Rubbing Salt Into The Wound || Open;; BLIZZARDCLAN Demanding Rhaenyra

Despite being quite green to the clan scene, Cyanide was ecstatic to jump into the role of official member. And part of that was probably addressing those who showed up at the border. Probably.

Regardless of whether or not they knew anything about the current clan affairs, which they didn't, the kitsune decided to have a bit of fun. They would think of it as an initiation into the Veil. Cyanide trotted with a bounce in their step right up to the visitor, nose pointed up to meet the other's. "Howdy! I can talk if you'd like, I can talk quite a bit. Or if you prefer singing I know four and a half sea shanties and also seven poems that I can recite in a melodic tone."

Scent of BlizzardClan and along with a loud voice, feminine tone at that brought the deputy forth slowly as she lingered out from the shadows of the pines. What was it this time, was BlizzardClan here to spread more faulty lies of them being child-murders and more? The lilac snowshoe finds herself at the border in a decent amount of time after heading Kady's call, her soft features gentle as ever as an angel came down from the Heavens to bless her. The expecting female tilts her head slightly for a second at the BlizzardClan Vice-Leader before speaking up.

"Yes? What do you need?"

Though, there had been no alerts of someone named Rhaenyra captured. Especially a child being murdered, they did have strict rules that children of the age six and below were not to be harmed: no matter what. Gosh, the deputy was tired of this pettiness with BlizzardClan and Exiles and all that her tired body was craved for a sweet, deep rest at the moment. Nevertheless, maybe after finding the purpose of Kady's intentions on their border: she could go cuddle with her dear beloved, Lastbastion to keep warm from this bone-chilling weather.

Ah, yes, her favorite thing: BlizzardClanners on her border. The sleek black smoke approached after her girlfriend and the buoyant Cyanide, casting the exuberant kitsune a look of brief amusement before focusing her faded-honey eyes on Kady, her apprehension and agitation visible. "Lastbastion here, one of the leaders. Proceed." she introduced herself as swiftly as possible, wanting to get this over with, appreciative at least of the large feline's apparent relative level-headedness.

Three Veilers, so far. The first Veiler seemed a little bit new to the group, since they didn't seem to know what was going on between the two groups. Noreidimir and Lastbastion were more familiar faces, especially seeing that the latter was the one who caused the war in the first place. At least this wasn't the rabid, raving Soundcheck.

"A Veiler kidnapped a BlizzardClanner and murdered a baby in the process," Aleksei began. "We're here to retrieve the captive and seek punishment for the child killer." The dragon stood by his vice leader, his mood grim.

The temperature around the are dropped drastically when the teen slowly fell from the sky, her wings outstretched with ice clinging to the ends of her feathers like jewels. Her cold gaze was on the leader of this place, someone that would allow for a child murderer to live among them. And if they did not give back her sister then she would ravage them and go through each and every one of them till she found the one responsible and deal with them herself. Oh, she hoped and begged that he would show his face here right now. For she would hold nothing back in sinking her claws into his body. Softly she landed the mere touch of her paws against the ground spreading a lattice work of ice across the ground before she pulled her wings against her body. Her gaze briefly looked to Aleksei before she then looked to Lastbastion, eyes frigid and voice just as cold as she allowed a slow and chilling breath to leave her body. "I want my sister back. And I want justice for the child I never got to know, for the aunt I never got to be."

what in the hell did they want? they clearly were confused, couldn’t they see that? "go and fuck with the exiles, they’re the ones who have members raking children, our children from our territory before the age of 6 months. we have rules, we’d never take a chils that young or kill them for that matter. you’re wasting your time here. go fuck with the exiles." he mused quite angrily, coming to stand beside nore and last, granting his unfamiliar clanmate a nod of greeting.

Her dark ears are erect upon her skull, her oceanic hued gaze drifting to Aleksei as he arrives along Kady. His words bring confusion to the deputy, glancing at her beloved in confusion: her fur ruffling up at the fact of someone murdering a child. "There hasn't been any captures here recently, unless someone's done this in the private. I'm always around the camp and I haven't seen any captured members from any clan come in." It was obvious by the facial expression of Noreidimir which quickly removed from it's once known softness to one of great confusion as she answers the leader's first question.

