Dragoncrest Cliffs Andalusite

portia wanna meet @Melchior like, pronto

her sleeping space was rather dull, and she had grown so accustomed to her beautifully decorated home back in sleeping dragon-- the emptiness in the caverns just didn't feel the same. though empty, it wasn't lonely, and she rather liked sleeping with the rest of the dragedakru. it lacked privacy, sure, but she knew she could drag dio elsewhere (or visa versa) should they need some time to themselves. but she felt she could fix the emptiness, the dullness, despite everything. so today she had spent the day flower hunting, rather than herb hunting, and though the winter season made it rather hard, she did manage to find some late bloomers to steal and save for-- oh what did heda call it?-- hougeda.

in her jaws she held geraniums, purple ones. they were known to persist through the winter and these were doing particularly well-- she only assumed because it was a tad bit warmer near the coast. she was currently upon a rather pitiful group of hibiscus. they were wilting, but a few still held some purple-white color and they all had seeds-- which she planned on taking. the skayona placed the uprooted geraniums beside her feet, her nose twitching as she moved to decide how she would take these hibiscus. a smile lit up her muzzle, thrilled to have some greenery around her sleeping space-- even in the dead of winter.

Drageda wasn't exactly home as he knew it, but there certainly was something about it that made it feel comfortable. He found the cold winds agreeable, and liked the way the salt tickled his nose. He had been worried that he would have come upon a pack completely alien to him, but other than their surrounding environment, everything seemed normal, and thus Melchior was pleased. He had promptly set to work, not wanting to seem like a slacker under the stern gaze of the hedonakru. As a young wolf, he was obligated to further hone his skills, and prove himself as a valuabe member of the pack.

His first line of duty was to patrol, roaming the territory to ensure that no strangers of ill-intent lurked on the borders, nor any unwated creatures had attempted to move into a place that belonged to the wolves. Short of a few sly seagulls that found it absolutely hilarious to harass him, his patrol was outwardly uneventful. Of course, Melchior had ulterior motives to the patrol. He was excited to see all the new things, all the strange plants and life forms that were native to his new home. He had mentally mapped the area, and noted all the nooks where herbs and plants seemed to grow. Although it would surely take him several days of patrol to fully appreciate what his home had to offer, he was glad to start somewhere.

It was even better, still, when he found a packmate digging among foliage, uprooting rather sad looking purple flowers. Even wilted, he knew, some plants could be useful. If they had no particular use at all, then at the very least they were a lovely colour, and immediately, Melchior began to day dream of the beautiful pigments he could make. Approaching at a leisurely pace, he stopped before the monochromatic wolf, ears perked in a friendly manner, although otherwise respectful, for he had not yet earned his right to be casual with anyone other than Arlo. What are those? He asked, so gentle and curious.

the skayona cared little for rank, she was nothing but a plant nerd, and really didn't care how others approached her. he could have come at her with his tail raised and chest puffed out (much like chessur had) and she would have treated him the same as if he hadn't. besides, it was only last thing she had to do, and portia was originally noted as a rather lazy wolf.

she could hear his pawsteps before he spoke, and therefore portia was well aware of his arrival. she didn't answer right away, instead nosing out the last of one of the hibiscus' and letting out a dainty sneeze to rid the dirt from her nose. when she moved it towards her geraniums, she raised herself and turned to see the other, summer green gaze scanning him through thick eyelashes. "hibiscus, hun," she replied swiftly, gesturing a small white paw to the wilting ones. then to the healthier of the two, "geraniums." she held her tongue for a moment, scanning him over again. "portia, skayona," she said with a sweet, white smile.

He had never been one to pay too much attention to flowers, beyond their colours, and how he could crush certain ones up to make lovely, bright pigments. Most of what he knew, he had learned on his own, or from distant observation. His company introduced herself as Portia, stating her role as skayona. Just about any other rank held more value than his, so he politely dipped his muzzle, and responded in kind. Just Melchior, He grinned, a hint of playfulness behind his greeting. Melchior, who was still finding himself. Melchior, who felt as though he was caught at a crossroads, forced to chose between what he should do, and what he wanted to do. Do these plants have any special properties? He queried, his curiosity unrestrained. If this wolf valued plants, then she would surely appreciate his questions, and he should not feel ashamed to ask him.

A bright idea suddenly came to him. Teik ai sis au yu. Let me help you, he implored earnestly, stooping low so that he too may be able to gather plants. "I'm done my patrols." The youth added, as if to dismiss any concerns his pack mate might have with his ready show of helpfulness.

her smile lingered, for she was thrilled he was asking questions. this meant he was curious, and she didn't have to shove all she had to offer down his throat-- rather, he would accept it willingly. "not at all," she answered brightly, looking to the plants, "but they're quite lovely, don't you think, hun?" 

she then squinted at him. for a moment, it might have appeared she was agitated with him, but after a few seconds her face cleared back and she nodded. "help, you offered help?" she said, the end turned up like a question, though she knew the answer. "beja... chof," she added with a wave of her tail, "i am going to decorate the hougeda, it is rather dull for my liking."

