There is to be a meeting soon. The wounds on her shoulder are healing and scarring in nicely, Dio is ready to take the position of
wocha and Freyja has stepped up as a hunter apprentice and she's sure Wildfire is ready to be finished hiding their relationship from the public eye. There are a few other things that cross her mind that may come up but the biggest things have been laid out, thought out, and discussed, and soon they will come together once more.
Thuringwethil is up early, as she is most mornings, and has reopened the wounds on her shoulder to further agitate. Wildfire keeps a close eye on them, for which she is thankful, but she breaks away early that morning before she has a chance of inspection. Instead, she moves through the rendezvous site that is already mostly empty for Gavriel, but his scent has long been abandoned. With ears cupped forward and her nose flaring for a trace, she finds herself suddenly distracted by the sleeping form of
@Eske. A lot of her time has been spent with Freyja and Hvitserk that she has worried a little about the other two.
She chuffed softly for her attention and wags her tail, hoping to draw her away for a little as she puts aside her original purpose.
In her sleep, Eske's paws twitched, a low growl rumbling in her chest as her lips curled back followed by a loud huff. She would dream of battle. And of victory. Her victory. It was just as the sweet taste of the illusioned victory had came to her that the soft whuff shattered her dream and Eske was awaken suddenly. She gasped in a breath, hopping to her paws before she was truly awake, blinking rapidly in the dark confines of the den, for a second unaware of where she was. It was not until consciousness began to dawn on her did she recognize Heda's familiar form. It was a ...surprise to see her, the Goufa thought. She'd been spending much time with her two siblings lately, and though Eske was far too proud to admit it she felt left out. Jealous, even. Which only proved to nurture her natural aggression towards the two spotlight stealers. Gyda, though, had been teaching her things in the meantime. Her mother's ways were not those of the Grounders but her mother was more than a formidable warrior and Eske respected it even if she could not understand the Viking's way. She was the Grounder Princess, not a Viking but again, would never admit that aloud to Gyda, though this was mostly to avoid hurting her mother's feelings. The concept of Gods and their roles went over the girl's head. She struggled to believe in something she had no proof of.
“Emo nou hir, Heda.” Eske informed her, unable to entirely keep the scoff out of her voice. She didn't mean to be disrespectful, especially not to Heda of whom there was no one Eske respected more; but she assumed she had came for her siblings as to which had seemed to have left her sleep to go about their day. Which was good. She was always particularly grumpy when they woke her up.
She had not expected the exaggerated response when she woke the girl but she hadn't been thinking about it. Her reaction would like be similar if someone were to disturb her awake suddenly. When Eske has gathered her bearings and looked around, Thuringwethil took a step back to give her some space. The words surprise her, however, and she offers a slight told of her head in confusion.
"Chon?" she asks, then glances around the immediate area. None of the other puppies are around and her ears splay back against her head. Has it become that obvious her time spent with Freyja and Hvitserk? A sour taste builds in the back of her throat and she shakes the thought. They often find her more than she finds them and she obliges to those ready to learn from her. Not to say that Eske is not eager but perhaps her approach is different and Thuringwehtil silently notes the information and stores it away.
"Ai hir yu. Kom ai," she directs, ears swooping forward and putting a smile upon her features.
Eske didn't bother to explain who she meant despite that Thuringwethil had asked her. The favorites weren't present. Yet, even when it appeared that realization had dawned on Heda whom Eske had meant the older woman did not budge. Eske considered repeating herself before she remembered (in the nick of time!) that Thuringwethil was her Heda and she could not talk to her as she would Gyda. In Eske's desperate attempt to assert herself, to prove that she was better than her siblings it made her extremely rebellious and sassy af disobedient. To her obedience was a way to keep her complacent, quiet — neither of which she swore she would be. She the Grounder Princess and the only word that could command her was Heda's. “Hakom?” Eske asked Heda softly, her gaze imploring as she studied her not yet ready to believe that what Thuringwethil spoke was truth despite that she had no reason not to believe it besides her own incorrigible stubbornness.
Eske doesn't make to move right away and Thuringwethil watches her, scrutinizing the expression she wears and the question she gives her. Because I said so, she thinks but bears no expression of her frustration. Her time around children had been limited until now when her life had began to revolve around them. Realizing she'd not helped some more than others has left a feeling to rectify, but the child's stubbornness shown through.
She is, without a doubt, Gyda's child.
A smile etches upon her muzzle briefly before she gives a quick flash of her teeth and a second of a growl.
