Sleeping Dragon better things

@Thuringwethil

 


Freyja’s run in with Thyri was one that bothered her deeply and it caused a feeling that she could not quite pinpoint to hang over her. Regardless of what she did in the time since seeing the hurricane she could not take her mind off of the short-lived conservation that they had exchanged. Something had happened to Thyri, something that she still did not understand, and she attempted to wrap her mind around everything that had happened.

Something wicked flowed her sister and filled her with rage and despite all the awful things that had been said, Freyja still wanted to help her.

Mindlessly, Freyja had wandered the the area where the pack had gathered the day before, her paws carrying her to the perch in which Thuringwethil had stood upon. Sitting down, Freyja watched on silently as she attempted to clear her mind of what was troubling her the most.

Thuringwethil doesn't know if things will pan out smoothly over the next few days. Wildfire had been received well when promoted and she can only hope Dio will make the same transition. He'd been here longer than most, except for herself, Gyda, and Hush. Gabriel's roots are strong, as the others, but he has more on his plate than she feels comfortable able to promote him yet. Either way, there is little she can do now, so she aimlessly wanders through the territory while absentmindedly following a scent.

When she realizes where she's been led, Freyja dwarfed by two trees on either side of her and she takes a long moment before she speaks. The girl seems far lost in thought and Thuringwethil offers a soft boof to draw her attention.

The Heda’s call broke her from her trance and in response the child perked and turned her attention towards the dark-furred leader. “Heda,” she greeting as she pushed herself onto her paws so that she could clear the distance between them.

“How are you?” she asked once she was before the leader, reaching upward to place a kiss on her chin.

She does not startle Freyja, for which she is thankful, as she sits far too close to a fatal ledge. When she gets up and takes a few steps forward, she finds herself relaxing tension she hadn't realized built up in the last several seconds. Thuringwethil takes a step closer and lowers her muzzle to better meet Freyja's greeting, her own tail waving back and forth a few times. 

"I am well," she says. The meeting had been a lot of information at once, information that was mostly received with positivity, but something leaves her confused about what stands before her. "Is something on your mind?"

To be honest there was much laying heavily in the young Feisripa’s mind. Her ears lowered at the other’s question and her frown deepened. “Yes,” she replied uncharacteristically weak. She wasn’t sure just how to voice all of her inner thoughts, but she offered a sigh and looked up to the Heda, focusing on her chest out of respect.

“I came across Thyri for the first time in ages after the meeting. She was different. Very different,” she didn’t know quite how to describe it. “It was like she doesn’t care about any of us anymore and just wants to be alone.” She seemed like, to Freyja, the type that would leave and wander like Rosalyn.

She didn’t want her sister to leave.

Freyja doesn’t hold back and Thuringwethil’s ears cup forward as she expresses her concern about her sister. Two of the children hadn’t received the same attention as the other two and, at first, she thought it simply was coincidence, but perhaps it hadn’t been the case all along. Thyri and Eske are far more reserved and quiet than the other two (which is hard to beat, given how little Hvitserk speaks all together), but they spend more time on their own. Concerning, perhaps, but their strength and dedication still hasn’t gone unnoticed. Where the other two have publicly moved forward, she tucks away the information.

“I am sure she doesn’t want to leave,” she says, a ghost of a smile upon her features. “What about her is different?”

The Heda was swift in calming Freyja’s fears. She gave an appreciative smile to the leader and elaborated as she was requested. “She, just, kept insulting me and told me how weak I was.” Her voice trembled ever-so slightly as she recalled her run-in with the wild storm, but then, something snapped within. Perhaps it was the memory that fueled this or simply her innermost desires. She held herself higher and there was a light bristling along her shoulders as she sighed heavily and continued.

“I am not weak.” There was defiance shining at her eyes in that moment. And then, her inner wickedness subsided just as quickly as it came. “Then, she just left me and I haven’t seen her since.”

Thuringwethil doesn't like the information she's given, wondering where the start of this all began. Perhaps if she can find the root, she can solve the problem, but the biggest thing at hand begins to work itself out. Instead of dwelling on her sisters words, Freyja reverses them into a statement and the dark leader nods her head once.

"That you are not," she confirms, though by the tone alone she knows she doesn't necessarily need to. "I will spend some time with her," Thuringwethil decides though she isn't sure she'll solve it, as much as she'd like, but she can at least make an attempt to find the root source for the sibling rivalry enough to determine it's benefit, or lack thereof.

Freyja felt a certain weight lift off her shoulders at Thuringwethil’s words. Though she was confident in her own personal strength, it was nice to get some affirmation from the Heda herself. She nodded to what the dark-furred leader had to say and smiled, but did not remark further. Instead, she fell into her own mind for a minute as she looked to Thuringwethil, admiring the other quietly.

