Dragoncrest Cliffs New Steps

Taking place after this thread @Blixen, and @Furi if she would have followed

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She followed behind the reddened wolf know as Blixen, taking glances back to Arrille and the heda. She felt weird moving forward without Arrille by her side and she hoped he would be allowed to cross over the border soon enough. But for now, Blixen had said that she would fill Seri in on the pack more. Seri had put herself forward and declared that she would put forth the effort, but she needed to know what it was this pack would need from her.

But she couldn't get Arrille out of her head just yet. "Do you think she will let Arrille join?" she said looking up at her hopfully. 

blix's heart is beating fast. she's never lied to anyone before, let alone nomi - she's always been the sort to be too honest, too brash. but she couldn't just let furi get in trouble (furi will probably get in trouble anyway but maybe if the blame is shared it won't be too bad -- and anyway, blix can take it if nomi gets mad at her). 

the redhead still can't work up the nerve to look at furi yet. furi'd been so mad at her she's a little afraid to initiate a conversation - mostly because, well, she tends to lose her temper and put her foot in her mouth, and she doesn't want them to be fighting more than they already are. were? who knows.

seri, thankfully, pulls her out of her head with a question. she blinks owlishly at the pale colored girl and says, "uh." blixen doesn't actually dislike arrille and wouldn't mind him joining except - except! he'd not offered anything to them of value. boys! "honestly, i dunno," she admits. "nomi is - very fair. but we expect our wolves to serve drageda, and if he can't think of anything to offer..." 

she supposes furi hadn't offered anything when she'd joined, but that was different - eske'd taken her in and she'd been quick to adapt. she doesn't know if arrille will be the same. "are you close?" the gona asks, curious. arrille'd been totally alone when they found him, so either he'd lied or they'd only met recently (and she thinks it's more likely to be the latter).

It we alittle concerning to hear that Blixen wasn't sure if Arrile would join or not. Her and Furi supposedly had a place for him within their rankings, but not that spot was taken. Had she taken it!? No, the heda said that the position didn't exist even before allowing Seri to join. 

When Blixen went on to describe Nomi's traits Seri tilted her head to the side for a moment. Who was that? She though before thinking that she might go by two names, or that it might be a strange title, unaware of the Drageda ranking titles. "So is her name Nomi or heda?" she asked just to be sure.

She understood the reasoning as to why Arrille wasn't immediatly accepted. They needed a reason for him to join, other then just him needing a place to stay. She hoped he would be able to think of something quickly. "Not really. We only just meet a few days ago. We are kinda in the same situation. I think that's why he allowed me to follow him here."

Furi follows only because she doesn’t know what else to do. She’d been given an order to leave Arrille behind and she really wants to turn back and try and fix the whole thing. It’s her fault they’re in this mess and it’s her fault Blixen is mad at her again. Her chance to help others has backfired more than do any good (so what if Rose was accepted and is settling in fine?).
 
One of them starts talking and she glances up to see the exchange. They talk briefly about Heda, and Seri expresses her confusion before moving on. She closes her eyes, wishing she’d been able to do more for Arrille that day at the beach, and even now, but instead she left him on the chopping block (and little to her knowledge he throws her under the bus again) and a sink feeling weighs down her stomach. She glances at Blixen as her heart crawls up her throat and her breathing begins to elevate. It takes a few tries but she’s able to soothe it just enough to even out her breaths.
 
She slows her gait a little, putting space between Blixen and Seri to let the Drageda born lead the tour while she searches for an easy out.

sometimes she forgets not everyone knows who nomi is (or her language) - actually, didn't furi not realise for months? the ginger shakes her head a little, sheepish, and clarifies: "heda is her title -- nomi means mother in our language." blix still doesn't consider that any sort of pertinent information - there's no hi, i'm the commander's kid!  because nomi doesn't treat them differently as far as she's concerned.

blix finally works up the courage to glance at furi. she's not surprised by the other girl's silence - she must still be mad or - not want to talk to blixen, anyway. she wants to say something to bridge the gap but she doesn't get a chance to think of anything before seri answers her question. "oh," she says, wondering what's up with the influx of destitute youth (is it a winter thing? it can't be nice to be stuck out alone in the cold.) "well, hopefully he comes up with something," the ginger says, shrugging a little awkwardly. "there's a few other wolves around our age besides me and furi -- i have two brothers, bobby and artaax, and two cousins, sirio and dalia. sirio's kind of a weirdo, i'd stay away from him. there's also rose, who joined us recently too."

she pauses, trying to recall what seri'd said on the borders. "if you like hunting, my brothers are both decent," blixen concedes with only a little bit of a put-upon air (as any beleagered sister is wont to do.) "furi and i are both gona - warriors - if you wanna patrol with us or spar sometime, i'm down. but it's up to you what you wanna do," she adds quickly. drageda's robust - regardless of how she decides to make herself useful to them, there's probably someone who could mentor her a little.