"Secondly, we do not allow any harm to children. Anyone who harms a child will receive a punishment, we do not condone child murders or sexual crimes here in our home." Though soon as Damek arrives, she shoots the mountain lion a glare to hush his mouth before shaking her head in response. "I'm truly stumped, I'm sorry for your loss but the only thing I can think of was someone bringing a child from somewhere saying they were apprehending a kidnapper or something? Otherwise than that, we have our rules and harming dear children are not one."

/sfnjfw me and last cant find anyone who captured rhae as thread public or private or killed a child?? when did this happen we looked everywhere

A look of grimness settled onto her features and she blew out a breath, visible disappointment crawling across her face - both at hearing Aleksei's voice and at the news he brought. She did not attempt to hide it and instead thought for a few long moments, picking through her brain and trying to sort through the suddenly, writhing fury. One of her members had killed a child? She wouldn't stand for that. The capture was, whatever, irrelevant - but the murder of a child, no, no, she wouldn't have it..."Good God. Alright, well...I'll need more information." she began, speaking carefully, as if each word was carefully chosen - which it was. Her tone was non-hostile, though sharp with poorly suppressed wrath - which became very poorly suppressed as Damek stormed on the scene. "Damek! Be quiet." ordered the Shadowkeeper, in a fashion that sounded as though she was suddenly developing a headache. "I think they'd only be here if they were sure of what evidence was left. They don't like us any more than we like them; they wouldn't be here, for, fun, whatever. They're not here to fight, and you shouldn't be, either." she didn't need this hostility, she needed to think, to remember - how could she have missed this?

Lastbastion ignored the winged healer's and instead focused on Aleksei, lips pursed as she let Nore speak. At least she wasn't being hostile, thank goodness. She focused again on the leader of BlizzardClan. "I'm sorry for my member's aggression, though I'm sure you get it. Wartime tempers, and all that. Now. My Deputy," she pointed at Nore, "speaks the truth. We have had no public returns of BlizzardClanners - whoever captured the member did it independently, and kept it private." Bast offered a grim smile. "And as I'm sure you know, AntiClans make a big fuss of captures. Whoever took your member probably knew we wouldn't approve of the murder, and so didn't inform the group at large. I myself had no knowledge of this." the Shadowkeeper rocked back and forth on her paws, not anxiously, but contemplatively, absently...then slower, and slower, as recollection trickled in. "Wait a moment."

She remembered. She remembered. She remembered the voice, that voice she disliked so much but had nonetheless remembered - Khan, Khan bringing back a child, saying he apprehended a kidnapper, Khan bloodied, Khan saying "BlizzardClan will be back, no doubt about it," ...yes, she remembered. "By any chance," began Bast, in a bitter fashion, "was the child killed and/or the member captured a dragon in species? Because I've just remembered something. We had a member of ours - and I'll be honest with you, and say that he is a direwolf named Khan - return a few weeks ago. He was a little dinged up, and he had a dragon chick with him. That's it. The kid was alive, and he had no one else with him. I asked him about it, and he said he had apprehended a kidnapper. I didn't know what that meant. But the kid was fine, and, of course, I trust my members. He said BlizzardClan would be upset about it; I thought maybe it was just because you all take a real interest in the justice side of things, and you'd be upset about someone getting attacked. I thought he witnessed something, saw an abandoned kid, or whatever."

The black smoke lashed her tail, recalling that moment, the claw-marks on the Harbringer's face, his cagey responses... "I had no idea he did this; if, indeed he did, though I suppose...it seems like it couldn't be a coincidence, particularly if your member was a dragon. Anyways - I haven't seen him in weeks; in fact, I think that was the last time I saw him, him or the dragon chick." Lastbastion twitched her ears and let out a long sigh, suddenly quite wearied by all of this. "I am sorry for whatever he did, or another Veiler did - though I maintain that he might be innocent, or it might have been a rogue with scent manipulation. But if Khan was responsible for this, I am sorry. I do not and never have condoned the capture or injury of children. And I don't feel the need to let this spiral, so: I'll invite you, Aleksei, and a few members of your choice to come and comb through our land. Look for your missing member. Look for the dragon chick. Look for the direwolf called Khan. Look wherever you wish, and I'll help, if you like. Because I truly had no idea any of this happened; nor have I seen him again."

