into the sea, you and me
all these years, and no one heard
i love you, let's go

The silence is deafening, or quite possibly it’s the choking in her throat, the feeling of fear and anxiety building up over the fact that she has to do this and has to get it out of the way somehow. There is too much to let go by unannounced. By waiting, she is leaving them in the dark, empty-handed, innocent to anything that can harshly affect them in the future.
That growing lump in her throat is a lot harder to swallow than imagined.
“Be fine. Like healers meeting. Only larger.”
She swears she can hide, that she can run and avoid it until the future comes along and bites her in the ass for it. If she neglects it enough, could she let herself be demoted instead of running from her rank, one that the herd has trusted her with, even the Sun God?
One last thick swallow.
You can do this.
“Hobgoblin,” He perks up as if on cue, waiting for this, having previously gone ahead and done away with his distaste for what was eventually to come. Except, they are now at his mercy when she is gone, and the idea brings a sense of joy into him. Another opportunity to have them fall to him.
“Please go and bring in the herd members that won’t hear me.”
He is gone so much quicker than she expects him to be, leaving nothing behind but a black blur close to the ground and a trail of orange and red dust. The lump makes a comeback as the world crashes down upon her at once.
Alone, and at the mercy of a herd that  she has no idea will accept her as their new Sultana.
“DRAGON’S THROAT!” The harshness of her tone conjures an ache in her throat. I should have practiced.
One more thing she hasn’t thought about before this.
“PLEASE COME TO ME!”
What a way to ask for them. If Hobgoblin had been with her then, maybe he would have made some sort of joke out of it to ease the pressure. Or she could have asked someone she knew to be with her during this, a crutch to lean against and pray to the Sun God that this doesn’t go badly.
Nonetheless, they all come pouring in, swarming her singular body as if moths to a light. A desperate itch tells her to bundle up and hide at the fact that all of their eyes are directly upon her, everything set straight to her. Familiar faces in the crowd almost drive her out into their arms, but Hobgoblin’s return signals the beginning of this.
There is no going back now.
“My dear family of the desert, it is good to see all of you. I hope everything has been well for each of you. May I gave my sincerest apologies for those who are not yet aware of the current circumstances, and to those most closely affected by it.” Her voice catches in her throat. Hobgoblin’s claws sink into the scarring flesh atop her back and draw thin scrapes into her when he cannot get his grip immediately, scrambling up. The thrashing of his tail turns into violent whipping. He has had enough of one dead man’s talk at this point. Warrior, whoever he is, is gone as far as he is concerned, and should no longer hold any purpose.
His existence, or at least what remains of it, is an obstacle in his their new reign.
Delayed annoyance makes an arrival now. The air in her mouth is dry and she feels as if she has taken a mouthful of the desert. No longer can anyone else deny it.
Everything comes out with a sigh. “Gaucho has passed on to whatever afterlife he believes in after a long battle with an unknown illness.” Here, she is already expecting backlash, hatred, questions as of why she couldn’t stop death when it had so obviously set its sights upon the Wildfire. All of their words will be fire into already open wounds barely stitched together, never healed by flame because there’s no way that she manage that now.“I’m sorry, that I couldn’t save him. Not all things can be cured, and he was one of the unlucky ones. If anyone has any ideas as of how they would like to remember him, either physically or verbally, please do speak up. Anything is appreciated and welcome.”
Moments spared for any uprising of voices flutter by on butterfly wings. Impatience rumbles in her brother like a hurricane brewing out in the sea, ready to make landfall and inflict any of its cruel intentions.
"Hurry up." He demands with a snap.  His stare breaks at the movement of her ears coming around to face him, disgust climbing into the cockpit and promptly bringing forth a snarl across his features.
"Following his passing, the Sun God decided that Megaera was no longer fit for leadership, to who I apologize. You were a wonderful Sultana and set a high bar that I hope to someday meet."
"Lies." A low hiss in the back of her head as Hobgoblin utters what feels like the truth, but can't surely be it. Any Sultana is a better one than herself, who stands in fear at the idea of speaking before her family members and cannot correctly perform the duties left to her by a man who made them all look effortless.
"And in their places, has made me Sultana. I have no experience with this sort of thing, but any assistance, especially from rank leads," Eye contact is briefly stolen from Volterra, as if to add emphasis that she desperately desires his help in this. "is appreciated. I don't want this wonderful and loving" "Except midget bitch," chimes in Hobgoblin, to which all of her self-restraint immediately goes into holding in a laugh. "herd to fall out of greatness just because Gaucho is no longer with us. He would want us to carry on proudly, even if it is without him."
Unsteadiness draws up into her now. There are two different paths for her to chase this meeting down, the announcement of Volterra's entrance to the herd and his taking of the rank of Gladiator, or the existence of the unbound. The latter draws a clench in her head and claws sink into her skin as if on reflex.
Her mouth opens and holds for a few short seconds before any words can usher their way free, remembering her time as a child in an outcast band, how they had been hated, driven into death, wondering if some herd lead had had this exact same conversation with their herd over her and her family band some long years ago.
"If any have been visiting the threshold regularly, then there is the chance that you might already know who I am talking about. There's an outcast band called the Unbound lingering in the wilds, appearing in the threshold regularly in attempts to recruit. They are chaotic, leaderless as far as they explain themselves, saying that they lack a leader, that they have no ties to anyone but are somehow held together by loyalty. In all honesty, an embarrassment to themselves. It is in our favour and all of the herds' favours that this band be taken care of before they become too ambitious and make plans towards acquiring a herd land."
Processing time is offered, letting mumbled words be exchanged within the group if there is any to get out. "Warriors and spies, it is suggested that you try to make them prisoners of the Throat, or defeat them into submission and uselessness in battle. As far as I'm aware, there is a mare named Paradox and a stallion named Hé in this herd, and if you know any others associated with them, speak up now.  I'll be visiting the other herds soon on this topic to see what they are to do about it."
Time to finish it off.
"Lastly, I would like to announce that Volterra has joined the Dragon's Throat at my request and has taken up the rank of Gladiator. I hope that all of you can welcome him into our family with open arms, and warriors, I suggest meeting with your new rank lead soon. Given that, all ranked or those interested in taking up a rank should meet with their rank leads soon. The healers can meet with me, warriors with Volterra, spies with Misael, crafters with Cera, and apostles with Maren."
One long heave of relief, a silent shedding of stress and anxiety at last because it's over, her first long string of announcements to her family as a lead.
No bliss follows suit. It's not like that's the kind of thing that comes with these types of meetings.
"That is all, but if anyone else would like to add something in, then you are welcome to."

