Sleeping Dragon endless forms most beautiful

All welcome! @Wildfire maybe? And others. :) Cameo howls encouraged!

It had not been the trip back that made Gavriel as tired as he is but trying to escort an often time rebellious child to a place nearly a week away. His sleep had been minimal and his stress level high, and it took a little longer than he'd anticipated but they'd made it. In relatively one piece. He'd taken a few days within the borders of Trigeda, resting and eating and feeling at home, that when it came time to leave, he'd needed a little wagering. It would have been easy to stay and mesh back into the life he fully knew rather than one pieced together by left over shambles and blasphemy. 

The thought alone had made home cringe because he knew where his duty and loyalty were, where his word had been placed. He'd left Trigeda on a full stomach, a few pounds heavier, and with an ease in travel he didn't have before. Seregrýn is where she needs to be to prepare for her future and Gavriel needs to get back where he needs to be. Often he wonders of Gyda and if she'd had the puppies by then, sure that she would. She'd been about to pop before he left he'd be surprised if she hadn't. 

He nears the borders of his home and recognizes a similar feeling of home that only feels marginally different. Trigeda had been nostalgic and likely wouldn't complain if he were to return, but Drageda meant more beneath his feet than the other. Gavriel's nose touches the sky as he calls out his return as he works his way deeper into the territory and burying himself in the scent he'd once called his own.

A howl roused Wildfire from a morning nap. She stirred, yawning and stretching, rotating her neck and rolling her shoulders with a series of accompanying clicks and cracks. When she was sufficiently limbered, she hopped to her feet, threw back her head and responded, "Welcome back!" before pausing, taking a breath and adding, "I'm coming to see you."

True to her word, the yearling traced the howl and found Gavriel not far from the borders. She grinned at him, tail wagging, as she approached. She wondered if it was her place to tell him the news about Gyda's litter, congratulate him on fatherhood. Unsure, Wildfire held her tongue, though she had other news for him. She wasn't sure he would want to hear it, not moments after returning home.

"I'm going to try visiting the caldera again and Thur would prefer I not go alone," she said as she bumped their muzzles together. "You wouldn't be interested, would you?" she asked, wincing a little apologetically, totally expecting him to tell her no way.

There’s one howl upon his return that puts a smile on his face. The voice is familiar and message clear so Gavriel doesn’t go too far from where he’s entered into their territory. He’d gotten to know the girl through their adventures just before the famine and he likes to think it brought them closer together. There are aspects of their lives they don’t know of each other, having not known one another for very long, but a bond had been formed anyway.

Soon, the small flame approaches and he dips his head and wags his tail. She reaches in to bump his nose but not before going right in to something. Gavriel expels a heavy sigh; he doesn’t even try to hide how tired he is.

“It’s good to see you too,” he says plainly but a hint of a smile remains on her features anyway, returning the bump a beat late. “I don’t mind going,” he tells her with a shrug. It’s his job, anyway, right? And he at least had gotten a good grasp on the territory that would make the trip easier, maybe quicker. “But if another natural disaster occurs, I’m not going anywhere with you again.”

This time, he laughs.

Belatedly, Wildfire realized she shouldn't have used her pet name for the commander. But Gavriel didn't seem to mind the slip; he didn't mention it, anyhow. He did sigh heavily, though he regarded her good-naturedly and agreed to go, on the condition that they not be subjected to another natural disaster. Wildfire's lips parted and she laughed right along with him.

"Man, if anything like that ever happens again, I'll swear off scouting for good," she quipped before adding, "We don't have to go right away. Take some time off to rest and catch up and all that." Wildfire flicked her muzzle toward him, almost like a fussing mother hen, a gentle smirk curving her lips. She was definitely fond of him. "In fact, you should have a sit and tell me about your trip!" she invited, taking a seat herself.

She gives him permission to rest a few days before they begin their trek and he chuckles a little, nudging her shoulder playfully. A few good nights rest and some meals would do him well and he’d likely be ready to go—even if it might be tough to do it so soon—but nonetheless his duty comes first. He’d felt a little guilty they hadn’t been able to make their destination the first time and hopefully this time will be less dramatic.

“Well, it’s always hard to take someone anywhere that doesn’t listen to you,” he says, brief of Seregrýn’s attitude toward most things. Unsure of how she and Wildfire had interacted, he shrugs it off. “But being in Trigeda for a few days had been nice. Saw some wolves I hadn’t seen since I’d come here, got to see my family,” he trails off with a hint of a smile, giving them a direct invitation to return but they assured him they were not ready but when they were, they would be here.

Her lips twitched into a knowing smile. Wildfire hadn't known Seregrýn well at all, though their limited interactions had definitely given the yearling a rather peculiar impression of the other wolf. None of it mattered now, of course, as she was long gone and Wildfire had more interesting things to capture her attention, such as Gavriel's description of his travels.

"Your family? Like your mom and dad?" she inquired, thinking again of the tiny puppies waiting in Gyda's den. "Hey, speaking of family, you should, uh, check on Gyda," Wildfire hinted not so slyly.

“Yeah, and some of my siblings—my sister had her little and I got to meet them,” he explains with a wag of his tail. It had been hard to leave all of them, but the thought of his own had a hand in pulling him back. Whether or not they’ll come to Drageda is left in the air but he knows he can visit them another time, perhaps in the near future. Wildfire swiftly comes up to mention Gyda and she doesn’t have to say the words to know what she means and a smile appears—one he tries to hide and very obviously struggles. “I will. I knew it would happen while I was gone,” he says thoughtfully, and shrugs. He’d had a job to complete and now he has, his reward will come. “I’m going to go find Heda and then I will go to her. We’ll go soon.”

When Gavriel mentioned getting to hang out with his siblings, including his sister's kids, her amber eyes gleamed. It made her yearn all the more to get to the caldera, so she could meet her own baby brothers. But she definitely wouldn't rush the guard. He needed time to rest and recuperate, not to mention meet his newborns.

Neither conforming nor denying the children's birth, Wildfire's smile gave it away nonetheless. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, no, don't worry about me. Go see her," the yearling said, making affectionate shooing motions at him. "We'll catch up in a few days and you can tell me all about your trip when we're making our own. See ya!" She bumped her snout companionably against Gavriel's before stepping back and continuing her ushering motions.