"Teik osir go," she tells her before turning and going back the way she'd originally come.
The brief flash of teeth accompanied by Heda's growl is enough to whip Eske into shape. Right. This wasn't Gyda. This was Heda. “ait, ait,” Eske said quickly, repetitive to pacify the commander. An expression of understanding, submission and just a smidgen of defeat. Eske lifted herself to her paws, giving her coat a shake before she padded after Heda, gaze focused on the commander as they walked. “weron say'en?” Eske asked, unable to stifle her curiosity.
It is almost instant that Eske shifts gears and changes her demeanor. Thuringwethil lifts a brow as she glances back down, both of them walk in tandem. It isn’t long that the girl asks what they are doing and she refocuses her gaze in front of her. To the borders they go, her pace quick and with purpose, but slow enough that Eske is still able to keep up. She doesn’t have to slow down too much and Thuringwethil says quickly, “patrols.”
When they near the eastern border that is next to the valley, she glances up the rocky side of her mountain. The sun is not harsh this day and gives her a little warmth despite the chill in the air. “We will mark any weakened spots you find.”
Eske strove to keep up with Heda, her growing legs making it easier than it would have been a month ago. She was growing, rapidly, but she barely noticed that she had begun to grow into her adult body. She knew that she is not a small child. She wass aware of it enough to know that much. She did not realize that she would soon be as tall as her small mother and that, someday soon she would surpass her in height. A sage nod was given though if Thuringwethil saw it or not, Eske could not say. “sha, Heda.” Eske murmured when she was informed that she was to strengthen any weakened spots she found. It was easy enough. Eske itched for real border action ...but she knew that time would come. One day she would join her parents in the rank of Gona, and then she would surpass them because her ambitions did not stop there. She bowed her head towards the borders to give it a sniff, scratching her paw pad against the earth for a moment before she looked to Thuringwethil.
There will come a time when the protection over the dragons will cease but as each day goes, they receive more and more freedoms. Their strengths broaden and their intelligence expands and she knows they will be more than capable to handle themselves. They already contribute to the pack, in their own ways, and learn from each wolf they encounter to better serve and protect one another.
“Most days it is just this,” she tells her, in regards to work. “This and training,” she adds. While most siblings would spar one another, she isn’t sure where Eske stands among her siblings. Having not giving them a fair amount of attention, Thuringwethil plans to make up for it.
Eske's ears flicked in Heda's direction as her commander breaks the silence that had settled between the two of them as they walked the patrol route. Eske's gaze slid to seek Thuringwethil out of the corner of her eye before it settled to the territory outside of their borders, silently daring any one of the shadows to be something more. Yet, they remained simple shadows, as if to emphasis Heda's words. Eske hated to admit it but ...this was kind of boring. She very much understood the necessity of it and as it was apart of her goal to become a Mercenary she would do it, dutifully, waiting for the day she got to lay tooth and claw into someone who dared to test her. Training, on the other paw, wasn't nearly so bad. At least she was getting to exercise her natural aggression in a “healthy manner”. “It is...quiet,” Eske said slowly. Whether that was a good thing or not she had yet to deduce. “Do you ever patrol outside of Drageda's territory?” As she had with the den she'd begun to feel caged. She wasn't yet allowed to leave the territory (not that it would stop her, in truth) and she yearned to explore what lay beyond. “What happens if a loner does not obey the Gona that greets them?” She supposed if she was going to be spending a lot of time on these borders scratching and urinating on them she should at least know the protocol for what happened when action did come knocking on their doorstep.
She doesn’t expect Eske to be thrilled about the idea of not having action every day. Even in Seageda, when war was common, they did not have problems that often upon the borders. Their security had been a great force and those nearby knew better. Those in the Wilds have yet to come to respect the borders of their home but they only meet ill-will and aggression. When she is presented with questions, Thuringwethil takes a step forward to continue along her claim.
“Sometimes. When your father found the grotto wolf too close to our home, we kept a close eye on the borders but we patrolled further out just to make sure they got the message,” she explains. There are other times that she goes further from the land but in regards to the patrol, she keeps to her answer. Scouting is a different skill-set all together.
Thuringwehtil considers the next question for a moment and ushers the girl along when she realizes how close they are. She thinks of Storm and Esaro and the struggles they’ve had as they settled their ground, and while they are special cases the first few times, she knows that trend will change. She takes a long stride and lifts her head to find the corpse of the Seadog wolf that had not listened that fateful day.
