Dragoncrest Cliffs we're singing hymnals

@Dio, @Thuringwethil

To hear their beloved Heda had fallen ill, everything shifted within Ajatar. The wolves that mattered worried over the situation, giving her any last minute preparation should she have to go through the entire ceremony. The next expectations seemed to change, too, and without the whereabouts of Seregrýn, they cannot afford to linger. She could have chosen to stay back in Trigeda and made it her kingdom instead of Drageda. It would be the smart thing to do, to shift the power back where it is most needed and leave them to flounder in their distance. Not even Sangeda is much use, despite cutting the journey between the two.
 
Word traveled first to Sangeda, when @Hux reached their destination first, and on their return, they stop for a few nights and exchange what information between packs is necessary to carry back to their destination. Between the three of them, it was bound to make its way back to the respective recipient and eventually they were back on the road.
 
She didn’t know what to expect by the time they made their way to the northern borders of Drageda. The scents were unfamiliar to her, having never gotten the chance to meet commander. She did not recognize the scents that once more linger with strength that Hux or @Melchior may have once remembered. Regardless, Drageda was now her home whether or not the woman was still alive and she glances once over her shoulder to her two companions for any objection to her decision to continue over the border. She left the call to be made to the boys while she breeched into the unknown.

The small posse at last reached the borders of the place he now knew to be home. A wash of relief came over him, a thoughtful smile lifting the corners of his lips. It to had been too long for him to away from familiarity, although he knew his duties to be important.

During their mission, Hux grew fond of his traveling companions; glad to bring them back into Drageda, hoping they would enjoy it as much as he did. The woman glanced towards him, ensuring that neither he nor Melchior objected to proceeding. He did not speak, rather nodding with his smile still in place... to let her know that she was free to move forward. Meanwhile, he cast his iron gaze to Melchior. He lifted hi snout to point up at the sky, opened his jaws and sang a song of summons.

He took a moment's rest, taking up his sentinel position by his fellow travel mates. His peach gaze roamed the familiar faces, but his lips were pressed into a tight line, the thin line of black barely visible against the dark fur that framed his face. It had been a long while since he had been back, but he had returned a proper man, filled out, as capable as he appeared. Compelled by Hux' motivation, he too joined in song, his tone gentle, voice still hinting at boyishness. They would be undoubtedly received, as  all members of the clan were, but he was anxious to catch up on everything he had missed out on.

Dual howls had him honing in on their location quickly enough, and thankfully, he was not too far off. With matters as they were at present, and still feeling strung up tightly for all the reasons he could list, he was still on patrol more often than he wasn't. But these voices were familiar.. vaguely enough, at least so and with every stride forward, he wondered what this could be, here and now; he intended to find out soon.

Prickling up when scent of someone unfamiliar tickled his nose, he zeroed in on her the second he identified her bold approach over the nearby males (who he at least knew). Hux and Melchior were both spared an appropriately questioning glance—although he was piecing together his suspicions now that he saw, with certainty, who accompanied her. He knew hazily of what Hux had left to do, and why. Details, indeed, or some sort of confirmation were needed before he could begin to ease up with this. For now, he was quick to plant himself in her pathway with a long look. As for what he wanted to know, he went with starting at: "Who are you?"

Ajatar eventually came to a stop, settling in a comfortable distance where she couldn’t smell the border anymore. The howl acted as an announcement of their arrival instead of wolves waiting to get in. Hux and Melchior already lived here, claimed it as their own, and should Thuringwethil be dead, it belongs to Ajatar just as much as them.

When another wolf approached, not giving the two wolves he should know much time of day, she stood stiffly before him. Who am I? Her pale green focused on him for a moment, waiting for one of the other wolves to speak up but she decided against waiting. “That depends,” she told him, glancing back to look at Hux and then once more to the stranger. “Is the commander alive or dead?”

Not long after the song of the two males, Dio appeared. Hux's tail gave a few wags as he lowered himself in honor of the more highly ranked wolf. Dio seemed uneasy, and rightfully so; the matter of the trio's arrival was a tense and solemn one. A tinge of unease formed in hux's belly - he deeply respected thuringwethil, and he hoped that the conversation that would ensue did not bring news of the Commander's death.

For a second, his mouth opened to explain the situation, however ajatar pressed on before he could speak. It was for the best that she did, and he shut his mouth to allow discourse between Dio and ajatar. The gentle warrior stood silently, gazing at the pair with worried grey eyes.

The howl is a familiar one, quickly joined in by a second that gives her surprise. She’d only sent Hux to retrieve the fos goufa—and more, if there had been—but to receive Melchior on the same trip shakes things up a little. The brute is loyal and dedicated to the wolves of his ways but the absence of his brother is not something she wants to share upon his return. The information about their missing wolves is less than desirable and as each day passes without them, in the absence of their scouts too, adds an extra level of anxiety she doesn’t know how to deal with. However, with the matter at hand, she’s able to set most of that aside and follow in behind Dio’s trail to greet the trio.

Thuringwethil notes the Wocha, then she turns to see the familiar face of Hux and Melchior and, finally the unfamiliar that of the white woman they have brought with them. The distance between Drageda and Trigeda does not give her much of a chance to visit and she has not gone since she’d set up claim in Sleeping Dragon. The fact the woman is unfamiliar to her is not a surprise though the absence of Seregrýn leaves her with questions she doesn’t know they have answers to.

“The commander is very much alive,” she says rather flatly, answering as she hears the question upon her approach. She offers the woman a quirk of her eyebrow and though she is less than in her prime, she still holds herself with the air only a Heda can carry.

He doesn't like the taste of the ambiguity in the answer he was given, and its enough to make him lick at the back of his teeth. Another quick glance between the males didn't lend him any new surprises, at least, but still.. he fully understood the importance of the commander and how much pressure the illness had been because of that. This could have been the answer.. should their Heda had fallen, and that was exactly what he didn't care to hear too much about already--not while she was very much alive. Maybe not entirely as well as she had been before, but very much on the upswing and the mend.

Before he answered, Thuringwethil appeared and his head tipped for a quick nod. She said it all, and proof now stood right there among them plain to see. He followed up with a pointed look at the white female, the Fos Goufa, finding himself quite interested in how she would take this fact.

Her statement is quickly answered when the—what should be—impressive form of Thuringwethil steps forward. She holds herself in a way that she doesn’t have to ask for clarification and her eyes never fall far from here from that moment. She looks thin, with some muscle atrophy, but there is no denying who stands in front of them. Her ears fall back a little, twitch, and relax all within one swift motion.

Ajatar wonders briefly if she’ll be sent back since she has made an upswing in her health, or perhaps she still doubts her former strength. A part of her prefers to return home for should she take Heda once more, she’ll move their home base back to where it should be. “It is good to see you well, Heda,” she says smoothly, licking her lips and offering a slight bow of her head.

No one else has anything to say. They seem to understand the weight of the interaction. Thuringwethil does not let her eyes travel from the woman. Even though she is still thin, and has lost a little muscle mass, it won’t take but a few weeks to return to be ready for winter. Even with the strife that has befallen all of them in the absence of Wildfire, they are still in one piece and perhaps sending for a Fos Goufa had been a little premature. She turns to the guards only briefly, a single nod to dismiss them both, and then glances back to Dio. A single nod draws him closer to her side.

From there, they speak and exchange pleasantries as they see fit before letting the woman get acquainted with Drageda on her own.