What else could they want from her? Oh, yes..."And if we find him, and if he confesses...I'll exile him, for the killing of a child. Even an enemy child." her voice was steady, and she did not seem reluctant as she spoke. "I do not condone such behavior, and I never will. So if, in the end, that's how it shakes out, and one of my members confesses: then rest assured they'll be exiled. Afterwards, if you want to punish them yourself, well...they won't be one of my members any more. I do not house killers of children."

"There was another child? Are you telling me right now that not only did one of your members kill a baby, but he abducted one of my sister's kids along with her?" Breath like frigid gales left her muzzle, the heavy air leaking down from her slightly parted jaws as her pale colored eyes narrowed upon the leader who had spoken. It was a rhetorical question and didn't need an answer to it since the information had already been given to them about this Khan. She hated the fact that she continued to put ifs in it as if there was a shred of doubt that this direwolf hadn't actually committed the crime of taking her sister and a baby chick from Blizzardclan. She was already beyond consoling especially because of the fool that had first showed up and decided to be rather rude to them. This didn't have anything to do with him and she didn't know why he was here in the first place. Her cold gaze cut to the male for a moment and she almost felt like baring her teeth toward him, a meaningful and threatening gesture. But the princess kept her poise as best she could as she listened though she flared out her wings to readjust them and attempt to not ruffle them. The more she spoke the more irritated she became and then she glanced at Kady who was confirming the fact that the baby was indeed a dragon "My sister has a dragon body that is correct but she looks similar to me. She had a nest of eggs that she was housing underneath a large tree's roots. The smell of Shadow Veil was evident, there was blood all over her nest and den. Eggs smashed and a dead baby dragon was left in the wake of the aftermath. I will say this and it isn't a threat it is a promise. If I find Khan you will not have to worry about exiling him. My family means everything to me and the fact that he did this will end with his own life. One for the other."

The brute was late, but he at least bothered to show up. Settling at the back and watching. They ether gave back the Blizzardclanners or her destroyed everything he could until he got them. Though, it would seem, he came in time to hear them threatened by Val. Or at least this Khan fellow.

speaking | thinking

"I doubt you would lie, Kady. A child's murder is something not to joke about... as my beloved said, you're allowed to investigate camp and if anyone questions just say you had permission." The deputy takes a soft sigh, the harsh reality that someone in the right mind would actually hurt a child? If they were aware of this, Khan would've been long gone and exiled from the lands of the Veil. And where was he to this day, it was a mystery as she personally hasn't seen the direwolf in quite a while in fact.

The deputy then turns her oceanic gaze to the pink colored medic, as she nods in response before shrugging her shoulders. "I haven't seen Khan in a while, I don't know if he still is in the Veil or left without notice. I'm sorry that you have to go through that, but I wish you the best of the luck of finding your sister and her missing child." Lastbastion and herself were expecting kittens within the next few weeks, but if someone hurt one of her babies? They'll be lucky enough to escape with their life, if she was in control of it.

So, the BlizzardClanners were here? At last. He'd thought that they hadn't discovered the mess he'd left behind while working on his own personal projects, but that was proven wrong today. Another thing that was proven wrong was the fact that his leadership was consistent.

"You don't need to find me. I'm here," he called boldly, frigid gaze on both the BlizzardClanners and Veilers. Knowing how quick the Veil leader was to throw her own members to the rabid masses with no regard for any sort of justice, he was glad he sent the child away from the Veil for a time being with his brother. The dire wolf's muzzle curled into a slight growl as he cast his gaze from his leader to the BlizzardClanners.