“You know, I want to be like you when I grow up?” she offered suddenly, breaking out of her thoughts after a pause. “To lead the way you do and to fix problems.” Freyja hadn’t had much experience in solving problems, but she had caused some in her short life. Perhaps this was something that she could be helped with.

“I want to rule someday,” she finally confided, replacing her characteristic sense of pride with an edge of hesitance, wondering what the reaction to her words would be.

Thuringwethil often feels tested, especially since turning Sleeping Dragon solely into Drageda. She molded the wolves they had to better suit their way of life and while she ran the throne, she often did more lower level stuff than she has been used to. Seageda had everything in working order and she didn't often have to oversee a lot of things. Now that Dio is in place at Wocha, she can focus on searching the right wolf within their claim to fill the spot. Briefly she considers sending a messenger to Trigeda for more of Seageda to come home but she sets that aside, for the moment, as she realizes what's in front of her.

While she hopes Gavriel teaches her as much as he can, she nods her head once, slowly, and offers a shake of her tail. 

"Did you know there is another pack, it is a long ways from here, but they follow the Heda too?" she offers, moving her nose to encourage Freyja to take a step with her. "Before Drageda came to be, I led elsewhere, in a place called Seageda but our move brought us here and Trigeda remained north but if I were to call for them, they would show," she explains, though the purpose has yet to fulfill Freyja's desire to lead. "You may not be able to be commander, but perhaps a queen one day." 

Thuringwethil gives the girl a smile as her words close with sincerity. She never doubts the abilities of those who may want someone, especially their age, as she'd still been a child when she took the helm and had been expected to learn and understand everything it took before then. If Freyja is to follow in her footsteps, she expects she'll be able to accomplish all the things she'll need to one day become queen.

Thuringwethil peaks Freyja’s interest easily and in response, Freyja shook her head to the Heda’s question. She was unaware of the other pack in existence, but, nevertheless, she was intrigued. Standing as she was directed to, Freyja followed after and listened to what her Heda had to say and wondered how it all connected to her own inner desires.

Soon, it all made sense. Though questions of Seageda began to rise, they were soon ushered away by Thuringwethil’s last remark, specifically the part which blossomed potential in Freyja becoming a queen. Her eyes brightened to this and she looked at the commander with a new sense of determination. She had so much she wanted to say in the moment, but a single question seemed to dominate the masses.

“How do I become queen?”

They never underestimated puppies and what they were capable of. They nursed their skills from a young age and perhaps why Freyja has reached her hunter apprenticeship so early. It won’t be long before Eske and Thyri gain their warrior trades and Hvitserk is still a mystery, given his silence, but he is just as talented as the others. Freyja just happened to be the most vocal and if she is willing to put herself out there, she’ll continue to praise and lead her in the way she wants to go.

“Haiplana,” Thuringwethil answers, giving her the word best suiting Drageda. “When a branch feeds of Drageda, they are appointed by Heda, and if Sleeping Dragon continues to grow and more of my followers from Seageda come when they can, we will need to provide more. If you learn the ways of leadership and spend some time there, I have no doubt you’ll be capable of becoming queen. It is in your blood.”

There is something that stirred from within the Feisripa, something fierce. It was a fire that burned in the pit of her belly-- igniting at the Heda’s confidence. She held onto Thuringwethil’s every word, taking them in as she spoke. But, in particular, she held onto the Heda’s titling for a queen-- Haiplana.

“I want to learn the ways of leadership,” she replied quickly with a passionate expression. There was nothing that the grey-scaled child had ever wanted more. “And I want to help Sleeping Dragon in every way that I can.” She knew that she had been benefitting the pack in her hunting, but she also knew that there was so much more she could be doing.

“What can I do to do this?” She asked, her eyes reaching up to the commander’s chest as she asked.

While Thuringwethil can question how Freyja got the drive, she doesn’t. Gavriel and Gyda’s first born has met enough potential she, with enough hard work and time, she’d be at the helm in no time. Her experience she learns as a child will be beneficial and perhaps a long, rocky road without the appropriate advisors and teachers, but she’s certain the girl will succeed. Just by the way she speaks, she can tell she wants to step over every bump in the road all at once.

“It will take time but I will teach you all of Seageda and Drageda’s history and will work with the others to give you the best opportunity,” she says with a smirk, working out in her head where to go next. “Let’s go patrol."

Despite not getting the exact answer she wanted, Freyja nodded and smiled. In due time she would begin to learn everything she needs to do. Despite her wanting to jump right into it all, Freyja knows that her goals are something that will not be met over night and the road to achieving such things will be a long one.

Nodding, Freyja agreed silently to what was offered and followed after the Heda dutifully. The two would go to the borders and Freyja would get an introduction to Drageda-- but the two would only just skirt the surface in this lesson.