Sangilak had accepted the offer of Thuringwethil. Tatkret would when he returned to her; she had sent him off to complete something for her, and she awaited his return and worried not at all for him. Though he could be dimwitted sometimes, he was not a stupid man by any means; he had survived long in the brutal environment he had been raised in, and trained hard. Now that she was among the ranks of the Dragons, Sangilak moved with plenty of confidence in her step. She patrolled the border diligently, just as she had when she was simply a guest, and monitored the geysers as ever. She was a student of them, and was learning that their explosive bouts seemed to occur around the same times each day. The sun or the moon and where it hung was how she knew this, and so she often avoided the geysers when she knew they would burst. The loudness of it would surely corrupt her keen ears. Sangilak saw the wisdom in the settling here; these geysers could be a danger to any who trespassed as they did not know them for a multitude of reasons. But there was a disadvantage, too; any trespassing during the eruption would certainly not be heard. It was hard to know who would be worse off there.
She marked the borders with her scent, and shook out her ruff. The geysers only emitted what appeared to be steam, but nothing else. Sangilak was attentive to her surroundings, one ear cupped backward so she might detect the approach of another.
She had not been gifted with much upon her arrival, and that irked her some. But with Gavriel busied with his dealings between the heda and her second (the gray woman Gyda), Seregryn no longer needed a watcher. Her enthusiasm to explore this new place was lacking; all she had wanted was an audience with Thuringwethil. The fact that she would not get this was infuriating to the bratty Fos Goufa. She slunk through the area without the care she once took through the lowlands, no longer prowling nor playing games across the terrain. Her tail was level with her hocks, but then - as she gracefully moved down the incline of the ridge - she spotted a dark stranger lurking upon the edge, and her tail raised like a banner of command.
It was more like she saw a shadow and then heard the thunderous steps accompanying it, but it did not dissuade her. In fact, Seregryn was made more bold as she careened down the mountainside. When she was closer, she slowed her approach as best she could - half stumbling in to a tree, clipping it with one shoulder to her dismay - and then lurked among the greenery, trying to hide herself as she stalked and watched the bear-like woman. This was a pack mate, one of Thuringwethil's chosen followers... But that didn't mean they weren't fair targets for her tireless games.
@Sangilak I assume this is the right thread. @Seregrŷn if you still want to do a thread we can, or they can just meet in this one?
The dark shape approached steadily as she patrolled, causing her body to stiffen involuntarily. Was that huge creature a bear? Her body began to stiffen as she arched her back slightly upwards, fur raising along her spine as her eyes widened and ears flattened.
As it got closer she realized it was not a bear but actually an extremely large male wolf. Even closer, the wind shifted and she smelt that this was no male, but rather a monstrous female. Her stance relaxed back into a neutral position, tail wagging slightly as she chuffed a greeting.
She was approaching another, and the others greeting was met with the stiff wave of her own plume. Sangilak had seen the others withering demeanor when she had approached and continued in her dominant and sure stride, she made to grunt a greeting herself—
The sound of anothers blundering approached overwhelmed even the wheezing steam of the dormant geyser, then. The woman ceased in her step, forelimb lifted and hugging her chest. Sangilak turned, panning one ear toward Lorne, and noted nothing in sight yet. An ear twitched when she heard scree bounce and ricochet, and her head whipped in the definitive direction of the approaching creature. But then, all was quiet. Sangilak stood tall and alert, and did not hesitate in adjusting her course mutely. She looked over her shoulder to invite her packmate along on this impromptu hunt of hers with an invitational wave of her proud, arced plume before she went onward. Sangilak knew she herself was in plain sight, and so did not bother to mask the sound of her own march. So used to her own rhythm was she that Sangilak knew that her ears would note only distinguishing sounds that would reveal the location of the other.
Soon the bear was met by another, a much smaller creature that resembled a coyote; if Seregryn had words for such beasts in her native tongue, she would have nicknamed both wolves in such a manner. The Bear and the Coyote - it was like a folk tale in the making. She remained hidden and attentive, watching as the larger wolf stomped along, and watched too as she stopped and seemed to take interest in the woodland spread across the cliff side. Her surveying gaze caught on Seregryn's hiding place as it panned the area, and she briefly locked her own bright eyes with those of the large woman - but she was unseen, so their locked gazes drifted apart swiftly enough.
The woman began to march once more, and foolishly Seregryn believed she could sneak through the foliage unnoticed. Her steps were quick and soft to her own ears, and any other sounds were masked by the bludgeoning of the bear's heavy strides. So distracted was Seregryn that she paid little attention to the crackling of branches at her feet, or the crunching of leaf-litter, which surely both of the wolves she stalked could hear. The girl thought herself a masterful hunter in this game, and the two wolves before her as the targets -- she imagined them as a real bear, burly and slow, and a conniving coyote, and so she was swiftly distracted by her own imagination.
Lorne padded after the woman, not bothering to hide the soft pitter patter of her paws on the forest floor. The soft crunch of the deadfall alerted those who had hidden in the brush that they were coming. The sound of rocks being knocked aside had alerted both the silent she wolves. Her fierce companion, one who resembled the plume of a ferocious thunderstorm, was as quiet as she which didn't bother her in the least.