"Soundcheck gave sanction to kill any BlizzardClanner on sight and now you're saying that because I acted on his orders, killing BlizzardClanners as he ordered, I'm going to be punished for it?" he stated, a hint of disbelief in his voice. His visage hardened, ears flattening back against his skull as icy eyes slitted with rage and disgust. Of course, she was quick to punish others when she was left unscathed by her own crime. "I was following the leader's orders, and is the leader's orders not law? I was abiding the law when I went to BlizzardClan that day, and under any other circumstances, I would not have done that."

Valaerya's hostility was not unnoticed by him and her threats of his death did not scare him. The dire wolf's eyes swept from Lastbastion to the BlizzardClan medic, as if challenging her.

As Khan came forth, Noreidimir glances at the direwolf and her soft oceanic gaze hardens. "If you do know our laws, it is obvious that even under Soundcheck's rule: we never accepted the tolerance of harming a child, Khan. A child, someone that could hardly defend themselves." The expecting deputy's coat begin to bristle on the ends, her face becoming stone hard that just because Soundcheck had said: 'any Blizzardclanner' that that meant children. Soundcheck loved children, orphans and his own. So why would he ever want a child to be killed, even one in the shell of warmth?

"Soundcheck loved children, and even went out his way to adopt orphans without families. Harming anyone six months or older has always been a rule for the Veil, Khan. While we do know that the leader's word is law, there is also other rules."

Too much conversation, too much politics. She was disquieted by the reminder that she had not asked for this, nor had she earned it in the traditional sense - and with a great surge of bitterness she dwelt on Yuuki's absence. This was supposed to be a co-leadership. Where was he? Why was he not defending her in this, against the threats of the victim's sister, against the jabbering complaints of Khan (so familiar to her, as he had similarly complained about her own actions without fully understanding them)? The black smoke rolled her shoulders back, nodding briefly to Kady in acknowledgement of the Vice-Leader's words and ignoring Valaerya, instead choosing to focus on the newly-arrived cause of this mess. Her light yellow eyes were sharp as she studied the white-furred canine, finding herself more irritated than anything else: irritated at how he was oversimplifying the situation, irritated at the fact that she had to deal with this, alone...at least Nore was here, and helping. She flashed her Shaderunner a look of gratitude and then spoke herself, her voice flat with finality and dispassionate with sudden weariness.

"Noreidimir is right. It is made clear in our laws that children are not to be harmed, and it has been that way since before Soundcheck, and during his reign. Soundcheck never made any suggestion of changing that law; his attitude toward children was indeed caring, but even if it wasn't, our laws were never altered. If you had merely captured an adult enemy, or killed her, or somesuch thing - fine. That's what Soundcheck was speaking of, what is obvious in our Clan laws. But there was no suggestion that harming children would be permissible. Period. Khan, you have confessed to the murder of the child. This is in violation of the laws of Shadow Veil. You have never seemed happy here, anyways, so rejoice: I relieve you of the burden of membership. You are exiled."

Having issued this declaration, the smoke-and-ink feline took a breath, predicting with bitter confidence that she would see him again, or catch his scent - perhaps he'd join an enemy Clan, or capture her members, or simply prey upon her...she suspected that he was the sort to carry a grudge. But that was fine with her: she did, too, and she had not forgotten the way he had so loudly objected to Soundcheck's treatment of Lindy, and to Winter's treatment of Lastbastion's own self. "Khan, I advise you to return your captive to her Clanmates; but naturally, you don't need to follow my authority." she mrowed, feeling at least some relief that he would no longer be part of her Clan - it felt a bit like purging something unhealthy from one's system. "But perhaps you'll obey the authority of the BlizzardClanners' hungry mouths and teeth." she nodded to Valaerya, Kady, and company, whisking her tail back and forth. "As for you, BlizzardClanners: do what you will with this exile. My offer of searching the territory still stands, if he refuses to hand her over: I want nothing more to do with any of this business."

Ah, it seemed that the Veil's role of raving idiot had been filled by someone else after Soundcheck's disappearance. Aleksei simply ignored him as the others spoke.

His eye narrowed slightly at Noreidimir's response, but as Lastbastion spoke, Aleksei would turn his attention towards her. The offer that Lastbastion proposed was good politics, though it wouldn't do much to alleviate his own personal stress. Kady and Valaerya finished explaining what the BlizzardClaners had witnessed, and Aleksei glanced over at his grand-niece as she threatened death on the criminal.

