Dragoncrest Cliffs if you wanna break these walls down

eske is on the borders so this is open to anyone; maybe a guardian thread? :-)

[table width=85%][tr][td]

Eske is glad to finally be able to step outside of Drageda’s cavern without the danger of freezing to death and as soon as the storm had cleared she’d clambered out of the cavern like a bat of hell, willing to step on and shoulder past anyone who dared to exit it first. Gradually, as the days passed and she can spend her days and most of her nights outside of the stifling ceiling and walls of the cavern the claustrophobia she had felt being cooped up for weeks has gone. She takes in a deep breath of the clean air, fresh and not stagnant as the air in the cavern had been and she lets it out in a sigh of relief. She is determined not to take advantage of it; and the good news was there was still plenty of frozen corpses to be found. She had picked at one earlier in the morning though her eagerness to get to patrolling had abated her hunger. Still, she ate because she knew that she could not run on an empty stomach.

The route is a familiar one as her paws lead her along it without effort and she thinks with a slight smirk that she could walk these borders in her sleep. She allows her thoughts to wander a little as she pauses to sniff at a the borders, and notes that they are a bit sparse here before she drags her claws and paw against the frozen earth, kicking up clumps of dirt and utilizing the scent in her paw pads to strengthen the border here.

[/td][/tr][/table]

He'd been farther behind than intended. His brother hadn't wanted to do anything in particular so he'd found Eske's scent easily enough to the borders where she's working on marking them. His tail waves over his spine and he trots (more like gallops) up to the other with a chuff. Now that the worst of the winter has subsided, he's able to stretch his legs and really get a chance to explore his home. He'd seen most of it prior to the heavy snows but he doesn't know it like he should. 

"Want some company?" he asks as he finally closes the distance and circles around to see how much she's done so far. He turns his head the way she'd been going as the tree line feels relatively unfamiliar.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

Eske is not surprised to hear Arlo’s voice but this is merely because she is not surprised to find him on the borders. She tends to patrol alone and does not particularly relish in company while she works but she bites her tongue to keep herself from speaking brashly. It is a slow process for her: curbing her ability to be honest but incredibly insensitive. She wonders if Kendra has anything to do with this …change. Eske is still like a steel knife: a very sharp blade ready to cut because she will always be sharp and brutal but her edges are a little bit duller. Her efforts to try to be more …sociable and considerate of her pack mates is foreign and new and she draws the connection to Kendra easily. She had begun to be more conscious about how she spoke and treated others when she first met Kendra. There is a flutter in her chest when she thinks of the older girl so she turns her thoughts back to Arlo and her patrol, focusing on the question that he has asked her in order to not become distracted. She does not verbally respond but instead invites Arlo to join her in response with an inviting gesture of her muzzle.

[/td][/tr][/table]

Eske takes the gesture of company, even though she’s often very standoffish. It isn’t an uncommon trait within their kind and she is born of it just as she is, even if half of her is not of their own. Still, they are sociable with one another, they are family with one another, and Arlo knows he does not hold a rank to match her own, he knows he is gona through and through. Proving himself to Heda and the rest of the hedonakru has been something he’d been slow at but the weather trapping them in the cavern has done little. Now that he’s able to shake his legs, he wants to use it as best as he can.

Arlo takes his place next to Eske but he does not say anything. It is enough she invited him to her side, he will not press for more than to simply be.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

Arlo joins her without speaking and she assess him for a moment, her blue-green sea colored gaze searching his face for any implication of insult. Not that she cares. She is aggressive and not overly friendly. This was not necessarily how her parents raised her but she tells herself that she is not a replica of her parents. She is herself. She is Eske. She is aggressive. She is standoffish. She likes it that way. It is her shield. It is her defense against the cruelties of the world. If she can rival the world in cruelty than it cannot possibly hurt her. That is a wrong assumption and she knows it, deep down, but she is stubborn (that stubbornness surely comes from her grandmother, haha) and does not relent. The pair continue on in their silence. Eske does not mind it. It is almost like patrolling alone. Almost but not really. She senses and hears Arlo close by. She supposes it is good to know that he is her back up if something should be out of order but thus far everything was calm. They have not had too much trouble and though Eske is not naive enough to trust it, nor does she ever let her guard down she is confident.

