t been, his parent’s words would have caused him to be. The wolves that had made this place home originally were gone, to who-knows-where, and they had all left stragglers behind. There were a few strangers, appearing, and from his place near his mother, Cian watches them. They all seem…upset. Sad.

Angry, even.

Tact isn’t his strong suit, though, and never has been in all his few months of life. Bet somethin’ ate ‘em. He declares, voice still low, but far from inaudible. The morbidity of it doesn’t bother him, either- surely these wolves would want to know the truth still?