Seri looked back and saw that Furi had followed along with her and Blixen, but she remained behind and Seri wondered why. At the border she could sense that there was something off between the two. They only looked at eachother far and inbetween and when ever they did they were quick to look away. She wanted to know more about what had gone on between the two, but didn't think that it would be a good idea to ask right now with them together and the feeling of awkwardness was in the air. 

"So the heda is your mom. What should I call her? Heda or by her real name?" she asked also curious as to what he real name must be. She understood the concept of nicknames but it was starting to get all jumbled in her head. She wanted to know how to adress their leader, after all it was a special exception that had been made for her to join that pack, and she wanted to make sure she didn't mess that up.

She took note of the familiy realations within the pack. How the heda was blixen's mother. Her siblings and cousins. Connecting together the familiy tree and the family history within this pack. Aswell as who was in it and what each of them did. Seri had hunted on her own for quite awhile, but nothing too big. She could use some help getting used to bigger game, but she wasn't sure if thats what she wanted to be skilled at. "Is there anything you guys really need? A position you could use filled?

she doesn't notice furi start to slip away until it's too late to stop her. for a moment blix considers ditching seri and chasing after the other gona, niceties be damned, but the moment passes and instead she steels her shoulders and looks at their newest addition. "call her heda," she clarifies, "or commander." the ginger doesn't know what would happen if someone tried to call nomi by her name but it probably wouldn't be pretty - and the thought cheers her up a little bit. (just imagine nomi's face...!)

seri's question is a stumper. truthfully blixen is bad at.. paying attention to that sort of stuff. "um," she says, thinking. "we're pretty well rounded - which is nice, 'cause then you'll always have someone to work with? what sorta stuff do you like to do?"

Seri was beginning to get the sence of the strickness of this pack. Having to call the alpha heda or commander, as though they were all warriors. Seri had been with Arturo's pack for awhile which was somewhat scructured as a gang, but she was too young to really participate. It spoke to how strong this pack must be, but Seri wondered what she would be asked to do. She didn't consider herself to be much of a fighter if this pack was filled with warriors. 

So the pack wasn't in need to anything specific. It would be up to Seri to see what she would be doing. "I like to explore sometimes and find things out. Like where your guy's language comes from. And how this pack started. I assumed it's been around for awhile with so much of your family being here." she said somewhat getting off topic and following her young minds train of thought. 

blix brightens a bit at the girl's interest in their culture - that's a good sign. not that the gona ever thinks much about it herself but it's nice, anyway. she thinks about teaching furi a little of their language and her heart squeezes painfully.

chasing those thoughts away she focuses on seri. "a long time," she agrees, "and there's multiple branches - so this is drageda, but there's also sangeda and trigeda, and some of our wolves were born there and came here." she isn't too sure on all the details, but it fills her with a little pride anyway, how big and strong their pack is. "i dunno where our language comes from but i can teach you a little sometime," she adds, smiling briefly at the pale-furred kru.

The more and more she heard about this pack the more evident it became that there was more to this pack then what could be explained in this conversation. Hearing that there was at least three different, what it seemed to be family branches, Seri assumed that wach was different and had their own set of guildlines and rituals. 

Her tail wagged to hear that she would be learning the language of the pack. It made her feel as though she would become a more integril part of the pack. Even if this was only her first day. "That would be awesome. Then I can understand what it is you guys were whispering to eachother." she said referencing to when her and Furi spoke alittle at the border. 

With there being so much to learn Seri thought she would most likley learn it another day. What was also iching on her mind was the silent confrontation of Blizen and Furi. She may have been over stepping her bounds, but she couldn't help wanting to know. "So you and Furi. Do you two not get along well or..." she asked. 

