Achilles, Achilles, just put down the bottle
don't listen to what you've consumed
By the time Achilles reached the meeting clearing in Sabertooth, his tears had since dried up on his face, thanks to the wind. He quietly swooped down with Iris’s corpse in tow, placing her down gently before tipping his head back with a howl. It was a call laced with tones of anger and grief, but with the simple message of the commencement of a pack meeting and for all members to come to the clearing. His crimson, leather, and chocolate stature remained stoic as he gently sat, spacing off as thoughts crossed his mind. He didn’t want to lose his family, which included all the members of Sabertooth. Achilles knew his impact on the lands. He could not bear to think about any of them dying. He wanted no more death, no more suffering. The alpha tried not to think about the fact that Hermes had brought them into this mess, he did not want to pinpoint blame. Because of that, Achilles was now certain he wanted Aeolus as next in line.
Speaking of the lad, Aeolus arrived rather quickly, skidding to a stop as he glided down and his ice blue eyes had landed on Iris. He had silently given a glance over to his father, who was still spacing out and said no words. The boy colored similarly to his own father felt some tears form at his eyes. He needed to know what happened, but he could wait for the rest of the pack to arrive. His eyes glanced up to see Hermes running over with some of his children, Bia, Frigg, and Peitho were their names, if he remembered correctly. He couldn’t forget Frigg, who was the only one without a sky pelt, but with fur too brown to have come from the Sabertooth lineage. He knew her father was Odin, prince of Tarben. Was Iris’s death an attack related to that? Aeolus could only ponder silently as Hermes also stopped dead in his tracks trying to comprehend Iris’s death, and on his face was etched a feeling of grief and guilt. Bia had let out a few words, ”Auntie Iris…” while the other two had remained silent, their eyes darting between their father and the corpse and eventually their mother, Aurora, when she would arrive.
Eryx had followed Pandora over, his lynx like figure also skidding to a stop at Iris’s limp, grey body. ”…why?” The boy had eventually muttered out looking to Achilles, who still spaced out, deep in thought and worry, even though his face, with an expression of mixed anger and grief, remained stone solid. ”Papa, why is…?” Eryx spoke again, looking back at his older sister’s corpse. When he realized he was not getting an answer, he sighed, laying down and placing his head in his paws as he waited for more members to arrive. Surely that was when his father would speak. Marius had arrived next, and Cosette surely had to be nearby. Little Antoinette had bounded her way over along with her father, excited to be apart of her first pack meeting, but when she rammed into her father, who was frozen in place, her eyes then glanced to the middle, where everyone was staring. A small, afraid gasp left her maw as she tucked behind Marius, who had sat down. He gently curled his tails around Antoinette, holding her in close and attempting to calm her as she shook fearfully. Marius himself could not process it either.
Apollo was likely the last royal sibling to saunter in, given he had no wings of his own, and he knew his standing to his parents, who did love him no doubt, but gave more attention to the others with wings. When he approached, words started to leave his maw. ”So, why are we-“ The metallic iron scent had reached his nares, and his steely eyes landed on Iris’s corpse. ”IRIS?!” He cried out, his walk turning into a short sprint as he approached her lifeless body. She understood him the most, as she also had no wings of her own. Apollo nudged her neck, seeing the bloody bite wound. His head snapped up to look at his father, still spacing out as Achilles’s eyes still laid on the corpse. ”Why is she dead?!” Apollo waited for a few seconds, and soon he realized he was not going to get an answer. At least, not yet. So he let out a huff and turned back to the circle, and if Misty was there, he’d approach her side, attempting to rest his head on hers. He couldn’t deal with this right now.
Achilles waited until everyone was there and when an uncomfortable silence loomed over them, he broke out of his trance and spoke, slowly lifting his head up to look at all the family and friends he had here. He hated the fact that after the war, some of them would not be here. The Sabertooth alpha slowly took in a deep breath before speaking. ”Tarben has instigated war. Phobus, their refugee that was supposed to stay in Tarben borders, killed Iris.” He gave time for everyone to drink in the reality of that statement, not replying to anyone, and once it was silent again, Achilles spoke once more. ”At dawn, we will be going to Proving Grounds for war against Tarben.” He then sighed, letting that sink in before he announced temporary rankings. ”Cosette and Aurora, as the acting Zetas, you are to stay here with the children. This includes Hermes and Aurora’s children, Cosette and Marius’s little ones, Pandora and I’s youngest four, and Remus and Artemis’s children. Given our location to the site of war, please keep your eyes on them. Over half of them are your children, so I imagine you should have no issues, but if you would feel safer with a third here, I can make arrangements.” He then looked to all of his members as he continued to speak. ”Leading the front lines will be me, Pandora, Remus, Artemis, Hermes, and Aeolus. Those left that can fly will be aerial combat, and the ones who can’t will be part of the back lines.” He waited once more before speaking again. ”From my understanding, we have advantage on flight, but they have many ice wielders. Additionally, many of their members are at least partly dire, so they individually are larger than us. It may require teamwork to take them down.”
Achilles looked back at Iris’s body, his next words much lower in pitch than his speech, but still audible. ”We did not reap innocent lives. They did, not once, but twice. We will avenge Iris and Lazarus.” He then moved forward to Iris’s corpse with the greyed out sky pelt. ”You have a few moments before I go bury her.” When everyone who wanted to say their goodbyes did, which included the three princes and young Bia, Achilles slowly lifted Iris’s corpse up and towards the graveyard that would likely become much larger as a result of this nasty, unnecessary war that could have been prevented, and if not that, solved with just a visit from the second sire of Aurora’s litter. The alpha arrived to Lazarus’s burial spot, where the grass was starting to grow over the site, and he placed Iris gently on top so that he could dig a spot next to the prior Theta’s. He dug aggressively, imagining his claws ripping into another’s chest, and when it was deep enough, he gently moved his daughter into the grave and covered her with the loose dirt. He then laid down at the base of the plot, feeling more hopeless than ever before, and cried in grief and fear.
of feeding and it's wholly untrue
Actions and thoughts and "Words."
| Sabertooth Alpha | Father of Ten | Peryton | Rosie
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