Dragoncrest Cliffs taped up heart

An uncomfortable pain had settled in the pit of his stomach. It was not due to any physical injury but the loss of his friends by his side. Gavriel, Chessur, even Rebekka had gone and despite the frustration he felt towards them for leaving he could not remain angry at them for long. To do so would simply be childish and Tanja would not waste what little energy he had left on those who had left him behind. He needed to save up every ounce of life inside of him for those that dare to cross the borders or even for a hunt. 

But winter was taking it's toll on his tattered limbs and Tanja could feel himself growing weaker with each growing hour. A sickness had found it's way into his aging body but due to his foolish stubbornness, the man refused to rest. With the disappearance of those he knew and trusted Tanja felt as if a burden had been placed among his shoulders, a burden only he could carry. So despite the illness that was slowly weaving it's way threw him and sought to bring him to his knees, Tanja continued to press forward along the borders with determination clear upon his face. Whether this was foolish or honorable he did not know, but he was far too thick headed to truly care anyway.

by now, the small skayona had healed fairly well. it was indeed worrisome that so many wolves had left as of late, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't shed some tears over the disappearance of her two favorite pups. but life goes on, and she knew better than anyone that sometimes wolves just couldn't stay in one place. she didn't look for them, they were fine, she knew that.

they'd been in new drageda for some time now, and she'd already travelled back to the sleeping dragon to gather her herbs. she was rather devastated to find her entire store crushed-- since her den had collapsed upon itself. she had collected what she could, but it wasn't much. she needed to start fresh, and had been working day and night to find new herbs for their caches. she had just come across a rather puny patch of herbs, and had harvested them. she planned on planting them somewhere else-- maybe more would grow. as she carried the herbs back, root and all, she passed Tanja.  being her chirpy self, portia padded up to him and let out a light chuff, her tail waving as she waited for him to give her his attention.

He had not been expecting to run into anyone but by a stroke of luck he had managed to bump into Portia, the one wolf who could cure him of whatever illness had swept through his body. He was weary of her, but with Chessur gone there were no other medically proficient wolves among them and it left him with no option but to ask her for help. Besides, he had been meaning to ask her something for a while now but had never got around to actually having a conversation with her. 

He gave a small smile in return to her chuff and glanced down at the herbs she had been carrying. "I've been meaning to ask a favor of you" he said while turning back to focus on his patrol.

immediately portia noticed a difference in tanja. he appeared weary, and while she couldn't tell right away if it was because of her birthplace outside of seageda or because he was genuinely sick, she still made note of it. since chessur's arrival she'd been rather down about the whole situation, it seemed discriminatory and plain rude. she was a far better healer and botanist than anyone she'd ever known, and it seemed wrong to put her down because she was not a full-blooded drageda wolf. tanja had never been too rude about anything, but she prayed chessur hadn't caused him to change his opinions on her. this was, at least, portia's thought process.

but she nodded, her ears perking as she was a bit surprised that he would ask a favor of her. "of course, hun, what can i do you for?" she asked after setting the herbs down at her feet. she assumed it was something plant or medicine related, but she couldn't be sure just yet. her eyes studied him curiously, her entire attention on him.