task thread attempt 2: determine arrow lake's most vulnerable length of border and report. tags for reference! c:
with
@Praimfaya growing bigger and now at the age where she could spend time outside the mouth of the den with supervision, reina asks
@Ingram to watch their daughter while she takes a small patrol, promising him that she'd only patrol diaspora's most vulnerable stretch of border and be back shortly; assuring herself that she's only a howl away if anything happened. not that she expected anything to happen — ingram was plenty capable of wrangling the little wanheda under control ...but blodreina feels an anxiety she's never felt before at the thought of being away from praimfaya for so long even if it was only for an hour, tops. blodreina offers ingram an affectionate nibble on his chin and draws her tongue over praimfaya's ears before heading out.
motherhood anxiety aside, it feels good to stretch her legs and she is desperate to walk even a small patrol. she feels like she's been out of the game for too long and there's a reassurance in the familiarity of an old routine.
Things were slowly falling into place for the man. He was finally starting to feel more comfortable in the insufferable heat of the fast approaching summer, not physically comfortable but mentally. He was beginning think that maybe, just perhaps, he could be wanted here. With this in mind, Sadiq had been trying very hard, although reclusive by nature he was making an effort. Picking up more and more of the English tongue, he was able to understand more than he could reply.
His aimless wandering was disturbed by the scent of Blodreina. Although he knew her in passing he had kept his distance due to her pregnancy and subsequent birth. No mother liked to have strangers about. However, finding her trail lacking the scent of her daughter and/or that of Ingram, Sadiq was intrigued. Venturing toward the border, he finally caught sight of her timber coloured frame. Offering a chuff, the behemoth northerner closed the gap between them.
blodreina notes the heavy footfalls approaching her from inside diaspora's claimed lands and thus does not broach it with the same hostility she would certainly apply would it have been a stranger from the outside of their borders. nevertheless, she's a bit wary on sheer instinct alone as the pale behemoth approaches her with a chuff. she's seen him in passing, very briefly before she gave birth and has been almost entirely den-ridden tending to praimfaya. admittedly, the wanlida knows a lot less about her packmates than she'd like ...new or otherwise, only serving to remind her that the world she finds herself in now is so very different than the world of drageda where, despite her hermit ways, she'd known who was who and what was going on ( for the most part ).
blue-green eyes the color of seaglass study him, assessing him as she does everyone blodreina doesn't know well. hello.
she offers him in greeting.
Not surprised by the simple greeting, Sadiq dips his head. “Hello.” Admittedly one of the first phrases he has learned of the south, he found the word boring. Still not keen with having to learn a new language, he was taking his time. It was an easy excuse to avoid the others, his lack of proficiency in the language gave him more leeway to solitude.
Looking out at the expanse of land that was before them and her obvious direction away from the pack territory, the man tilted his head in question. Clearing his throat, he drew enough courage to try and convey his question in a way she might understand. “Where? The context was implied, with room for error and confusion to be drawn. Where was she going? Surely she wasn’t heading out alone.
though ingram is plenty capable of keeping praimfaya safe and out of trouble, reina still isn't keen on venturing too far. at least, not yet. not until their daughter is more capable — at least this is what blodreina tells herself. the truth might've been that she simply didn't want to be too far away from praimfaya or ingram; both were arguably the most important beings in her life now, after all. his lack of speech suggests that he either isn't a very social beast or that he doesn't fully understand common tongue — a suspicion aided by the where? he poses.
if her suspicion is right, she understands. for the longest time blodreina spoke nothing but trigedasleng — a stubborn trait she had to force herself out of to be a guardian, unfortunately. too many wolves spoke 'common' and not nearly enough spoke 'trigedasleng' for her to keep it up for too much longer into her adulthood. a patrol, not too far though.
she replies, silently gesturing to the stretch of borders with her muzzle; a subtle invitation for him to join her, if he wished. she'd be the first to argue that she didn't need an escort, she was plenty capable of tearing someone's face off should they foolishly wander too close ...but her anti-social behavior hadn't gotten her very far in drageda and she doubts it'll get her very far here, either.
Grunting with the nod of his head, he took a few steps forward, waiting for her to continue on her way with him as a companion. “I will join.” Although he neglected the proper inflection he had meant to ask, by nature he wasn’t a rude being, yet here in the south where none understood him aside his sister, many found him to be hard to handle.
Clearing his throat once again, a nervous action he often fell back on when he was uncomfortable. “Why patrol?” He was surprised to see such a new mother would venture on a patrol. There must be a reason, had she scented something near her den? Or was she simply bored? But boredom rarely drug a mother from her child.
she could make the patrol alone — she'd done it plenty of times in drageda ...but blodreina constantly has to remind herself that diaspora isn't drageda and her antisocial behavior practiced in her birth place will likely not go over as well here as it did there. as it was, she already stuck close to those few she let close: ingram and praimfaya, of course. aurë. the wanlida's social circle had always been small, though; never what anyone would call a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination. nevertheless, she begins her patrol and he falls into step.
it is not quiet between them long, and she peers at him unable to hide the bafflement in her expression at the question. there was a first time for everything, blodreina supposed, and that was certainly the first time she'd ever been asked why she was patrolling. it forces her to remind herself that this ivory man does not know her and from a third party observation her desire to be out on the borders might look a bit strange ...even if it made her a bit disgruntled feeling like the wolves of disapora saw her as a mother and nothing else. yes. she was a mother but that didn't mean she couldn't continue being the fierce warrior she'd always been.
i am a warrior.
blodreina tells him simply. she, personally, thought the kill marks on her shoulder and the scars from her tussle with shardik should be tell-tale enough that she was more than she seemed but she couldn't pretend to know what strangers thought of her upon first ( or second ) glance.
With the tilt of his head he nodded slowly, of course she was a warrior. The obviousness of the statement left Sadiq feeling the kind of
duh feeling in his chest. The scars littered across her form and the symbolic marks making the declaration unnecessary. And yet....she thought it necessary to define herself.
He found this strange. As if she were proving her worth as more than the mother of Primfiya. A feat that had already vaulted his opinion of her. He held a special pedestal for all mothers and Blodreina was no exception.
Grunting his further acceptance of her title as warrior. He decided that silence would better serve him in not offending others. Not that he was above offending people, but it was easier in his own language.
Lifting his head his blue gaze matched the sky above. He surveyed the lake determining which direction to head now.
again a terrible phone post!!!! Sorry for the long long long wait!!!!!!!!!