Once the meeting had ended, and the duties had been passed on, Thuringwethil feels herself unable to hold her shoulders anymore. Tired and weary from travel to and from the Grotto, only to be disappointed, she feels the worry in her chest about the next morning. If they waited for the Phoenix wolves to bring the war to them, they could be unprepared—they can’t constantly be on their toes waiting for the unknown. Taking it to them is the only way for them to survive, to ensure that, yes the Phoenix had been here first, but this belong to the Dragons now. They’d been civil, for a while, but a matter of time would bring pain to them all and that time is up.
With a sigh, Thuringwethil picks her head back up and travels through the dark back to the cave she’d left Wildfire in when she’d arrived. The one with Gyda she takes up occasionally, and one to herself, and she doesn’t even expect
@Wildfire to be there—she’d likely felt better in the span of days she’d been in the Dragon and found her own place to sleep. Knowing that she might not get much sleep in the next several hours, she takes to resting alone and getting comfortable on the cool, cave floor to try and pass the time until morning.
This all felt a lot like that day at Qeya River. Wildfire had been lulled into a false sense of security over the past several days, blind to the raw, authentic and eminent threat of actual warfare. Now that invisible undercurrent rose up to sweep her feet out from beneath her, plunging her head under cold water. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. She didn't know what to do with herself, either, despite the Heda's clear instructions. Under the cover of night, she found herself wandering her new and still foreign home aimlessly, heart pounding.
She hated how life had become such a roller coaster lately. All she wanted was peace. Wildfire stopped suddenly in her tracks, peering northward into the bracken woods yonder. She could run after all, leave the Teekon Wilds and all of this melodrama in her rear view mirror. For a moment, she was sorely tempted to do just that: run toward the horizon. But then she thought of Thuringwethil and her red toes rooted into the soil. Licking dry lips, the Theta turned her back on the distant call of the wild and instead began striding in the direction of the Alpha's den.
When she arrived there, she found she was not alone. "Thur?" she called softly, glancing at the shallow hole she had previously dug near the threshold. Quickly and quietly, Wildfire unearthed the kills stashed there. Without another word, she clasped them in her jaws and slunk into the den's dark interior, setting the small body of a rabbit at the Heda's feet even as she slung her belly to the cave's cool stone floor.
The first bit of shuffling outside the cave, Thuringwethil growls a warning. Low, quiet, but it catches in her throat when she realizes who is on the other side by her voice. She glances up from her resting spot, shifting sternal to watch the smaller wolf step into her cave with a kill. She hadn’t noticed the kills outside her den so when Wildfire drops the kill in front of her, her eyes widen in surprise.
“Hey,” she says quietly, taking a long breath to make sure there is no one else following behind the younger girl. She’d found comfort in Wildfire’s presence but it had been outside Drageda, outside her own rule, and she isn’t sure she should let herself relax within her own borders. War ranges around the corner with the sun coming in a matter of hours. The weight of her decisions rest on her now and she stiffens, shuffling her feet up so she is at least sitting up right.
Thuringwethil stares at the kill for a moment, lowering her nose to sniff at before she tears at it. Her stomach rumbles for hunger, even if she doesn’t quite feel up to it.
“I know this is not what you want,” she says, swallowing a bite and picking at it a little more. With it settling into her stomach, she realizes the full extent of her need, and takes a few more bites. “I know it puts us against your sister, but I cannot wait for her to bring the battle to us,” she explains, though it is the same thing she said at the meeting. She’d stand by it, instead of waiting for an attack they might not see coming.
Thuringwethil sat up to receive the gifts, though Wildfire did not emulate her. She remained flush with the floor, listening to the quiet noises of flesh being torn from the carcass, then ground between sharp teeth and swallowed. She let out a long, low breath. Her mind still grappled with the morning's promise of violence, yet strangely Wildfire found herself almost more caught up in her peculiarly fierce attachment to the black she-wolf before her.
At length, the Heda spoke, her voice soft, explanatory and almost apologetic. Wildfire blinked and looked up at her briefly before letting her amber gaze fall sideways. Her tongue scraped the back of her teeth as she tried to form words, eventually saying rather lamely, "I know..." She paused, thoughts buffering. Truthfully, she didn't know much of anything about this war.