Until she catches the scent of coyotes. Canine but not wolf. Sentient enough to know they are trespassing on wolf territory. They are not ignorant as she assumes her prey to be. They are canine and they know even if they do not live in packs as their cousin’s do. Her hackles bristle and she looks sharply to Arlo. Her path diverts quickly, following the fresh scent of coyotes with quick, sure steps. They have caches to protect. They have babies in the womb close to being born to protect and her quick paced trot breaks out into a run as her gaze wildly searches for the two coyotes who dared to trespass.

[/td][/tr][/table]

It seems to flow well enough in the beginning that he doesn’t feel too awkward. He can feel the tension coming from her but he tries to blow it off that they do not know once another well enough. They’d spent time in the depths of Drageda, talking about how to keep them safe from a flaw in their land. He’s thought about it sense and even with the snow beginning to melt, the hope of spring will help push their ideas forward.

The thought is brushed away entirely as he reacts to Eske. He stiffens, bristles his fur, and prepares himself several seconds before he even notices the coyote scent. Eske’s movements are enough alone to put him into defense mode that he didn’t need to figure it out first. His ears flatten again and the second Eske breaks into a run, Arlo is soon on her heels to their next destination: Murder Town.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

She hears Arlo following after her, no doubt with the same intention as she: find the threat. Eliminate the threat. She is reminded, vaguely before she shoves the thought away with a bitterness that she uses to fuel her ire at the coyotes, of the time her and Freyja chased a fox out. This time she took no commands but her own. This time she would not stay her teeth. This time she would show no mercy. She pushes herself harder, faster, giving into the archaic instinct to protect what is hers. She is no leader but she is Gona and she is tasked with the protection of Drageda and all the lives within. Blood or not they are family. They are Drakru. She does not break her pace as her gaze finds them and zeroes in on the duo. They are scrappy and filling their bellies with stolen food. Their attention focused — for the moment — on their loot than the warrior princess rushing towards them. She lets out a guttural snarl as her lips peel back from her teeth as she throws her body at the nearest one flurry of fur and snapping teeth as she tries to pin him down with her weight. Her muzzle tucks close to her throat to protect it as she wrestles the coyote to his back, her teeth snapping at empty hair and grazing flesh as she aims for whatever flesh she can sink her teeth into.

[/td][/tr][/table]

Eske is faster on her feet than he is but he knows his size slows him down, if only to have added benefit in the front lines when he’s taking someone down. They are caught by surprise when the smaller wolf rushes forward, barging in on their time sifting through their caches. The second coyote does not linger with the one zeroed in by the warrior but he does not take note of the hulking mass of white rushing from a curved angle to stop him from going anywhere. They are not as quick on their feet with gorged bellies and so Arlo takes his snapping teeth in flashes at the creature as he closes in on him. He lands on something and by the force, he’s grabbed the creature behind the shoulders with his powerful jaws. A high pitched yip hurt his ears and even worse, the coyote snaps back and snags the skin behind his skull and pulls to blood drips down his otherwise pristine coat. His grip on his spine tightens until he feels the weight crushing beneath his teeth.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

In the chaos of the moment Eske has no time to focus on the other coyote as she aims to keep herself away from the one pinned beneath her’s seeking teeth. She assumes Arlo can handle the second and so focuses on her own battle. The yelp breaks her concentration for a split second as cold adrenaline pulses through her veins as she worries (like what even is that?) for Arlo. It is foolish. It gives the coyote enough of a second to react and she lets out a half snarl, half yelp of pain as his teeth grab the side of her neck. Not close enough for her throat — which is still protected by her muzzle — but the pain is searing and she is quick to retaliate the second he lets go. She struggles with him fighting through the pain and overwhelming scent of blood. Her’s, the coyote’s, Arlo’s — she isn’t even sure anymore. The coyote tries to go for the same spot to deal more damage but Eske avoids it narrowly. The adrenaline keeps the pain of her wound at bay, and allows her to focus at the rapid pace of the fight, latching onto the coyote’s throat when it is exposed to her, her jaws clamping down with all the force she can muster, feeling it’s attempts to wriggle free weaken as she crushes it’s windpipe.

