β-ice - In Character Discussions
Yellen the werewolf is resting at the boarding house in Little Cornelia when....
...the sound of two voices could be heard coming from outside: one very loud and now familiar, the other much quieter. After a short indiscernible conversation, the door opened and closed leaving the owner of the louder voice outside and an elf standing inside. The elf took one look at Yellen, perhaps a bit of exhaustion visible at most, before saying, "You've finally decided to make yourself know, only to muddy the waters in your wake, Yellen. I am Shi'Nynze, although I know you already know of me. I'd prefer to hear your story and your reasons for doing so, first, from you directly, before we continue on."
Yellen takes a deep breath, grits her teeth, then blows out her breath with a whooosh.
"I growled at the young one but that will not work with you.", shakes her head. "You should know better on how a pack works. Did it never occur to you to question them on why they have never had any pups? On what they want, what they need to thrive and not just survive?"
"They were free in the woods then they were put in a metal cage {bugbears}, then you put them in a stone cage {Dryads Lair}, then a wooden cage {the knarr}, and then finally they get free of all that and now they are trapped here in The Mist."
Growls, "For YEARS"
"What did you do to help them thrive? How could you possibly know better than I do what they need?"
"There is an Elvish saying about assumptions. It is too bad it does not translate well," replied Shi, mildly. Crossing her arms lightly, she continued, "But it is clear, from what you have told Thistle, and what you are now telling me, that some clarity is needed, and you may have some things still worth learning, too."
"You claimed magic to be involved when there has not been such since I first came across them. Even then, it was only magic to reveal my intentions, nothing more. For the sake of their health, I asked them to keep close until they were healed, but I have not and will not command them by magic. They will always have their own free will. They have always had the chance to go elsewhere. We travelled, often in uncomfortable situations, yet still they followed, and this seems to perplex you."
"For you and your kind, you claim a pack leader is the strongest and leave it at that, but that is not the natural way. A pack leader, or leaders, is head of the family, often a pair bond, the ones who take care of them which I have now been doing for many years. They were never abandoned, either. To imply otherwise is an insult. Their other pack leader, Keldorldrin, watched over them while I was gone. If he had not agreed, we would have traveled together, but they stayed as I know how they dislike the city, and I was not going to put them through that again."
"I know, when properly cared for, they can live years longer than their uncontacted companions. And I know they tolerated discomfort because that is what family does for each other. If they had wanted to leave for the forest, as I expected them to do with the brownies, whether together or on their own, I would have understood, but they followed me, of their own will, of their own sense of love, because we are family, and they trusted the vision we all had: to take an unoccupied forest for our own."
"The Mist is not ideal, I can certainly agree with that, but it is a home and freedom. It is woods untamed, uncontested, unclaimed. It was worth the short time in a cramped, wooden confine to make something our own. It is their territory to start a family, and a safe one, something that is rare to come by without needing to fight others or clear the area."
"So what have I done for them? I helped them survive otherwise certain death at a bugbear keep, malnourishment, and disease. I have helped them thrive by giving them family, opportunities to grow stronger individually and as a pack, a territory to start their own family, and... space from me overly mothering them."
With a small frown, Shi continued, "I will accept your criticism of needing to readdress how I can help them if they wish for pups, whether it means traveling with them to find mates, or accepting them going farther to find a mate on their own, and I will express my gratitude to you for keeping them company the past few months, but I will not accept your belief that you would have done better had you started in my shoes."
"You have the insight of a wolf, yes, but your humanity still clouds it. You value the power of strength, as humans often do, but you ignore the importance of bonds and family. I am willing to welcome your insights on how to make sure they thrive, as any would do for someone dear to them, but not with false assumptions and insults."
Yellen laughs, "Very clever of you to try to make me think that my human side is less than your elven intuition into the rest of the world. Do you really think that anyone would be fooled by those clever words??"
Before Shi can answer,
"You say you have helped them survive, I agreed with you before your pleading that you had done what you could. You claim bonds of family of the pack. Tell me precious elven warrior, how many leaders abandon their pack for years at a time? For a quarter of their lives?"
"Very pretty words that will sooth your young human listening outside, your kind is well known for that. But tell me again how will this pack THRIVE without leadership?"
Rather than point out the contradictions, the repetitions, the circulation of the conversation, Shi asked, simply and with a bit of gentleness, "Do you take this to heart because of something you went through, Yellen?"
Shi'Nynze glanced out the window, knowing she needed to make preparations for the ceremony soon. When it became clear Yellen would not or could not answer, she simply sighed, saying, "As long as you let your anger rule you, we will get nowhere so I will cut to the chase. If you wish to be part of this pack, I am willing to give you a chance. You will not and cannot be the pack leader of these wolves, of my pack, but if you assist me in finding mates for Ithil and Galad, help them start families, and you prove yourself worthy, then we can talk again about your role. But you still have much to learn." Shi held up her hand, already anticipating an argument, and smiled slightly. "Politics and diplomacy. Perhaps boring to you, but necessary for the pack, where we live, and their importance to those who are important, especially if you ever believed you could simply walk away with them."
"If you'd like, you can stay here and think on it for a few days, or if you know your answer, come join the rest of the pack at the ceremony tonight and make it official."
Yellen gives a low growl of seeming assent, then SNAPS at Shi's outstretched hand.
Shi calmly flicks her wrist and weaves a spell over Yellen's head.
Yellen jerks to a halt.
Shi pauses a moment then releases the spell.
"I do not charm those in my care, they are here willingly."
Yellen takes a deep inhale and then HOWLS at the ceiling before lowering her head and stepping back.
For a brief second, Shi was back at the bugbear keep. Behind her were her new pack: Anor, Ithil, and Galad. In front of her, poor Tinu was trying to hide his shivers of fear behind a defiant front, still not convinced she meant no harm.
Reaching into the pouch of supplies on her hip, most of which were meant for the ceremony, Shi'Nynze brought out a wrapped piece of meat. Technically, it was grounds of meat mashed together, something she once heard referred to as tartare: pieces of kills from the wolves, both tributes and a ceremonial feast. It took her a few tries to find some combination they liked, something to make the meal special and medicinally beneficial.
Glad she'd felt a need to make extras lately (the Zaurahel curse?), she set the wrapped patty of deer, rabbit, shavings of black walnut, pieces of chaga, and a hint of ginseng on the table near Yellen. She never took her eyes off Yellen, moving slowly but confidently so Yellen knew Shi wasn't trying to trick her, just as Shi had done with Tinu. While she did not have Anor, Ithil, and Galad behind her this time to help convince the one in front of her, they were very present in the gift that now sat between them.
"It will always be your choice."
Shi went and opened the front door, glad to see Thistle listened for once and had disappeared. Whether it was into the bushes to hide or back to prepare for the ceremony, it didn't matter. Shi turned towards the open, giving her own HOWL for her pack to hear, to know she was on her way back, before giving once last look towards Yellen.
Yellen gave a low growl. Then she paused, picked up the meat and gave it a deep sniff.
With a moody grunt and exhale she followed Shi out of the building and into the wood.