She had decided to keep her mouth shut and do what she was told at the meeting, yet here in the privacy of the leader's chamber, Wildfire decided to voice her silent thoughts after all. "Maybe..." she began, then halted before trying again. "Is it beyond the point of mediation? I'm an ambassador and I know both Saena and Luke. If there's any way I can help with a more peaceful solution..." Wildfire felt heat creeping beneath her skin, letting her voice die away in her throat.
Thuringwethil leaves the kill, half eaten, as Wildfire offers an alternative. An alternative that, if she were in Seageda, she would not listen to. Talking things out simply wasn’t an option there. Here, she barely knew the wolves to the south. Reek’s manipulative and selfish behavior, Saena’s rash decisions to war, and Esaro’s… absolutely stupidity. There hasn’t been any consistency.
“No one wants this,” she says. She doesn’t want to lead her wolves to their deaths, especially when she doesn’t know the extend of the maplewood’s fire power. It’s a risk but her own is strong and she can’t show her doubt. “I did not want to put you on the front line because you are new and you said yourself you are not a warrior, it would be a terrible move to put you in that danger.”
Carefully, Thuringwethil shifts her weight so she lays back down and pulls the other half of the kill between her feet. “If you want to go and try, you can go with us, but I don’t know if I can protect you if it is not solved that way,” she offers. She can’t protect everyone, she can only do what she want to ensure the Phoenix wolves are not a bother. If Wildfire can talk some sense into Saena and Luke, then so be it, but Thuringwethil doesn’t count on it. She hasn’t seen Wildfire’s skills and doesn’t want to put her wolves on the line, but using Wildfire as a distract might serve them well enough.
Her skin prickled and Wildfire realized she feared raising the other woman's ire. She flashed back to the handful of times when Floki had gotten angry with her; those situations had been desperately unpleasant. Wildfire swallowed thickly, banishing that thought. If Thuringwethil wound up agitated, she would back down immediately and do as commanded.
But the Heda didn't seem upset, just weary and frustrated with the situation as a whole. Then she offered to let Wildfire accompany her to the front lines after all. The yearling blinked. The idea made her both uncomfortable and afraid, yet it also meant a lot to her that Thuringwethil would even consider it. Strangely, the thought of being near the leader and hopefully contributing to the pack in such a crucial way overrode her hesitations.
"I'd like to come with you," she said quietly to her peets feet. The commander didn't seem entirely hellbent on waging war, so there was always a chance that Wildfire could truly make a difference. This was an opportunity worth taking, as the young diplomat could prove a very useful tool whose mere presence might help both packs avoid unnecessary bloodshed. She thought of Saena's large belly during their last encounter and said, "It's worth a shot."
And now her heart was racing for a whole new set of reasons than just minutes ago. Wildfire tried to focus on the idea of walking beside Thuringwethil, already playing an important part despite only living here a few days. The Heda had saved her life, so this was Wildfire's chance to pay it forward. The fact that it would benefit not only Drageda but also Wildfire's distant bloodline was just an added bonus.
Wildfire admitting she wants to go leaves a weird feeling in her stomach. She had reason for not putting her on the front lines and now, if things went south, what were they to do? She had a war to focus on and protecting her newest friend—subordinate, she tries to consider her, but struggles—can’t get in the way. Protecting Drageda is what she plans to do tomorrow, removing the Phoenix wolves—or, the very least, figuring something else. Without Larksong Grotto, perhaps…
Thuringwethil shakes the thought and when it falls silent, she finishes the meal, remembering Gyda’s urge to get her to eat something and rest. Consistent sleep until the morning won’t likely come easy to her, but she at least has a stomach satisfied from hunger. “How has your stay been?” she asks, diverting the attention to something else.
It was settled, then. A weighted silence passed, though Thuringwethil broke it by asking about Wildfire's stay so far. The yearling's lips twitched faintly. Now that the commander had eaten, she should rest. They both should get some sleep, now. But Wildfire doubted she would sleep at all, with this new burden on her shoulders. They were facing not just a fight but a war... and she was possibly their one hope to avoid combat entirely.