OOC: screaming. this might be a bit off because i'm not used to writing these out and for one i wrote the vast majority of this while half-asleep and near brain dead.
Hobgoblin is in his Serval form during the meeting, but you are more than welcome to PP him finding your character and harassing them in any of his forms to get them to come over to the meeting.

Here's a final run down ooc-wise:
- Gaucho has died, the Sun God has demoted Megaera and Sikeax has taken both of their places as the only Sultana.
- Volterra is now the Gladiator.
- Ranked characters have been requested to have meetings with their rank leads. Unranked characters who would like to have a rank are requested to meet with the rank lead of the rank they wish to join. Apprentices do the exact same thing. Sikeax will still act as rank lead up until Sun Physician apps open.
- The Unbound exists and has been deemed a target and enemy of the Dragon's Throat. Any information regarding them is required to be announced.
- If someone would like to make a memorial for Gaucho, they can speak up and say and request assistance from the herd this way.
- Not in the post, BUT Sun Physician apps will open up sometime next month or at the very beginning of next season. A way to improve your chances at gaining this position is by attending healer meetings, performing more rank tasks than is required(or requested) and by showing a general strong interest in the rank.
- Also not in there, but if anyone would like to apprentice in healing, then Sikeax would be more than willing to take up an apprentice. This will help in achieving the Sun Physician rank in the future, but chances are you might get to tag along on Sultana things too as a bonus. The only age requirement is that you be over the age of six months, and will have your rank changed to apprentice.