[/td][/tr][/table]

He can hear the scuffle off to the side but he pays t little mind. His jaws cause the bones to give away and the creature to quickly fall limp. By the sounds coming from the throat and the ragged breathing, he can tell the coyote isn't dead but he feels a smile curved around his lips. He opens his mouth and drops the canine to the ground and it lands in a heap with a moan. There isn't anything the other can do but move its eyes from side to side as he realizes the rest of him his paralyzed where he lay. Arlo picks his gaze up and watches as Eske fatally bites the others neck but he makes no move to finish his own kill, letting him suffer in agony for his crimes.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

As hot blood rushes into her mouth and the coyote gasps out it’s final, struggling breath Eske gives her head a sharp shake, finishing the deed. She wants to make sure he is dead. When she is satisfied she rises and spits out blood and tufts of fur, letting out a low snort in the direction of the corpse. Her limbs are shaky as she rides the last of her adrenaline out of her system, burning out as it is no longer needed. In it’s absence she feels the smart of the wound on her neck. She does not think it is deep and knows it is not fatal. She is not overly worried about it but knows that she should have it looked at just in case. Part of her hopes it will scar though she cannot see it, let alone tell if it deep enough to leave her with scars at all. She moves to Arlo, taking a deep breath and letting it out. This is her first kill of non-prey. A coyote is no wolf but it is still a victory and she relishes in it. “Are you ok?” She asks him before she turns her gaze to the frightened, paralyzed coyote. “yu souda laksen.” She spits in Trigedasleng, her tail lashing against her hocks. Since they both could not the one Arlo had bested would suffer for the both of them.

[/td][/tr][/table]

Eske breaks away from the scuffle with a wound similar to his and he looks at it from where he stands. Nothing causes alarm for hers, and nor does it for him, as he feels the sting of open flesh and the chill of warm blood soaking into his fur. It’ll heal over in a matter of days. She doesn’t mention leaving the coyote to suffer, either, and instead speaks his native tongue at it. A sly smile forms on his muzzle as he listens to the beauty of her words and his tail swishes faster behind him. “That does not mean this one goes to waste,” he mentions in their shared language before he steps up to take the dead coyote and return him to the cache. Their own kills will not be wasted in the belly of this coyote and will still feed them, and then some.

[table width=85%][tr][td]

Eske draws her tongue against her jowls, cleaning the blood and gore from her muzzle. It does little to help and Eske does not do it because she is particularly concerned about her appearance. That is one of the few things she doesn’t really care much about. She is a Gona. Prim and proper are not words she necessarily has in her vocabulary as they do not apply to a warrior who is meant to have battle scars and blood stained fur. She winces as she follows Arlo’s movements with her head, the action pulling at her open wound causing it to smart a bit more fiercely. Pain is weakness leaving the body, she tells herself. She has gotten her real first taste at battle. It is frenzied and instinct. Eske loves it. The coyote that Arlo tussled with has gone silent, his chest failing to rise and fall and Eske grabs him by the neck to follow Arlo’s example as she drags him to the cache. “I don’t know about you but I’m going to finish the patrol,” especially since they’d discovered the coyotes attempting to steal from them. “then I’ll have my wound checked out.” Eske’s priorities were likely not in the right order but she isn’t overly concerned. She invites Arlo along though does not obligate him to re-join her as she makes her way back to the borders to wrap up her patrol.

[/td][/tr][/table]