Dragoncrest Cliffs Zircon

SORRY for portia inactivity. i've been struggling w her lately. thought a @Dio thread would do her some good <3

it had been quite some time since the pups had been born... portia could hardly believe it. by now her body was almost completely normal, though she did still have to pee far more often than normal. unlike wildfire's rambunctious bunch, her own litter was pretty lowkey. they were timid and easily spooked, and weren't really the social type. as always, dalia did better than sirio when it came to meeting new people, but, that didn't mean it always went smoothly. they would grow out of it, portia hoped.

today, after making sure the pups were being watched, portia began searching the territory for dio. truthfully, he might've still been in the caverns, but portia wanted some fresh air... so this was a good way to do it. she found what she thought was probably his most recent scent trail and got on that b-- following it until she would (potentially) come across her knight in shining armor.

After days of stormy weather, clear, warm summertime weather was back in full swing. It was balmy and hot at its worst, but after being so cooped up for so long while the coastline was tormented, he was just glad to be beyond that finally. Which, of course, it had taken a while for him to feel their boundaries were entirely refreshed after that had nearly washed away every thing scent-related out there, even an occasional cache or two included, but on the relative whole, they had weathered it well and now were well on the upswing.

The pale Wocha intended to carry this momentum further, so kept his patrols frequent and hunts often. His route was beginning for veer for their eastern borderlands for a round after his favorite hunting trails yielded him nothing, and somewhere between these two was when Portia came upon him. He slowed up immediately, ears perking her way since he was a little surprised to have her find him, not that he would be one to complain about it, though. "Oh hey," he quipped fondly, and arced to face her better, thus noticing how absent from her side either of the pups were right now -- or so it appeared.

<3 <3 no same i understand, i have not been writing much with dio lately either but !__!

her little legs carried her pretty damn far and, thankfully, right to dio! he paused to greet her, to which she wiggled right on over and pressed herself into his chest, her own head fitting right beneath his. "look at me!" she chirped, backing away to do a little bounce into a playbow, "out on my own! no body guards today." body guards referring, of course, to her tiny puppy posse. usually she was stuck cooped up more than she was stuck wandering around with ankle weights, since her children didn't really like the outdoors (or anything, for that matter) as of lately... but the reference was still applicable, portia thought.

"how're the borders today, hun?" she asked, her posture returning back to it's normal, unimpressive height. she didn't think that the borders were all that interesting, but it was dio's job and drageda had a strong track record of finding strange things (and wolves) along them.

Distance erased in a heartbeat and she fit neatly beneath his neck. Naturally he gave himself to the cause, leaning easily against and over her in one smooth motion. When she sprung away, his eyes followed and ears perked up accordingly. "They're slacking already.." he tsked softly through a grin. Although in truth, Sirio would need a lot of opening up before he was guard material. Dalia was probably the better first line of defense--if we're talking logistics of guardianship, of course. "But no really. I'm sure you can appreciate some space," the pale-furred wocha lamented. Those two really, really liked her. He'd always been a little surprised by it--but equal measure relieved that they were not hard to keep close and uncertain what to do with such a notion as a whole.

"Nothing extraordinary today. Things scent-wise are finally seeming all back up to full strength from before the rain, and a few days without anything too weird has been good too." he detailed, not piling her with the mundane details of it since it was pretty far beyond her scope of interests. Plus it wasn't really worthwhile when nothing exciting was to be had. "Which is a relief. And, if all stays well there, it can mean more time for training the goufas." His tail waved, as he had always been looking forward to that new stage in their growth--even if he did not know what his two would pursue exactly, but they were going to grow up well-prepared. Drageda would ensure it.

slowly, her tail began to wag. dio's light quips were always her favorite-- portia always felt he had such a good sense of humor (though, maybe she was the only one who thought that). "i do," she replied softly, feeling a little guilty about it. but, in all fairness, this litter had been more clingy than any she'd ever seen in her life (a towering two years). they should be out on their own-- wandering free-- but portia was hardly sure she'd seen either of them leave hougeda.

she listened as dio went over the status-report, her ears cupped forward for any hot gossip-- though she came out empty-handed and her ears flicked back to a more casual position. she nodded, not finding anything to respond to right away (for once in her life), but her ears suddenly drooped at his next comment, and she frowned. portia found herself mustering up the courage to say something, especially to her golden husband who did nothing but work hard all day every day. gaze averted until the last possible second, flitting away occasionally even as she spoke, portia said softly, "i'm not sure that they're ready for any training..." 

He understood.. as far as he was able, and since he didn't want her to feel guilty about it, his tail waved slowly--happy for her to enjoy some space. They were awfully clingy so it made sense she'd want to not have them underfoot constantly. He didn't quite understand why they were that way, though.. and next caught himself wondering at exactly what point it was her face fell. A half-thought backwards realized it was what he was looking forward to, although, he did worry for them too. Quite a bit. Way more than he wished he had to..

His ears fanned outward--I understand.. but: "I know. But they will need to start somewhere, sometime.. whether they like it or not," he sighed, not intending to be too hard on any of them, but the duo did need to keep moving forward up and out into the packlife more or else they would begin to risk falling behind. "It would be just basic things for now, anyway. Which can hopefully help to get them interested in something out here," he gestured to all this territory beyond the safety of Hougeda with his muzzle. He knew that Drageda could--and would--raise capable wolves. They had everything they needed here between their territory and their packmates--so why not?

portia frowned, her ears pinned to her speckled crown. she wanted to argue... her babies were in no way ready. they were so underdeveloped socially-- something portia would never understand considering how well wildfire's kids came out, and how they'd been exposed to the same things. a thought crossed the fisa's mind, one that scorched the edges of her heart. she shoved it away, as far as it would go, and swallowed whatever anxiety was coming up.

"they'll learn just fine from you and me, dio," she said with a frown, her green eyes finding his gaze, "but when they go on to join the rest of the pack..." she couldn't bare to think of it. sirio would be a mess. in fact, she wasn't even sure sirio would go to join the rest of the pack, she was certain he'd hang out by them for the rest of his life. "dalia, maybe," she added as an afterthought. it was no secret that, though she was timid, dalia was far more open to the rest of the pack. "i was told she joined in on one of eske's lessons-- a sparring match." no mention of sirio in her comment, which spoke for itself.

The fall of her ears told him everything he needed to know of these concerns. He knew, he felt them too. Maybe not to the same measure that his mate did, but he doubted them and that bothered him. They weren't quite so ready for this, and the wocha could agree to that wholeheartedly. Although he did stand by his belief that letting them wait and come around when they were ready, if ever, was very likely to do more harm than good.

He didn't disagree--together, he and her wouldn't let them lack entirely by any means. They had plenty to teach them between the two of them.. but it was never going to be the whole picture. He just worried for their social skills, and their interactions with the aspect of pack so entirely ingrained in their needs as wolves... and here, among them, as Drageda. "I know they will. I just wish there was some way to make that transition.. easier, or hell, even entirely realistic for them. Besides just shoving it upon them like 'here, enjoy! or don't!'" Dio sighed, and squeezed his eyes shut for a second. He didn't know how to approach the matter, besides just powering through it.. but that was what worked for him, not necessarily his sprogs. "I'm way less concerned about her, truthfully. She's shy, but I think curiosity will outweigh it for her with time.." he breathed, having relaxed a bit with the statement and vaguely hopeful thoughts concerning his daughter. She had a little fierceness underneath her seemingly timid demeanor, he believed.

Whatever it was, or would be, they would have to figure it out.