Dragoncrest Cliffs with eyes painted gold
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#1
All Welcome 
though i have an idea where i want her scars to be from the fight with shardik i left the placement of her injuries vague until i update her profile. xD

her injuries are healing well, she thinks. eske is no healer and if she had her way she wouldn't have been 'taking it easy' like she has. she is quick to scoff at the notion. 'easy' and eske have never gotten along and she is by and far not an idle woman. she cannot stand not being in the thick of some sort of action even if that 'action' is simply a border patrol. it's something. the pain they initially brought has long since ebbed and eske itches to get back into her regular routine. so she does. she wrangles up a breakfast of plump groundhog and heads to the northern borders for her patrol. she never was a very good patient. she has a brief moment of guilt but brushes it off before it can actually take hold. she's wanlida and scars are apart of the job. eske pauses to strengthen a spot on the borders, drawing in a deep breath as she cast a glimpse at the lightening sky. the sun has begun it's ascension in the horizon, somewhere over the break of the redwoods. she admires it briefly but ultimately pushes on. there is a lot of borders to cover and it feels good to fall back into familiarity.
roangeda · green-lit

trigedasleng
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of an empire. you lick it off.
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#2
Once her pouting period had completed, @Wildfire had made good on her promise, taking Kiwi on a solo escapade of her own.  The subsequent trips had shown the Goufa that the territory was a lot bigger than she knew, and when they returned from a trip of tracking different trails, she was determined to go exploring.

They might have been no longer stuck in a den, but that didn't mean they were allowed to wander off alone.  Still, Kiwi knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, so she didn't think much of sneaking off today and heading away.  She marked her path as she went almost instinctively, though; her foresight was good enough to at least tell her she didn't want to get lost.

She got a good ways before she spotted it; but when she did she froze.  Was that a rabbit?!  She and Silkie hadn't actually found any, but now was her chance!!

Highly excited now, she took off without any real plan or strategy, in a straight up run that would spell certain escape for the quicker prey.  It began to pull away almost immediately, and Kiwi, noticing this, yelled out indignantly.  "Wait!! I'm s'posed t catch you!!"
Kiwi will internalize lies and twist things to her benefit until this becomes her reality.  Her thoughts are not my own <3
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#3
eske focuses for sounds outside of drageda's borders, eyes, ears and nose alert for anything that didn't belong. the voice of a child did not belong. it grabs wanlida's attention immediately and even after she deduces that it comes from within drageda's borders she is still not soothed. concern furrows her brow as she adjusts her course for interception. a frightened rabbit runs on by her. eske's gaze follows it for a second but ultimately dismisses it as the one of heda's youngest brood comes galloping into her view. "where's the fire?" eske asks the young girl, tone light and amused. concern morphs her expression in earnest though especially when the familiar forms of wildfire and heda do not make themselves present. the girl, kiwi, is much too close to the borders for wanlida's comfort. though the northern side ( for the moment anyway ) appears to be much safer than the southern side that brushes ankyra sound where the bear haunts it is still a dangerous place for one so young to be. too much could go wrong.

"you won't catch it," eske tells the girl bluntly, hoping to grab the girl's attention before she has to chase after her and corral her back into drageda's territory. "besides," eske draws on a breath. "you shouldn't be this close to the borders. it's not safe." wanlida's disapproval is near palpable. "we can hunt something together? i have a few tricks i could teach you." eske offers to the rambunctious child. at this point, eske was willing to do anything to usher the girl a safer distance away from the borders.
roangeda · green-lit

trigedasleng
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"Dunno," She crowed in response to the adult, and did not intend on slowing in her pursuit.  Fortunately, Eske interceded before she'd been able to cross the border completely, aware of only the goal of the rabbit.

That didn't stop her from trying to dodge around; no such luck.  "I can," She replied imperiously, her little form standing rigid.  She could do anything, and no stinky rabbit could outdo her.  

But the promise of a lesson soothed her some; Prideful and independent most of the time, there was really only one thing that interested her more than taking on the world and doing what she wanted, and that was learning.

"Ok!"  All of her indignation disappeared, and she bounded closer to the woman, tail whirling.
Kiwi will internalize lies and twist things to her benefit until this becomes her reality.  Her thoughts are not my own <3
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eske moves in mirror of the young girl's attempts to side-step her, stubbornly holding her ground as 'roadblock'. "not by making all that noise," eske informs her, subtly correcting herself on her earlier statement. it probably wasn't entirely encouraging to tell a child they can't do something. or maybe, depending on the child in question, it was. kiwi inadvertently reminds eske of herself when she was that age. 'no' had become less of a order and more of a challenge to eske. ...it still was; though with age has came wisdom.

eske's relief is palpable for a few seconds as her offer works. it grabs the girl's attention and kiwi bounds closer, evidently ready. "come on," eske gestures towards the safety of drageda's territory. they were too exposed out here on the borders and eske wanted to get kiwi closer to hougeda. "we have to find a new rabbit to hunt." the previous one was a lost cause even if it wouldn't have crossed the borders into no-man's land and further into neutral territory. it was far too spooked to let it's guard down any time soon.
roangeda · green-lit

trigedasleng
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Kiwi half-groaned, half-growled as Eske firmly stood in her way and made a comment about her noise level, but she did follow somewhat more quietly after.  Well, until she had a question.  And this girl had a lot of questions.

