She left the riverside swiftly enough, the pain of her wound quickly ebbing - either through its natural progression or sheer force of will - but that did nothing to remedy the anger that flowed just as freely as young Seregryn's blood. The bite had not been serious; a chunk of her neck was missing, and her fur was painted with a patch of shining red that matched her furious eyes, but that was all. In order to keep her foray beyond the border secret, she would have to tend to it herself. It was in such a place that his was impossible, but the agitated creature was not about to be done-in by it. She sought the cover of the trees upon the hillside, and delved deeply there. The shadows held her close -- hiding her from sight as she scrounged up what scraps she could. Seregryn thought back to the lessons from the gray woman, the one she had surreptitiously followed so many days ago, and soon had a cluster of specimens at the ready; whether they were correct or not, she would soon learn. It was difficult to find the necessary herbs when one was in the dark -- not to mention her lesson had been impromptu at best. Some things she remembered from her days among Trikru, but it was difficult for Seregryn to remember anything of value now, when she was too angry and too riled by adrenaline.
As she collected one final cluster of anonymous roots -- her paws dark with mud -- she rounded up all of the items and sank to her haunches before them. Instead of beginning her preparations however, the
fos goufa was too busy fuming over her failings. She had learned nothing from the guard upon the riverbank. He had been a dutiful creature, if a bit passive, and her attempt to charm him had not gone as she had planned. Flustered as she was, Seregryn thrust herself to her paws and paced in circles; catching the corner of her piled herbs as she went. When her legs were tired of this, she came to a halt beside an old tree and raised herself up -- balancing on her hind legs -- and began to claw at the bark, peeling ribbons of it away with her blunt claws. The mess collected beneath her, but she would not stop -- scoring even the soft innards of the trunk with deep grooves.
Sangilak moved in the depths of Drageda, having paused in her patrol upon thinking she had scented blood. The scent was unique, with familiar notes and then a horrendously foreign one that irked her. The woman followed the scent until she noted another with herbs, and her plume lashed behind her as she watched the other claw at the tree and peel bark from it. The others coloration was unique, unlike anything she had seen before... but the scent was unmistakable, and Sangilak bristled. The blood on the other was in the air, and Sangilak lingered like a shark nearby. The assertive woman drew nearer to the creature she could not distinguish, tail lifted at an appropriate degree and confident stride ceasing only when she could be seen by the other. Sangilak had seen this one before, but only the blood warned of corruption that made Sangilak unreasonably disapproving. And yet beneath her stoic mask none of this was visible; her eyes went from stretched wound to the acrid smelling herbs, and she only watched.
When the tree was thoroughly desecrated and her anger ebbing, Seregryn relented in her assault upon it. She folded back upon herself, settling in to a reclined position upon her haunches, but this did not last. Soon she was twisting to face her pile of herbs, leaving the scattered remains of the tree's thick skin littering the dark of the woodland. In turning she noticed the beastly woman -- she was a black pit -- and instantly Seregryn began to bristle. She worried that this woman was some kind of spy, working perhaps as Thuringwethil's eyes among her people. But it was only Sere's racing heart and high adrenaline which coaxed such a ridiculous conclusion from her. This woman likely heard the crunching and tearing of the tree and came to investigate.
The girl chuffed softly, and then disregarded her fellow dragon; she sought the pile of herbs and began to nose through them, sifting out what looked edible and what smelled rotten, or what might make a good paste for her neck, but it was clear that Seregryn lacked the finer details. Eventually she huffed and lifted her snout from the pile, thrusting forward one of her paws and undoing her attempted organization with a flick and a grumble, before settling against the ruined tree's scored trunk. She did not look to the shadow nor ask for help, because Seregryn was a self-assured child -- she would not ask for help from anyone, and was likely to refuse it unless the need was great.