"BlizzardClan will accept that offer, Lastbastion," Aleksei agreed finally, giving the Veil leader a nod of agreement. However, as the new arrival came and brashly admitted to murdering Rhaenyra's child, Aleksei felt his throat go hot with flames and fury. There was anger at this murderer followed by anger at the Veil in general for causing all this needless bloodshed with their contradictory ways. All this talk of laws, but the Veil had proven time and time again that they only enforced them as they saw fit. It was all so avoidable--but the Veil had proved that their own rules lacked real meaning and the bodycount was piling.

It took a supreme amount of effort to keep his voice level. "Where is Rhaenyra and the child?"

"When did Soundcheck change the definition of 'any,' too? And I know the Veil's laws better than you all do, apparently," Khan snapped back at the Veilers, contemptuously. "Where was Lastbastion's punishment when she took that BlizzardClanner? What happened to that rule? Was I the only Veiler who didn't like the fact that this Schweinehure didn't even receive a slap on the wrist, while someone else who did the same thing was handed over to the enemy?" Derision dripped from his voice like venom at this injustice to himself.

"Get your head out of your assholes. The Veil is a cesspit of lies and despotism. I'm glad to be done with this scheisse."

If they thought that he was handing over what was his, they were wrong. He looked to Lastbastion and then to Aleksei and his next words were a snarl directed at the BlizzardClan leader. "Fuck off, Hurensohn. You'll never see either of them ever again."

His parting shot was to the Veilers, specifically Noreidimir and Lastbastion, the happy couple. "Keep your guard up, because I swear I'll rip your baby piglets out and make her eat them," he coldly stated as he began to leave. "How's that for child-murdering?"

On and on they went as if their words mattered because in the end they were nothing more than mere steppingstones to what she wanted and what she had planned. She could care less about Shadow Veil and their hypocrisy was very near disgusting. Her cold gaze watched on with nary a care for their presence here and once the one who she had been waiting for to arrive showed up she watched with a frigid and cold vengeance lurking in her eyes. Her wings shifted and rustled, clinking against the ice that coated her feathers just thinly so. She could feel her claws curling and cracking the ice that had already begun to spread slowly at first but more rapidly now that her sister's kidnapper was here, the child murderer. "I would very much appreciate it if you could be quiet now." She spoke her gaze slowly turning to look at Lastbastion. "I've given you enough time to let you pretend as if you are in charge of the situation. But let's be honest here, I wouldn't remotely allow myself to follow the instructions and hypocritical words of a leader who spouts about following the rules but is okay with attacking a neutral and capturing one of our members, no matter how much I dislike her, and causing the mess we are in currently." Her gaze was almost venomous as she looked at the Shadow Veil leader. The exiling didn't matter, not by a long shot and it was still a Veiler that had done this. Simply telling him that he was no longer a permitted member was upon deaf ears as the princess stepped forward. Khan. This was the male that had done this and she wouldn't allow her chance to right his wrongs to slip from her.

He had taken her family from her, Alekesi and her sister was all she had left and now she had nieces and nephews, one of which who would never see the world. The Veil was a cruel place, crueler than what she had formerly believed. A part of her hoped that they would perish in some holy fire that would swallow them up. "You..." She began slowly and purposefully as she took another step forward then, shifting over the border with a neutral expression on her face. "You won't be leaving here alive. I'm making this perfectly clear because you go against my family, you go against me. I have no quarrels with going up against a full clan to get to anyone that thinks they can get away with harming those that I love." A killer she could be and a killer she was going to be today as cold air began to slowly slip down her form in gentle opaque waves. Her breath was too heavy to lift up into the air from the cold temperatures and suddenly she lunged, he would know and remember if he ever came back to never turn his back on her. Snapping her jaws around the canine's throat and send freezing cold into his body to slowly freeze his body solid, blood and all from the contact of her own. With her body pressed against his she would then forcibly shove with her back hind legs to knock his body hard against the ground, shattering it into pieces of frozen meat and limbs his head rolling across the ground.