"How d'y get a new rabbit?" She piped up as she half-walked, half-galloped alongside the bigger wolf.  "Silkie n me tried but we didn't find none."  Obviously that meant there was some trick to it she didn't know, and if Eske showed her, she could lord it over Silkie!
Kiwi will internalize lies and twist things to her benefit until this becomes her reality.  Her thoughts are not my own <3
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eske gives the young girl behind her a warning look over her shoulder aimed more so at the growl half of kiwi's reaction. she doesn't appreciate it and she lets out a small snap of her teeth, remembering why she's never been an overly active part of drageda's youngest generations before. they require a lot of patience — something that eske's struggled with all her life. but, she can't be too annoyed at kiwi. kiwi reminds eske a lot of herself when she was that age. a question comes a few moments later and eske glimpses down at the girl as she does her best to keep up. "you have track it. find a scent trail; recent or fresh scent trail are always the best." eske explains. in a way, this lesson feels almost ironic to eske whom, at one time, had wanted to pursue hunter. she later abandoned it in her plight to rise among the ranks of drageda's warriors. "a rabbit's warren is a good place to start but you have to approach them quietly because there might already be adult rabbits lingering around." eske stresses the word 'quiet'. "you have to be patient. you can't just go barging at them like a mad bull." eske explains to the young girl, glimpsing at her from time to time to see if she still holds her attention or if she's still at her side.

eske's steps slow then and she works to make her steps as quiet as she can before stopping all together. "there's a rabbit warren ahead," she gestures with her muzzle in the general direction. "i know it's there and now you know it's there but pretend for a moment that it isn't. there's a tuft of fur caught in that bramble there, and a fresh pile of rabbit droppings to the left. if the scent trail fades look for tufts of fur or droppings. it's your best indication at how recently your prey's been through."
roangeda · green-lit

trigedasleng
— your hands are wet with the blood
of an empire. you lick it off.
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#8
Kiwi heard the growl, and did flatten some for a moment, but only one.  She was used to chiding, but at the core knew (from experience so far, however wrong that may be) that no harm would come from the annoyance of the adult, and she could pretty much ignore it.  So she was rather quick to bounce back to her inquisitive learning.

Eske took her through the steps and advice, and she listened closely, carefully noting all of the techniques she gave.  She'd tried finding scent trails, but hadn't thought about looking for their homes to have a better chance.  

When Eske pointed out the warren, she was eager to charge right at it.  She waited, though.  "What d'y do when you find one?" She asked in a puppy whisper, not great but at least quieter than her earlier shouting.
Kiwi will internalize lies and twist things to her benefit until this becomes her reality.  Her thoughts are not my own <3
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#9
since i'm going to have eske go with thur when she leaves do you mind if we wrap this up soon(ish)? :-)

eske watches kiwi's reaction to being pointed to the proverbial rabbit goldmine. part of her expects the girl to charge at it, as she'd barreled after the rabbit that had slipped outside of drageda's borders. in a display of patience, kiwi does not. she waits. eske lets out a soft noise of praise as the girl, instead, questions her in a not-quite-a-whisper. "it's important to not spook them. they are easily scared," eske explains. "so you want to approach them slowly, and as quietly as you can. they will still run, of course, but if you can minimize the distance between you and it before it runs the better your chances will be of being successful."

"try to sneak up on your prey. try to be patient. if you alert it, pause and let it lower it's guard before continuing. when you're close enough then you lunge yourself at it. it might take time but it'll be worth it when you have a rabbit to show for it." eske promises and then gently, nudges kiwi in the rear with her snout. "try it." wanlida encourages. trial was the only actual way kiwi was going to learn, after all.
roangeda · green-lit

trigedasleng
— your hands are wet with the blood
of an empire. you lick it off.
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#10
no prob!! I am tryin to close out older threads anywho <3

She listened carefully, internalizing everything that Eske said.  So it was like playin with the other pups, gotta sneak up and try and surprise them.  Kiwi could definitely do that.

When Eske nudged her on, Kiwi slowly and carefully moved forward, trying to creep.  She did an ok job for a little bit, but at one point focused so much on what she was looking at that she forgot about the being quiet part.  As a result, she knocked against some brush, and the rustle sounded the alarm.
Kiwi will internalize lies and twist things to her benefit until this becomes her reality.  Her thoughts are not my own <3