"oh," blix says, and then laughs awkwardly, "we weren't really saying anything - furi's still learning it too." in any other situation she'd have thought it was almost kind of .. cute, but right now she mostly just feels sad - and a little surprised when seri, the astute girl, sees right through them. "we're friends," the gona says, and licks her lips nervously. "we - had a kind-of fight recently, because of a different wolf furi invited to join." she sighs, shrugging into herself a little. "so i guess she's still mad at me."

It seemed like whenever Seri would be getting her language lessons, Furi might be joining them. At least Seri knew that she wouldn't be too far behind. 

But in regards to this other invited wolf Seri wondered if it was the same situation as Arille was in. "What was wrong with this other wolf? Was there no room for them either?" she questioned, wondering how that would cause the two to fight if it wasn't either of their decisions as to whether or not wolves joined. 

"sorta," blix says. this is probably not the sort of thing appropriate to discuss with new recruits, or something, but she's never really been good at tact or minding convention. "there wasn't anything wrong with her, it's just - we have a way of doing things, and we usually don't take in outsiders -- furi was an exception 'cause our wanlida brought her back, but me and furi don't have that sorta authority. plus, like, rose looks like me, and that's really weird!" she takes a deep breath when she finishes, more than a little embarrassed but someone has to agree with her that it's weird eventually!

Cameo.

Above the two conversing wolves, something happened. It was not a strange happening - in fact, the same thing probably happened several dozen times a day to wolves all over the wilds. But in this case, when a dark bird touched down on the thin branches several feet above their heads, there was something odd afoot.

Birds did not normally take much interest in wolves, but this bird did. It leaned down and stared at the two creatures, one pale and one ruddy, and noted that they were a different set than the ones the bird had observed before. They were both young, and one was the daughter of the dark wolf they called Heda. The one the bird had been seeking, ever since finding that the commander was also a mother.

Now that it had found the girl, it kept a sharp watch, eyes reflecting the red of the young shewolf's pelt.

She was leaving out some details, whether Blixen realized it or not. Seri wasn't sure if this invited member ended up joining the pack or not. Was she this Rose that looked like her. Whatever the case was Seri didn't see how Furi would be mad at her for something neither of them could control. "I don't get it... Why would she be mad at you if you're not the one responsible for who joins that pack?" Seri felt that the issue lied somewhere else. Maybe in the argument, but whatever it was it originated from this new members. Seemed like a good place to start the conversation.

the gona frowns - she's not the greatest at explaining this stuff, but she tries. "we don't make the final decision but we're still responsible for protecting the pack," she explains. "so it was wrong of her to bring a stranger back with her, and - i lost my temper a little bit, maybe," blix mumbles, scuffing the ground with one paw, "and she got mad at me about that, so i tried to apologise, except we ended up fighting more. and i guess she's still mad at me even though i didn't get mad this time." why else wouldn't furi want to look at her? or stick around? she peers anxiously over her shoulder in the direction the other gona went for a moment. poor oblivious blixen.

She thought she understood now. A conflict between duty with the pack and friendship. Thats at least how Seri saw it. Blixen seemed to have all the right intentions, but even though she tried to apologize it didn't really work out. Hearing it from herside, Furi looked like she didn't want a compromise. But there was always two sides to every story, and Seri assumed Furi saw things differently. 

If Furi was really as made as Blixen thought wouldn't she want to argue with Blixen more. But instead she stayed quite and slipped away. "Maybe she just needs some more time, at least before you try to talk to her again." she tried to assure her. 

wrap up?

she feels a little embarrassed for talking so openly with someone she barely knows, but then again, blixen has always worn her brash little heart right on her sleeve. "yeah, maybe," the gona agrees, glancing at seri, and smiles, a little grateful for the reassurance. it's true that she can't force furi to to talk to her either way - but she's also not gonna wait around for the other girl to come to her first forever. "thanks, seri," she adds, "let me show you where you and the other kru sleep."

She hoped everything between the two would eventually work themselves out. She still couldn't really see what the problem was, but that wasn't the most important thing. The most important thing was that between the two they could see what had started everything and realized that whatever it was, it shouldn't come between the two of them now. 

"Any time." She smiled when she got thanked, knowing that she had done something right with her nosyness. Maybe she would have a chance to get to talk to Furi about her side. Or maybe things would simply work themselves out, now that Seri and Blixen had a chance to talk about it for a bit. 

She nodded her head and smiled, following Blixen to where she would be sleeping from now on.