The accompanying sound of the other's crunching, careless feet caught her attention. Her head swiveled, eyes snapping to where the young one hid unknowingly. She lifted a leg, holding it to her chest as the other had done earlier. Her ears pointed forward, tail stiffening out behind her. "There," her silent body language proclaimed clearly.
Sangilak had heard her the moment she tried to move beyond them. The other was right in her presumption that she was much like a lumbering bear; she lacked grace and the streamlined swiftness of others not her girth. But her companion that had joined had noted the sound, as well, and when the other gestured that she knew the whereabouts, Sangilak signaled her in lowering her head and pointing in the same direction, looking straight to Lorne as she gestured with a swift nod: catch her. Inadvertently, the wolf who had attempted to remain hidden had become the object of she and Lorne's hunt. Sangilak herself would adjust her course the moment Lorne moved; Lorne, the chaser, and she, the one who would take their present quarry down.
The game was going well, she thought. Her movements were well hidden and she, the petite watcher, safe from any harm. Such delusion was indicative of youth; and the folly of it would be her downfall. Of course, Seregryn had no intention of doing harm to either of these women -- though she thoroughly believed herself capable -- there was no way to prevent any harm from occurring to herself. She continued her attempt to slink through the shadows and across the rocky terrain, eager to move around the coyote-shaped stranger; they made the best target, being the smaller of the two.
As Seregryn settled in to a clear patch, she ducked her head and squared-off, pointing herself in the direction of Lorne with the intention of leaping free of the shadows. She made herself as compact as possible, pulling her limbs beneath herself like some sort of cat, and even gave a small wiggle of her hindquarters -- her excitement getting the best of her -- and in this moment, she disturbed a flurry of shale. The light sound of stone-on-stone broke her concentration, tricking the girl in to thinking someone was behind her.
It also alerted her targets to her position, but Sere was too distracted by the possibility of a third wolf -- and she turned her ears, then her head, to look behind herself. A foolish move indeed.
She nodded in response, showing she understood the silent command of her pack member. She shifted into a hunting crouch, aligning herself to the ground as she crept forward a few steps. If it were something aggressive then she did not want to be caught unawares.
Hearing the shale tumbling about as the creature moved, Lorne sprung into action. She raced across the small clearing, paws falling silently as she slipped into the ease that came with years of hunting.
She ducked low, her body slipping amongst the foliage easily as she ducked and dodged the branches. She leaped behind the bush silently, launching onto her paws in front of the...wolf. It was another wolf.
She smelt of the pack which marked her as a member of Drageda, not an intruder. She remained silent, on her paws in a defensive manner before the woman who stalked them. She waited patiently, amber eyes locked on the young she wolf eerily.
Sangilak came from the opposite end. She herself stalked more adeptly, her ears rotating every which way. The other gave away their location again, and this provoked Sangilak to move. When she heard her pack mate, Sangilak rushed forward in explosive movements. She had not known what stalked them, but knew cougars were ambush predators themselves. This one was likely young—
She could not stop herself in time, but instead of seeking to come upon the other Sangilak instead felt her hindquarters tense as she moved to bound over the crouching creature. She cleared the other easily, forelegs pulled tight to her chest and hinds straight. When Sangilak landed, she turned upon the other, moving to snap at the face of the other, though clearly intending to miss her mark. Her point was made, and a low snarl eked forth before she rose. She then looked to Lorne triumphantly, her plume swaying and a knowing look in her eye: had it been a true predator, they would have brought it down. Not trusting herself to not discipline the other further, or else take out the remnants of her adrenaline and aggression both, Sangilak looked to Lorne and chuffed in quiet invitation for her newly-made comrade to join her on a patrol before she began to move ahead, back to her original path and plan.
First one, then the other. Seregryn was oblivious to the first wolf, eve with those eyes boring in to her - she was caught staring behind herself at nothing, the cacophony spurring paranoia. Then, out of nowhere, the hulking mass that was Sangilak was suddenly there, and leaping clear of her. Sere shrank down to avoid the woman's great girth, avoiding the leaping woman as one may avoid a rogue cannonball. Her eyes squeezed shut, certain that the giant wolf would collapse across her tiny self - so when she heard the wolf land with a thunk just beyond, it was of great surprise to her.
Seregryn opened her eyes after a moment, and lifted herself free of her hiding place. She slunk across the stones and through the struggling woodland to witness both the bear and coyote heading off; the game had concluded then, and the girl had lost. It did not bother her as much as she thought it might; she had still managed to get this close to them unseen. The snarl issued by the larger wolf sifted through the air, going in one ear and out the other in Seregryn's case -- and when the two departed, she too turned and sauntered off, eager for a new game with others as the target.
She chuckled as she left to follow after the other,the young one obviously had been frightened. Perhaps it would serve to teach her who to sneak up on, but she had a feeling this was not the case. The free spirit departed without much of a glance at either Lorne or her companion.
Her laughter was choking and guttural after her long periods of silence, not usually finding much with to laugh at. She padded after the large, dark woman to continue her patrol. An amused grin graced her features for much of her time afterwards.