Sangilak watched the other, and kept a straight face throughout. When the other bristled, Sangilak revealed to the other a row of teeth that did not take kindly to the insult, but shielded them as it occurred to her that the other simply felt threatened. She relaxed entirely, then, though maintained her posture. Sangilak could read the other did not want to be bothered, though her eyes fell to the collection that spilled at the feet of the other. While she knew of poisons, and some of herbs that helped for when the battle was finished and the blood was plentiful, Sangilak could see that the other did not wish to be assisted. Whether it was foolish or not was not something Sangilak thought of. As she went to turn and move toward the borders to resume her patrol, she simply knew that only the strong survived while the weak and unwise perished.
italics are trigdasleng / the language of SD / not english lmao
Seregryn had half a mind to settle there, to curl up and sleep off the events of that afternoon. Let the guard haunt her dreams, so that she may tear his throat out and be proven the victor -- but thoughts of him, and of the river, prevented that from happening. She was riled once again by the mere thought of their scuffle, and the scent of her blood was too pungent to allow her rest. She lay against the tree with her eyes closed, and opened them to slits as the crunching sounds of the woman's departure sounded off among the wood; in seeing this, Seregryn inhaled sharply and issued a short, clipped bark.
Wait, she wanted to command, but did not. The call was perhaps enough -- but following that, the girl's crimson gaze looked deviously around the copse of trees, wondering if others had heard her. She did not wish to explain to Thuringwethil where this wound had come from. It was best to treat it. She hoisted herself to her feet hastily, and then advanced upon the dark woman, rounding on her position whether she had heard the bark or not -- cutting off her escape, and leveling her gaze upon her.
Fix this.
was all she said, her tone sharp and commanding, and utterly unfit for a child. Behind her, the girl's tail lashed high across her rear, threatening to fan across her back in the manner of the
heda -- but she was no
heda yet.
Sangilak heard the bark, and it had been enough to cause her to look back. This was a pack mate, after all; perhaps she might ask for assistance, or perhaps not. The other came 'round and Sangilak stared brazenly back into the eyes of the other, asserting herself mutely, not at all acknowledging the foreign demand as her muzzle tilted downward to cover her own unscathed throat. Her own plume lifted in equal measure; she did not presume to be what the other imagined she was, but the display was meant simply to match the others and demand that she stand down. The putrid scent of the mongrel only served to annoy her further, and there was a simple wrongness Sangilak saw in the other that she had not noted on the first day. It irked her, made her wish to oust the bitch herself; but to keep her here, or not, was not in her jurisdiction. Still, Sangilak would not bend to this child; she stood before the girl nonplussed, yet there was a light in her eye that might reveal her desire to take the foolhardy spirit from the one before her, and tear it asunder before her very eyes.
Seregryn was afforded a certain degree of power - or something similar - by virtue of being a fos goufa. This did not remedy her behavior nor make room for it, but in the girl's mind, she was safe from the scrutiny and ensuing back-lash that others of her age or position might receive. It was the entire reason for her narcissism, and the clipped way in which she communicated with others. Aside from her aunt, Seregryn spoke little to the members of the pack -- beyond being new among the fold, she simply saw herself as above them, and the bear before her was no different. With her injury it seemed obvious to her that she needed tending, and had this happened within Trigeda, someone would have aided her by now. This place lacked reaction. It did not help that Seregryn had hidden herself away after the rendezvous along the riverside either -- but that fact slipped her mind.
All she was faced with now, was insubordination. The woman did not accept the command or act upon it, but rather she fought back with posture and attitude which Sere was not accustomed to. Even Gavriel, her older and more experienced uncle, bowed to her will. This beast of a woman was outright refusing, and Seregryn did not know how to handle it. She stared, stunned, at first. Her first thought was to bare her fangs and her lips lifted, quivering, to expose her pearly canines -- but there wasn't much insistence behind her expression. Instead of snarling and making demands, the grimace became a yawn, and then as her mouth snapped shut she looked away -- deferring awkwardly to the whims of the bristling darkness before her.
Seregryn muttered, sounding more like a scolded child, under her breath: ... Please.
When the other relented, Sangilak felt her visage relax and her annoyance fade. Again she was an expressionless black void, and the others words under her breath made no difference to her. The others proximity made it convenient to approach her and inspect the wound with cold eyes, and she sniffed at it to detect for hints of poison in case the adversary had thought in such a manner. Who knew what sort of enemies Thuringwethil had alive?
Sangilak thought of some things that would be found this season, and grunted to the other to follow. The others herbs that had been found she would let alone, knowing precisely what it was she sought and having seen it before in passing.
