always

oh your hands can heal, your hands can bruise. I don't have a choice but I'd still choose you.

He had not waited long for the others to join him, but Noel had been already been there waiting for him. The alphen had greeted the youngwolf with a cordial nod of his head, and the two had begun the journey towards the northern border together. His keen ears flicked backwards intermittently, catching the sounds of one adult and two youngwolves that trailed them. Rather than ceasing his movement, Alcide had continued forward, knowing full well that they would easily follow his and Noel’s trail and meet them at the border. The large myriad hued wolf liked the young grey marked wolf, though he did not know much about him other than that he had accompanied Rhoedias when she had been debunked from her throne in Glorall. But the alpha male could sense the quiet strength that lay dormant within the boy. Aquila was a fitting rank for him; it would perhaps help foster the growth of that inner vigor.

It was as Rejya, Ceal, and Lavender emerged from the foliage behind them that Alcide had lifted his head and called to the heavens, requesting the alpha of the forest to greet them. An ear pulled to the side as Noel’s voice mingled with his own, but his voice did not falter. There it was again, that might peaking through Noel’s quiet demeanor. As their note ended, Alcide lowered his head and nodded to the boy, smiling slightly as he was then distracted by the arrival of the three other Spirane wolves. He greeted his daughter with a touch of his nose to her cheek, and nodded to Lavender and Rejya in turn. It was good to have their company, and it would also be good for the other pack’s leader to meet a few of Spirane’s numbers.

Turning his attention back to the forested land before him, the form of a black marked white wolf quickly approached. His posture spoke of his stature with the pack, and Alcide’s own tail waved in greeting as he approached. Standing, he edged slightly forward, placing himself at the forefront of the small brigade of Spiranian wolves. “Hello Coza, it is a pleasure to officially meet the leader of our northern neighbors. I am Alcide, and I am happy to introduce my accompaniment – Rejya, Spirane’s Vega and principle diplomat; Noel, a strongwolf in training; and Ceal, my daughter, and Lavender, both diplomats in training.” He gestured to each wolf in turn, proud of the small group of wolves that had joined him in this outing.

He paused then, giving Coza, as well as the other wolves, a chance to greet one another. After a moment, he continued. “Coza, I think it is imperative to our packs that we reach some sort of treaty between our two lands. It can only benefit both of our homelands to know that one can trust the other.” There was not anything in particular that Alcide was here to gain from Coszcotl and Taviora, other than the knowledge that he could trust them to not betray whatever alliance they formed. “We come here today to forge an alliance between Spirane and Taviora, grounded in trust and amity. The only thing that we will never do is break our standing agreements with Diveen and Glorall in favor of Taviora, though I should hope such an incident would never arise.”

Alcide was not typically a man of so many words, which was why he usually allowed Rejya to handle most of these types of affairs. However, given Taviora’s status as a completely new pack, Alcide felt it was his responsibility to greet them for the first time. And he was glad for it, for his first impression of Coszcotl was a good one, shown by the continued wagging of Alcide’s tail even as their conversation had grown a bit more serious and businesslike.

alcide | seventeen | moonglow | polaris of spirane
sleekwing, swallowbane, orca, daenerys, ceal, taliesin | ♥