Dragoncrest Cliffs every war has been this one

Forward dated a few days. Vague/assumptions/PP done with permission.

Having an extra wolf hadn’t been in their plans, especially one that seemed to require more attention than anticipated. He’d said all he could about Heda. There was little he had to offer but something’s off about him but Helix decided it is best to let Thuringwethil make her decision. With @Ajatar taking lead of the group mostly in direction, having been the only other one to know this area even vaguely, they keep close to one another. @Lava nor herself have been this far south of the world, only able to go off landmarks told by those that have made the trip to and from their Drageda.
 
The air becomes saltier the more they move and it’s not long before the tall redwoods and sequoias come into view, Helix picks up her speed and signals Lava behind @Denali for the final leg of the journey. Carefully, the elder wolf steps up next to Ajatar as they close the distance. She is about to send a call when the Fos Goufa keeps walking though the warrior quickly stops her from waltzing in, unaware it’s what she’s done before. A few words are exchanged in their native tongue before glancing to their captive, turning back to do it the proper way.
 
Helix clears her throat, lifts her nose, and howls.

blixen's infrequent trips down the coast have remained infrequent but stable: she does not go far, not wishing to be gone if something happens with nomi, but keeps her nose low to the ground, hoping still furi will manifest in front of her. it's stupid. it's really stupid.

she does it anyway.

that doesn't mean she lets her duties as shilkru slack -- she's near the border when the call goes up, bringing the redhead warrior to the scene. ajatar and three wolves she does not recognize. copper eyes fall on the woman who sent up the call, flickering between her and the fos goufa curiously before she finally talks. "what's going on?"

Traveling at a quick-paced clip just behind Helix's right shoulder, Lava found himself relieved to find out when they were closing in on Drageda -- so much so that he didn't even mind when he was told to bring up the rear of their troupe as they approached the cliffside pack's domain. He began to feel anxious again, as the sea ambiance strengthened and the saltwinds combed through his grey-brown fur, but this time the emotion filled him with excitement rather than fear.

He had gotten somewhat used to the ragged and muttering Denali, but he was overly conscious about the male now, hoping nothing bad came of bringing the unpredictable mutt along. Lava stood back as his mother called for an audience, and he watched with tight-lipped curiosity as a long-limbed red wolf came to greet them.

After a tense stop by hougeda, where he head-counted the little ones and checked in with his mate to see if she needed anything of him, he was off to restlessly make his rounds. When an unfamiliar howl rose up shortly after his path having found the fringes, he moved after it with a greater precision--purpose, not just tension looking to manifest, and wondered what this could be now.

The pale wocha tailed in behind Blixen on long strides, and prepared to face the unknown wolves with his height drawn up tall. He did recognize Ajatar, though this alone lent him few explanations as he strode forward and joined the group himself. "Hei," he only greeted, and nodded to punctuate the shilkru's question while he settled in beside her--he wondered all the same, and did not want to stall any explanation here. A proper look at their company as individuals and he fought back a certain shade of suspicion wanting to prickle down the back of his neck, one hopefully misplaced.

It does not take long before they’ve created an audience. A fiery, young warrior approaches first and acknowledges Ajatar. The pale woman nods once in her direction and she remembers (without really having forgotten), that the Fos Goufa has lived here before. She must have created relationships with the wolves here, somehow—she’s not all that opening from her observation—but the girl’s question doesn’t leave room for pleasantries of friends reuniting.
 
"There was war. We sent a messenger." Ajatar does not waste time but someone else begins to approach and Helix turns to the brute, holding himself with more authority than the other. She adjusts her posture, glancing back to Denali and her son, but before the heir has a chance to answer, she beats her to the punch.
 
“I am Helix. This is Lava. And you know Ajatar,” she says, speaking in the tongue the red girl addressed them in. “What she means is we were at war and we sent a messenger for Heda, but never heard from either,” she starts, licking her lips as she looks toward the brute. “We’re here to speak to her.”

finally--finally!!!--they agreed to take him to heda. it was like pulling teeth, but he'd managed it. the journey was a breeze, compared to how far he had come to reunite with his old acquaintance, his current deity. now they stood on the borders, where they had made their new home. he wondered why they had moved from sleeping dragon. he hadn't asked. it had been the least of his concerns.

denali's icy eyes wandered over the russet girl that appeared first, noting the authority with which she spoke. fine and dandy, but she wasn't heda. neither was the burly male that arrived. no one really acknowledged his presence, which was aggravating; they spoke of war instead, something he was utterly unfamiliar with. he didn't fucking care about war.

his ears did turn, however, when helix, the big woman, mentioned heda. "she's here? she's really here?" he blurted, not wanting to believe any of it. denali had spent much of the trip thinking that this was all a ruse, that these wolves were leading him somewhere to kill him. but the scent that layered the territory's edge was familiar, if only vaguely--they seemed to be in the right place.

once he saw her face, it would all be real. until then, he believed nothing.

