She'd set up this pack. This pack worshiping the sun and honors the females in the pack. It wasn't like the males were unimportant, oh no. They had their jobs and the females had their own. It was just that Winterwind had it set up so the queen had more power than the king, and females were regarded highly, at least among the nobles. Among the common ranks in the pride, it was basically split down the middle. Anyone could be any rank.
Green eyes focused on the marshy, rocky land under her. She was high up on one of the taller rocks that surrounded her pack. She'd picked a fine land. Rich in water, rich in food. It had natural protection and was fairly out of the way of the main prides of lions and coalitions of everythinge else. She was content with her growing pack. Honestly, Winterwind couldn't have picked a better land for this.
Then she'd met her king. Her rock. He was there for her when she had her moments where she couldn't deal with the world. With her age, it seemed like it was happening more often than not. Honestly, she didn't want to think about the number of times she'd leaned against the bigger, darker male. He helped her, silently through the toughest times of getting the pack together. He was there when some of her grandbabies returned. He was there when some of the others had shown up. His sister had helped Winterwind a great deal, too. Sometimes all she needed was another female around who could just.... listen. Talk to, joke around with. As smart as she was, Winterwind wasn't as cold as her name said. She was warm at heart. She wanted to play sometimes, but how would that look?
Maybe that's why she wanted more pups. She wanted to play with them. She wanted to feel... needed by someone other than adults. She needed puppies. The pack needed puppies. Fresh blood was in the pack now. Most of them she liked, but one or two made her uneasy. There was one, Snow Flower, who she feared would eat them out of house and home. He ate everything. Bones, fur... Those were things that no one else in the pack would eat. He should have been named Bottomless Pit rather than Snow Flower. That name didn't suit him at all.
Then there were a few timid ones that had taken up the position of Artisan. She could live with the timid ones. That was more than fine. She just prayed they didn't get any.. suspicious characters around.
A blue blur caught her eye and she watched one of the timid ones hurry back into the saftey of the inner circle.Well now, why was he in such a rush? Frowning a little more, her tail thumped this way and that before shaking her. Time to go find out, she supposed.
Kitwana was making his way back from the encounter with the not so nice other wild dog. He looked behind him to make sure that he wasn't being followed. When he was fairly comfortable he wasn't, he raced toward the inner circle and to his little 'den'. Or that's what he hoped to have happened anyway.
He wished he hadn't found that wild dog. He wished he hadn't found that zebra. He wished he hadn't gone outside his den at all today! He didn't even gather his own supplies to make the things he did. With every paw step, came a pant. He wasn't panting hard now. If he could sweat, he would be dripping in it by now. It wasn't a too long way off, where he had found himself, but it was a longer trip than going out because he just wanted to get somewhere safe that he could whine and whimper about what a weakling he was. You know, like his den. His den was such a place he could do that.
Instead, when he made his way towards his den, he found the queen of the pack in his way. Blinking a few times, he let his ears flick this way and that before he bowed to her in a way and curled his tail between his legs further. "H-hello, Your Highness," he managed to squeak out. He was very timid, a very weak wild dog.
Winterwind nodded her head to him and took a comfortable position. She didn't want to seem intimidating. That's not at all the kind of queen she wanted to be. "Are you alright? I saw you hurrying back to the pack," she said, brows knitting. Was he injured? She didn't smell blood on him. Not his own, anyway. She smelled... some blood, as was apparent by the purple stains about his mouth.
She looked him over, still, getting up to circle him to make sure. Every member of the pack was her priority. She had to make sure they were all fit and healthy. "You seem to be uninjured. You weren't attacked, were you?"
"A-attacked? No ma'am... I had found a zebra," he said, stammering a bit with his talk. He really didn't want to say that he'd found the zebra, but she would question him about his stains if he didn't. At least, Kitwana thought so. "And..another wild dog came out and took it... He would have attacked me if I didn't give it to him, so..." He let out a slow whine. He'd let a perfectly good zebra go to waste.
"So... I gave it up and.. ran. He's close, so... if you go out, Your Highness, please... be careful."
She frowned upon hearing a not-so-friendly wild dog near her pack. It would definitely put her on alert. It was just one dog, yes, but one dog could corrupt the more innocent of minds. She would have to put extra guards on duty.
"Thank you for telling me," she said after a moment, sighing. "I'll see to it that the guards know and you'll be protected. Thank you for hunting, however." Winterwind offered a smile to the artisan at that. He didn't have to. He was just being kind. The hunting parties weren't too big for the size of pack she had managed to gather up. "Stay in the pride, however, for now, alright?"
When he nodded, she moved to nudge their foreheads together and wandered back towards her personal den. She would leave him to his own den. She had to share this news with the king and see what he thought about it. Either way, she would post extra guards along the borders.
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