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Aiden peeked out through the small hole near the barred entrance of the massive burrow he and his people resided in. He glared as one of the violent undead outside tore up even more of the crops his people had toiled over for the past year. The bear inside of him rumbled, magnifying the displeasure he felt. Even the hare was expressing its annoyance. But all three souls where wise enough to know not to go out just yet. All Spirits day was supposed to be over. But it had yet to end. It was putting some of his people on edge. However, his worry was captured by a soul individual by the name of Rose. She had yet to get back. He could only hope that she had been able to find shelter and safety before all of this had started. He itched to get out and find her.
"Aiden?" Blue eyes left the peek hole and turned to look over at the Beta who wished for his attention. He was a dark haired man, a bit shorter than Aiden with striking green eyes.
"Keep watch for a while longer, don't unbar the doors unless you see Rose." Aiden said before he pushed away from the bit of wall he had been taking up.
"Send a runner if anything changes outside." He finished off, beginning to walk by the other man, patting him on the shoulder. "
Keep up the good work folks." He nodded at the guardians clustered around the beta he had put in charge of this shift for the East door. Aiden began to head down the dimly lit tunnel.
The underground city, simply referred to as The Burrow by most, was expansive. It was easily the size of a small town from before the war and covered just as much space if not a tad more. It was all underground and made up of connecting tunnels and chambers. It was where he and his clan called home. There were four exits, one named after the direction it faced. Where those tunnels all met had become the town center and was one of the largest chambers. Even though it was underground, Aiden was proud to say that it wasn't claustrophobic, there was plenty space for his people and the underground crops that were kept in the greenhouse chambers just in case their crops where destroyed. People had their own series of chambers that they made their homes in. There were also chambers that where given functions, such as the healing chambers, the prayer chambers, and other like buildings one would have found in communities. The place they'd chosen to build had three underground springs, and then after the building had begun they'd found two more. Giving them five springs to water the city in addition to the river that flowed not too far away that they used for irrigation. All in all, it was a pretty sound city for being underground.
His clan was large in numbers. Aiden blamed the prolific nature of most of the animals they had melded with. Seriously. Rabbits, mice, and other rodents seemed to produce a lot of offspring fairly often. And his clan was composed of these peoples. It was odd for there to be only one child per couple in his clan. But they were fairly sensible folk and weren't overly hard to manage most of the time. Unless they were scared, that was perhaps the most difficult. But the procedures they kept in place for emergencies soothed most of them he'd come to find in the last few years. Of course, there were a disciplinary issues, as was common in this large a batch of people. But between him and his betas they were often kept up with. There were also some of them who still feared Aiden himself, which hurt the leader, but he understood and tried not hold it to them. The man even blamed himself rather than them. He tried to be soft and sweet, more so around those he knew feared him.
Aidens mind switched over to the current procedure, directing his thoughts away from a subject that would distract him from being pragmatic. Instead, he traced the shifts. He had a whomping nine betas in his clan. In this scenario, there were two shifts of guardians that kept watch at the doors and each shift was led by one of his betas. That took up eight of his strongest. Then he and Annalise, spent the entire time patrolling the populace itself, with Aiden bouncing between the doors to check up on those stationed there. Aiden made sure his partner slept. But he himself often refused to until things had calmed down. The tension in the air usually kept him wired and awake enough that it didn't bother him until said tension died down.
Aiden found himself wandering towards the healing chamber, set on checking in on Adi, one of the few of his clan who disliked being underground. However before he could there was a deep pulling from his center and then an urge to leave. His bear snarled, urging the man to turn right back around and burst through the door that he'd just left before making a beeline to the Chroi. Tigers call echoed around his mind. His hare also taking up the cry. Two of the three clattering around in his mind to go. He had to GO.
"
Not yet, easy" He growled aloud to himself as he grabbed at his throbbing temples. It was almost as if the two beasts where literally banging around the inside of his cranium. Aiden blindly reached out and snagged someone's arm as they passed him.
"
All Meeting. Now." He snapped a bit, not noticing who it was he had grabbed only that he had grabbed them and delivered the message. He didn't hear the compliance or notice where the individual had scurried off to as he focused on pushing through to the two beasts in his head that they had to take care of the clan first before they could go anywhere. It took some time, how much the man wasn't quite sure. But finally, the rabbit quieted some, seeing the wisdom of the situation. That was all Aiden needed, pushing the bear back to snarl and stomp at the corner of his mind until it to would quiet enough with the promise to leave as soon as the clan was cared for.
When he managed to get to the Center, it was to find a good portion of his clan gathered and talking amongst themselves as he made his way, head still throbbing towards the small platform at the front of the room. His face must've expressed the lack of patience he held, as those who saw him didn't say anything, just stepped out of his way. A few who looked like they had wanted to say something found their mouths closing with a snap.
Aiden eventually found his way to the platform and for a brief moment, his eyes met Annalise's before they both stepped up and onto the raised flooring and turned to look at the group as a whole. By now it looked like the entirety of the clan had gathered. The brunette cleared his throat.