"I've been taking it easy, though I got out a little bit once my ribs stopped hurting so much," Wildfire answered distractedly. "Obviously," she added with a quiet laugh, the dead rabbit evidence enough of her activities. She fell silent for a few beats before her amber eyes squinted through the darkness and she admitted, "I missed you." As the words left her mouth, she wondered if that was as inappropriate and out of place as it sounded to her own ears. She shifted, suddenly uneasy, hoping Thuringwethil didn't think she was a total weirdo.
With the meetings end, Magpie had spun away from the Heda to work off her anger; it would do neither of them any good if she were to immediately round upon Thuringwethil with teeth bared. Instead, as had become tradition, the Corvidae sought out some small game— rabbits, of course— to relieve her aggression. She cleaned the blood from her chops with a delicate sweep of her tongue when she finished. After a moment of considering the wisdom in bringing the ass of an hare to the Commander as some sort of passive aggressive message (and deciding against it), the black-and-white female sought out a trail that would lead her to Thuringwethil.
She was still annoyed with the entire situation— it all seemed so hasty and needless to the peace-loving Corvidae— but with a full belly and worked muscles, Magpie felt calm enough to approach the yearling with honey instead of cayenne pepper. As she followed the trail, there was something familiar about the scent... it tickled a part of her brain, but she could make no sense of it. It was a familiarity that went beyond the Sleeping Dragon and its Commander. She shrugged it off as some kind of weird deja vu.
As she approached the Commander's den, she prepared to alert Thuringwethil to her presence with a stern, "We need to talk."— but a muffled voice stopped her, and Magpie slipped into the den just as it said, "I missed you." And when the Corvidae's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized who had said it, and who she had scented intermingled with the Commander's own scent. With an odd sound— a mix of both a growl and whine— Magpie backpedaled, struggling to make sense of... everything.
With her rear now hanging outside of the den, words came forth, unbidden.
"What the fuck?"
Thuringwethil doesn't have a lot of time to react to the sentiment. She doesn't have time to think about what it might mean. She doesn't even have time to notice he warmth spreading through her cheeks and the feeling of ease resting within her.
What the fuck?
Slate eyes lift instantly to the mouth of the small cave, past Wildfire to the dark figure. Magpie doesn't contrast the sky behind them and as she feels a whirl rush through her, she doesn't understand what's unfolding. The leader had been far too distracted with the conversation of her companion that noting anyone approaching hadn't come to her attention. Within seconds, Thuringwethil is standing to attention and glaring at Magpie.
She doesn't even remember the two women are related, and assumes her advisor is here only because of the impending war. Her jaw tightens and she stiffens her posture, though she doesn't know what to do. For a second, she considers telling Wildfire to leave so they could talk but she knows nothing more will change. The decision to storm the phoenixes is planted firmly in the rise of the sun. Heda does not speak, tightening her jaw, as she waits for her explanation.
Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you looked at it), the awkwardness was blown aside as someone blustered suddenly into the den. Wildfire started, whirling to face the new arrival, recognition registering on her face. She blinked, then began to smile, glad to see her young aunt at long last. "M—" she began to say when the other she-wolf blurted out an edgy, incredulous, "What the fuck?" that startled Wildfire into silence.
Now the awkwardness returned with force, even worse than before. Wildfire's lips pressed together as she glanced questioningly at Thuringwethil. The Heda's jaw was set. The yearling then slowly dragged her amber gaze back to Magpie, trying to hide the hurt and confusion on her face. She didn't understand her relative's negative reaction to her presence at all. They had always gotten along so well.
Then it hit her: maybe Magpie was tense because of what was coming? Wildfire let out a low breath, the tension in her own breast easing somewhat at the realization. "I can leave you two alone," she offered, shooting her aunt a crooked smile. "It's good to see you, by the way," she added meekly as she made to step past her and out into the night. Wildfire was honestly sort of grateful she wouldn't have to explain her unprecedented declaration... seeing as she didn't really have one.
"No," came her response, instant and firm after her niece's offer to leave.
