Alpha stood, dressed in full tribal garb, before the shamans. As Alpha's muscles bulged, Annie’s nostrils caught the pungent smell of insectoids’ blood coming from Alpha’s body. Attendants of Alpha draw countless words of prayers using the blood of insectoids upon the body of their leader, oversized skulls and bones hang from her neck and arms, hitting each other each time she moves her massive arms. Her hair was loose, covering her body like a cloak of crimson.
"Greetings sisters and greetings to all our kin and welcome to our guests." Alpha threw her arms up. For today’s Gathering, the entire pits were redecorated. Six pits were merged together, into one giant arena. Eighteen stones stood in the arena, one for each warlord. Seventeen figures stood on the stones, looking down on Alpha. Elegant and deadly Dragena, clad in her power armor, her head bare. Brutish Janine, carrying an axe over her shoulder, looking disinterested in her surroundings, her iron jaw covering her snout. Smiling Martyshkina, who suddenly sat at her stone, dangling her legs like a cub, her cloak thrown over her shoulders like a scarf. Valerye Foulsnout, standing at attention, her face hidden behind the helmet. Zero, clad in pitch-black power armor and a cloak. Ygrite, who stood yawning, toying with fangs coming from her arm. And all the others. The warlords have come together.
On the opposite side from them stood the shamans, sharing a single pedestal. Among them towered the form of Lacerated One, fully naked, save for a loincloth. Her wounds were flesh, her blood was painting the stone beneath her red. She stood with her arms crossed in a prayer. Only a few shamans joined this Gathering, most were busy protecting the villages across the Wastes and the Ravaged Lands. Yet even still, two dozen mighty forms surrounded Lacerated One. The chosen of the Spirits only moved to open her wounds from time to time, aside from that, she resembled a statue, standing in serenity and waiting for everyone to assemble. In days of old, it was Ravager who announced the Gathering and then stepped aside. With the blessed mother missing, the duty fell to Alpha.
The wolfkins assembled around the arena made of sand and stone, taking places on the wooden benches, placed on tribunes around the pit’s arena. Males sat side by side with wolf hags and no one baited an eye. The Gathering was a sacred time for the Wolf Tribe, all hostility was left behind on this day. Save for ritual challenges, no fighting was allowed during this time. On this day, both shamans and warlords could make proposals to each other, voting on how the Wolf Tribe should be changed. Several reporters were allowed inside, for the very first time in the history of the Wolf Tribe. Several honorable guests of the Tribe, Ieshua, Angoro, Kassandra, the massive black form of the captain Scorpio that took up one entire side of the building, were allowed as well. The captain brought several sets of documents with him, each filled with arguments and proposals. His first proposal was to ban pits, he even brought a research data that showed how negatively pits influence the younger generation... Upon hearing that he couldn’t make proposals, Scorpio simply fell into a half-sleep near one of the walls, watching over the Gathering through half-closed eyes. Captain Scorpio was somewhat of a welcome guest within the Tribe. Like the blue wyrm and the gold wyrm, Scorpio often abused his power of domination, but at least with the black wyrm, you knew for certain that he would leave your mind intact afterwards. That and Scorpio always helped warlords and shamans when they asked for aid, he was also a close friend of warlords Dragena and Valerye. The teacher was not here, despite the invitation given to him by Dragena. He went to give some lessons to the wolfkins of Janine’s pack. Hans and his family went for vacation in the Core Lands and will be missing for at least a month.
Annie noticed Virginia. The idiot actually came to her for help in preparation for the Gathering. Annie helped her to make sure that her crimson leather coat of the wolf hag was in pristine condition and that the rest of her clothes were up to par. Similar to the celebration of a New Year, two days before and after the Gathering all of the tribe try to act nice and friendly to each other. Dominations were forbidden during this time, and food was handed out aplenty to everyone. This was a time when old grievances were meant to be put to rest, at least temporarily, while the tribe contemplated what route they should take to the future. Thus, Annie tried her best to be friendly with everyone, even if it meant tolerating Virginia. A bronze medal was seen on Virginia’s chest. Virginia had other medals aplenty, but this simple medal, given to her for saving her first hostage from the clutches of raiders, was her true pride and joy, as Virginia admitted to Annie during the preparations for the Gathering. Annie herself was in a blue leather coat as well, underneath it she wore black trousers and a grey t-shirt. She decided against wearing any medals, instead she gave them all to the pack’s museum. Dragena saw no reason in showing off the trophies, and her wolf hags took after her.