Without a word, the dark creature moved away from her. Seregryn was preoccupied by her own muddled thoughts and wounded ego, so she did not know if the bear would help or hinder her; but she heard a grunt, and turned to regard the retreating figure as it blundered across the mountainside. Seregryn followed at a great distance, and did not leave the cover of the trees without looking carefully for onlookers. She did not want word of this to trace its way back to the heda, after all. When the coast was clear, Sere scampered free of the trees and caught up swiftly to the boorish woman; there she lingered on her heel, slinking rather than parading as she usually did.
There was hesitation there, and Sangilak heard it, turned, and noted the unpracticed, sleuthing eye of the subordinate. Her ears twitch, and she keeps this knowledge to herself for the time being. There was another matter at hand, and that was to assist.
Sangilak moved ahead, and in time the other joined her, the body language of the strange scented thing far more appropriate. Appeased, Sangilak seemed to relax in disposition, though she was prepared for anything. Knowing what little she knew of the other made Sangilak wary, but the others need seemed to supersede the typical spirit the other possessed. Perhaps there was a need for quiet, but Sangilak disregarded that, her interest in the others intent and own desire quite great. Ah, and there was what she sought—yarrow.
Her behavior was directly tied to her feelings at this point. She had no knowledge of the creatures outside of Seageda and Trigeda, and thus the ways of foreigners made little sense to her. This wolf who aided her now was a beastly thing, different from herself and her own ilk to some degree, but understandable in the most basic of ways. If she was to garner any aid, this was the way it had to be. Seregryn did not enjoy being the lesser in this equation - in fact she loathed it, knowing in her heart that she was destined for greater things - but quarreling with this rival would not earn her any respect, and it certainly would not benefit her wounded self. So she remained quiet - persistently sullen, more like it - and kept close to the bear-woman while she sought herbs. Once found, Seregryn gave the object a brief glance, and then busied herself with keeping a lookout for others. She absolutely did not want knowledge of her injury to spread.
Sangilak did not much care what transpired. It was the business of Thuringwethil, and not a social woman at heart she felt no compulsion at all to ask. Still, for the others attempted transgression against her, Sangilak paid her no courtesy. She could feel the others movements, though the other was quite obvious in what she did. Untrained. Foolish. Sangilak, however, would not instruct her. If ever this occurred again and there was a reason to worry, Sangilak would know the others tells.
She gripped the yarrow and tugged, and then began to chew it to a pulpy paste. Sangilak approached the strange-scented pack member and pointed at the earth with her muzzle, grunting boarishly for the other to sit or lay there so she could begin.
The girl was not so eager to lay down and bare her belly for the larger creature, but when bade she did slip to her haunches, then down to her chest. The wound stung with movement, and would likely sting more once the herbal cud was applied; but Seregryn did not know this. She only knew that being on the ground before this beast was something she was not pleased with, and her tail lashed to and fro as a silent complaint. It took a moment before she finally splayed out in the manner she must, and the whole time her attention was focused upon the large woman, ready to react should things go awry.
When the other settled, Sangilak stepped toward the other and began to apply to salve. She anticipated its stinging, but these trivial things were not worth mentioning. Those from home grinned and bore such things, needing no stick to bite against to quiet themselves. Sangilak continued her administrations though paused for a moment; perhaps the scent was due to impending infection. Would yarrow help with that? Enough, she supposed. She was no expert. There was puss at the sides that she, once the salve was finished, licked away to clean the wound more thoroughly. And then she chewed more yarrow, and applied it to those locations, too.
Once finished, Sangilak withdrew. It was not pretty, but it would be effective. Sangilak nodded to the other as though to say, done. And then, she took a step backward and made to truly depart. Medical advice was not her expertise, though if the other came to her with messy wounds Sangilak would scold her for foolish behavior she did not think it prudent to warn the other against doing that would reopen or bother the wound.
Gonna fade! Hope thats ok <3
After being tended to (which she sat for willingly, but not with total calm, as she was an antsy young thing) the girl basked in the company of the bear-woman. She didn't thank her, she didn't do much of anything. The salve did its work at soothing her skin but for the most part, she felt an itch that she dared not scratch; then when everything had dried and she felt it safe to leave, Seregryn took herself from the shadows and distanced herself from the other. She would hide away for now, let her wounds heal, and hopefully never have to speak of this again to anyone.