Magpie moved to block Wildfire's exit, taking the opportunity to look into the younger female's soft gold eyes. It was an act of pure dominance, her bright green eyes fierce with an inexplicable anger; the Redhawk's final, meek comment remained unacknowledged. Their paired reaction— Thuringwethil's and Wildfire's— only agitated the Corvidae's storming emotions further, for it seemed she actually had stumbled upon something to be angry about, though she didn't know what it was or why.
Her eyes moved from the fiery silhouette from the dark shadow that was the Commander, and what Magpie's expression conveyed to the Heda, not even Magpie knew— was it hurt, anger, both? But within the space of a few, tense heartbeats, the Beta turned and exited the den. As she propelled forward, desiring to put as much distance between herself and whatever she had interrupted, her hind paws churned the earth at the den's entrance.
Everything happens quickly, before Thuringwethil gets a chance to speak. Wildfire offers to go, and turns to leave, but the darker woman stops her. Her fur bristles suddenly, and she lifts her head a little more at the display, but she doesn’t intervene. Magpie stands higher ranked, but she doesn’t understand the sudden need for dominance, the palpable anger filling her sleeping quarters, and she bites back a rumble in her chest to shed both females from her space.
It’s over in seconds—Magpie storms away and Thuringwethil stands there, awkwardly, watching the voided space before acknowledging Wildfire. Her ears splay back against her head, slate eyes watching her form a moment, before she turns and moves further back into the den. She’d understood their relationship—aunt and niece—to have been good, from Wildfire, at least, but was that the result of a lie?
“What was that?” she tries to ask calmly, but when she turns back, she realizes she can’t settle and her fur remains bristled around her shoulders.
The firmly spoken no stopped her in her tracks. Wildfire turned her body if not her head, brows pinching together quizzically. No...? Magpie glared and the yearling shrank. She didn't understand why her aunt was angry with her but, as ever, she hated it—someone being angry with her, that was—and wanted to do whatever she could to smooth things over. Her head bowed in submission but soon Magpie shouldered right past her, removing herself from the commander's den. Amber eyes tracked her until all Wildfire could make out was her white markings. Then she disappeared entirely into the darkness.
The yearling blinked several times, then turned only when Thuringwethil asked, "What was that?" "I... have no idea," Wildfire immediately replied, her voice a whisper. She felt the urge to cry come over her, yet she repressed it, blinking half a dozen more times to will away the threat of budding tears. Her face felt hot. "I seriously don't know what that was. We've always gotten along." Her lower lip trembled but she bit down on it before muttering, "I thought she'd be happy to have me here."
The meeting and looming war had been stressful enough, then Wildfire had gone and blurted out some random, inexplicable declaration of who-knows-what. Now this. Her aunt inexplicably hated her. Her eyelids fluttered and she found she couldn't totally hold back the tears which threatened. There were just too many emotions going on here. She did her best to look away, hide her face from the Heda, while mumbling very stupidly, "There's something in my eye."
Wildfire doesn’t exactly answer her question with anything useful, and it only fuels the frustration in her chest. She takes a step back and filters a shaky breath through her nose, slowly coming to realize the other’s unsteady words. Slate eyes shift, and glance toward her once more but she’s turned from, and she doesn’t know what to do. Staying in the cave isn’t going to work—she won’t get any sleep, or rest—and even if she leaves she knows she won’t.
“Just. Stay here,” she tells her then, before slipping past the fiery girl. She doesn’t offer her a nudge or nose goodbye as she slips from the cave. Thuringwethil stands outside of the cave for a moment, blinking in the direction Magpie disappeared, and considers following after her. She doesn’t, and turns the other way, and heads… somewhere else to clear her head.
When Thuringwethil instructed her to stay here, Wildfire felt a strange swoop in her belly. "Okay," she mumbled unintelligibly, staring at her paws. After taking a moment to collect herself, she brought her watery gaze upward, just in time to watch the commander slink past and exit the den. The yearling's ears swept backward and she blinked yet again.
She had thought the Heda meant for them to stay here and rest together. She realized she had been hoping for such, after spending several nights here alone. She had been looking forward to it, as a matter of fact. But Thuringwethil was leaving, presumably to chase after the roiling Magpie. Wildfire swallowed thickly, nodding mutely to herself, then crawled into the back of the den and curled into a tight, bereft ball of stress.