"I have been called to the Chroi." He started without preamble. A low murmur of chatter began, Aiden could feel the spike in fear amongst the group. He cleared his throat, tensing his legs to resist the urge to pace. He was anxious and every nerve in him called out to begin to move. "
I need to know if anyone else has heard the call." He continued before flashing a brilliant smile and taking a moment before sending out a wave of calm….or trying to. It had never been the best of his abilities. However, the smile was probably the most effective of his attempts. "
Don't worry, we have a protocol for this. Annalise?" he turned to look at the blonde woman at his side before she nodded and Aiden turned to look back at the crowd. "
Annalise will take over until I return. We'll figure out how else to handle this after we have a total of people who will be coming with me and who all will be staying." He paused for a moment, eyes meeting several individuals within the crowd, a small smile still in place. "Don't worry, we'll all be fine. Just remember the protocols and stay calm. Don't go outside until the shambles have returned to peace. Stay strong." He paused one last time. "
I have faith in all of you. Now, for those who have received the call, come find me in the Crystal Chamber. Betas, those of you who are off shift, come with me please, we have a few things to hammer out before I take off. If no one has any questions, that's all I needed to say." Aiden however lingered for a few moments, answering questions and reassuring worries as they came to him. After the majority of the clan was filtered off, the leader took off towards the very chamber he had designated.
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It had been a long, long All Spirit's Day for the omega. It hadn't been too bad when it first began, but by that afternoon she'd taken to huddling in a corner away from a good portion of the pack. She had come to understand her abilities as an omega, and the backlash that came up whenever a shambler appeared. So the small woman had isolated herself, hoping to draw some of that backlash away from the pack. But as she did so, it only made her fear worse. By the time night had fallen she'd all but turned into a small ball of human, leather, and lace in the corner. Her nails digging into her shoulders as she hid her face behind her knees and waited. Part of her clung to the bond between her and Ulric, but part of her tried not to. But the fear ate away at her and she couldn't help the tiny hold she kept with the stronger wolf.
With every shriek of pain that made its way to her ears from the outside, she'd tense and swallow a small whimper that wanted to escape. The night had been hell. And that hell hadn't eased with the first drop of sunlight, no. It had continued, seemingly getting worse as it happened. In Keona's frantic state, she could only picture their hiding spot surrounded by the undead monsters outside. Her eyes burned with the desire to cry but she swallowed that to. Some spark of pride kept her from giving into the urge for tears. She was the omega of the wolf clan. Shamblers wouldn't make her cry anymore. They wouldn't.
When the call came, Keona felt it, and then she felt the echo of it through her bond with Ulric. For the briefest moment, all terror was erased with the urge to go and the brunette unballed and came to her feet, silvery eyes focused on the door behind Ulric. She had to go. She was being called. She took a diminutive step towards the exist before another shriek found her ears and the fear crashed into her all over again and she froze midstep, caught between the urge to obey and flee. Her alphas voice was her call back to reality as the two primal urges clashed, and slowly, silvery orbs turned to lock on him. Keona swallowed as she turned her entire focus to him, grabbing at the bond like it was a lifeline. The meaning of his words where lost on her, but the sound of them was soothing, like they always had been to the omega all throughout her life. For a moment, her wolf quieted and thought came back to her. The fear still waged its war with her heart but the urge to leave NOW disappeared. Dragon's call was certainly hard to ignore, but the bond with Ulric kept her sane, he was her alpha, not Dragon. So she focused on that link between their souls. But between the call and the strength pouring from Ulric, she found the fear to not be quite as crippling, almost overwhelmed by the presence of the two alphas.
Keona took a small step closer to the pack, eyes still not leaving Ulrics before she froze. No, she was still scared, she shouldn't get any closer to the clan, and she didn't need to add her own fear to what they felt. So she simply waved a bit from behind the mass of canines to indicate that she'd heard it, before she stepped back away from the bulk of clan again. Although, she did not return to her corner just yet, nor did she remove her eyes from her alpha. But within her she let up on her hold of their link, letting the fear back in so that he could focus on the group and not just her. Letting the visual connection remain as she eased up her death grip on the bond.
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A mere five hours after the Risen had once more become a force to be reckoned with, the Tiger clan finally began to descend from the trees, wary eyes remaining on the seemingly harmless shamblers who are left after the chaos of the day prior. A wail can be heard upon the ground as a storm brews in the distance. The air is cold - almost frigid, and the snowy white tigress who was the source sat beside what was left of her mate, whose blue fur was torn from pieces of flesh. This cry hadn't begun until just after midnight, after the Risen should have already returned to their normal state. Its sorrow filled the air around the clan as they came to greet her slowly, some remaining in their beast forms while others took on the flesh of the human. 
The morning had been a complete and utter nightmare for the Canine Pack, who sat just under the workings of the mysterious enemies in DC. Even so late into the morning, shamblers were not shamblers, but berserkers. Anything that even looked like trouble to them had the creatures in a frenzy much like that of All Spirit's Day, which ended over five hours ago. The pack had already gone into their underground shelter used only once per year to keep them safe from the monstrosities that plagued them so viciously. Ulric had already peeked his head out once or twice to check for the safety of the outside world, only to find himself narrowly missing a fatal blow to the head or worse. 
The night had been long, and yet, Blake found herself abuzz with adrenaline and pure energy, far too alert and sensitive than she would have ever preferred to be. It resulted in pacing, a painfully human habit to exhibit in the wolf form she clung to, but the only way she knew to burn off the incessant itch in her muscles. The noises from outside their shelter had her fur bristling, and each time Ulric poked his head outside, she felt like biting it off. The fool was going to lose it anyway if he kept it up like that. With poor Keona as terrified as she was, Ulric was going unchecked, his own agitation obvious despite his best efforts, a simple fact that was bringing Blake herself near to insanity. It tore her to pieces; so long as Ulric was near the exit, she wanted, needed, to stay by his side lest the worst happen, but her heart ached to bring comfort to little Keona.