-- permission to powerplay was given

Aleksei accepted her offer: good. Lastbastion flicked her ear in acknowledgement of his acquiescence, glad at least that he hadn't decided to spin this into something greater than it was. The black smoke watched as he demanded an answer out of Khan, and turned to face the dire wolf, curiosity now clear in her lemon-yellow eyes: would he give in, recognizing that he was now surrounded on both sides? Or will he - oh, yep, yep, he's lashing out. Yippee. Suppose it would be too much to ask him to snuff out that giant dude ego. "You should get some new lines, Khan." offered the Shadowkeeper, mildly, recalling his earlier objections: he clearly was unable or unwilling to perceive the difference between herself and Lindy, refusing to acknowledge the nuance of the circumstances, which was fine by her. She didn't especially care what he thought of her - and besides. She hadn't expected him to be friendly after she'd kicked him out.

His threat upon her and Nore brought her almond-shaped eyes into thin slits and she did not grace him with a reply, instead stepping swiftly between the rows of unfamiliar faces at the border and her fiancee. Not, as one might expect, because of Khan's violent rhetoric - but because ice was growing beneath Valaerya's claws, and there was a hum of danger in the air. Lastbastion listened without emotion to the female's complaints, not surprised that the BlizzardClanner was harping on about the evil ways of AntiClans - she had seen it many times before, but unlike her predecessor, she did not respond to it, simply nodding and offering a tired half-grin. Different strokes for different folks. thought the Patriot, observing as the medic monologued at Khan, and then threw herself at the former Veiler.

The killing was quick and resplendent with the shine and gleam of ice, and the white-whiskered feline grumbled in slight pain as small fragments of ice nipped at her limbs, shards from the immense shattering that had just occurred. Lastbastion watched Khan's head as it skittered away from them, and swallowed back her burgeoning sense of awed disgust. "Revenge does indeed appear to be best served cold." oh, she couldn't help it - she was a fan of terrible jokes, and this one was just too perfect. She roved her light daffodil eyes over the onlookers and said, "Sorry to hear about your members. I'm afraid to say he probably kept his word, but again, you can look for them - or their remains."

Lastbastion took in a deep breath. Shifted from side to side. Let her paws sink into the moss, let the scent of pine raise and settle about her, that familiar spicy sweetness. And then she spoke, again, fulfilling a desire she'd wanted to fulfill a long, long time ago. The Shadowkeeper stepped away from Noreidimir and her other Clanmates and focused on the Leader of BlizzardClan, her shoulders set, her expression clear. "Aleksei. I know you remember coming to our borders to ask for your member Leifsdottir. I know you remember getting her back, and Winterdoomsday refusing to hand over the member responsible - me, of course." that surely wouldn't be news to anyone. "What you may not know is that, while that was happening, I was in fact telepathically asking - begging, even - Winterdoomsday to acquiesce, and hand me over. You don't have to believe that. I know it sounds very convenient, and honestly I'm not sure if I'd believe it; but it is true."

She wouldn't lie about that, if only because it would've been simpler to keep her mouth shut rather than lie. But she was in this now: it was time to bring an end to this war she'd started. "Now that I'm in a position to make that decision, I'd like to go back, and say: yes. Yes, you may have the member responsible. I hope and assume that, since the fighting has gone back and forth, you will allow this to boil down to its original mistake. Which was mine. No one else's. Winter thought she hadn't been clear enough - which is reasonable, and which I incidentally agree with - but you clearly don't." the mother of two gave a wry smile, hoping to wipe the traces of apprehension from her expression. "And your opinion is what matters. I don't intend to have the Veil bow to BlizzardClan; but I will. I want this war to stop. And since I caused it, I'd like to accompany you back to your camp, where you can do as you please to me - for my crimes, and for any others you want to assign to us. I'll carry it all, provided that you call off our war, and agree to a ceasefire, if not a neutrality."

She hoped that he would agree to this; she wanted, with a longing near desperation, for this war to stop. They were capable of fighting two at once, but they surely didn't need to. She owed her Clan this.