dio's presence is noted without turning her head, too alarmed/curious by the weird dude and the -- well, the everything. ajatar's message is confusing to her -- a war? hadn't they had the war? she opens her mouth to say as much  but doesn't get a chance before the other woman introduces the rest of the motley crew and elaborates. 

the shilkru wracks her brain, trying to remember any messengers. they've had arrivals from the other gedas but none that have talked about a war -- so with a quick glance at dio to confirm as much, blixen says carefully, "we didn't recieve any messages." she's hesitant to explain nomi's condition, especially with this weird fucking guy piping up all of a sudden. her eyes narrow to an amber glint, peering suspiciously at him for a moment before looking back to ajatar and helix. "heda is here," she says, more or less sure they could probably kill the weirdo before he made any moves on nomi (the rest seem..fine, probably, especially if ajatar's with them). with some misgivings she adds, "she's recovering from an illness at the moment,  but i can take a message to her, if you need." if dio decides it's fine to bring them in, fine, she'll defer, but for now? nah.

Ajatar speaks, and nothing bodes all too well here to him. She mentions a messenger with war news, and he shakes his head. Blixen is right. Not a word.. and although he soon has a name for every face here before him, down to the strangest of their lot, he still feels defensive. Good news can't follow if a war warranted news to their heda all the way out here.

The shilkru goes on the package it neatly too, offering a proper measure of information in exchange for nothing all too hospitable. He doesn't want to alarm them, nor does he want her condition to scream weakness--but now isn't the time for any of this. His expression stays stern. "What do you need with her?" he adds after Blixen.

Denali speaks up and Helix lifts her lips, growling, and turns her head to stare at him. Another word and he won’t get to Heda.
 
She licks her lips, wiping off the beginning of the snarl, and returning her attention to the two Drageda wolves before her. The do not have the answers she had been expecting though worry settles in when they did not receive the messages. Perhaps the wolves that moved in to Maungeda had found out and got to him, or any number of reasons, but none she can worry on. It does not matter now. They never made it. So, here she stands, giving the news.
 
“A pack moved in and attached Maungeda. It has been taken over. Those trying to defend are in Trigeda, recovering. Trigeda sent an army but they were overpowered,” she tells them with a deep breath, trying to steel herself against a whole new presentation. Finding out Heda is sick—albeit recovering—is alarming in its own way and she doesn’t know what to do with it. She turns and glances to her son, then Ajatar (who hardly seems perturbed by the whole thing, ugh, how do they do that?). She, a seasoned warrior, has a hard enough time masking her expression. “We need to speak to her about the next steps.”
 
She does not mention Trigeda’s demands yet, wanting to present everything to the woman. This is enough to go back to her, to know of the urgency. “What is she ill from?” she decides to ask, flicking an ear back.
 
“We found this one near Sleeping Dragon. He claims to know Heda. It may be the case, but we think he’s insane and a danger. Do you know him?” she asks, easily slipping into their native tongue, hopeful the pair boasts true. She glances toward the pair, watching their expression for any slight changes and if they truly know who he is.

she's grateful for dio's presence to back her up, even if she's fairly confident in her own abilities. she does not trust this twitchy dude. helix explains the situation further though blixen will defer to dio for a proper analysis. she may have been involved with one war but it does not mean she understands the complexities of it -- she's not a tactician or a strategist. that they had to show up while nomi is in recovery makes the situation tenser, and she is not soothed by helix's switching into trig only to speak of the strange man who has no name to blixen yet. 

the shilkru clears her throat, switching into their shared tongue with a suspicious glance in nameless-weird-man's way (if he knows heda wouldn't he be able to understand them anyway? i don't know him, but drageda used to be located there, she says, glancing at dio to confirm. it is possible he was with them there but -- like, look at him. as far as helix's question about heda -- a) blix doesn't actually know and she doesn't think 'well she just washed up' is a particularly reassuring statement, so b) she opts to ignore it, letting dio decide if he wants to answer or not. i can tell her you're here, she offers instead, more to dio than to helix and her son -- if they want to choose to remain until nomi is better, that's dio's call to make, but blix can at least run a message in the meantime.

None of it sits well with him. Hearing more isn't helping. None of it is news they need right now, and even this feels like just the very tip of the iceberg here. A storm's coming and he doesn't like it already.

Nodding, he confirms. It was their former home, their first claim in the Teekon. As for the rest? Dio is deliberately tight lipped. Blixen says she will let Heda know, and he agrees with that. She can relay the message, and let her know they are here to see her. He knows that she is the best wolf for such, even if it leaves him to see to their guests.

In the meantime, he turns to the group with a deeper nod. Also in their tongue, he addresses them and offers to grant them some semblance of comfort while they wait to hear back--since Blixen can also see how she is, too, and while it may be getting ahead of himself, he hopes Heda will be feeling up to speaking with them soon. He senses an impatience--or maybe imagines it in an effort to make it difficult. Either way, he will field a few questions in the meantime, and hopes to fall into step beside Helix as they all respectively settle, and wait to hear back from their Heda.