Martyshkina noticed Kassandra with Hubert sitting nearby. The warlord jumped down and approached the couple, inviting the cub onto her arms. Kassandra allowed Hubert to approach the warlord, and Martyshkina threw him up in her arms, catching his laughing body with ease. She jumped back on the stone, sitting the cub on her knee and playing with him. Dragena glanced at her, and Martyshkina showed the tongue to the fellow warlord.
"Let the Gathering begin," Alpha threw a glance at Martyshkina but said nothing, "Warlords, shamans, let us hear your opinions about the future!" Alpha finished in a thunderous roar, jumping up on her stone and leaving the stone arena.
Ygrite jumped down and started walking to the center of the arena. Scarred One and Earless One jumped from the shaman’s side, joining behind the woman, clearly approving whatever she was going to say. Ygrite was dressed in a simple vest of a brown color and loose pants. The fabric of her clothes was pierced by the fangs in several places, the warlord took a few moments to gather air in her lungs and spread her arms, speaking in a hoarse voice: "Ya all know me and how much time I was knocked down and rise," Chuckles from the benches accompanied her words, and Ygrite smiled, "So ya gotta admit that I have seen a thing or two about the Tribe. And I’m telling ya, boys and girls, we are so spread out now! Our girls and boys are fighting whole countries away from their homes. Let’s face it, people, they need to have a way to speak with their families. I know, I know we are hardy people and all that, but who is here that doesn’t like to speak with her or his cubs?"
"Or with any cubs for that matter," Martyshkina said, throwing Hubert up and catching him up, "They are growing way too fast. Count me in. How much will it cost the Tribe?"
"Zero. No, not you, sis!" The wolfkins laughed at Ygrite’s joke, and Zero herself chuckled, "I mean that Wyrm Lord is ready to cover the expenses. Our liege just needs our permission to start building up the terminal stations in our villages. I say yay to that! Whadda ya say, dearest kin of mine?!"
"We support this proposal." Scarred One and Earless One spoke in unison from behind Ygrite's back.
"Agreed. This is needed." Lacerated One said in a honeyed voice, slicing across her shoulder with a claw. Annie noticed that Ieshua cracked his fists at this gesture of self-mutilation. The troll had been looking at Lacerated One since the start of the Gathering.
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The shamans voted as one, supporting Lacerated One. Alpha was the second warlord to support this decision. Zero voiced her support right after her. One by one all warlords agreed. The Net will be expanded over the lands of the Wolf Tribe. The moment Ygrite left the stage, Lacerated One jumped into the sand pit, spreading her blood around in an arc: "Dearest kin!" She almost singed, her body dancing across the sand pit. Annie heard how Ieshua was grinding his teeth upon seeing how one of the breasts of Lacerated was dangling on a thread of flesh. The face of the troll was calm as ever, despite his inner turmoil. Lacerated One stopped her ritual dance and addressed the crowd, "Bless you, one and all, kin and guests alike. Spirit of Loss demands that we reflect on our failures. And I learn of one recently. Our kin, this means you all, me included, are uneducated at large," She raised two claws up, silencing the grumbling of the crowd, "It is true! Few of us have school’s certificates. This must not stay. Wyrm Lord built schools around our villages, how about we send the young ones there mandatory?"
"But who will watch over the cusacks?" Martyshkina asked with worry.
"Bloody hell, I will fucking pay for the services of herders!" Scorpio raised his head, his long serpentine neck allowed him to tower over many wolfkins. His purple eyes looked at people before him, "Or better yet, I will ensure that the state will provide you with food. What is there even to think about here? It. Is. Free! Repeat after me, education is good, it offers new possibilities in life and on average prolongs the life."
"Dear guest, please be quiet." Alpha said strickly and Scorpio sighed deeply, resting his head on his arms.
"Dearest guest, work in the fields builds character," Lacerated One almost sang to the captain, before turning back to the wolfkins, "Kin of mine, how will you vote?"
"Against. Let the parents decide. Or the cubs. Imposing our will even in this will lead to tyranny." Martyshkina said and several warlords, along with the majority of the shamans, supported her. Only Alpha, Valerye, Zero, Janine, Scarred One, and Ygrite voted for this idea. Seeing that her idea was rejected, Lacerated One shrugged her shoulders, jumping back on the stone and assuming her praying position once more.
Zero jumped down next, asking to ban the pits. Her proposal was met with laughter, only Janine and Scarred One supported her idea. One after another, warlords and shamans were coming up with their ideas.
The one-armed male came to the edge of the pit’s arena, raising his remaining arm. Annie noticed that Sonya, the wolf hag of Janine’s pack, looked at this man with clear interest. Prior to this, the wolf hag was sitting, looking bored at the Gathering. The male stood calmly, ready to wait as long as it took for either the warlords or the shamans to notice him. Non-warlords and non-shamans had the right to ask for various things from the leadership of the tribe, yet, without backing from either shamans or warlords, their proposals were often rejected. Lacerated One saw the male, granted him a calm smile, before gesturing for one of the shamans to wait a bit more before making her proposal.