“This is the wolf that I will be marked for in a few days. She did not listen when she approached,” she explains. A few weeks in the heat left it hardly recognizable as a wolf but the outline is there. Thuringwethil looks up the kill for a moment before she moves past, keeping Eske on task with a nudge.
“Hmm,” Eske hummed in contemplation as she took in Thuringwethil's words. It made sense, and keeping to patrols inside their borders did not stretch the Gona's too far. To stretch their forces thin, which she surmised might be an issue with taking to patrols outside the borders would leave them exposed. It made sense and thus Eske let the idea drop. Heda ushered her along until they came to a corpse. It was once a wolf, according to Thuringwethil. The sight of the rotting corpse did not perturb Eske in the slightest. It was not her first corpse and she was not a squeamish child. She was a warrior, born of warrior blood. She would see a lot of corpses like this one in her life. “Woah,” Eske breathed, astonished. “Can I get marked too? When I kill, I mean?” She wanted to wear the marks that proved she was a warrior just like Heda did! She didn't get much time to investigate the corpse as Thuringwethil had ushered her forward once more and back onto task. “Was it hard? The fight, I mean? Were you ever afraid you would lose?”
There is a little too much eagerness in the desire to be marked. Most wolves of Seageda, especially those in their military, ended up with marks or becoming a mark. It is not something Thuringwethil discourages but there is an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she tries to deflect the girl.
“If you kill, yes, you will receive a mark but we do not kill for the sake of killing,” she corrects. “This wolf was a threat to Sleeping Dragon and she took her chances.” Perhaps this isn’t entirely the truth as Sen did not physically engage. Nor did she defend when Thuringwethil charged and it had been over in a matter of seconds. There had been plenty of time to deflect but she does not go back on her decision but the weight only adds to her shoulders.
As they travel beyond the corpse, Eske has more questions and Thuringwethil finds the fascination interesting. There is a flicker within the girl that needs a little ignition but without a steady hand and careful planning, there could be more harm than good and so Thuringwethil hopes to push her in a far more honorable direction.
“You’ve already lost if you are afraid. You do not fight thinking you can lose,” she tells her, lifting her head a little higher. “There is something on the other side we must earn,” she adds, wondering what she knew from Gavriel and what she knew from Gyda. They have never had a name for the other side, for simply it is, and should they remain faithful and true to Drageda, to their Heda, they will all receive the same comfort and ease.
Eske is young and aggressive by nature, and does not realize how unsettling her desire to kill comes across as to her superiors and elders. She only wants to prove herself. She only wants to fit in and be recognized for the one thing she was good at: battle. Her soul is some odd mixture of valkyrie and amazon warrior. There is little doubt that if she was ever faced with the situation where she would have to kill there wouldn't be much hesitation. Eske was not a bleeding heart and she would not have mercy on her enemies, that much was clear. “I'm not gonna go around killing wolves,” She scoffed with a roll of her eyes. She wasn't a psychopath though she bit the bottom of her lip wondering if her eagerness to see battle (and to be marked) perhaps gave the wrong idea. As Heda speaks to her Eske chews on the inside of her cheek in careful contemplation. To be afraid was to lose. I am not afraid Eske thinks. It made sense in a way, she thought. At the very least she could hold the knowledge that fear = defeat. “Mother speaks of a Valhalla. It is her belief that only the bravest and greatest of warriors are handpicked by these women called Valkyries to join their Odin and his army when they die. Odin is like their big bad.” In lieu of remaining respectful to her mother's culture even though Eske found it all a bit far-fetched and hard to believe she didn't add the i guess at the end like she had wanted to. Yet, she felt the need to add that Odin was more or less the King of the Norse (in case Heda didn't know) — at least this was what she had gathered from Gyda's tales. If nothing else her mother's tales made good bed time stories for her.
Thuringwethil snorts when Eske scoffs and rolls her eyes. She lifts one brow in silent warning but does not linger long on it. Instead, the girl goes on about her mother’s background and the things she believes. They share a lot of similarities but their differences are obvious. What Gyda follows is questionable, for she knows she has the woman’s loyalty, but perhaps only to Thuringwethil but not Heda. However, none of Eske’s information is new to her, and the woman nods her head. “That is true,” she says though she doesn’t have much to say on the topic. She knows the puppies will have exposure to the ways of the Viking and their decisions can be made themselves, but she can’t help but feel the need to sway them a little. “Seageda has known some of the best warriors I have ever seen,” she tells her with a fond wag of her tail. Hopefully satisfied with the story, Thuringwethil continues to walk with Eske around the borders marking all the spots that have weakened since the last time someone came around.