It surprised him that anyone of Drageda would bother with anything so superfluous. He was used to doing things for a purpose; everything he had ever done so far had been for a reason, or at least that was what he had convinced himself. Nonetheless, he was disinclined to dismiss the she-wolf. Nodding thoughtfully instead, he happily agreed. There was nothing wrong with appreciating pretty flowers, he thought, and saw no harm in the innocent pastime.

In light of her sly response, Melchior remained impassive, waiting patiently for her to reveal the big surprise. Of course, it was certainly something he would never have guessed. Decordating the hougeda was a different sort of task indeed. Chuckling good-naturedly, he shook his head and rolled his shoulders. "I look forward to it." A lopsided grin tugged at his dark lips, bright eyes alight with mirth. There was no turning back now, and quite frankly, the idea of decorating their dens did not seem all that bad. "But perhaps the hougeda could benefit from more than just purple colours." He suggested, scanning the area beyond Portia just in case something else was worthy of catching his eye.

but purple was Portia's favorite color, so of course the skayona would have found mostly purple. she didn't deny him other colors though, for she was quite pleased with his enthusiasm and input. "well, hun," she said with a shrug, "do you know of any flowers in the territory?"

so far, she had yet to see anything but purple... not that she was complaining, but she wasn't sure that there was anything else just yet. perhaps the boy would be able to find something else, maybe he knew of a type of flower that might grow nearby.

Melchior canted his head thoughtfully, tail swaying lightly as he revisited his journey around the territory. Winter was certainly an odd time for flowers to blossom, but many did along the coast where the temperatures were more agreeable. I've seen a couple witch hazel plants in bloom. He hummed, delicately scooping up a jaw full of flowers and trotting off in the direction he had seen the witch hazel plants. "There are some other ones too, brighter yellow. He just barely managed to articulate through the plant matter, turning his head to look back at Portia.

"show me," portia said brightly, her tail wagging. it was a command, but it wasn't much of an exercise of her rank as it was her personality. she found no reason why he wouldn't show her what she wanted, and would he deny she would just bug him until he did-- it was all that stubbornness and southern-charm, of course. "what did the yellow ones look like?" she then asked, her head tilting. she bent her head and picked up the hibiscus and geraniums, standing and staring at the boy. she would follow him to the flowers, thrilled that he had something else to offer her mission to decorate the den.

He oblidged, retracing his steps with ease. His own scent was fresh, familiar through the heady scent of flowers, and his memory had not yet been clouded by time. The bright yellow ones look like little round bulbs. They grow on a type of bush that produces poisonus blue berries, and the leaves turn red at the end of their season. Padding back towards the dense forest to the east, he commented idly on the scenery and on happenings within the pack over the last day or so; his opinions vague but otherwise polite, filling the time it took to arrive to their destination.

When they neared, he slowed his pace considerably, pulling just ahead of Portia, hoping that she would not see his grin widen. The area was dusted with snow, and the path ahead considerably obscured by a thicket of shrubs and evergreens. Turning his head, he motioned to his company that their prize lay just ahead.

He ducked his head to pass beneath a low hanging tree branch, and stepped into a small clearing. In the center, a fair sized shrub commanded attention, rising almost a dozen feet up, an array of branches twisting towards the sky. Bright yellow tendrils blossoming from blood orange hearts covered each spire, as if the shrub had suddenly burst into flame. Out in the patch of sunlight, but protected from the bitter winter wind on all four sides, it had been the first of its kind to fully blossom. It looked striking against the snowy backdrop.

Setting the few geraniums and hibiscus down at his paws, he turned to Portia. They're so different from other flowers. He marveled at the witch hazel shrub, pleased to return to the pretty little scene. Any other day he would have happily napped beside the shrub, happy to bask in its beauty.

portia stared forward for a moment as he described them. yellow flowers could be a number of things, but the berries were pretty distinctive. it'd been a while since she was at the coast, and she hadn't been in teekon for too long, but she knew that he was talking about. "oregon grapes," she said in response, her tail flicking, "i don't bother with plants like that-- better to know where they are and leave them until you need them, in my opinion." she was quiet for a few heartbeats as they walked, then decided she hated the silence. "in my birth pack, our medic had her cache near all of our dens-- which was fine, so is mine-- but she kept everything in there, and it wasn't like it was heavily guarded or anything," she began, the last part earning a gentle shrug from her shoulders, "so one day a pup-- one younger than me, dumber too-- wandered on in there and you can bet it all went to hell in a hand basket. i thanked god the medic was around to help him out, but i figured it was probably best to store those bad boys elsewhere, you know, hun?"

whether or not melchior cared for all that, portia didn't know, but she enjoyed talking, and was always ready to launch herself into a story or a description at any time. he would surely get used to it in the months to come.

her ears shot up when they arrived, however, and her tail wagged slowly behind her. it truly was as though the shrub had burst into flame, and portia was quite in awe at it. it'd been a while since she had seen witch hazel, and was thrilled that the boy had been able to show her where it was-- for it also had use as a medicine. "they're gorgeous," she agreed with a smile, looking at the boy happily, "how do you say we should decorate the dens with them?"

the pair decided to line the walls of the cavern with the flowers, spending all evening doing so and talking nonstop about plants and herbs-- portia was thrilled. by the end of it, the pair shared a bite to eat and went their separate ways.