The pack was quiet, waiting. She took a deep breath. This was not going to be as easy as Grandfather thought. She was certain of it. "As you all know, Lord Sesshoumaru is my mate. Sesshoumaru governs the Western Lands. By himself. Now that leadership of the pack has been officially passed to me, I'm not about to desert the pack. But Sesshoumaru cannot neglect his lands to come reside with us. I would appreciate greatly, if you would all consider moving-" She paused as a slight murmur rose, and her face flushed. Now she was nervous. She'd known that one word would disrupt everything.. "-Uh, to the West, to aid Sesshoumaru, and myself, in ruling the Western Lands."
"How could we help, princess?" One of the females piped. "Who cares?" A male growled, not at all wary of Sesshoumaru's murderous gaze from behind Ayame that was trained on him. The male stepped forward, his muzzle wrinkled as he tried to hold back a snarl toward his new leader.
"Princess, have you lost your mind?! I can't take this anymore! I won't interject if you've decided to marry yourself off to a mutt, but I won't stand to subject myself to the rule of a dog."
Ayame had been expecting some objections. But flat out defiance? And mockery of her husband?! That she would not tolerate. She crouched low, snarling and growling loudly. "I asked for your opinion and your cooperation. If you want to offer your opinion, fine. You don't want to cooperate? Also fine. DO. NOT. INSULT. MY. HUSBAND. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" She barked, her nose twitching as she held herself back from ripping his throat out. Instantly, the entire pack was on its feet... and divided.
Most of them flocked behind their new leader. Few others stood with the ruffled male, his ears pressed back against his head as he cringed at Ayame's temper. The three standing with him did not crouch for attack, even though the group sided with Ayame was ready to defend her. The male was nudged forcefully behind the other three, and two of them bowed as the third paced behind them, keeping Ayame from his view.
"Princess, please. This is our home. It has always been our home. We can't just abandon it like this. We understand that you must rule alongside your.. mate.. but, please.. allow some of us to remain here to guard what has always been our home."
Ayame rose from her defensive stance, a small smile curving her lips. That.. was brilliant! In all her worrying, she hadn't even thought of such a thing.. the pack could divide if it needed to, and it wasn't like Sesshoumaru's lands were too far off for visits. And the wolves could always return home for breaks when they wanted. "Satoshi, that's .. that's a wonderful idea! Thank you. I do approve. Our den is a good distance from the Western lands, but it's not completely unfathomable. We don't really need many in the guard.. How many would like to join? We could even switch off and have some of you come to stay with us for a while before returning and sending the next group in to guard. Does that sound better to everyone?"
The wolf who'd opposed so strongly before began to quiet down, his breathing heavy from his outburst though he looked more collected. He cast his dark gaze to Ayame and nodded once. "Yes, princess. I would be far more comfortable with that desicion. And please, accept my apology. I know you can understand why I became so upset, but I should not have acted in such a manner." He grumbled, and stepped cautiously in front of the three wolves before him to bow before Ayame.
She sighed, nodding. "Please.. you guys don't have to bow to me all the time like that.." She chuckled, waving a hand. "But yes, Kyohiro, I will accept your apology and I do understand. I also apologize, for not having thought of the solution Satoshi has proposed just now. But this is why I asked the pack rather than telling you to just do it. I wouldn't have wanted to order it to be done and then have anyone extremely unhappy with my desicion but unable to do anything about it. So thank you, Kyohiro. Then let's see.." She place a finger to her lips, trying to decide how to best sort things.
Slowly, she moved to stand beside Kyohiro, Satoshi, and the other two wolves. "All who would like to permanently remain in the den and have nothing to do with the guard, please stand here beside Kyohiro. All who would like to permanently join the Guard and would not mind remaining at Sesshoumaru's castle for an extended period of time, please stand beside Sesshoumaru." Then she moved to stand beside her Grandfather for a third point to the triangle. "And all who would like to join the guard but return home regularly, please stand here beside my Grandfather and myself."
The pack was on its feet, fluidly scurrying in one direction or another. Most women and children stood beside Kyohiro to permanently remain at the den while a good number of men - and some women - stood beside Sesshoumaru and Ayame to join the guard. Ayame sighed, smiling at the numbers after the last wolf had chosen their place. She placed a hand on her hip and nodded, smiling at Sesshoumaru. "This will work. Thank you. Please remain where you are." That said, she crouched and leapt into the air, coming to land in the center of the three divisions.
"Now.. There is quite a large number of you remaining permanently here at the den. Since I will not be here as often to protect everyone, here is what we'll do. My Grandfather and Kyohiro will be in charge of the den. Members of the guard who have chosen to split time between the den and the castle.. I would like to ask that you guard our home as well when you're on leave. You may view it as practice, but I'm sure you'd agree that you'd rather have our tribe protected.."
The wolves beside her Grandfather nodded, and Ayame nodded back. "Alright, then. With that settled, I will remain here for the rest of the day and tonight so that this can all be arranged." She turned then. "Sesshoumaru.. would you like to stay with us as well? It will be your guard, too. And there are a good number at your side willing to remain with us at the Castle.."
Sesshoumaru nodded. "Yes. This Sesshoumaru can see that would be best. And thank you all for your cooperation." A few giggles rose from the females again and Ayame couldn't help but chuckle at them. She nodded to Sesshoumaru, mouthing a "Thank you," to him as well. He nodded back, and Ayame called for all members for the Royal Guard to join her and Sesshoumaru to sort out ranks and areas of coverage. She left the rest of the pack to Kyohiro at the moment. She would speak with them soon. The Guard was going to take a little more time to sort out, though they really could afford to work on things later as well.