"Bless you, kin," Lacerated One said, gesturing to the sand, "Do you need assistance in taking the stage?"
"No, thank you, shaman," The man nimbly jumped down, walking toward the center of the arena, and bowed to each warlord and shaman in turn. Lacerated One, Zero, and Ygrite greeted him back, while Alpha simply snarled at him, prompting him to get to the point faster. The male straightened himself and started talking, "I came to you all on behalf of all the Crippled. Since our villages now have stone roads, new buildings, and electric lamps… Is it possible to allow the Crippled to work around the villages, maintaining all this in exchange for tokens and food? I asked the normies who came to our lands, and they are willing to teach us how to do it."
"You do not have enough food?" Dragena asked calmly.
"We have enough to survive." The male responded quickly.
"But not enough to thrive," Zero finished for him, and the male nodded quickly. The warlord turned to others, "I support this idea. We should also ask our liege to provide for the less fortunate members of our Tribe."
"But this would be insulting!" One of the shamans exploded in anger, puffing her chest to look bigger, "The duties around the village must be performed by the shamans! It is our job!"
"And we should care about this why?" Alpha asked, looking at the shaman and the woman backed down, "Listen. You work for free. They want tokens for their job to buy sweets for cubs and other stuff. There's nothing wrong with that. Either you work for tokens and give them to the Crippled, or let them do the job."
"But what about others, less fortunate people across the Ravaged Lands?" The man protested Zero’s addition to his idea, "We don’t need pity help. Send it to the ones in true need. We just want the right to work and…"
"Beat it," Alpha yawned, "Take what is yours and be happy. Yep, I am supporting his and Zero’s idea."
The warlords voted for this idea, while the shamans were split in half about this topic. Finally, Lacerated One voted for this idea, putting an end to the dispute between the shamans. The majority of the shamans were unhappy, feeling that they were failing in their duties to watch over the villages, while the man climbed out of the arena with a smile on his snout. He nearly fell, and Sonya grabbed him, helping him to climb up safely.
Eventually Scarred One took the arena, coughing in nervousness. The shamans looked at their sister calmly, the warlords waited patiently as well. In order to avoid grievances in the future, all propositions, however mad and crazy, must be heard and must be given some thought.
"Bless you, kin," Scarred One bowed to the wolfkins. She straightened herself up, pointing at Hubert in the paws of Martyshkina, "We originally named this young one as a defective, and he was cast out from the tribe. Yet you can see that he is fine now. We allow him to stay and to play with our cubs, yet he is not one of us. Shouldn’t we give him the right to be called a member of the Wolf Tribe back?"
"You know the laws." Lacerated One said coolly.
"But look at him! He is healthy!" Scarred One pleaded, looking at the faces around her. Annie nodded to her, approving the intent, if not the end goal. Hubert will live far happier life being away from the tribe.
"His mind is underdeveloped and damaged. If he rejoins the tribe, his fate is known to you." Lacerated One continued speaking in an icy tone, extending one arm and pointing a claw at the boy. Annie saw how Kassandra became tense at these words. Her hand slid to something underneath her coat.
"Point the claw in some other way, sis," Martyshkina smiled, putting a paw on the revolver on her waist. Janine slammed her axe’s head on the stone, looking at Lacerated One, her intent was clear. Martyshkina’s smile widened at this support, "Or we may accidently remove your claw."
"Did I do something bad?" Hubert asked, sensing how people around him became tense.
"Peace, sisters," Lacerated One retracted her claw and raised her paws up to relieve the tension, "The cub is safe and with the good mother. All is well. But he is meant for a normal life," She looked at Hubert, for a moment, her ruined and bloody facial features became soft, and she spoke with a gentle and soothing voice, "All is okay, little one. You did nothing wrong, nothing at all. Have fun and live a long and happy life. If you ever need help, just call me, and I swear, I will come to your aid."
"Then we agree upon this." Janine said calmly, in a slightly metal voice. Martyshkina jumped from the stones, giving Hubert back to his mother, while the warlords rejected the idea of Scarred One. The shamans also refused to support this proposal, and Scarred One, her shoulders hung low, jumped back. Lacerated One threw a glance at her before pressing a bloody finger to the forehead of the fellow shaman, filling the body of Scarred One with energetic feeling. That too was a way of the Wolf Tribe during the Gathering. Aggression and depression must take a backseat on this day, everyone must try to work out their differences. Such was the will of the blessed mother.